Dispatcher wins national telecommunicator honor

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Charles County Emergency Services Dispatcher Ronald L. Lucas has been selected to receive the Telecommunicator of the Year Award for a 911 Center by the Mideastern Chapter of the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International.

Lucas was nominated for the award by his co-workers for his calm, decisive handling of a suicidal caller, according to a press release from the Charles County Department of Emergency Services.

APCO International is the world's largest organization of public safety communications professionals. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide — and the welfare of the general public as a whole — by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach.

An awards ceremony was held today at the Dover Elks Lodge in Dover, Del.

CSM Friday Lectures hosts archaeologist

The College of Southern Maryland completes its spring 2011 Friday Night Lecture Series at 7 p.m. on May 20 in continuation of the celebration of Maryland Archaeology Month and features a presentation by Dr. Julia King, associate professor of anthropology and coordinator of museum studies at St. Mary's College of Maryland, at the La Plata campus of CSM at 8730 Mitchell Road.

King's lecture will be on "Traitors, Traders and Indian Forts: Secrets of the Zekiah and Wicomico River Drainages," which uncovers mysteries of the Wicomico River drainage including the 20-mile Zekiah Swamp, which forms at the river's headwaters.

She will discuss archaeological investigations undertaken at the site by SMCM in conjunction with CSM and the Smallwood Foundation. Archaeologists are uncovering important new information about Charles County's history, including evidence for contact between English colonists and local Indian nations, the site where an Irish servant ignored Lord Baltimore's direction and married an enslaved African and the place where a core group of rabble-rousers met to plot the overthrow of the Colony's government, according to a CSM press release.

King is the past president of the Society of Historical Archaeology and a member of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, which advises the president and Congress on matters of historic preservation policy. King's specialty is Colonial cultures of the Chesapeake.

CSM's Friday Night Lecture Series is free and open to the public, and features subject-matter experts from the college and the community and provides an opportunity to build community through enriching discussions.

For information, call 301-934-7703 or go to www.csmd.edu.

Chaney Foundation to give scholarships

The Chaney Foundation now is accepting applications for the 2011 Chaney Foundation Scholarship, which was established as a tuition assistance program in Charles, Calvert, St. Mary's and Caroline counties to help a student in a major related to the building trades.

One scholarship in the amount of $1,000, up to a maximum of $4,000 over four years, will be awarded to one student in each county on a competitive basis, according to a foundation press release.

Preference will be given to students majoring in a related field such as drafting, construction management, concrete industry management, engineering, environmental science, architecture or business.

The scholarship may be used at an accredited two- or four-year college of the student's choice.

Applications must be postmarked for submission by May 30 to the Chaney Foundation, P.O. Box 548, Waldorf, MD 20604-0548. Students may download an application at www.chaneyenterprises.com/chaney_foundation/scholarship.htm. For information, call 301-932-5665 or go to www.ChaneyEnterprises.com.

jdavis@somdnews.com