16,2007•St.Mary’sCounty,MarylandByGuyLeonardStaffWriterByGuyLeonardStaffWriterByGuyLeonardStaffW

To The Moon: County Teacher Comes As Close As Any

PINEY POINT LIGHTHOUSE

Thursday, August 16, 2007 • St. Mary’s County, Maryland

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By Guy LeonardStaff Writer

Hurricane season is here and some residents of St. George’s Island are taking drastic action to ensure they don’t suffer more of the flooding damage they faced when Hurricane Isabel hit in 2003 and again with tropical storm Ernesto last year.

They are not moving off the is-land, they are just moving up, way up in fact, as much as eight or nine feet.

Contractors are now working on two homes there and have actu-ally picked them up off the ground, raised them on supporting wooden pylons called cribbing and have be-gun work on building new founda-tions that will hopefully defeat any flooding from a major storm.

For Stanley Carpenter, who suf-fered major damage to his home on Piney Point Road from both Isabel and Ernesto, it’s been a long road to getting his home raised to safety.

He is the only home owner on the island, he said, who has gone through the slow process of getting the money from the Federal Emer-gency Management Agency and its state level counterpart to get a new house foundation.

He first took advantage of the program when the money was made available in 2003 after the damage he suffered from Isabel.

“The entire back of the house was caved in by the debris surged in

St. George’s Islanders Taking Their Homes Higher

By Adam RossStaff Writer

St. Mary’s County Public Schools received more good news this summer, this time on the 2007 Alternate Maryland School Assess-ment, where 81.8 percent of students in grades 3-8 and grade 10 achieved a “Proficient” or “Advanced” read-ing and math level.

The Alt-MSA is the Maryland assessment for students with “sig-nificant cognitive disabilities who are unable to participate in a regular assessment, even when accommoda-tions are provided,” according to the Maryland State Department of Edu-cation website.

The results follow a healthy gain on this year’s Maryland School As-sessment, where grades 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 saw increases in reading over last year. However, deficiencies still exist - the number of St. Mary’s sev-enth-graders passing reading and math declined this year compared to 2006.

Still, administrators and teach-ers have something to be proud of as SMCPS students taking the Alt-MSA exceeded state averages in

SMCPS Aces Latest Testing Results


A directive from the federal government has pre-cluded the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office from conducting informal, computer-based background checks on prospective emergency volunteers without a fingerprinting card.

That means that fire departments and rescue squads here, or possibly their recruits, will have to absorb the cost for the most thorough of criminal records checks.

State Fire Marshal William Barnard explained that paying $42 for a fingerprint background check had been standard procedure with the state and FBI for nearly 15 years, but sometimes local fire and EMS companies here and throughout the state had gotten accustomed to getting an informal background check through the fire marshal’s office and skirting the required costs.

“That should’ve never been done and that was cor-rected immediately when it was brought to out atten-tion,” Barnard said of a recent state audit for their use of a electronic criminal justice system. “We were incorrect in the way we were handling it.”

Barnard said volunteer fire and EMS companies were looking for faster and less costly ways to do back-ground checks on members, though the private methods were not as thorough as the kind offered by the federal government.

Shawn Davidson, assistant chief at the Lexington Park Volunteer Rescue Squad, said the solution might lie in partnering with St. Mary’s County government to do the background checks through a contract agency.

“We’re trying to find an option that’s not going to cost an arm and a leg,” Davidson said. “We’ve been try-

ing for a long time to get good background checks on people coming in to make sure we’re dealing with people we know we can trust.”

The need to get volunteers checked out efficiently meant volunteer squads would likely have to use a meth-od other than going through the federal government, which could take much longer.

“We’re at the bottom of the list of things for them to worry about,” Davidson said. “We’re relying on what we can do for ourselves.”

Barnard said there was no legal requirement for volunteer companies to do background checks on their members at all, though most chose to do so.

Volunteer companies can get their background checks processed with fingerprints at the fire marshal’s office, where they are then sent for the real work at the Maryland Criminal Justice Information System and then on to the FBI.

The chairman of the St. Mary’s County Emergency Services Committee slammed the federal government’s insistence on the fee as putting an unnecessary cost and hardship on front line first responders.

“It’s the most asinine thing the federal government has ever done,” said Keith Fairfax, who is also president of the Bay District Volunteer Fire Department. “We’re the first line of defense for whatever you could imag-ine… it’s not the federal government.”

Fairfax said he and other volunteer executives found out about the enforcement directive earlier this year, and it was a discussion item for his committee meeting Aug. 1.

Fire stations and volunteer rescue squads could opt not to take that option offered by the federal government,

Fingerprint Checks Could Cost Volunteer Squads, Recruits


Riddled with unwieldy insur-ance premiums, St. Mary’s County government announced possibilities to mitigate future loss by transition-ing to a self-insured system, and with equipment upgrades to employees with laborious jobs.

“We’ve had a couple of rough years… There are trends we need to look at and things we need to put in place to help mitigate those risks,”

County Battles Rising Workers’ Comp Claims


When NASA’s Shuttle Endeavour lifted up and parted the clouds last week on its 62,000 mile voyage upwards, there was another adventurous story of the day, but this one didn’t start on a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, it started in a St. Mary’s County classroom.

Kim Weaver, a teacher from St. Mary’s County Public Schools was invited to the launch as a VIP guest for her work on a NASA Educator Astronaut Project (EAP) for a lunar plant growth chamber. The unit was designed by NASA to engage high school students in the build and design challenges that come with growing plants on the moon.

See House Lift page A-5

See Background page A-7

See Weaver page A-10

See Testing page A-7

See Workers’ Comp page A-6

Stanley Carpenter watches contractors build a new foundation for his home on St. George’s Island. Carpenter had his house raised last month so he could avoid possible flood and storm damage in the future.

Photo By Guy Leonard

The view down below space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-118 launch just minutes after it took off over Cape Canaveral Florida.

Photo Courtesy of Kim Weaver


Investigators with the St. Mary’s County Bureau of Criminal Inves-tigations (BCI) have arrested and charged a Leonardtown man with attempted murder for allegedly try-ing to strangle his wife to death Monday.

Man Held Without Bond For Attempted Murder Charge

See Attempted Murder page A-2

SectionA-� The County Times Thursday,August16,�007

EmilyFinchStaffWriter

Visiting Solomon’s Is-land it is not uncommon toseebars,restaurants,andcol-lectorsshops.Onanygivensummerdaytherearepeoplewalkingtheboardwalk,head-ingtoandfromtheTikiBarandinandoutofshops.Butrightinthemiddleofallthehustle and bustle and com-motion, sits a white chapelwithasimplecrossontop.

The chapel, St. Peter’sEpiscopal,wasbuilt in1889andisstillinusetoday.Thehistoryofthisestablishment,however, begins nearly 150

yearspriortoitscornerstonebeinglaid.

In 1748, MiddlehamChapelwasbuiltinLusbyasa“ChapelofEase”toChristChurch Parish in St. Leon-ard.Thisgreatlyreducedthetravel time for some of theparishioners as well as theburdenonChristChurchPar-ish. Because traveling wasonly done by foot or horse-back, it was still difficult for most people south of Lusbytoget toMiddleham,soanyservices in Solomons wereoftenheldinschoolhousesorprivatehomes. Residentsofthe southern end of CalvertCounty felt the need for a

placeofworshipinSolomonstoservethegrowingnumberofcommunicantsinthearea.

In 1875, many citizenswrote letters to the Dioceserequesting a minister toserve the Solomons area orforoneoftheresidentstobegiven the honor. Later thatyear, Bishop Whittinghamappointed Reverend JohnRose as a missionary to thechurches in Calvert and St.Mary’sCounties.Rev.Roseheld services at MiddlehamChapel regularly and talkedabouttheneedforanewcha-pelinSolomons,butleft thearea in 1877, just two yearsafterhisarrival.

Becauseof the lackofachapelandpermanent rever-end, he number of commu-nicants in the lower regionofCalvertCountywasdwin-dling.ItwasnotuntilRev.R.Heber Murphy who becameRectorofChristChurchPar-ishin1886thatanythingwasdoneaboutbuildingachapelinSolomons.

On July 25, 1886 Rev.Murphy collected $4.16 andtheDiocesedonated$100 tothebuildingofanewchapelinSolomons. Thefundwasaddedtoovertimeandplanswere underway for the newchapel. According to theMaryland Diocesan Library,

therestofthefunding,whichtotaled around $1,800, camefromthesolomonsneighbor-hood, three years of chapelofferings, various convoca-tions,responsetolettersandthemanyactivitiesofthela-diesofthechurch.

The land for the chapelwas purchased in July 1888fromWilliamH.Crockett.ItwasdesignedandbuiltbyDr.GeorgeChambers.Chamberswasaarchitectandphysicianwho lived closer to Middle-hamChapelatthetime.

In 1889, the chapel wasbuilt with a Gothic styleframeas aboardandbattenstructure.Itwillseatapprox-imately75people.Thewin-dowoverthealter,andtheal-teritselfweredonatedbySt.Luke’s Chapel in Baltimoreand Ole Swede’s Church inWilmington, Del., respec-tively.ThecornerstonewaslaidbyDeanGambrill,Rev.JohnBarrettofAnneArundelCountyandRev.MurphyonAugust20,1889.ThechapelwasconsecratedonSeptem-ber4,1890byBishopParet,GambrillandRev.Murphy.

Although the chapelhasstood basically unchangedfor many years, some al-terations have beenmade toupdate the chapel’s interior.The original windows havebeenreplacedwiththemoretraditional chapel stainedglass windows, electricitywas hooked up in 1921, theorganwas installed in1924,pine flooring was added in 1927,kneelingbenchesweremountedin1930andin1974redcarpetingwaslaiddownovertop the pine floors. In-

doorplumbingwasaddedtothechapelinspringof1989,100yearsafterthebuilding’serection. The landscapinghaschangedabitaswellwiththeadditionofafencearoundthe property, black iron in1919, and later replaced in1967 with the present whitepicket.

ThenameSt.Peter’swaschosenbyRev.Murphyafterthe apostle Peterwhowas agreat fisherman in the New Testament.Thiswasdonetoshowrespecttotheconsider-able amountofwatermen inSolomons.

Rev. F. B. Randall wasappointed in 1896 to takecharge of St. Peter’s underthedirectionofRev.Murphy.Althoughhisstaywasshort,onlythreeyears,hewasableto raiseenoughmoney forarectoryontheBaysideofthechapel.Thelandfortherec-torywasdonatedbyWilliamH. Marsh and the rectorywasbuiltin1897.Afterhav-ing deteriorated to the pointwhereithadtobedismantled,newrectoryreplacedthisonein1963.

Until 1900, St. Peter’swasstillapartof theChristChurch Parish, and undertheir control. MiddlehamandSt.Peter’sbecameaself-supporting Diocesan Mis-sionlater thatyear,meaningthat they were only subjecttothedirectionoftheBishopof the Diocese. That sameyearSt.Peter’salsoreceivedtheir first Vicar, Rev. Lionel A.Wye,whoservedbothSt.Peter’sandMiddleham.

A graveyard was addedto the chapel in1956. Bed-

ford Glascock donated .9acresof landlocatednext toMiddlehamgraveyardtocre-ateSt.Peter’sgraveyard

UnderRectorDr.E.Ea-ger Wood who served thechapelfrom1976-1990,Mid-dleham and St. Peter’s werecombined into a parish onMay19,1978.Bothchapelswork together with sharedby-laws and joint respon-sibilities. Each chapel hasfourvotingmembersandonewarden.

Today,St.Peter’sstillof-fers Episcopal mass at 8:30a.m. every Sunday. Thenumber of communicantshas surely grown (The Rec-tor’s report to the Dioceseindicated 83 communicantsin1988.),aswellastheloveand devotion at this littlechapel. “We’reaclose-knit,fun bunch,” said a bright-eyed man leaving mass lastSunday.

The quaint chapel is lo-catedonroute2onSolomon’sIsland.It’scharmingexteriorandold-time interior createsawelcomingfeeling,andthecongregation reiterates thisfeeling.

New members and visi-torsarealwaysmade to feelright at home at St. Peter’s.“Don’tbeastranger,”saidacheery middle-aged woman,“You’ll always be welcomeinSt.Peter’s.”

For more informationon St. Peter’s Chapel visitwww.middlehamandstpert-ers.org or call the parish at410-326-4948.

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St.Peter’sChapel,ServingSolomon’sforAlmost1�0Years

ByGuyLeonardStaffWriter

For the second year in arow in Southern Maryland,families who have memberssufferingfromseriousmentalillness will have a chance tosupport eachother throughacoordinated setofclassesof-fered by the local chapter ofthe National Alliance on Men-talIllness.

Thecourses,calledFam-ily to FamilyEducation Pro-gram, will start Sept. 5, andoffer information on copingwith mental illness and thebest ways to seek treatmentforlovedonessufferingfrommentalillness.

The course even offersrole-playingactivitiesthatal-low participants to practicedealingwithmentallyillfam-ily member more effectively,all under the watch of NAMI-trainedinstructors.

Connie Walker, head ofNAMI Southern Maryland, said the need for support forfamilies dealing with mentalillnesswasagrowingproblemthe Family to Family coursewasdesignedtoassuage.

“I’msadsomanypeopleneed it,” Walker said. “ButI’mgladit’shereforpeopletouse.”

Walker said the influx of veteransreturninghomefromthe battle fields of Iraq and Afghanistan with post trau-matic stress disorder (PTSD)meantthatitwasallthemorecritical for families of theseveteranstolearntocopewiththeailment.

Walker’sson,anIraqWarveteran, returned from hisservicetherewithadiagnosisofPTSD.

“It’s a lot more commonthanyou’deverthink,”Walkersaid.

The Family to Fam-

ily course, which runs for12 weeks, provides help andsupporttofamiliesforawiderange of serious mental ill-nesses. It also gives familieswho are stressed from deal-ing with a family member’smental illness the assurancethattheyarenotaloneintheirplightandthatthereisaplacewheretheycantalkabouttheirproblems.

Thecourseoffers anop-portunity not often foundin everyday society, Walkersaid.

“It’s reallyhard for folksto open up about it,” Walkersaid.“There’ssomuchstigmaattachedtomentalillness.”

One St. Mary’s Countygraduateoflastyear’sFamilytoFamilycourse,whowishedto remain anonymous, saidthe NAMI course was invalu-ableinlearningtocopewithafamilymember’sbi-polardis-order,anti-socialdisorderandalcoholdependency.

“Itwasabigeyeopener,”the county graduate said.“It helps you to cope withit soyoucanbe an advocatefor your family member.”Thecountygraduatesaidthattrepidation marks the begin-ning of the course, but soonafter, the knowledge gainedthereisacomfort.

“At first you’re really paranoid because you don’tknow anything about mentalillness,” the county graduatesaid.“ButtheFamilytoFam-ilycourseguidesyouthroughitall.

“Ithelpssomuchtohavepeople to talk to. It takesso much stress off, it reallydoes.”

Another graduate of lastyear’s course from CharlesCounty, who also wished toremain anonymous, said thecourse led to the realizationthattheyhadtotakemorere-

sponsibilityfortheirmentallyillfamilymember’streatment,including looking for otheroptionsalone.

“It just put me out therelooking for other resources,”the Charles graduate said.“We were able to find better resourcesthathelpedwiththecostofthemedication.”

TheCharlesgraduatehasa family member diagnosedwith borderline personalitydisorder,allthemorepainfulsincethegraduatehasahisto-ryofmentalillnessinthefam-ilytheyhopedhadvanished.

“It’s a whole bunch ofpsychiatric conditions rolledintoone,” theCharlesgradu-atesaid.“Ijustneverdreameditwouldhappentooneofmykids.”

One of the greatest ben-efits the NAMI Family to Familygraduatesgetfromthecourse, the Charles graduatesaid, was the connections toother families that remainedonce the classroom instruc-tionwasover.

Those connections of-fered their own formof sup-portandhope.

“Listeningtootherpeopleyougetfrustratedlisteningtotheir frustrations… but youhear success stories too, andthatgivesyouhopedowntheroad.”

Anyone with a familymembersufferingfromaseri-ousmentalillnesscanregisterforthecoursebycalling301-904-9926.Thecourseinstruc-tionandmaterialsarefreetoparticipants.

Thecourse isheldat theChesapeake-Potomac HomeHealth Agency, Inc., locatedat 7627 Leonardtown Roadin Hughesville. Each sessionrunsfrom7p.m.to9:30p.m.Wednesdayevenings.

FamiliesCanGetSupportInDealingWithMentalIllness

Photo by Emily FinchMembers of St. Peters Chapel on Solomon’s Island enjoy coffee and snacks after 8:30am mass on Sunday

Investigators also allegethatWilliamTrainor,70,wholivesintheBretonBayneigh-borhoodplannedtokillhim-selfafter successfullykillinghiswife.

The suspect appearedbefore Judge John Slade IIITuesday for a preliminaryhearingandwasheldwithoutbail.

During his hearing Wil-liamTrainoraskedthejudge:“AmIgoingtobereleased?”

DistrictCourtprosecutorJulie Fouche, told Slade that“therecouldbesomementalhealthissues”withregardstoWilliamTrainor’srequestforrelease.

Sladeagreedwhenhede-creedthedefendantwouldbeheldwithoutbond.

“The court is concernedforthesafetyofyourwifeandforyoursafetyaswell,”Sladesaid.

Trainor was taken backintocustodybycorrectionsof-ficers and looked out over the courtroombeforeleaving.

Trainor’s wife, ElizabethTrainor,isatPrinceGeorge’sHospital Center in Cheverlyundergoing treatment for herinjuriesandwasinitiallylist-edasbeinginseriouscondi-tionMonday.

“Indicationsthismorningwerethatshehadimproved,”said Lt. Rick Burris, com-manderofBCITuesday.

Burris said the allegedvictim was expected to sur-viveherinjuries.

Burris added that detec-tives had amotive in the al-leged crimebutwerenot re-leasingitbecausethesuspecthad revealed it in his state-menttoinvestigators.

Trainor was arrested thesamedayastheincident,Au-gust 13, and incarcerated attheSt.Mary’sCountyDeten-tionCenterwhereheremainspendinganotherhearingSep-tember12.

Burris said the suspectwastakenintocustodywith-out incident. There was noone else in the house at thetimeoftheallegedstrangling,Burrissaid.

According to chargingdocuments filed by detectives incountyDistrictCourt,Wil-liamTrainor allegedly calledthe county’s Emergency Op-erationsCenterandtoldthemhehadstrangledhiswife.

Police and emergencymedical units respondedshortlyafterthecallandfoundWilliam Trainor’s wife, also70 years old, incapacitated,

chargingdocumentsstated.She was flown by Mary-

land State Police helicopterto the shock trauma unit ofPrince George’s HospitalCenter.

Charging documents al-legethatWilliamTrainorad-mitted to strangling hiswifewhile being interviewed bydetectivesatBCI.

Charging documents al-lege that the suspect said heputhishandsaroundthefrontof his wife’s throat and at-temptedtochokehertodeathbeforepolicecouldrespond.

The suspect eventuallystopped choking his wife,charging documents allege,and called for emergencyservices.

Detectives also allegein charging documents thatWilliam Trainor had said hewantedtocommitsuicideaf-terkillinghiswife.

The charge of first-de-greemurder againstWilliamTrainorcarriesthepossibilityof life inprison ifhe iscon-victed, a lesser charge of first-degree assault could mean amaximumof25yearsinpris-onifheisfoundguilty.

AttemptedMurderContinued from page A-�

Thursday, August 16, 2007 The County Times Section A - �

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The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Department fined five liquor stores over a two-day compliance check op-eration in July, sending an underage informant into 25 establishments to purchase beer with a valid identifica-tion card.

Owners of all five estab-lishments plead guilty to the St. Mary’s County Liquor Board last Thursday, indicat-ing the compliance checks were fair and within the pa-rameters of the law.

The five stores cited by Deputy Emory Johnson, the county’s alcohol enforcement coordinator, included Cook’s Liquors, Price’s Quality Li-quors, Russell’s Store, The Country Store and Murphy’s Town and Country.

All five owners testified to the board, citing “human error” as the cause.

Wayne Cook, of Cook’s Liquors, said his employee was in the middle of a Satur-day lunch rush when the in-formant entered the store and attempted to buy a six-pack of Miller Light with a valid Pennsylvania driver’s license.

“The employee was in a mad rush,” Cook said. “She did her job by taking the ID, but I can’t tell you what goes through anyone’s mind.”

Cook said the employee who sold the beer to the un-derage informant would be retained by the store, despite being cited for selling ciga-rettes to a minor just three months ago.

“It’s a tough decision to make,” Cook said. “Terminat-ing someone doesn’t set an example and I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”

Cook said he would con-sider terminating the employ-ee if the liquor board felt it was necessary, but the board made no such claim. Instead, member Tom Sacks wanted to know what Cook would do to get his employees in compli-ance with the law.

“My concern is the one that gets away and dies,” Sacks said of underage purchasing.

The board unanimously approved a $500 fine, $250 of it suspended, and a year of probation.

William C. Price and Cherry E.M. Price testified for Price’s Quality Liquors, an establishment located in-side the McKay’s Food Store in Great Mills. The liquor op-eration has no affiliation with McKay’s.

Chairman Charles P. Miedzinski told the Price’s he was surprised to see them in violation because of the store’s “no exceptions” pol-icy, which stipulates anyone who attempts to purchase alcohol must have a valid identification. Price’s Quality Liquors was one of the first in the county to implement the policy, which at the time drew harsh criticism from the community.

Cherry Price said the em-ployee, who has been with the store since October 2003 did ID the informant, but sold the beer anyway.

“In talking with him he said he doesn’t know what happened,” Cherry Price said. “He can only say that he looked at it wrong.”

The employee was sus-pended for three days, and sent to Techniques of Alcohol Management (TAM) class.

“I don’t care if it’s the cashier’s grandmother,” Wil-liam Price added, “they’re supposed to check ID.”

The board unanimously approved a $400 fine, $400 suspended, and six months probation. Another $50 was charged for the second vio-lation, which is not from an-other infraction, but a charge levied by the state for the il-legal sale.

Russell’s Store in Valley Lee was also cited July 14, when a long time employee of nine years sold a six-pack

of beer to the same underage informant.

“It’s very poor judgment,” said Janet L. Draper, owner of the store. “She’s been TAM certified.”

This is the store’s first vio-lation in 60 years of business, and because of its lengthy and clean track record the board imposed no fine and only six months probation.

Similarly, Murphy’s Town and Country, owned by Joseph Gilbert Murphy, re-ceived its first infraction in 58 years of business.

Kelly Greenway, of Colton’s Point, was the guilty employee who sold beer to the informant and showed up to Thursday’s meeting to apologize and explain herself. Miedzinski said it was the first time he had seen an em-ployee come in and apologize after being busted.

“You get so many differ-ent licenses that have pictures

on them, there is so much stuff on the license, I stuck my thumb on the part that said ‘under 21,’” Greenway said. “I was trying to focus at her face and the date, I miscalculated.”

Greenway realized her mistake just seconds after the informant exited the building, and ran outside in attempt to reacquire the beer, a fact Dep-uty Johnson confirmed.

“Kelly would have thrown

herself on top of the car to get the product back,” Murphy said.

Johnson said it was too late, and cited her for the vio-lation, a $500 ticket, anyway.

“You understand the se-riousness of it,” Sacks said to Greenway. “I can tell by your testimony that you are very sincere.”

A $250 fine was levied by the board, $200 of that sus-pended, and a six-month pro-

bationary period. The County Store in

Leonardtown also received a $50 fine and six months proba-tion after it was cited for sell-ing to a minor. Kim Mergard and Walter Wise appeared be-

fore the liquor board, and said they take their license “very seriously and do respect it.”

They also said they would send the guilty employee to TAM class “right away.”

Compliance Check Rings Up Five Guilty Liquor Stores

Cook’s Liquor on Route 235 was cited last month for selling alcohol to a minor.

The Country Store in Leonardtown, owned by Kim Mergard and Walter Wise, plead guilty to selling alcohol to underage informant at Thursday’s liquor board meeting.

Murphy’s Town and Country owned by Joseph Gilbert Murphy, plead guilty to selling alcohol to an underage informant at Thurs-day’s liquor board meeting.

Photos By Adam Ross

SectionA-� The County Times Thursday,August16,2007

Editorial&Opinion

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ByGuyLeonardStaffWriter

An elderly woman who sustainedseriousinjurieslastweek after she, her son andgrandsonmadeacrash land-inginasmallengineaircraftat Walter Francis Duke Re-gional Airport died Aug. 9.

The victim’s family was indeepmourningforthelossof Agnes Nance, 83, of Bowie whohadbeenonlifesupportafter the crash at Baltimore Shock Trauma.

“We’re not dealing with it very well,” said Rose Taylor, Nance’s daughter. “She was a very healthy, vibrant woman all her life. She lived with me and was very independent.”

Taylor said her motherwasjustasfearlessasshewasable to take care of herself.

“Shewas a thrill seeker,she wasn’t afraid of many things,” Taylor said of her mother. “Bikes, planes or roll-er coasters she rode them all.”

Nance was so healthy, Taylor said, that she took anactive part in playing with and teaching her grandchildren.

“Thenightbeforetheac-cident she was in my sister’s

poolteachinghergranddaugh-ter to swim,” Taylor said. “She wasswimminglapsacrossthepool.”

County officials have no word yet from the federal gov-ernment as to what exactlycaused the crash.

“They just concludedtheir investigation and that was it,” said George Erichson, director of the Department of Public Works and Transpor-tation and also the airport’s manager.

“They won’t release their report for months.”

Erichson said that the lo-calairporthadrecentlyhaditsoperational license renewedby the state.

“As far as operational safety we passed all thosetests,” Erichson said.

Last week the plane Nance was in, including her son Ger-ald Nance, 52, and grandson Gerold Nance, Jr., 19 of Blad-enboro, N.C. crashed shortly aftertakeoffaccordingtolawenforcement officials investi-gating the accident.

Detective Sgt. Jack Mc-Cauley, with the MarylandStatePolice,toldTheCountyTimesthatwitnesseswhosaw

the plane take off noticed ithadtroubledoingso,usingupthree-fourths of the runway,which is more than a planethat size needed.

The plane hit the top ofsome trees at the end of therunway and then proceededto crash land in a nearby field on Lawrence Hayden Road in Hollywood, McCauley said.

McCauley said that bothGerald Nance, who was the pilot, and his son were ableto pull Agnes Nance to safety from the wreckage.

The plane caught fire and fire and rescue units arrived onsceneto tendto thecrashvictims and extinguish the blaze.

Air traffic controllers at Patuxent River Naval Air Sta-tion placed a temporary flight restriction to allow for air-borne medical transport thatwas later lifted.

Taylorsaidthatherbroth-er,who she saidwas a goodpilot,wasdeeplyhurtafterthetragic accident.

“He’s pretty miserable, pretty devastated,” Taylor said in a phone interview Tuesday about her brother.

Shesaidthathernephew,

Gerald Nance, Jr. had sus-tainedonlyabumponhisheadasaresultofthecrashlandingbutthathermoth-er was simply not strongenough to handle the im-pact force.

“Hisbonescouldwith-stand it, hers couldn’t,”

Taylor said, her voice dis-traught. “It just crushed her.”

After the two men pulled her out of the wreckage, Ag-nes Nance’s nephew ran for help, first to a nearby farm

house thathadnophoneser-vice, and then out to the main road about a quarter of a mile away, according to Erichson, where he found a DPW&T road crew and used one oftheircellphonestocallinthenews of the crash.

“I think it takes tremen-dous courage to leave the ones you love and go get help,” Erichson said of the 19-year-old’s actions that day.

Taylor said that the fam-ily would inter Agnes Nance

at a cemetery in Bladenboro, N.C. and have a final service for their lost relative there.

She praised county of-ficials and work crews for helping her family membersand thanked them for theirkindness.

“Everyone there was goodtomynephewandIre-ally appreciate that,” Taylor said. “They were all very nice people.”

WomanDiesFromInjuriesSustainedInPlaneCrash

A firefighter looks over the wreckage left in a field after a small, single engine plane crashed after take off from Walter Francis Duke Regional Airport in Hollywood Aug. 9.Agnes Nance, 83, who was a passenger died later that night after sustaining severe injuries.

Last Wednesday, a ma-jor ceremony took place inHughesville. A celebration to dedicate Maryland De-partment of Transportation’s newest60milliondollarroadimprovement project. A celebration sobig, theusualgroup of take credit, lookwhat I’ve done for you politi-cians showed up in full force. Interestingly,theywereaboutthe only ones who showedup.

Even more interesting were those who weren’t there. Missingfromthecelebrationwerethepeoplewhoactuallymade the day possible.

For 40 years, almost ev-eryoneinSouthernMarylandhadbeencomplainingaboutthe traffic jams in Hughes-ville. Even more troubling was the regularly occurringauto accidents, often tak-ing the lives of good people forced to travel through

such a high-risk area of ourcommunity.

For 40 years, career politicianscampaignedelec-tionafterelectionpromisinga solution to the problem. None were ever able to de-liver. As PAX River Navy Base evolved over the past 40 years to become the facil-ityitistoday,theimportanceofasafeandexpedientroadsystem from D.C. to PAX River served to raise the bar even higher.

Unfortunately, in thesphere of Maryland statepolitics, Southern Marylandwas never quite that impor-tant. Sacrificing major trans-portation dollars in jurisdic-tions around Baltimore and Washington for projects in Southern Maryland alwayssounded good during thecampaign, but never made much sense once elected.

InMaryland,ifyouwant

to get re-elected to the Gover-nor’s mansion, the State Sen-ate, or the Maryland Houseof Delegates, courting big labor is the safe bet. Large laborunionbosses,manyofwhicharemoreinterestedinbuilding dynasty’s with large treasuries than serving their members, they control notjust a large vote, they pro-vide huge campaign dollars for the loyalpoliticians theycontrol.

Former governor Glen-dening promised us theHughesville bypass, yet once elected never found it to be that high a priority. Even many of our own local elected officials had cam-paigned for years promisingthe Hughesville bypass, yet never the guts to go against the union bosses to make ithappen. PAX River Naval Base, with it’s large concen-tration of non-union labor,

never qualified as important enough to take state dollarsaway from Baltimore, How-ard County, Prince Georges County and so on.

In 2002, everything changed; big labors candi-date for governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was so bad they couldn’t make a winner out of her. For the first time in more than 35 years “someone else” was elected governor. With the election of Robert L. Ehrlich as Maryland’s Governor, a Republican, a new focus was bought to state government.

With the pending 2004 round of base closures andrealignmentsonthenearho-rizon, making Maryland amilitary job friendly statewas a priority of Governor Ehrlich.

For the first time since 1694 when the state capitol was moved from St. Mary’s County to Annapolis, South-ernMarylandwas a priorityfor state funding. With the assistance and encourage-ment of local elected of-

ficials, those who were not sub-servant to Baltimore Cityunionbosses,aplanforSouthern Maryland was putin place.

The plan included newroads,newschools,andnewparks,protectingourmilitarybasesfromencroachment,allwhile protecting SouthernMaryland’s environment.

After a 40 year wait, the funding for the Hughesville bypasswasannouncedalongwith many other significant road improvement project throughout the SouthernMaryland region includingthe $55 million upgrade to Chancellors Run road, a by-pass around Prince Fredrick in Calvert County and work to begin the planning for abypass around Waldorf.

The Hughesville Bypass is theclearestsymbolof theEhrlich Administration’s de-sire to raise the importanceofSouthernMarylandat thestate level. A plan that ulti-mately cost Ehrlich dearly in his failed 2006 re-election bid.

Most disappointing wasthatnoneof thepeoplewhosupported Ehrlich and his SouthernMaryland commit-ment were given the podium at last week’s celebration.

Three career politicians,Lt. Governor Brown, (Gov-ernor O’Malley didn’t show) Senator Mac Middleton ofCharlesCounty and SenatorRoy Dyson of St. Mary’s/Calvert County were the ones taking the credit even though they all three were constantcritics of Governor Ehrlich with Brown and Dyson ac-tually voting AGAINST the governor’s transportation trust fund bill which provided the funding for the bypass.

Given that Brown, and Dyson have had their political careers supported by fundsfrom Baltimore City union bosses, their vote against the bypass was not surprising,whatissurprisingisthattheyfailed to give the proper cred-it where credit is do.

ASomberCelebration

In last week’s edition of The County Times a story featured the organization Feral Cat Relief with some factual errors. In the story Shirley Cobb is named as the founder ofthegroupbutinfactConniePettyfoundedtheorganizationatthebeginningofthisyear.

Cobb is the executive director.Also, Feral Cat Relief cannot provide funds to help those who trap feral or stray cats

to get them neutered. Those costs must be born by the one who traps the animal.The person who captures the feline can take the animal to any veterinary hospital

that neuters feral cats to have the procedure done.

Photo Courtesy of St. Mary’s County Public Information Office


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The County Times acknowledges mistakes published in the story “Commissioners Approve New County Health Board but Fear Creation of Bureaucracy,” on August 9th 2007. The commissioners did not approve a

new county health board, or health department. The story below is intended to set the record straight.


The St. Mary’s Local Management Board is devel-oping a new office to work alongside the county health department and board of health to better coordinate the county’s growing supply of health and human services.

As the county continues expand, so does the demand on health and human ser-vices, leaving some agencies frustrated with the lack of interagency coordination, ac-cording to Kathleen O’Brien, executive director of Walden Sierra, a non-profit offering crisis services and treatment

to the community. “We don’t have the luxu-

ry of not increasing to the next level,” O’Brien said to the St. Mary’s Board of County Com-missioners, who also sit as the county’s board of health.

The proposal involves implementing a new office to plan, coordinate and evaluate the county’s health and human services, bringing together the department of health, the department of aging, the sher-iff’s department, public works and transportation and a slew of others.

“Anything that has to do with people’s housing, health or well being,” said Dr. Wil-liam B. Icenhower, the coun-

Commissioners Ponder Additional Administrative Oversight Over County Health Services ty’s health officer.

The St. Mary’s Local Management Board (LMB) was tasked with developing a strategy, in part because of the 24 systems throughout the state, not one is alike.

“You look at this state and it always amazes me,” Icenhower said of the many systems. “Calvert is a little different, Charles is a little different, Montgomery has a different system.”

Meanwhile, the commis-sioners expressed concern over adding another layer of administration to the system.

“I’m not interested in creating another layer of bu-reaucracy,” Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D-Great Mills) said. “If it’s time for St. Mary’s County to move to the next level, which would

ensure getting those services to the citizens, than I’m okay with that, but we have to con-sider if it will be in or out of county government and how much support staff we are talking about.”

LMB hired a research company to determine the county’s needs in the way of transportation, health care and addictions services. The office would lend oversight to health and human servic-es, but would not replace the board of health or Dr. Icen-hower’s authority.

“What we need in the county is to have the best co-ordination of services,” said Ella May Russell, director of the St. Mary’s County De-partment of Social Services. “There is no one person in the county that can do that right

now, we’ve gotten to big.” The commissioners cau-

tiously accepted the proposal, approving County Admin-istrator John Savich to work with the Local Management Board to develop and consider establishing a human services office. The motion carried with a 5-0 vote.

“We’ve talked a lot about coordination and duplication of efforts,” said Commis-sioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D-Leonardtown), a di-rect reference to the hiring of an addictions coordinator to Walden Sierra, approved by the board of health months ago. “Based on limited dollars to the county and getting the best bang for the buck, I don’t know we are doing that well today.”

Mattingly criticized the

hiring in a previous meeting this year, citing that Walden and Sierra never had an ac-countability issue. However, Icenhower said Friday that while there was no indication of “anyone doing anything in-appropriate, it’s always good to be prepared.” That same philosophy lent itself to the concept of the new office.

The matter will likely come before the commission-ers again Nov. 1. By that time the management board is ex-pected to have specific recom-mendations for the commis-sioners, including the budget-ary impact on health services.

“Even though it is an or-ganizational recommenda-tion,” added Savich, “it is de-signed to accomplish all those things.”

by the waves; it was the piers that were uprooted,” Carpen-ter, 77, a retired navy subma-riner said. “It flushed out all my personal belongings and there was 18 inches of filthy seawater in my house.”

By the time Ernesto hit last year, he had finished much of the repair work to his house and again suffered water and storm damage to his home.

He’s nothing if not persistent.

“Through the many months people have dropped out of the program,” Carpen-ter said. “But I had to see it through.”

Since Isabel hit four years ago, he has only been able to use his house sporadically be-cause of the rebuilding and the

lack of running water there. Ernesto led to further repair work and delays.

FEMA money put him up at the nearby Harry Lundberg School of Seamanship until last March, when he was told they had run out of residential assistance.

It typified the arduous process, he said, of dealing with the government to get the funds he had qualified for.

“I’ve talked to people who’ve either quit, been fired or retired,” Carpenter said. “These past few years I’ve been lucky to talk to anyone.”

But now his waiting has paid off.

Contractors working for the county Department of Public Works and Transporta-

tion are busy building his new foundation.

“Sometime [this week] I expect this house to come back down,” said Bob Carl-ton, DPW&T overseer for the project, adding that the en-tire project, including design, engineering and construc-tion, was budgeted to cost $159,000.

“But I’m shooting to be below that,” Carlton said.

Carlton praised the ef-forts of Expert House Movers, based on the Eastern Shore, for moving in quickly to get the soil around the house ex-cavated and then jacking up the house with hydraulics onto wooden cribbing to allow the new foundation to be built.

Expert House Movers was able to get the job done in about two days last month.

“They don’t mess around,” Carlton said. “They do it

quick, they do good work.”Jerry Matyiko, owner of

the house moving business, said that his company has raised five houses in Piney Point so far this year and plans to do a sixth soon.

He’s been working to ei-ther elevate or move homes in St. Mary’s and Calvert for the past 35 years.

His business has branch offices in Missouri, Virginia and Maryland.

“The homeowners down there want peace of mind,” Matyiko said of St. George’s Island residents seeking high-er home altitudes. “Why wor-ry about this thing [hurricanes and storm damage every time it blows up?”

Working in the Piney Point area this year hasn’t been as tough, weather wise, as in the past, Matyiko said.

“Well it’s been wonder-

ful this year because it’s been dry,” he said, adding that con-tractors weren’t always enthu-siastic in working in humid St. Mary’s weather.

It was a chance driving adventure that brought Diane and Mark Krasna, of Balti-more down to St. George’s Island. They fell in love with the weather, the view and the slower pace of life on the island.

When they got hit with storm damage from both Isa-bel and Ernesto they contem-plated giving up their second home, but just could not tear themselves away.

They decided to go to Expert House Movers and get their home lifted up using their own money. They didn’t qualify for FEMA assistance because the home wasn’t their primary residence.

“There were times when

we thought we should cut our losses… but we’d come down [from Baltimore] and see the place again and we’d say no,” Diane Krasna said.

“It’s just so special… it just wasn’t an option to pack it in.”

She called the job Ma-tyiko’s outfit did in raising her and her husband’s home “amazing” and looked for-ward to having a new founda-tion put in that will put them about nine feet higher.

“We’ll have a big stair-case and we’ll be closer to the ospreys,” Diane Krasna said.

Carpenter said he was committed to staying on the island until his last day.

“This is my final home,” Carpenter said. “When I leave here it’ll be in a box.”

House LiftContinued from page A-�

SectionA-� The County Times Thursday,August1�,2007

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Del Monte Fruit Naturals8 oz Cup Asst. Var. 4 for $5.00

Red, White, or BlackSeedless Grapes $.99 lb

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Kool-Aid Jammers 10 pk.6.75 oz Pouches

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saidSueSabo,directorofthecounty’s human resources’department.

Over the last12months,thecounty’sworkerscompen-sationpremiumshavejumpedto more than $1.2 million,almost half a million dollarsmorethantheyearbefore,ac-cording toSabo. Ina reportto the St. Mary’s Board ofCounty Commissioners, theDepartment of Human Re-sources’ Risk Management

Division blamed apprehen-sions and pursuits, motorvehicle accidents, trainingexercise, strains and frac-tures, heart attacks and slipsand fallsamong thecounty’sworkforce for the skyrocket-ingrates.Manyoftheclaimsarefromthesheriff’sdepart-ment,astheyrepresent200oftheapproximately700countyemployees,Sabosaid.

The county processed87 claims over nine months,

spurring improvements thatwill likely include a shoe al-lowance,stressrelivingbelts,leather glovers for shield-ing fromsharpobjects,LEDlights for increased visibilityand reducing physical activi-tiesatthepoliceacademy.

“Weknow[deputies]needtraining,”Sabosaid,“butweneed to find ways they don’t get beat up, which is what[currently]happens.”

Part of the transitioncouldalsoentailmovingfromInjured Workers InsuranceFund(IWIF)toaself-insuredsystem.Currently,premiumsarebasedonwhenan injury

occurs, and what the insur-ance company projects thelosswouldbe,Sabosaid.

But under the self-in-sured system,premiumswillbepaidastheclaimcomesin,saving the county thousandsfromprojections thatmayormaynotcometofruition.

“Ifyou’rea largeorgani-zationgoingtoselfinsuranceit’sagoodwaytohaveasafecash flow and manage claims better,”Sabosaid.“Andifyoudohaveacoupleofbadyears,whichcanhappenbecauseofone big claim or a bunch ofsmaller ones, you don’t getcharged additionally for hav-

ingthatbadyear.”Sabo said the best time

to switch is now because ofthegrowingtrendofworkerscompensation claims, whichhassteadilyrisenoverthelasttwoyears.

Some departments al-ready have the equipmentsuggestedinthereport.

PublicWorksandTrans-portation officials currently receive a shoe allowance,according to CommissionerThomas A. Mattingly Sr.(D-Leonardtown). However,Mattingly said training andretraining would be the big-gest proponent to bringing

downpremiumsinthefuture.“Some of it is helping

folks stay focused on an at-titude of limiting hazards,”Mattinglysaid.“Inmycareerwiththephonecompany,theycontinually had training andretrainingwitheverythingwedo, because if you don’t re-freshpeople’smemoriestheybecomelaxwithdecisions.”

Additionally, the plancallsfor72taserstobeissuedtothecounty’spatroldivision,bureauofcriminal investiga-tions and special operationsdivision. Theestimatedcostfor all 72 tasers is just over$67,000,whichcouldsavethecountythousandsinlegalfeesfromsuspectswhosuecountydeputiesoverexcessiveforce.

Sabosaidthecountyhasdealtwith“alot”oflitigationfromtheseinstances,andthetaserswouldgoalongwayinapprehendingunrulysuspectssafely.

“It’sjustateameffortonthe whole task force to lookat information and trends ofinjuries,”Saboadded. “Alsopeople from insurance ven-dorscanofferusinformationtohelpusmitigateinjuries.”

Sabo and the risk man-agement division formed aLossControlTeaminJanuaryof 2007 with representativesfromIWIF,brokers,riskman-agersandconsultants,andthesheriff’s office. The team is responsible for the recom-mendations contained in thereport.

Workers’CompContinued from page A-�

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Ramblings of a Country Girl

St. Mary’s CitySt. Mary's City

DATE LOW HIGH LOW HIGH

Fri. Aug. 17 ------ 5:25 a.m. 11:23 a.m. 5:45 p.m.

Sat. Aug. 18 12:08 a.m. 6:06 a.m. 11:50 a.m. 6:23 p.m.

Sun. Aug. 19 12:51 a.m. 6:51 a.m. 12:23 p.m. 7:03 a.m.

Mon. Aug. 20 1:39 a.m. 7:41 a.m. 1:05 p.m. 7:49 p.m.

Tue. Aug. 21 2:33 a.m. 8:38 a.m. 1:56 p.m. 8:43 p.m.

Wed. Aug. 22 3:33 a.m. 9:39 a.m. 2:56 p.m. 9:44 p.m.

Thu. Aug. 23 4:34 a.m. 10:39 a.m. 4:03 p.m. 10:46 p.m.

LOCATION HIGH LOW

Breton Bay "+31 min." "+29 min."

Bushwood Wharf "+40 min." "+45 min."

Colton's Point "+45 min." "+24 min."

Point Lookout "-47 min." "-30 min."

Piney Point "+9 min." "-8 min."

Wicomico Beach "+58 min." "+63 min."

Solomons Island "-6 min." "+14 min."

Terri Bartz Bowles

I was born and raised in St. Mary’s County and ex-pect to live out my life and be buried here. My immedi-ate family and I have plots in a local church graveyard, I’m

set. This place is my home, my soul is here and my roots are here. I moved away brief-ly as a young adult and have traveled extensively, both in the United States and abroad. This is where I return - like the swallows to San Juan Cap-

istrano, this is where I belong. The county has changed a great deal in my lifetime but it’s still a great place to live and it’s where I want to be. Why?

Some of us, I think, have a stronger sense of place or

home than others. Whether that is a result of where you’re from or some biological or psychological effect, I don’t know. I do know that St. Mary’s County seems to hold onto her natives, we simply belong to this land and don’t

have any desire to leave it. To me, it’s a special place for many reasons. One reason, of course, is that my family is here. Wholesale, both sides, from parents to cousins, I’d say 90% of my relatives live in St. Mary’s County. That’s a huge reason for me – I can’t imagine being apart from my family. Perhaps the definition of family is something dif-ferent for us county people – family is not just your spouse and your kids; family to us is everybody you are related to, including your second cousin three times removed. It’s also important for me to be able to go to nearby cemeteries and visit the graves of family members; they’re still family and it maintains a connection.

What else do I love about St. Mary’s County? I love my childhood memories of grandparents’ farms, of fish-ing in the bay and the rivers, of riding my bike down an old country road to visit neigh-bors and friends, of visiting country stores and eating ice cream. I love the heritage and history of this place. I love eating crabs and fresh fish and corn on the cob right out of the field. I love driving home at midnight on a Monday night and not seeing another car for miles and miles.

We live in a quiet neigh-borhood on a dead-end road

that’s surrounded by water. I love seeing herons and osprey flying overheard and I love to hear the swans protecting their nest against the geese every spring. I love to see the deer, fox, hawks, rabbits, ter-rapins, owls and skunk in my backyard. I love to hear the variety of woodpeckers in the woods out back and see the songbirds working the yard for grubs and worms. I love the quiet and the chance to appreciate the good gifts God gives each of us every day.

I love going into local stores and seeing folks I know. I love the way you can start talking to somebody you don’t know and before long, you re-alize they know, or are related to, somebody you know. Sud-denly, we’re all friends! I love the easy way of life we used to have here and sharing what’s wonderful and unique about the county with newcomers. I love it when they love this place.

Yes, I’m a county girl – always have been, always will be. A family friend told me a long time ago that true county people just can’t leave here. It’s true, like the moon work-ing its’ magic on the tides, something invisible holds me and my fellow natives to St. Mary’s County.

I Love St. Mary’s County

Odd NewsCHICAGO- In downtown Chicago a 27-foot Oscar Meyer

Wiener-mobile parked illegally on a street marked “Parking/Standing Prohibited at Anytime”. A police officer ticketed the vehicle for a $50 fine and radioed for a tow truck. The truck’s driver arrived before this could take place, rescuing his fiber-glass sausage on wheels. The company paid the ticket and the driver continued his nationwide journey promoting a contest for fans to sing the Oscar Mayer Weiner jingle.

LONDON- The reported man-eating shark that has been making front-page headlines in Britain has turned up to be a big misunderstanding. Kevin Keeble takes the blame, having sent pictures to his local newspaper of a shark he photographed while in South Africa. He says his claims that the photo was taken near British surfing resort Newquay were not to be taken seriously. The “joke” seemed to spread like wild fire. “I didn’t expect anyone would be daft enough to take it seriously,” news-papers quoted Keeble as saying. “I can’t believe the story went so big”.

WELLINGTON- A New Zealand couple is looking to call their newborn son Superman, but only because their chosen name of 4Real has been rejected by the government registry. Pat and Sheena Wheaton decided the name after seeing their baby for the first time in an ultrasound scan and realizing he was in fact “for real”. The name was rejected because the regis-ter said all names must be a sequence of characters. So the birth certificate will say Superman, but the name 4real will be what they call their son. “No matter what its going to stay 4Real,” Pat Wheaton told the Herald, “I’m certainly not a quitter.”

AMSTERDAM-A giant, smiling Lego man was fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort on Tuesday. Workers at a drinks stall rescued the 8-foot tall model with a yellow head and blue torso. The toy was later placed in front of the drinks stall.

CAIRO, Egypt - It was very nearly a real-life version of “Snakes on a Plane.” A man was stopped at Cairo’s airport just moments before he boarded a Saudi Arabia-bound plane with carry-on bags filled with live snakes, as well as a few baby crocodiles and chameleons. The animals were confiscated and turned over to the Cairo Zoo and the man was allowed to board his flight home

Fairfax said, but that meant they could only look into a prospective volunteer’s crimi-nal record in Maryland.

Any other violations in another state could go unno-ticed, Fairfax said.

“We can look at Maryland records,” Fairfax said. “But we could [still] end up with a member with a criminal re-cord we didn’t know about. Most are using the Maryland system the best they can… and hope nothing happens.”

Fairfax said that the fed-

eral background check, with its concurrent fin-gerprinting and fee, could turn off some pro-

spective recruits from volun-teering if they were asked to pay for their own check.

“Why would you ask someone to volunteer and then have them pay $42?” Fairfax said.

If the volunteer rescue squad or fire department ab-sorbed the cost of the back-ground check then there was no guarantee that they would see a positive return on their investment, Fairfax said.

“We may get in 10 people but have only three stay,” Fair-

fax said. “This [directive from the federal government] was an absolute disaster.

Volunteer rescue squads and fire departments are of-ten seeking volunteers to help fill their ranks. Many rescue squads face difficulties dur-ing the day time shifts run-ning emergency calls for lack of volunteers. Fire companies are dealing with the same problems.

County emergency offi-cials continue to try and de-velop recruitment campaigns to help alleviate the shortages in volunteers, who receive their training free of charge.

Fairfax chided the federal government for not providing free national criminal back-

ground checks for prospec-tive volunteers, who he said far outnumbered those in the paid services throughout the country.

“There are one mil-lion volunteers in the United States, there are about 250,000 paid and the federal govern-ment can’t help?” Fairfax said. “Humbug.”

Barnard sympathized, but said the rules had to be enforced.

“Everybody’d love to have background checks done for free,” Barnard said. “It is an issue, we’re not trying to jam volunteers, we work with them every day.”

BackgroundContinued from page A-�

achievement of proficient and advanced levels in all grades for mathematics and read-ing. Some grade levels even experienced as much as 100 percent in proficient and ad-vanced levels over 2006 as-sessment scores.

“Our continued high ex-pectations for all students are now reflected in this critical achievement measure,” said Dr. Michael J. Martirano, superintendent of schools, in a written release. “This is an example of how collabora-tion and commitment to rig-orous instruction is improv-ing outcomes for all students in St. Mary’s County Public Schools.”

Benjamin Banneker El-ementary School and Espe-ranza Middle School were awarded additional recogni-tion; designated as “High Per-forming Schools” by MSDE.

Only 10 schools in the state of Maryland earned this des-ignation for Alt-MSA perfor-mance in 2007.

In reading, Benjamin Ban-neker Elementary School’s fifth-grade and Esperanza Middle School’s eighth-grade were 100 percent advanced. Additionally, Banneker’s fifth-grade was 100 percent advanced in mathematics.

Students earn one of three levels based on their scores: basic, advanced or proficient. Basic is awarded to scores of 50 percent or less, proficient for scores between 51 percent and 89 percent, and advanced for scores of 90 percent or above.

“Teachers and adminis-trators are to be commended for this success,” said Linda Dudderar, chief academic of-ficer. “This growth demon-strates that SMCPS focused efforts in staff development, curriculum alignment and data collection, resulting in substantial student gains.”

The Alt-MSA is required

under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which ensures stu-dent access to a general cur-riculum. The reauthorized IDEA was signed into law Dec. 3, 2004, by President George W. Bush, and stipu-lated 10 regulations to align it with the No Child Left Be-hind Act. Federal regulations require these scores to be in-cluded in school accountabil-ity, particularly in determin-ing Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

Lexington Park Elemen-tary School had not met AYP benchmarks in 2005 and 2006, nor had Green Holly Elementary School in 2006. Under No Child Left Behind, all students must score at the proficient level or higher in reading and math by 2014 or the school system could face consequences that include re-placing school staff and seri-ous reorganization by an in-dependent contractor.

TestingContinued from page A-�

SectionA-� The County Times Thursday,August16,2007

ObituariesLaurettaTeresaDavis,77

Lauret-ta TeresaDavis,77,ofHollywood,Md. diedAug.4,2007surroundedby her fam-ily in St.Mary’sHos-pitalafteracourageousbattlewithcancer.

Born Oct. 8, 1929 inBeausejour, Manitoba, Cana-dashewasthedaughterofthelateJosephandMaryFrancesRosmus.ShewasprecededindeathbyherhusbandFreder-ickLeeDavis,Jr.inFebruaryof 1984 whom she marriedon Oct. 30, 1954 in Beause-jour, Manitoba, Canada. Sheissurvivedbychildren:MaryJo Scarlette of Winston Sa-lem, N.C. and Jeff Davis ofLeonardtown, Md.; siblings:LeonardRosmusofSaultSte.Marie, Ont. Canada, Banja-minRosmusofBellville,Ont.,Canada and Patricia Shelorof Carson, Va. and 6 grand-children.Shewasprecededindeathbyherbrother:ZigmondRosmus. Mrs. Davis movedtoSt.Mary’sCountyin1954from Beausejour, Manitoba,Canada.SheattendedBeause-jourCollegiateandWinnipegBusinessCollege.Sheworkedasa:legalsecretaryforJosephBellan,AttorneyatLaw,Win-nipeg,Manitoba,Canada;sec-retaryforMGMinWinnipeg,Manitoba, Canada; secretaryat GAC Finance in Lexing-ton Park, Md.; purchasingclerk, Patuxent Naval AirStation, Patuxent River, Md.;sales clerk, Mammoth Mart,Lexington Park, Md. Afterher husband passed away in1984, she re-entered collegetoupgradeherbusinessskills.She volunteered to work atthe Lexington Park HealthDepartment and was askedto stay as a paid full timeemployee. Then she workedas an ID Clerk in the secu-rity pass office at the Patux-ent Naval Air Station whereshe retired in April of 1998.In addition to being a lovingwife and mother, she volun-teered at St. John’s School,Hollywood,Md.,RykenHighSchool, Leonardtown, Md.,St. Mary’s Hospital for 15yearsandSt.Mary’sNursingCenter.Shealsowasamem-beroftheCatholicDaughtersof America, National Asso-ciationofRetiredFederalEm-ployeesandWomen’sAglow.During her retirement yearssheenjoyedtraveling,visitingher homeland inCanada andwouldspendmanymonthsoutof the year visiting with herdaughter in North Carolina.She brought much joy andhappiness to many with herkindheartandcaringnature.Shewasaninspirationtothosethatknewherandalwayshadtimetolistenandwasalwayswillingtohelp.Herheartwasso full of love and she lovedeveryone.Sheenjoyedgarden-ing, macramé and producedmany macramé handbags forherfamilyandfriends.

The family receivedfriends on Wednesday, Aug.8,2007from5–8p.m.intheMattingley-Gardiner Fu-neral Home, where Prayerswere said at 7 p.m.. A Massof Christian Burial was cel-ebrated on Thursday, Au-gust9,2007at10a.m. inSt.John’s Catholic Church withFr. Raymond Schmidt officiat-ing.IntermentfollowedintheChurchCemetery.Pallbearerswere:FrankHouser,DalBea-vers,MichaelScarlette,KevinDavisandHarryTurner.Hon-oraryPallbearerwas:Christo-pher Scarlette. Contributionsmay be made to: Hospiceof St. Mary’s, P.O. Box 625,Leonardtown,MD20650.Ar-rangements provided by theMattingley-Gardiner FuneralHome,P.A.

CarolineLouiseGaillot,67

Caroline Louise Gaillot,67, of Mechanicsville, Md.diedAug.6,2007intheClin-

ton Nursing and Rehabilita-tionCenter.

Born June 28, 1940 inBoyers, Pa., she was thedaughter of the late Ronald“Spots” and Pauline ShoupMontgomery.Shewasthelov-ingwifeofAlfredJohnGalliotwhomshemarriedonNov.7,1960inFreeport,PA.

She is survived by herchildren:SamuelVincentandFaithAnnbothofMechanics-ville,Md.,andsiblings:Patri-cia Knight of St. Petersburg,Pa.,Mrs. “Bonnie”Kreiss ofKennerdale,Pa.,Mrs.WandaScott of Kettering, OH, JudyWagnerofButler,Pa.,Gretch-en Roberts of Fort Worth,Tex., Brenda Rowell of Lan-caster, S.C., Kay Duplaga ofRichport,OH,RubyYonkersof Liegioner, Pa., Ron “Ron-nie”MontgomeryofMayport,Pa., Ernie Montgomery ofTaylorsville,N.C.andRichard“RicK” Montgomery of Clo-ver,S.C.

Mrs.GalliotmovedtoSt.Mary’sCounty in 1970 fromWayson’s Corner in AnneArundel, Md. She enjoyedpainting,drawing,bakingandsewing.

The family receivedfriendsonFriday,August10,2007 from 5-8 p.m. in theMattingley-Gardiner FuneralHome Chapel, Leonardtown,Md.,where a funeral servicewas held on Saturday, Aug.11,2007at10a.m.withPas-tor Rob McNatt officiating. IntermentfollowedinCharlesMemorial Gardens, Leonard-town,Md.Arrangementspro-videdbyMattingley-GardinerFuneralHome,P.A.

RobertWinnHendrix,70

R o b -ert WinnH e n d r i x ,70, of Scot-land, Md.diedAug.8,2007 at hisresidence.

B o r nDec. 26,1936 inWashington,D.C.,hewasthesonofthelateCauthenWalterHendrix and Betty Barbara(Winn)Hendrix.

Hemoved to thefarminFour Corners, Silver Springwhen he was six years old.Thefamilywasveryinvolvedinthecommunity.Bobplayedthe trumpet in the SilverSpringBoysClubBand.

Bob spent four years intheNavy,stationedattheNa-valAirStationinBrunswick,ME. His first marriage ended in divorce and he returnedhome to Silver Spring at theendofhistourofduty.Shortlyafter his return to Maryland,hemetandmarried,CharlotteBauman. They were blessedwith two children, Robert,Jr. and Tracy. Bob alwaysworkedtwojobsmakingsurehisfamilyhadeverythingtheymightneed.

Bob worked at severaljobsuntilhefoundhiscallingtoworkforLoganMachinist.He spent four years workingtoearnthetitleofMachinist,which hewas very proud of.Eventually he moved to thegovernment printing office, where he spent the next 23yearsbeforeretiring.

In1988,heandhiswife,Charlotte, were able to pur-chasehisUncleVernon’ssum-mercottageinPointLookout,Md. They spent every wak-ingmomentthereandwhenitcametimetoretire, theytorethe cottage down and builta new year round house thatBobwasveryproudof.

Healwayswasinvolvedindoingvolunteerworkwiththeboy scouts, transportingdoc-torsandnursestotheirjobsinsnowstormswithhis4wheeldrive vehicle, and taking pa-tients to medical appoint-ments.Whateverhisendeavor,Bobwasalwayspunctualandalwaysontime.

In the summer of 1987,Bob saved aman’s lifewhenthe man was in trouble ontheChesapeakeBay.HewascampingatBreezyPointBeachwhen he noticed someone in

distress out in theBay. Boband Smitty jumped in theirboatandreachedthemanwhowasdrowning.Bobjumpedinandpulled theman tosafety,untangling him from the fish-ing lines that were keepinghimfromgettingbackintotheboat.

In 1998, when his son,Robert, Jr., was dying fromNon-Hodgkins Lymphoma,Bob found he had fathered achildwhenhewasintheNavyin Brunswick, ME. He hasbeenveryproudandgratefulfor Wanda’s coming into hislife.HeunderstoodGodgivesand takes and as hard as itwastoloseason,hegainedanewdaughter.Hehastriedtotrulybeherfatherandgrand-fathertohersons,andnowagreat-grandfather.

Bob was diagnosed withlungcancerinMay2007.Hewas a heavy smoker back inthedaysbeforeheknewciga-rettes were killers. He quitcoldturkeyin1999,butitap-parentlywastoolate.

In addition to his wife,Bobissurvivedbytwodaugh-ters, Wanda Hayes and herhusband,DanaofGusta,MEand Tracy Moregon and herhusband, Jason of German-town, Md., two brothers, C.Walter Hendrix of Brookev-ille, Md. and William Hen-drix of Colonial Beach, Va.,four grandchildren and onegreat-grandchild.

Inadditiontohisparents,Bob is preceded in death byhis son, Robert Winn Hen-drix,Jr.

The family receivedfriendsSunday,Aug.12,2007from 2-5 p.m. in the Brinsfield FuneralHomeChapel,Leon-ardtown,Md.Prayerswerere-citedat3p.m.byPaulaRobin-son.AGravesideServicewasconducted on Monday, Aug.13,2007at1p.m.inFortLin-coln Cemetery, Brentwood,Md. Diana Ley of MarvinUnited Methodist Church inSilver Spring, Md. will con-ducttheGravesideservice.

Memorial contributionsmay be made to AmericanLung Association, 14435CherryLaneCourt,Suite310,Laurel, MD 20707 or HOS-PICEHousec/oHOSPICEofSt.Mary’s,Inc.,P.O.Box625,Leonardtown,MD20650.

Arrangements by theBrinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. inLeonardtown,Md.

ThomasBromeHoward,�6

ThomasBromeHow-ard, 86, ofRidge, Md.,died Aug.10, 2007 inC h a r lo t t eHall Veter-ans Home,C h a r l o t t eHall,Md.

BornJuly20,1921inBal-timore,Md.,hewasthesonofthe lateJohnSpenceHowardandJeannetteEleanor(Brome)Howard.

Heissurvivedbyhiswifeof 43 years, Scotty Howard,sixchildren,ThomasHoward.Jr. ofReston,Va.,RonHow-ardofAnnapolis,Md.,MarkHoward of St. Mary’s City,Md., Allen Howard of BelAir, Md., Marguerite Mor-risonofNewYork,N.Y.,andJulieBergerofAllentown,Pa.,brother,JohnSpenceHoward,Jr., of St. Mary’s City, Md.,elevengrandchildrenandtwogreat-grandchildren.

A Graveside MemorialService will be conductedon Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007at 11 a.m. in Trinity Epis-copal Church Cemetery, St.Mary’s City, Md. ReverendHarryHarperwillconducttheservice.

Memorial contributionsmaybemadetoTrinityEpis-copal Church, P.O. Box 207,St.Mary’sCity,MD20686.


BonnieVernaKijek,46

Bonnie Verna Kijek, 46,of Racine, WI died Aug.11,2007 in Wheaton-FranciscanAllSaintsHospitalinRacine,WI.

BornFeb.4,1961inSanJose,Cal.,shewasthedaughterofDorothyBeverlyGoodwinandthelateAlbertMyers.Shewas the lovingwife ofBrianA.KijekwhomshemarriedonNov.12,1982.Sheissurvivedbyherchildren:MelKijekandAllieKijek;sisters:CathyAd-amsandRachelPulliam.Sheisalsosurvivedbyherbrotherin-laws,nieces,nephews,oth-er relatives and friends. Shewasalsoprecededindeathherstepfather:MelvinGoodwin.Mrs.KijekservedhercountryintheU.S.Navy.Sheenjoyedlife, helpingothers especiallyherfamily.

The family will receivefriends on Friday, Aug. 17,2007 from 5–8 p.m. in theMattingley-Gardiner FuneralHome, where Prayers weresaidat7p.m.AFuneralSer-vicewillbeheldonSaturday,Aug. 18, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.in the Mattingley-GardinerFuneral Home Chapel withFr. Gregory Syler officiating. Interment will follow in St.George Episcopal Cemetery,Valley Lee, Md. For furtherinformationortosendacon-dolence to the family pleasevisit www.mgfh.com. Ar-rangements provided by theMattingley-Gardiner FuneralHome,P.A.

KarlAdolphKleinbeck,�9

Karl Adolph Kleinbeck,89,ofLeonardtown,Md.diedAug. 11, 2007 in St. Mary’sNursingCenter,Leonardtown,Md.

BornJune7,1918inHobo-ken,N.J.,hewasthesonofthelate Charles Kleinbeck andMarthaMarkowKleinbeck.

He is survived by fourchildren, Karl Tramer ofFlorida,MichaelKleinbeckofDowell,Md.,KeithKleinbeckofPalmCity,Fla.,andPatriciaAnn Furnish of Honea Path,SC,brother,RalphKleinbeckofFlorida,threegrandchildrenandonegreat-grandchildren.

All services will beprivate.

Memorial contributionsmay be made to HOSPICEHouse c/o HOSPICE of St.Mary’s, Inc., P.O. Box 625,Leonardtown,MD20650.


Condolencestothefamilymaybeleftatwww.brinsfield-funeral.com.

MaryLouO’Dell,64

M a r yLou O’Dell,64, of Cali-fornia, Md.died Aug. 7,2007 at herresidence.

B o r nOct. 7, 2007in Califor-nia,Md.,shewasthedaughterofMazieE.Pilkerton Jones and the lateJohnH.Jones.Mrs.O’Dellat-tendedLittleFlowerElemen-tarySchoolandSt.Michael’sHighSchool.SheretiredfromPatuxentRiverNavalAirSta-tionin1993andworkedforagovernment contractor until2003. She loved Golf, fish-ing, crabbing, playing cardsand spending time with herchildren, grandchildren andfriends.

She was the wife of Jo-sephP.O’Dell,whoprecededher in death onFebruary22,2001.Mrs.O’Dellissurvivedbyadaughter,DebiJusticeofLexington Park, Md., threesons, JohnD. Justice andhiswifeSueofHollywood,Md.,Stephen H. McGee III andhis wife Jess of Hollywood,Md.,RonaldLeeMcGeeandhiswifeMarloofHollywood,Md.,10grandchildren,Shan-non, Hugo, Stephanie E.,Shawn, John, Jeffrey,Kelsey,Randy,R.J.,Cate, threegreat

grandchildren,Jasmine,Angeland Demarco, siblings, AnnPoeandherhusbandTommyof Valley, Md., Jean AshleyandherhusbandFloydofHol-lywood, Md., Kitty Lee ofCalifornia,Md.,JimmyJonesand his wife Sandy of Wal-dorf,MD.HerbrotherJohnW.“Bubby” Jones preceded herindeath.Sheisalsosurvivedby her stepchildren, Pat andwifeLynn,JeffandwifeSher-rie, Matt and wife Michelleand Christopher O’Dell andmany nieces, nephews, cous-ins, auntsandbrother-in-lawand sister-in-law, Larry andJanO’Dell.

The family receivedfriends on Thursday, Aug.9, 2007 from 5 p.m. until 8p.m. in the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. in Leonardtown,Md.Prayerswererecitedat7p.m. A Funeral Service willbe conducted in the Brinsfield FuneralHomeChapelonFri-day,Aug.10,2007at10a.m.in the funeral home chapel.The Reverend Ray Schmidtwill conduct the service. In-termentwillfollowinCharlesMemorialGardensinLeonar-dtown,Md.

Serving as pallbearerswill be Shawn Justice, JohnJustice,JeffreyJustice,BobbyAlbert,FloydAshley,Jr.,andChrisO’Dell.Servingashon-orarypallbearerswillbeR.J.McGee, Randy McGee andAndrewMcGee.

Memorial contributionsmay bemade to theHospiceHouse, c/o HOSPICE of St.Mary’s, Inc., P.O. Box 625,Leonardtown,MD20650.

JosephParryleeRussell,

Jr.,76

Joseph“Joe” Par-rylee Rus-sell, Jr., 76,of Leonar-dtown, Md.died August13, 2007in PrinceG e o r g e ’sH o s p i t a lCenter.

Born Sept. 2, 1930 inLoveville, Md., he was theson of Joseph Parrylee andAlice Elizabeth Joy Russell,Sr.HewasthelovinghusbandofLoisMarieRussell,whomhe married on July 18, 1953in Leonardtown, Md. He issurvivedbyhischildrenLoisAnnSpringerandherhusbandDale ofValleyLee,Md., Jo-sephMichaelRussell of PortOrange, Fla., Brenda MarieUnkleandherhusbandTom-myofParkHall,Md.andTinaLee Raley and her husbandJohnofLeonardtown,Md.Heisalsosurvivedbyhisgrand-children; Jennifer L. ShizakandherhusbandAndy,JeffreyD.SpringerandhiswifeBran-dy and Brian T. Unkle, hisgreat-grandchildren; Kyle A.Shizak, Elizabeth R. Shizak,Jeffrey D. Springer, Jr. andSydneyMooneyaswellashissister, Mary Katherine Mc-CurdyandherhusbandBruceofMarriotsville,Md.

AlifelongresidentofSt.Mary’sCounty,Joegraduatedfrom Margaret Brent HighSchool,“Classof1948.”Mr.Russellworked as a self em-ployed, life long farmer andcaretakerofNewtowneMan-or Farm and more recentlyenjoyed 19 years of employ-mentatBellMotorCompanyas a car salesman. The loveofhislifewashisJohnDeereTractors as well as cars andcollectingnumeroushubcaps.Known as “John Deere Joe”,heparticipatedinmanytractorpulls,includingtheoneattheSt.Mary’sCountyFair,win-ningvarious awardsover theyears. He enjoyed spendingtime with his grandchildrenandgreat-grandchildren.

The family receivedfriends on Wednesday, Aug.15,2007from4-8p.m.intheMattingley-Gardiner FuneralHome Chapel, Leonardtown,Md.,whereprayersweresaidat6:30p.m.AMassofChris-tianBurialwillbecelebratedonThursday,Aug.16,2007at10a.m.inSt.AloysiusCatho-

licChurch,Leonardtown,Md.with Fr. John Mattingly offi-ciating. Intermentwill followinCharlesMemorialGardens,Leonardtown,Md.PallbearerswillbeJeffreyDaleSpringer,BrianThomasUnkle,AndrewShizak, Lawrence Pilkerton,WayneNorrisandLarryJoy.Honorary Pallbearers will beFrancis Woodburn, ThomasBowles,NormanPilkerton,Jr.,Loretta Vallandingham, Ber-nardDelahay,JosephStewart,LeroyStewartandMaryKath-erine Abell. ContributionsmaybemadetoLeonardtownVolunteerRescueSquad,P.O.Box 299, Leonardtown, MD20650 and/or LeonardtownVolunteer Fire Department,P.O. Box 50, Leonardtown,MD 20650. For additionalinformation or to leave acondolence for the family,pleasevisit www.mgfh.com.Arrangements provided byMattingley-Gardiner FuneralHome,P.A.

Charles(Chuck)MoseleyWall,Sr.69

Charles( C h u c k )M o s e l e yWall, Sr.,69, of Lex-ington Park,Md. former-ly of SouthHill, Va.diedAug.6,2007 at hishome after a lengthy battlewithcancer.

Born April 20, 1938 inSouthHill,Va.,hewasthesonofthelateCharlesEmoryWalland the lateMaryHazelLettWall. Mr. Wall attended theUniversity of Richmond andwasstationed inKoreawhileheservedintheUSAirForce.Mr. Wall retired from Hon-eywell in 1995. His passionswere football, vegetable andflower gardening and gour-metcooking.HeattendedSt.Cecilia’sChurchinSt.Mary’sCity,Md.

Heissurvivedbyhiswifeof29years,DorothyKemperWallofLexingtonPark,Md.He is also survived by five daughters, Sharon Hansen ofThorndike, ME, Diane Han-son of Bel Air, Md., PatriciaMosley of Richmond, Va.,Sandra Bracey of Charlotte,N.C., Kimberly Dornak ofSouth Hill, Va., and a son,CharlesM.Wall,Jr.ofSouthHill,Va.,10grandchildren,asister,BetsyWalterofVirgin-ia Beach, Va., and a brother,William Wall of SouthHill,Va.Inadditiontohisparentshe was predeceased by hissister, Joyce Wright of SouthHill,Va.

Thefamilywould like toextend a sincere thank youtoHospiceofSt.Mary’s andOPISofSt.Mary’s.

Memorial contributionsmaybemadetoHOSPICEofSt.Mary’sInc.,P.O.Box625,Leonardtown, MD 20650 orO.P.I.S. of St. Mary’s, P.O.Box 527, Leonardtown, MD20650

A private graveside ser-vice was held at Immacu-late Heart of Mary ChurchCemetery inLexingtonPark,Md. The Reverend DamianShadwell officiated.

Arrangements by theBrinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. inLeonardtown,MD.

AdrianaAlexiWhalen,2WeeksOld

Adriana Alexi “Lexi”Whalen,2WeeksOld,ofLex-ingtonPark,Md.diedAug.6,2007inSt.Mary’sHospital.

Born July 22, 2007 inBaltimore, Md. she was thedaughter of Tameca BarnesandDurellWhalen,ofLexing-tonPark,Md.Sheissurvivedby her sister Tah’MarionaWhalenofLexingtonPark.AgravesideservicewasheldonFriday,Aug.10,2007at10a.m.inCharlesMemorialGardenswith Fr. Jack Kennealy offici-ating.Arrangementsprovidedby the Mattingley-GardinerFuneralHome,P.A.


Navy NewsAmy KaperStaff Writer

The Department of Navy announced today that Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems – Western Region, San Diego, California, has been selected to provide the Navy Un-manned Combat Air Systems Technical Demonstration. This $635.8 Million Cost Plus Incentive Fee contract will launch a technical effort to demonstrate the aircraft carrier suitability of an au-tonomous low-observable un-manned air vehicle, as well as demonstrate critical aircraft carrier suitability technolo-gies in a relevant environment. “Today’s announcement is a significant milestone towards understanding and mastering autonomous and low-observ-able flight in the maritime environment,” said Dr. Delo-res Etter, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, de-velopment and acquisition. “The determined effort, long hours and hard work by both the Government team and our industry partner will build on the knowledge gained in pre-

vious joint unmanned com-bat system efforts and help us launch follow-on develop-mental efforts in the future.” The effort, which is sched-uled to conclude in 2013, will involve shipboard operation, including catapult takeoffs, arrested landings and flight in the immediate vicinity of an aircraft carrier. The air ve-hicle will not carry weapons. “This specific contract is for technology development and demonstration and will not be an operational system” explained Navy Capt. Rich Brasel, program manager for NAVAIR’s technology dem-onstration effort here. “But through it, we will develop knowledge, skills and tech-nologies specific to operating an autonomous low-observ-able unmanned air vehicle in an aircraft carrier environ-ment. This is a critical step in efforts to develop future Naval Aviation combat capabilities.” Specific products of the effort, referred to as “UCAS-D,” are expected to include flight test data, test reports, trade stud-ies, simulation, and detailed engineering analyses to en-able future developmental

efforts, according to Brasel. The contractor-provided sys-tem will be comprised of two unmanned, low-observable air vehicles, two mission control

segments, and a support seg-ment. The system will be ca-pable of autonomous launch, recovery and operations in the Carrier Control Area.

Flight testing is scheduled to begin in late 2009 and culmi-nate with carrier flight opera-tions in 2013.

Excerpts of this article

were taken from a press re-lease by Jon Milliman.

Northrop-Grumman Selected For Navy Ucas Demo

Amy KaperStaff Writer

David Sutherland, Dep-uty Program Manager for Common Ground Support Equipment at NAVAIR, was named the 2006 Department of the Navy Small Business Program Manager of the Year. Last year’s winner was Bob Ernst, NAVAIR Ag-ing Aircraft Integrated

Product Team director. Sutherland and the PMA-260C team, in 2006, awarded 14 new contracts to small businesses totaling $57.8 mil-lion and awarded eight con-tract actions against existing contracts with small busi-nesses totaling $16 million. The team’s dedicated efforts working with small business have resulted in a significant total ownership cost avoid-

ance of $150 million for 2006. “I don’t think I have done anything extraordinary to merit this award,” Sutherland said. “I am just doing, simply, things that a program man-ager is going to do. It takes a whole lot of folks to support our work with small busi-nesses. To me this should be a team award and acknowl-edge everyone’s effort and not just a program manager.”

According to the award cita-tion, Sutherland is a zealous advocate of using small busi-ness requiring all acquisition projects to be evaluated for small business set-asides. He also mandated the use of ex-tensive market surveys to en-sure the viability of using small business to meet fleet needs. Sutherland brings a practical business sense to the table when procuring new ground support equipment for the fleet. PMA-260C strives to be good stewards with tax payer money, and his team looks for the best products for the fleet in the most affordable cost ef-fective manner and in many cases small businesses offer the best choices.

“The real end game is pro-viding good products for the fleet,” Sutherland said. “And small businesses just happen to be one of the ways that we use to try to do that. There are some equipment commodities where small businesses are industry leaders – armament loading, hydraulics support equipment, and cryogenics support equipment to name only a few. So it really makes sense to want to go to small businesses because they are in the fore front to what industry has and they are world class organizations.”

Sutherland’s office is cur-rently modernizing a lot of the common ground support equipment that’s been in the fleet for 20 to 35 years. PMA-260C has had some real out-

standing experiences working with some of the small busi-nesses who truly focus on the end user wanting to provide the Sailor and Marine with the best products available.

“On behalf of the PMA260 Common Support Equipment Team, I’m very proud of Dave’s remarkable accomplishments in small business contracting,” said Capt. George Kilian, Aviation Support Equipment Program Manager. “Not only have his efforts yielded excellent cost savings for our office, they have also resulted in qual-ity SE products for use by the warfighter while helping to encourage small business growth in support of DOD. Dave won this award due to his steadfast recognition of the value added by small busi-ness to PMA260’s efforts. We achieved a total owner-ship cost avoidance of over $150M. This sets an example of the benefits that can be at-tained through enthusiastic pursuit of opportunities via small business. Dave has been a real pathfinder for the team. He richly deserves the recog-nition afforded by this award.” Sutherland’s optimism and eagerness for using small businesses does not eclipse his need to be certain that the small business in question ac-tually has the capability they claim. New businesses PMA-260C works with are subject to proper market research, onsite surveys and talking

to other companies that have worked with them before. “Small businesses are a vital part of our Nation’s economy and help keep our country strong,” said Emily Harman Associate Director, NAVAIR Office of Small Business Programs. “NAVAIR is com-mitted to our country’s small businesses having the maxi-mum practicable opportunity to participate in NAVAIR acquisitions as prime and subcontractors.”

“Dave’s initiative and in-novation in increasing the role of small businesses in PMA 260’s acquisitions is com-mendable\, she added. “The total ownership cost savings of over $150M in 2006 alone speaks for itself and his re-sults stand as a model for all NAVAIR Program Managers. I encourage Program Manag-ers to involve the NAVAIR Office of Small Business Pro-grams early in the acquisition cycle.”

NAVAIR employees wanting to learn more about NAVAIR’s Small Business Program should contact their local Small Business Deputy.

Opportunities for shadow assignments and rotations to the NAVAIR Office of Small Business Programs are also available.

For more information on working with the NAVAIR Office of Small Business visit www.navair.navy.mil/osbp.

Excerpts of this article were taken from a press re-lease by Jim Jenkins.

Sutherland Named Manager Of The Year

Photo Provided By U.S. Navy

Photo Provided By U.S. Navy

Sutherland, left, is all smiles as he receives his award for the 2006 Department of the Navy Small Business Pro-gram Manager of the Year.

Artist’s rendering of a UCAS take-off carrier.

DEL. JOHNNY WOODWANTS YOU TO ATTEND HIS

BULL ROASTTUESDAY, AUGUST 28th, 2007

6-9 P.M.Olde Breton Inn, Compton

Casual Dress

$30 per person • $20 for seniorsCome out and enjoy a fun evening of great food and terrific company with

Delegate Wood and his familyBY AUTHORITY JOHN F. WOOD • JULIA LEE FORBES TREASURER

SectionA-10 The County Times Thursday,August16,2007

I have what you expect in a Realtor* Commitment * Dedication * Trust *

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If you are looking for a Realtor, let me put my commitment & dedication to work for you. I work hard for those that put the trust in me to assist with their Real Estate transactions. I have been with the Hollywood VFD for over 15 years and a lifelong resident of St. Mary’s County. I have been self employed for the past 15 years. Your referrals are also greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!!

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Weaverpaidherownwaydown to Cape Canaveral forthelaunch,whichwaspreced-ed by a two-day pre-launchconference where prominentmembers of theNASA teamtalked about their involve-mentswithspaceexploration.

Although delayed a day

because of weather condi-tions, the finale shot up into theskyat6:36p.m.Wednes-dayAugust8th,withWeaverseatedjust3.6milesawayonasetofbleachers.

“Just to see the shuttleand all the smoke comingfrom the bottom and liftingup,” Weaver said of her im-pressionsofthelaunch.“Thething that impressed me themost and is ingrained in mymemoryistheamountoflight

thatcameoutofthetailendofthe[shuttle].”

The shuttle’s main en-ginescreateacombinedmax-imumthrustofmorethan1.2million pounds, generatingthis lasting impression of fiery thrustandsmoke.Buttheed-ucationalconjecturesWeavercultivatedonherjourneyweredeliveredunderalittlelessfanfare:fromoneDottieMetcalf-Lindenburger, amission-spe-cialist-educator, who turned

her love of teaching astron-omy to high school studentsintoagigwithNASA.

Metcalf-Lindenburgerrelayedherpersonal involve-ment in the program withNASA’struemission:discov-erynotlimitedtoouterspace,but technological advance-mentthatimprovesearthandinspires kids to study harderandreachtheirgoals.

Weaversaidthemessagewas completely in line withherownteachingphilosophy.

“I’mconstantlyteaching,and trying to inspire kids,”Weaver said. “Mykidsbuildsail boats and bridges, I’mreally into the engineeringpart.”

Weaver was instrumen-tal in NASA’s EAP project,authoring part of the “MoonMunchies Educator Guide,”oneofsixlessons.Herworktied in directly to two edu-cation missions planned forEndeavour;oneconsistingofa 20-day plant germinationinvestigationusingsmallcol-lapsible plant growth cham-

bers. Endeavour’s crew isresponsible to maintain theplantsandcapturestillimagesofplantgrowth.

The other mission con-sistsoftaking10millionbasilseedsintoorbit,andretuningwith them, so that they canbedistributedtostudentsandeducatorsforanumberofed-ucationalactivities.

ResultsofEAPwilllike-lybeusedinfutureinvestiga-tionsforgrowingplantlifeonthemoon,awayNASAplanstoextendlongtermmissionstothemoon’ssurface.

On NASA’s webpage ofthelunarplantgrowthcham-berdesignchallenge it states“NASA scientists anticipatethat astronauts may be ableto growplants on themoon,and theplants couldbeusedtosupplementmeals.”

Weaver’s students haveactuallybuilt a lunargrowthchamber of their own, andsaidsheplanstoplantthead-venturousbasilseeds to“seehowtheygrow.”

“Wehaveacontrolgroup

of seeds [planted],” Weaversaid. “We will compare thedifference of the seeds thathave remained here, and theones that have gone up tospace.”

NASA officials say the EAP project is aimed atstrengtheningthenation’sfu-ture workforce by attractingandretainingstudentsinsci-ence, technology, engineer-ingandmathematics(STEM)discipline,startingearlyinel-ementaryandsecondaryedu-cationprograms.

Weaver taught secondgrade atBenjaminBannekerElementary School last year,buthasmoved to theChesa-peake Public Charter Schoolfortheupcomingschoolyear.She is slated to teach both first andsecondgrades.

WeaverContinued from page A-�

Gillian Gray, a second grader last year at Benjamin Manneker Elementary School works on her very own lunar growth chamber as part of Weaver’s “Moon Munchies” instruction.

Photo Courtesy of Kim Weaver

Documents

16,2007•St.Mary’sCounty,MarylandByGuyLeonardStaffWriterByGuyLeonardStaffWriterByGuyLeonardStaffW