Charles News

Charles County Board of Education Recognizes Accomplishments of Outstanding Students

Charles County Board of Education Recognizes Accomplishments of Outstanding Students

The Board of Education at its May 10 meeting honored five Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students. School principals annually select one student and staff member for Board recognition. Students are honored for accomplishments in the areas of academic achievement, career readiness and personal responsibility. Honored at the meeting were the following! Scarlett Castro...
Read More »

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Signs 105 More Bipartisan Bills Into Law, Including Statewide Overdose Prevention, More Infrastructure Funding For Local Governments, and Solidarity With Ukraine

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Signs 105 More Bipartisan Bills Into Law, Including Statewide Overdose Prevention, More Infrastructure Funding For Local Governments, and Solidarity With Ukraine

Governor Larry Hogan signed an additional 105 bipartisan bills into law, including measures to prevent opioid overdoses statewide, direct more funding to local governments for infrastructure improvements, and additional steps to divest from Russia and express solidarity with Ukraine. “Today, we are signing another 105 bipartisan bills into law, including measures that keep important...
Read More »

Southern Maryland Under Severe Weather Warnings for Monday, May 16, and Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Southern Maryland Under Severe Weather Warnings for Monday, May 16, and Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Updates will be provided throughout the day on this article. The risk of severe thunderstorms over much of our region today is ENHANCED (level 3 of 5). Damaging winds appear to be the primary threat, but hail, a few tornadoes, & flooding are also possible. Remain alert for rapidly changing weather conditions late this...
Read More »

Charles County Public Schools Students Earn Medals in Recent SkillsUSA State Championship

Charles County Public Schools Students Earn Medals in Recent SkillsUSA State Championship

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students from North Point High School and Robert D. Stethem Educational Center participated in the state Skills USA Maryland state championship held on April 1-2. Each year, the state championship showcases more than 1,000 Maryland Career and Technology Education (CTE) students who compete in over 90 skilled, occupationally related...
Read More »

Maryland Permanently Preserves 22 Working Farms, 3,339 Acres of Farmland in Caroline, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Worcester Counties

Maryland Permanently Preserves 22 Working Farms, 3,339 Acres of Farmland in Caroline, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Worcester Counties

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved 22 new Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation (MALPF) easements at their meeting on May 11, 2022. These easements will permanently preserve an additional 3,339 acres of prime farmland in Caroline, Charles, Frederick, Garrett, Queen Anne’s, Somerset, St. Mary’s, Talbot, and Worcester counties for an investment of more than...
Read More »

Charles County Public Library Celebrates 100 Years with Parties and Music – May 16 to May 20, 2022

Charles County Public Library Celebrates 100 Years with Parties and Music – May 16 to May 20, 2022

Charles County Public Library (CCPL) continues the celebration for its 100th anniversary of serving Charles County. Started in a single room on the second floor of the county jail on Washington Avenue in La Plata in 1922, the library was made possible by the County Homemakers Club and County Extension Agent P.D. Brown. This...
Read More »

Upper Marlboro Woman Charged After Two Separate Firebombings in Charles and St. Mary’s Counties

Upper Marlboro Woman Charged After Two Separate Firebombings in Charles and St. Mary’s Counties

With the assistance of the Maryland State Apprehension Team, Deputy State Fire Marshals arrested a Prince Georges County woman on multiple charges of arson stemming from two separate firebombings in October of 2021. Latrice Joneah Williams, 20, of Upper Marlboro, was arrested on multiple charges, including Arson 1st Degree and Manufacturing and Possession of...
Read More »

Police Officer First Class Jonathan Kelly Named Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year

Police Officer First Class Jonathan Kelly Named  Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year

The Charles County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) is pleased to announce PFC Jonathan Kelly was named the Sons of the American Legion First Responder of the Year for 2021. PFC Kelly began his career at the CCSO in 2005. In his 16-year career, he has served in the Patrol Division, Special Services Division and the...
Read More »

Police in Charles County Arrest Indian Head Man in Stabbing Case with Help from A Police Dispatcher and Bus Driver

Police in Charles County Arrest Indian Head Man in Stabbing Case with Help from A Police Dispatcher and Bus Driver

On May 9, 2022, at 7:30 p.m., officers from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office responded to Charles Regional Medical Center for the report of a stabbing victim who had been transported to the hospital by a relative. When officers arrived, they learned the victim had actually been stabbed at the Smallwood Park and Ride...
Read More »

Police Arrest Waldorf and White Plains Men in String of Commercial Burglaries

Police Arrest Waldorf and White Plains Men in String of Commercial Burglaries

On May 9, 2022, at 1:15 a.m., detectives from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office were conducting surveillance in the 3100 block of Leonardtown Road in Waldorf due to recent commercial burglaries in which the suspect(s) were smashing out the front windows to businesses and stealing money from cash registers. During their surveillance, a detective...
Read More »

Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources Find H5N1 Avian Influenza in Black Vultures Found Dead in Harford County

Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources Find H5N1 Avian Influenza in Black Vultures Found Dead in Harford County

Federal laboratory testing confirmed cases of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza (HPAI) in samples taken from black vultures initially found sick and dead on April 22, and May 2 in Harford County, Maryland. Following an investigation by the Maryland Departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MDA, DNR) and the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA)...
Read More »

College of Southern Maryland’s Robotics Team – The Talons, Place 10th in World Competition

College of Southern Maryland’s Robotics Team – The Talons, Place 10th in World Competition

The College of Southern Maryland (CSM) competitive robotics team – the Talons – headed to Dallas last week for the VEX Robotics World Championship where they competed against dozens of university teams from around the globe to earn the title of 10th best team in the technology category and 11th best in the skills...
Read More »

Governor Hogan Proclaims May 11-17 as National Police Week in Maryland

Governor Hogan Proclaims May 11-17 as National Police Week in Maryland

Governor Larry Hogan today proclaimed May 11-17 as National Police Week in Maryland to recognize the critical work that police officers do to keep our communities safe and honor the memory of those who have lost their lives in the line of duty. “Serving in law enforcement is one of the most dangerous jobs in our...
Read More »

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Announces Donation of Medical Supplies and Body Armor to Ukraine

VIDEO: Governor Hogan Announces Donation of Medical Supplies and Body Armor to Ukraine

Governor Larry Hogan announced the shipment of a multimillion dollar aid package, including medical supplies and body armor, to support the people of Odesa, Ukraine—a sister city of Baltimore. The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) is donating more than 485,000 bandages and wound care supplies, 95 Eternity mechanical ventilators for hospital intensive care units,...
Read More »

Charles County Public Schools and Bryans Road Volunteer Fire Department Remembers Career Educator and Life Member Keith Alan Hettel

Charles County Public Schools and Bryans Road Volunteer Fire Department Remembers Career Educator and Life Member Keith Alan Hettel

CCPS: Charles County Public Schools is remembering Keith Hettel, a longtime CCPS educator who retired in 2016 as the assistant superintendent of supporting services. Mr. Hettel passed away earlier this week on Tuesday, May 3. The CCPS maintenance and operations departments are honoring Hettel through a visual memorial located outside of the maintenance bay...
Read More »

UPDATE: Waldorf Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Murder at Smallwood Village Center

UPDATE: Waldorf Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Murder at Smallwood Village Center

UPDATE 5/9/2022: Tony Covington, State’s Attorney for Charles County, announced that on Friday, May 6, 2022, Charles County Circuit Court Judge Donine Carrington Martin sentenced Fred Odell Scott, 58, of Waldorf, to 20 years in prison for the Second-Degree Murder of John Staton and the Use of a Firearm During the Commission of a...
Read More »

Waldorf Man Found Guilty by Jury in Gun Trafficking Conspiracy

Waldorf Man Found Guilty by Jury in Gun Trafficking Conspiracy

James Hutchings Jr., 41, of Waldorf, Maryland, has been found guilty by a jury in the District of Columbia of a federal conspiracy charge for his role as the middleman in an illegal transfer of weapons involving people prohibited from possessing firearms. The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Wayne A....
Read More »

School Resource Officer Investigating Report of Assault on School Bus:

School Resource Officer Investigating Report of Assault on School Bus:

A Charles County Sheriff’s Office school resource officer (SRO) is investigating an assault that occurred on May 3, 2022, on a school bus transporting students from Milton Somers Middle School home after dismissal. At one point in the altercation, a seventh-grade male placed a sixth-grade male in a chokehold causing the victim to have...
Read More »

UPDATE: Fugitive with Four Open Warrants in Charles County Located and Arrested

UPDATE: Fugitive with Four Open Warrants in Charles County Located and Arrested

UPDATE: Harvey was located and is being held at the Charles County Detention Center. 5/5/2022: The Charles County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the whereabouts of George Harvey, 43, of Waldorf, who has four open warrants including unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, failure to appear in court for two burglary charges and failure to...
Read More »

Officers Locate Firearm During Traffic Stop in Newburg

Officers Locate Firearm During Traffic Stop in Newburg

On May 3, 2022,  at 7:19 p.m., Traffic Operations officers from the Charles County Sheriff’s Office were conducting commercial vehicle inspections in the 12600 block of Crain Highway in Newburg when they stopped a truck for an inspection. During the stop, the officers learned the driver did not have a driver’s license. Upon further...
Read More »

UPDATE: Newburg Man Pleads Guilty to Felony Assault and False Imprisonment After Attempted Rape of St. Mary’s Hospital Nurse

UPDATE: Newburg Man Pleads Guilty to Felony Assault and False Imprisonment After Attempted Rape of St. Mary’s Hospital Nurse

UPDATE 5/5/2022: State’s Attorney Richard Fritz announces that on May 4, 2022, Ezekiel Jedidiah Thomas (DOB August 29, 1997) pled guilty to false imprisonment and felony assault on a staff member of Medstar Saint Mary’s Hospital that occurred on September 30, 2019. In his plea, Thomas admitted that he attacked a hospital staff member while...
Read More »

Maryland State Police, NHTSA Spread Awareness: ‘Move Over’ To Protect First Responders, Road Workers

Maryland State Police, NHTSA Spread Awareness: ‘Move Over’ To Protect First Responders, Road Workers

The Maryland State Police will be joining law enforcement agencies across the country by participating in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Slow down – Move Over” campaign Friday, May 6 through Sunday, May 8. Every day, thousands of first responders and road workers take to the streets to help...
Read More »

Waldorf Air Force Lieutenant Sentenced to 11 Years in Federal Prison for Transportation of Child Pornography

Waldorf Air Force Lieutenant Sentenced to 11 Years in Federal Prison for Transportation of Child Pornography

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Jason Daniel Ort, age 36, of Waldorf, Maryland, to 11 years in federal prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for transportation of child pornography, specifically videos Ort had surreptitiously recorded using a hidden camera in a bathroom, as well as other images and videos he...
Read More »

Police Arrest Wanted Nanjemoy Man and Recover Stolen Vehicle After Traffic Stop in La Plata

Police Arrest Wanted Nanjemoy Man and Recover Stolen Vehicle After Traffic Stop in La Plata

On Thursday, May 4, 2022, at 1:43 a.m., patrol officers initiated a traffic stop in the area of Crain Highway near Shepherds Creek Place in La Plata, after observing a headlight out on the vehicle. A check of the registration plates revealed the car had been reported stolen from Baltimore County. The driver initially...
Read More »

Two Students at North Point High School Charged with Assaulting School Staff Member

Two Students at North Point High School Charged with Assaulting School Staff Member

On May 3, 2022, at 1:37 p.m., a school administrator at North Point High School was notified by a teacher that two students were engaged in a verbal disagreement with a classmate. The classmate was taken to an administrator’s office at which time the other two students tried to force their way into the...
Read More »