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2008: TOP STORIES OF THE YEAR
Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008
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The Rev. Joseph Lyles leads a prayer during a vigil for those killed in the illegal street racing accident in February.
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The 12 months of 2008 were filled with stark contrasts.
In the minds of many Charles County residents, the historic presidential election marked 2008 as a year of national hope and change. Others will remember the tragedy of lives lost or the collapsing economy and housing market.
Here, presented in no particular order, are the stories that we found to be the most compelling and influential to our readership this year.
Four die in medevac helicopter crash
Four lives were lost in the deadliest medevac crash in state history at the end of September.
The investigation into the Sept. 27 wreck is ongoing, but meanwhile, the incident has sparked a statewide discussion on the use of helicopters to transport accident victims.
Before it crashed in a District Heights park, the Maryland State Police Trooper 2 helicopter had been flying two teens from a Waldorf car accident on Smallwood Drive to a trauma center in Prince George's County.
Dispatch tapes released since the crash have indicated pilot Stephen H. Bunker was hesitant to make the flight because of the poor weather, but eventually decided to "give it a shot."
The helicopter picked up Waldorf teens Ashley J. Younger and Jordan A. Wells from the accident scene at about 11:30 p.m. and headed to Prince George's Hospital Center. However, Bunker decided to reroute to Andrews Air Force Base when he discovered the hospital was covered by fog, according to the tapes.
A few minutes after the change in course, helicopter dispatchers lost contact with Bunker.
Searchers discovered the helicopter wreckage at about 1:30 a.m. State police flight paramedic Mickey C. Lippy, 34, of Westminster, Waldorf emergency medical technician Tonya Mallard, 38, Bunker, 59, of Waldorf, and Younger, 17, of Waldorf, died in the accident. Wells, 18, of Waldorf, was the sole survivor of the wreck, but suffered extensive injuries.
She was treated in a Baltimore hospital for about two months and returned home the day before Thanksgiving.
The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the accident and released a preliminary report describing Trooper 2's communication with an Andrews Air Force Base air traffic controller. The report found Bunker told the controller that he wasn't receiving his "glide slope," or angle of approach. Bunker requested an alternate type of approach, but the controller said she wasn't qualified to provide it, according to the preliminary report.
The Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems has changed its rules for requesting helicopter pickup since the crash; while it used to be optional for emergency responders to consult with doctors before ordering a medevac in borderline cases, it is now mandatory.
Dream field becomes reality
It took years of dreaming, scheming and political wrangling, but, on May 2, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball team strode onto the emerald green field of Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf for the first time.
The opening "play ball" was the completion of a decades-long quest to bring a baseball stadium to Southern Maryland, and county and state officials relished the moment.
As with many recent stadium openings, the affair was a photo finish for construction and preparation crews as well as a moment of supreme pomp and spectacle.
The $27 million stadium construction proceeded at breakneck pace. In April, when county officials toured the completed basic structure, Planning and Growth Management Director Melvin C. Beall Jr. rapped his knuckles on a wooden railing and said, "So far, everything is going good, and that scares the hell out of me."
The county later reported that stadium construction had come in $400,000 lower than the $27.1 million final budget for the project.
Two days before opening day, contractor Skanska Construction USA declared the project was complete, but, the next day, crews were still painting, planting and paving around the facility.
It wasn't until four hours before the gates opened that the county's inspectors issued a use and occupancy permit for the structure.
But, for the fans, the last-minute preparations were a minor detail in the whirl of performance, color and excitement of opening day.
The Blue Crabs flooded their senses with two band performances, fire twirlers, free souvenirs, a magic show, a confetti shower, fireworks and even a coordinated parachute jump.
Season ticket holders were treated to a free buffet of burgers, crab cakes, stuffed ham sandwiches and beverages on the stadium's picnic patio.
There was even a baseball game.
By November, the season was over, and the media and stadium critics questioned if the stadium had performed as the economic boon that was promised.
The Blue Crabs claimed they drew an average of 3,217 fans per game for a total season attendance of 225,000. Each fan paid an average of $5.50 for a ticket. Kirk also said that his company paid $120,000 in amusement taxes, rendered $100,000 in sales taxes and raised $100,000 for local charities. The team also claimed it spent $6 million locally in salary and supplies.
Peter Kirk, chairman of Blue Crab owner Opening Day Partners, said the company's financial numbers were "tracking wonderfully" to estimates in a feasibility study published by the state for the stadium.
Eight die in Accokeek crash
Two Waldorf men are facing vehicular manslaughter charges in the February deaths of eight people who were gathered in Accokeek to watch an illegal street race.
Shortly after the Feb. 16 crash on Indian Head Highway, police identified Darren Jamar Bullock, 21, as the driver of a white Ford Crown Victoria that plowed into a group of people watching an illegal street race. Prosecutors have since said about 200 people showed up for the race, and spectators moved into the road as the cars pulled away. At about 3 a.m., Bullock allegedly struck the crowd, resulting in eight deaths and eight injuries. Some witnesses to the incident reported that the Crown Victoria's headlights were off.
No charges were filed against Bullock immediately after the wreck, but Prince George's County State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey said it would take time to complete an investigation of the incident.
In July, Bullock and Tavon J. Taylor, 19, were indicted in Prince George's County Circuit Court on eight counts of vehicular manslaughter, racing and reckless driving. Although Taylor didn't strike any of the bystanders, prosecutors said they had camera footage of him racing his car against Bullock's before the wreck.
Taylor's attorney, J. Wyndal Gordon, in August said that his client wasn't racing Bullock and was on his way home from band practice when the accident happened.
Taylor pleaded not guilty to unsafely passing another car on the right in Charles County traffic court on Oct. 30. He has also been charged in Charles County District Court with two counts of second-degree assault for an April 4 incident, according to online records.
Bullock is charged with theft in a Charles County District Court case, which is scheduled for trial in January.
Those killed in the crash were Otis Williams, 35, of Indian Head; Milton Pinkney, 41, of La Plata; Blaine Briscoe, 49, of La Plata; William Gaines, 61, of Nanjemoy; Ervin Gardner, 39, of Clinton; Daryl Wills, 38, of Oxon Hill; Maycol Lopez, 20, of Gaithersburg and Mark Courtney, 34, of Charlotte Hall.
Money woes
While most of 2007 may have been marked by consumers' excess — too much house, too much credit availability, too much energy use and too much greed — 2008 was marked by not having enough of anything.
As gasoline and energy prices steadily began creeping up in the beginning of the year and the number of foreclosures nationwide skyrocketed, consumers had less home value, less money, fewer job prospects and less confidence in the markets. Small businesses struggled to make ends meet as less consumer disposable income affected their abilities to keep employees on the rolls and keep busy.
But Southern Maryland consumers weren't the only ones who had to tighten their budgets — so did Charles County government, which felt strains from a shortfall of property recordation taxes ultimately caused by the housing market fallout that produced a $9 million hole in the budget. The tax represents about 12.5 percent of the county's revenue.
All county agencies will share the pain of a 3 percent cut in costs.
Charles County might postpone plans to build a new high school the cost of which is approaching $100 million. The county's fiscal services department proposed a four-day, 36-hour work week for county government employees to help trim $2 million before June 30 in addition to making other operating cuts. But commissioners found that couldn't legally be done fast enough, so they will apply $1.1 million in surplus funds from finished capital projects to the budget.
The school board cut $4.3 million from its budget; the sheriff's office cut $1.9 million; and the College of Southern Maryland absorbed a $291,000 cut.
Legislators suggested closing county buildings one day a week would save the county 15 percent of its fuel costs.
The commissioners approved using $520,000 from $1 million set aside for a proposed retired employee health care trust to cover the budget hole until legislation can be passed. They also voted to restrict travel outside of the state, freeze most hiring and halt overtime pay.
Transportation will get a total reduction of $375,000, savings found this year as diesel prices have fallen below the $5.50 per gallon already in the budget.
The county's economic woes came on the heels of a few significant victories in 2008 in its mission to become a global hub for technology.
In March, the Energetics Technology Center, currently located in La Plata, opened a world-class virtual reality lab that is rare except in universities. Science Applications International Corp., a large contractor and leader in homeland protection and preparedness, consolidated its temporary Charles offices into a 13,000-square-foot permanent La Plata office in September.
In October, British ejection seat manufacturer Martin-Baker announced it will build a facility in the planned Indian Head Energetics Technology Center that will create up to 120 new jobs and potentially draw other similar companies.
Charles County government opted not to cut into VanGO, emergency services or nonprofit funding, though state cuts necessitated a cut in Van GO service. But less disposable income among consumers and tighter government budgets means charitable donations to nonprofits are down at a time when they are needed most.
As news continues to spread that it may take all of 2009 for local governments, consumers and businesses to recover from losses, local companies have emphasized diversification, keen financial management and smart incentives to customers will help them survive.
The commercial real estate market is expected to follow a similar trend as the residential market as the retail and restaurant sectors experience tough times and postpone opening new stores. Despite the failure of multiple national banks that received money through a bailout economic stimulus package passed this fall, Charles' local banking system managed to hold steady as many community banks chose not to offer subprime loans during the housing boom.
Environmental advocates have expressed their anticipation for new job creation and teleworking flexibility that will come with President-elect Barack Obama's promise to invest in alternative energies.
Over the last month, consumers have seen a drastic drop in the price of gasoline since its $4 per gallon peak over the summer months, to about $1.64. This will provide relief to those who were also worried about heating their homes through the winter, but based on the volatility of just about every market this past year, there's no telling how long they might last.
County management stabilizing
The revolving door that has been Charles County government's management ranks slowed its speed this year, but still saw several long-serving county managers leave.
After a series of arrivals and departures, the county only has four permanent management positions to fill, after starting the year with five open positions. In January, the county had openings for an emergency services director, a planning director, a utilities chief, an economic development director and a permits chief.
Overall, only four managers left county service in 2008, compared to eight in 2007.
The year started with an addition to the plus column with the February hiring of Alex J. Naar to assume the emergency services director seat vacated by the December 2007 retirement of Don McGuire. However, in May, Naar abruptly left county service.
The commissioners named William Stephens, the county's domestic preparedness coordinator, to direct the department on an interim basis. Stephens was finally named the department's permanent director in November.
In July, Community Services Director Margaret Cheseldine left after 31 years of county service. The community services department had seen several problems.
Employees of the department were the loudest opponents of some of the commissioners' management decisions, and the commissioners were also not happy with the department's handling of the county's Capital Clubhouse ice rink. A month before Cheseldine's departure, the county hired a private contractor to assume control of the rink after the facility lost more than $500,000 in fiscal 2007 and several hundred thousand more in fiscal 2008. The community services department relinquished control of the rink several days before Rink Management Services took control of the facility, causing confusion among employees and management.
The commissioners named Karen Lehman Cieplak as acting director of community services and later made her the permanent director in November.
Later in July, the commissioners named William Shreve, interim utilities chief, to a permanent position and hired George L. Robertson to fill the vacant economic development director position vacated last year by John Reardon.
In November, Purchasing Chief Thomas Kelly retired. That same week, Transportation Chief Lisa Quill, Cheseldine's sister, resigned from county service. Quill joined Cheseldine at her Leonardtown consulting business.
As the year draws to a close, the county still needs to hire permanent employees to fill its planning director, purchasing chief, transportation chief and permits chief positions.
Connector highway faces darkest hour
As the year winds down, chances have never looked bleaker for Charles County's efforts to finish a controversial cross-county connector highway between Waldorf and Bryans Road.
The highway, which is supported by the county commissioners, developers and the county's fire and rescue community, suffered several setbacks this year as environmental watchdogs hammered the project in public and media forums. Federal and state agencies have also failed to issue necessary permits, and it is unclear if or when they might.
County officials saw the storm coming in April, when they opted to shift nearly $1 million in capital project funding away form the connector to augment the budgets of other functioning road projects in La Plata.
In July, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally held a public hearing on applications filed a year earlier by the county for permits to take the highway across the Mattawoman Creek.
At the hearing, the county and its supporters in the development and volunteer rescue communities argued for the road as a replacement for the aging and dangerous northern section of Billingsley Road as well as an engine for economic growth. The connector currently consists of the four-lane sections of Billingsley stretching from Route 5 and stopping at Middletown Road in Waldorf.
The last three phases of the highway would deviate from the Billingsley alignment, requiring a new crossing of the Mattawoman, and that's what environmental watchdogs vehemently protested. The conservationists argued that the road and the development it would enable would destroy the creek, which is currently the cleanest of the Chesapeake Bay's aquatic life spawning grounds.
In the months following the hearing, local environmentalists, working with statewide groups, pressured MDE and the corps to require the county to complete an Environmental Impact Statement, which would quantify the project's impact on the local ecosystem.
In November, MDE was prepared to deny a necessary permit for the project unless the county requested an extension of the review period. The corps also asked the county to answer several questions about the highway by the middle of this month, signaling that it might require the county to complete an EIS before proceeding.
By law, MDE must issue a decision on the connector by May, but the corps has not indicated when it will issue a decision.
The county claims it has provided agencies with enough information to make a favorable decision and said that the longer the agencies delay their decision, the more the project will cost taxpayers.
Schools face their share of problems
Charles County public schools have faced their fair share of financial woes this year.
At the beginning of 2008, the school system traveled to Annapolis for the annual "begathon" hearing, requesting school construction funding from the state Board of Public Works. The school system at that time requested $15.8 million in construction funding and planning approval for a new high school, at that time slated to be completed in 2011.
At the time, the school system was not asking for any money from the state for the new high school which had a $100 million price tag. The goal then was to get permission to plan which would obligate the state to provide money in the near future.
Of the $15 million requested for other construction costs, the state granted $11 million.
Throughout the year, the school system was on the receiving end of much criticism, including from the county commissioners, regarding the high price tag of the new high school, which now is slated for completion tentatively in 2013.
The school system worked and is continuously working to reduce the cost of the new school with options of cutting out the proposed indoor pool and other non-essential items.
Charles County public school superintendent James E. Richmond said much of the cost is in direct relation to the formula the state set up using enrollment and square footage to determine the cost of the school.
The financial problems continued in 2008, with a hiring freeze over the summer.
The school system opened up its 2008-2009 school year with a very tight budget, a brand new elementary school, Mary B. Neal elementary, and a lack of Bridge to Excellence funding.
Richmond asked that principals at that time go through their budgets line by line and cut back as much as possible.
Cutting back in September was just foreshadowing of the bad news to come.
In October, the school system discovered that its budget would be reduced by $4 million. School officials found ways to make staff changes and other changes that would not affect student learning including a continuance of the summers hiring freeze and not filling 23 open central office positions.
With the economy in the condition that it is in right now, school system staff met with legislators recently to find some light in the dark budget tunnel.
However, all that was found was advice to work with the state as much as possible and help make additional cutbacks that may put the school system in a better bargaining position.
Controversy in Hughesville
The owner of a local surface mining company stirred up a hornet's nest early this spring when he proposed to rezone 150 acres in Hughesville in the event that he needed the land to relocate a gravel wash plant to a portion of the property.
Frank Chaney II, president of the board of Chaney Enterprises Inc. in Waldorf, submitted a request early this year to the county planning office to rezone the property west of the Hughesville Post Office and the Brookleigh Woods subdivision on Prince Frederick Road from agricultural conservation/village residential to heavy industrial in March.
Chaney said during public hearings held this year by the Charles County Planning Commission and Charles County commissioners that the rezoning was warranted because there has been a significant change in the neighborhood and that a mistake was made when the parcel was originally rezoned.
The completion of the Hughesville bypass, declining businesses in the village and the death of the tobacco industry in Southern Maryland have all contributed to the change in the neighborhood, Chaney testified.
The relocation of the gravel wash plant that is sandwiched between Acton Lane and Mattawoman-Beantown Road might be necessary in the near future if the county proceeds with plans to extend Post Office Road, Chaney said.
But, Hughesville residents strongly opposed the rezoning, stating in public hearings that having a gravel wash plant in the village would increase heavy truck traffic, drastically reduce property values and create traffic safety hazards on Prince Frederick Road.
The county's planning staff indicated in a staff report that the rezoning of the land is not consistent with the county's comprehensive plan, the Hughesville revitalization plan, the county's transportation plan or the Patuxent River Policy Plan, which was adopted by the county commissioners in 1984 and revised in 1997.
Although the planning staff concluded that there was no evidence that the neighborhood had changed or that there had been a mistake in the original zoning the planning commission voted in May to recommend that the county commissioners approve the rezoning request.
The planning commission's decision added fuel to the fire for Hughesville residents and they gathered ammunition to confront the issue again during a county commissioner public hearing held in June on the rezoning request.
The commissioners have deferred making a decision on the request until March. In the meantime, they have asked Chaney to provide them with a revised traffic study and an updated plan that includes restrictions on noise and light pollution, increased vegetation buffering, limits on nuisance noises and 10 to 15 acres set aside for the American Red Cross and the College of Southern Maryland.
"I would like to see the company put something else there," said Sandra Thorne in an earlier interview. Thorne's father sold the land in question to Chaney many years ago. "I don't see how a gravel wash plant is going to help the community or create any jobs down here. They'll just take the people who work at the plant in Waldorf and put them down here."
La Plata mayor resigns
Gene Ambrogio stunned a crowd of people attending a Friday evening concert held in July on the grounds of the La Plata Town Hall by abruptly announcing his immediate resignation as the town's mayor.
Ambrogio, who was elected in 2005 as La Plata's mayor, announced July 31 that he was "disillusioned with the politics" of the position and he felt he could no longer carry out what he felt were the wishes of many of the town's residents.
"This has been building for awhile," he said in an interview following the announcement of his resignation. "When I look back over my term as mayor the record speaks for itself. It was hard to reach a consensus on any decisions that were made. There was a level of incompatibility between myself and the council."
Ambrogio's resignation was announced just days before the town's ethics board was set to render its decision on an ethics violation charge filed by the mayor against Ward 2 Council Scot Lucas. Ambrogio claimed that Lucas should be barred from participating in the review and decision process of a proposed annexation by the Faison development company – La Plata Crossing – because he planned to open a Quizno's Sub Sandwich Shop in the Rosewick Crossing complex that is located across Rosewick Road from the proposed annexation.
Faison is the developer of both the Rosewick Crossing and the proposed La Plata Crossing complexes.
In August, the ethics commission ruled against the charge, clearing Lucas to participate in the annexation process.
Ambrogio ran his mayoral campaign on the premise that the town needs to slow down development so that it keeps pace with infrastructure projects in town, often butting heads with the council during debates about town issues, including the Rosewick Road and La Plata Crossing annexations and the smoking and sign ordinances.
Immediately following Ambrogio's resignation, the council set to work to find someone to fill the mayoral slot. In August, Roy Hale, who served for 11 years as Ward 4's councilman, was selected to finish Ambrogio's unexpired term.
The town's elections are set for May, where the four council members and the mayor will run at large for their seats.
"I've been faithful to my campaign promises by serving the citizens of La Plata to the best of my ability by keeping their interests at the forefront of my decisions," Ambrogio said in the earlier interview. "I have not allowed my personal opinions and interests affect my positions and votes, but have always put the people first."
Election, budget dominates politics
Presidential election years have of late been snoozers in Maryland, the result of an electorate that has become bluer in recent years and supported Democratic White House hopefuls since 1988.
But 2008 proved to be a robust year in state politics, highlighted by a state budget situation that went from bad to worse, the passage of slot machine gambling by voters after years of legislative debate and a renewed push to repeal the death penalty.
The year got off to a sluggish start, as weary lawmakers returned to the state capital just six weeks after an exhausting three-week special session in November yielded $1.4 billion in new taxes and more than $500 million in cuts. A lawsuit filed by Republicans to invalidate the special session tax increases on procedural grounds also dragged on into the 90-day session. The state's highest court eventually dismissed the suit in March.
Attention also was squared on the Feb. 12 presidential primary that was moved up by three weeks to give Maryland voters a greater say in the nominating process. At the time, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were dueling for the Democratic nomination, while John McCain was closing in on the GOP nod. Despite an ice storm that caused gridlock in some areas and led polls to stay open an extra 90 minutes, a record number of Democrats turned up at the polls. Obama won 61 percent of the vote in Maryland to Clinton's 36 percent while John McCain got 55 percent of the vote to 29 percent for Mike Huckabee on his way to locking up the Republican nomination.
Action picked up in Annapolis after the primary election.
Efforts to repeal the "tech tax" kicked into high gear as industry leaders organized an aggressive lobbying campaign. They argued that the 6 percent levy on computer services would drive them out of business or force them to move out of state. Lawmakers repealed the tax on the session's final weekend and replaced the anticipated $200 million in revenues with a so-called millionaires tax and about $100 million in cuts to transportation and other state programs.
Legislators also approved bills to curtail energy use, limit shoreline development and regulate the mortgage lending industry to protect against the high number of home foreclosures.
But the weakening economy also prompted some difficult decisions. Lawmakers slashed in half a $50 million contribution to a fund for Chesapeake Bay cleanup and killed a bill to curb global warming emissions amid concerns from labor that jobs would be lost.
The General Assembly in April passed a $31.2 billion spending plan, after cutting nearly $500 million.
Further revenue shortfalls have forced significant midyear cuts and the General Assembly may still face a $2 billion shortfall when they convene in two weeks for the 2009 session. Amid calls for little or no growth in state spending, Gov. Martin O'Malley may present a bare-bones fiscal 2010 budget in January. Already, the economy has led state transportation officials to defer $1.1 billion in planned spending on road and transit projects. And O'Malley ordered furloughs for 67,000 state employees as a cost-saving maneuver. Even high priority areas like health, education and public safety, which comprise about 85 percent of the state budget, are unlikely to be spared from reductions in the coming year.
Longtime Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert, Prince George's) in June ended any suspense about his political future, declaring he would run for office in 2010. Miller, a kingmaker of Southern Maryland politics, has served in the Senate since 1975 and has been its president for 21 years.
The November election consumed the second half of the year.
The public debate over whether to allow slot machine gambling back in Maryland as a revenue generator put high-ranking public officials on opposite sides. Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D), the most ardent slots opponent, accused Gov. Martin O'Malley and legislative leaders of kowtowing to gambling interests in backing the referendum. Supporters used the budget woes to help their argument that slots were a needed source of revenue for schools and other state programs.
The referendum passed easily statewide — about 59 percent to 41 percent — and by even higher margins in Southern Maryland, which had a sordid history with slot machines in the 1950s and 1960s before they were outlawed. Voters in Calvert and St. Mary's counties supported the constitutional amendment by identical 63 to 37 percent margins, while the spread was 64 to 36 percent in Charles County.
Its passage allows 15,000 slot machines to be placed at five locations in Allegany, Anne Arundel, Cecil and Worcester counties and Baltimore city.
Also on Election Night, Obama cruised to victory in Maryland on his way to becoming the first African American president. He won the Democratic-heavy state 62 to 37 percent. Although McCain prevailed in Calvert and St. Mary's counties, Obama easily captured Charles County by the same 62 to 37 percentage, a sign that it has become a Democratic stronghold.
Just four years ago, John Kerry defeated President Bush in the county by less than 1,000 votes. In 2000, then-Vice President Gore won by a scant 105 votes in the county. But the Democratic tide that swept through Charles in 2006 grew stronger in 2008.
Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, who two years ago was elected House majority leader, the chamber's second-in-command, won a 15th term of office in a landslide victory over Charles County Board of Education member Collins A. Bailey, 74 to 24 percent.
Late in the year, a panel studying Maryland's capital punishment statute voted 13-9 to recommend abolishing the death penalty. Supporters wrote in a 132-page report issued in December that racial and jurisdictional disparities exist in capital sentencing and the costs in capital cases are substantially higher than in cases seeking life without parole.
Further, the committee determined that the possibility of executing innocents remain, even with advances in forensic science.
Death penalty supporters said that Maryland should preserve the death penalty for the most heinous criminals and that jurisdictional disparities reflect the will of voters in those areas.
The five-month study, in which commission members heard nearly 20 hours of testimony from more than 80 people, is certain to put the issue in the spotlight during the 2009 session.
But previous efforts to outlaw the death penalty have been defeated and there is no indication that the panel's findings will influence any lawmakers to adjust their opinions.
