It is with profound sadness that the Maryland State Police – Aviation Command announces the death of retired Sergeant Christopher Tappan after a courageous battle with cancer. Sgt. Tappan joined the Maryland State Police in 2004, working the Bel Air Barrack until transferring into MSPAC in 2007. Sgt. Tappan was previously assigned to Troopers...
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The Maryland Time to Care Coalition decries the 18-month implementation delay, proposed by Gov. West Moore, of the Time to Care Act, originally passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2022. The General Assembly gave final approval last night to HB 102, which will delay the Family and Medical Leave Insurance program (FAMLI) benefits...
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U.S. District Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby sentenced Michael Cooley, Jr., aka “Micheal Cooley Jr.,” “5Micmusik,” and “Michael White,” 26, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, to 87 months in federal prison. In January 2025, Cooley pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, in connection with a conspiracy and scheme to defraud...
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Governor Wes Moore this week swore in eight new executive leaders, each confirmed by the Senate during the 2025 legislative session, to fill key positions across state government. To date, the Moore-Miller Administration has appointed 3,400 public servants to the state’s boards and commissions—more than 50% being women, 50% are people of color, and...
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Maryland has just celebrated its own Arbor Day, well ahead of the national celebration on the last Friday of the month. This year, I’m glad to say we are catching up on an important initiative that will impact our future. Maryland made an ambitious commitment with the 5 Million Trees Initiative in 2021, and last...
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Mervyn Fombe Abiko, 35, of Prince George’s County, Maryland, pled guilty to federal charges in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in unemployment benefits. Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the plea with Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood, U.S. Postal Inspection Service –...
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Not long after the sun came up, a team of Maryland geologists set out on the Patuxent River. As they approached the Upper Patuxent Sanctuary, the team prepared the sensing equipment and took preliminary measurements in the water. With a custom crank-and-pulley system, they lowered the interferometric side-scan sonar off the bow. Soon after,...
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Daniel Michael Harris, Sr., 45, of Waldorf, Maryland, pleaded guilty to committing an armed robbery while using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the plea with Special Agent in Charge William J. DelBagno of the...
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20-year Army veteran, having already seen the world, has no aspiration to travel A Maryland Lottery player from Prince George’s County enjoys the anticipation involved with the games, but got a bigger thrill than usual when his Pick 5 numbers hit for a $50,000 prize. “It’s just the thrill,” he said of playing in...
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A Charles County woman, who recently switched to Racetrax after regularly playing Keno, trotted her way into the winner’s circle. On March 20th, 2025, she won $73,767 playing the popular computer-animated horse racing game. The happy winner was on her way home after work when she stopped at Sunnybrook Tavern in Fort Washington. While...
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Wendell Giovanni Estes, 49, of Waldorf, is facing a wide array of criminal and traffic charges following an early morning incident on March 28, 2025, that began at a hotel in La Plata and ended in a high-speed pursuit spanning multiple jurisdictions. According to court documents, officers with the La Plata Police Department were...
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Governor Wes Moore released the following statement regarding President Trump’s executive order ending federal workers’ collective bargaining rights. “Maryland will always have the backs of working people and organized labor. And amid the draconian federal cuts impacting public servants across our state, our partnership with organized labor has become more important than ever. In...
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On Saturday, March 29, 2025, at approximately 9:30 p.m., firefighters from Charles and Prince George’s County responded to the 2200 block of Bridle Path Drive in Waldorf, for the reported house on fire with animals possibly trapped. Crews arrived on the scene to find fire showing from the first and second floor of a...
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On Sunday, March 30, 2025, at approximately 4:10 p.m., firefighters responded to the 14000 block of Oaks Road in Hughesville, for the reported unknown fire. 911 callers reported a large amount of smoke coming from the woods in the area of the given address. Additional callers then reported a fire in the woods near...
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A federal grand jury has indicted Sarah Maud Jess, 61, of Capitol Heights, Maryland. Jess is charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, two counts of distribution of fentanyl, one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm and ammunition by an illegal alien, and reentry of an alien removed after...
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UPDATE 3/27/2025: On March 27, 2025, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Charles County Sheriff’s detectives were notified by the Prince George’s County Police Department that Richard Wilson, Jr., age 86, who had been reported missing from his Waldorf home on January 25, 2025, was located deceased in the water near Mariner Drive in Fort Washington,...
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Special Weather Statement issued March 27th, 2025, by NWS Baltimore MD/Washington DC. The combination of recent dry weather, relative humidity falling to 15 to 25 percent, and sustained west to northwesterly winds around 10 mph with gusts to around 20 mph may result in an elevated threat for the rapid spread of fires today,...
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The Office of the Comptroller launched its new website, Marylandcomptroller.gov. The new modernized website showcases a user-friendly interface with improved navigation and connects to the agency’s new customer service portal, MyCOMConnect. “Our new website and our new customer relationship management portal are critical tools that will make our arm of government work better for...
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The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit charged a teenage suspect in connection with a fatal shooting on Tuesday night. The suspect, a 16-year-old male from Laurel, is charged with the murder of 39-year-old Leo Addison of Largo. The suspect is charged as an adult. On March 25, 2025, at approximately 10:30 pm,...
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UPDATE 3/26/2025: The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the whereabouts of Britny Lee Blankenship, 35, of Lexington Park, for escape. On March 22, 2025, Deputies responded to the 21000 block of Liberty Street in Lexington Park for the report of tampering on Blankenship’s ankle monitor. The monitoring device was found to have...
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On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 3:25 a.m., patrol officers were responding to the area of Wedgewood Place in Waldorf for the report of an iPhone notification of a crash. As officers approached the scene, an officer noticed a silver Hyundai with front end damage and the driver wearing a ski mask. When the...
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Desmond Fletcher, 37, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, has been found guilty by a jury of one count of felony strangulation and two counts of misdemeanor assault for charges that took place in southeast Washington, D.C., on September 4, 2023, announced U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police...
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Charles County Sheriff’s detectives and Forensic Science personnel are seeking to identify a serial sex offender. Here are the facts of the cases: Between November 1996 and August 2003, an unidentified male targeted women in Prince George’s County and Washington, DC by offering them a ride under false pretenses. Once inside his vehicle, the...
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Maryland Environmental Trust has approved 20 grants totaling $238,751 to be awarded for environmental education, community cleanup, tree planting, and beautification projects through the Keep Maryland Beautiful program. Presented annually since 1986, the grant program is managed by the Maryland Environmental Trust – a unit of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) – and administered...
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Former Governor Larry Hogan released the following statement. “Today is a sad and unfortunate day for Maryland that was entirely avoidable. The tax hikes proposed would cripple Maryland’s economy and already struggling Marylanders. They are the exact opposite of the approach we took for eight years to cut taxes and create a record surplus....
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