Academy

President Barack Obama told Naval Academy graduates Friday that declining faith in government and other institutions makes it more important than ever that they retain their moral center as they embark on military careers. As a cold rain fell on the 1,047 graduating midshipmen, the president spoke of the sexual assaults that have plagued the military and made reference to political scandals that have roiled the early months of his second term. "As we've seen again in recent days, it only takes the misconduct of a few to further erode the people's trust in their government," the president said.

Annapolis Police are reminding residents to expect traffic congestion on Friday, May 24, due to the U.S. Naval Academy graduation ceremony. Commencement scheduled to be held at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium beginning at 10 a.m. President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver the commencement address, the first time he has spoken to a graduating class of midshipmen since 2009. Roads affected may include U.S. Route 50, Rowe Boulevard, Farragut Road, Taylor Avenue, Cedar Park Road, Annapolis Street and Route 450.  Road congestion is expected to start at 6 a.m. and will peak between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., police said.

He saw his first Blue Angels show in Detroit at age 6, and Thomas Frosch says the experience inspired him to want to become a pilot. He saw four more performances while attending the Naval Academy, including one the "Blues" put on before his graduation in 1992. Now commander and flight leader of the Blue Angels, Frosch, a Navy commander, was looking forward to returning to Annapolis this week, where he would have led his team through its traditional jaw-dropping show as part of the Academy's graduation week.

With a flick of his wrist, a U.S. Naval Academy baseball player from Orlando, Fla., tossed an upperclassman's hat atop the Herndon Monument on Monday, leading his 2016 classmates to launch into cheers of "Plebes no more!" amid roars from onlookers. "I was considering jumping and making it a little more dramatic," said Patrick Lien - who is a catcher, not pitcher, on the Navy team, "but I didn't want to fall and make a scene. " The Herndon climb was itself a scene: hundreds of plebes, or freshmen, charged a slickened, 21-foot tall granite obelisk at the service academy in Annapolis.

A Middle River woman was sentenced last week to six months in jail for defrauding the federal government through the Freestate ChalleNGe Academy at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Lynn Carol Williams, 56, sentenced May 6 by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett, will also serve six months of home detention with electronic monitoring as part of three years of supervised release for wire fraud in connection with a scheme to misuse the Freestate Challenge Academy corporate purchasing card, causing losses of more than $107,493.  Freestate Challenge Academy is a Maryland National Guard program at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The wake-up call came at 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, but Midshipman Alberto Salabarria was ready well before then. Anticipating a grueling, thrilling, muddy day of Sea Trials at the Naval Academy, Salabarria and some of his classmates couldn't wait. "Everyone was listening to music, trying to motivate themselves," Salabarria said. Staying upbeat is a key to surviving Sea Trials, a 14-hour test of strength, endurance and will that marks the end of the freshman, or "plebe," year at the Naval Academy.

My town, Annapolis, is a special kind of college town. The students at the Naval Academy are distinctive not for their backpacks, ear buds and school T-shirts, but for their crisp summer whites and their somber dress blues. The midshipmen take off their hats - their covers - when they enter a building, and they say "sir" and "ma'am" when you greet them. At this college, you don't pay anything unless you quit or get kicked out. About 1,400 arrive every July, but only about 800 will graduate four years later.

City school officials said they will take extra security measures at a Southeast Baltimore charter school after five fires were set this week at the school, which also had an altercation that injured an administrator and a student arrest. Officials said they will increase the presence of school police officers and district staff at the Friendship Academy of Science and Technology Middle/High School, which they acknowledged has had "significant safety issues" this week. Among them were five trash-can fires - two Wednesday and three Thursday.

You know you're exceptional at managing money when your parents come to you to borrow an occasional $10 or $20 — and you're just 7 years old. Wilde Lake High School senior Taylor Bruner has long had been adept at money matters, and that has developed into an interest that may reap dividends not only after after high school, but also help her and three other like-minded students at Howard County's Applications and Research Lab win a state finance...

With a little yelp, lots of tears and a bouquet of flowers from her developmentally disabled twin sister, who inspired her to help students persevere, special educator Ketia C. Stokes was named Baltimore City's 2013 Teacher of the Year. The Green Street Academy teacher was surprised with the honor in an emotional gathering at the school Thursday morning, which included Baltimore schools CEO Andrés Alonso and her family. "You are the epitome of all that's good in my eyes," said Alonso, who started his teaching career as a special educator and pointed out that Stokes was the first special-education teacher to receive the honor in his nearly six-year tenure.