Accokeek

A conservative Episcopal priest who was hired as rector by a 300-year-old Prince George's County parish is defying the authority of the bishop pro tempore of Washington, who happens to be a woman. The Rev. Samuel L. Edwards says he doesn't recognize her sacramental authority as bishop and will not receive communion from her. Bishop Jane H. Dixon says that his conservative views and his claim that the Episcopal Church is "hell-bound" make him unfit to be a rector in her diocese and that she wants him out. He was ordered to cease ministering at Christ Episcopal Church in Accokeek on Friday.

Beretta USA Corp. said yesterday that it is boosting production of the military side of its Accokeek plant to accommodate a $6.5 million contract it won to supply 16,600 handguns to the U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard.Jeff Reh, contract manager for Beretta, said the Army Reserve-National Guard order will result in a near doubling of the plant's military production."We are in a ramp-up phase," Reh said. "We will deliver 3,500 pistols to the Navy this month and 6,000 next month."The Navy is the purchasing agent for the Army Reserve and National Guard contract.

Beretta USA Corp. regained its status as a defense contractor when the Accokeek company received an $18.5 million order for 45,000 of its 9 mm handguns for the Navy.The new order is the second largest in the southern Prince Georges County company's history. It will activate Beretta's military assembly operation for the first time in more than a year.In August 1994, the company shipped the last of 392,000 handguns, valued at $110 million, to the Army, the purchasing agent for all branches of the military.

ACCOKEEK -- Robert Bonaventure took a .22-caliber, nickel-plated pistol with an imitation ivory hand grip from the small blue box on top of his desk and studied it."We couldn't meet the demand," he finally said, cupping the gun in his hand. "Basically, we were sold out. We increased production by 10 percent, which was the maximum we could boost it, and we sold everything we could make."In an industry taking billion-dollar hits from Pentagon cuts, Beretta USA Corp. stands out as an amazing success story.

ACCOKEEK -- The 16-shot, semiautomatic 9 mm handgun lying on Robert Bonaventure's desk has a lot to do with his sense of security.Mr. Bonaventure is head of Beretta U.S.A. Corp., and the gun he picked up and waved about is almost identical to those the company makes for the U.S. military.Beretta has used its military contract to establish such a strong position in the domestic firearms market that even when its Army order is filled next spring, the company expects no slowdown in production.

A 26-year-old Southern Maryland man stole a marked police car in Anne Arundel County early yesterday, led authorities on a seven-mile chase and tried to run down one officer before crashing into a guardrail, police said.Andrew Eugene Elgin, of the 700 block of Farmington Road West, in Accokeek, was charged with many traffic violations, driving while intoxicated, theft, possession of marijuana and two counts of assault with intent to murder.Police said an officer had to jump onto the trunk of his car to avoid being struck by the Anne Arundel County police cruiser driven by Mr. Elgin.

In an effort to reverse the effects of the chestnut tree blight of the 1950s, the first American Chestnut/Fall Farm Festival, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, will demonstrate the value of the tree as wood and as a fruit. The Nationl Colonial Farm, a re-creation of a mid-18th century tobacco farm, will host the festival, offering demonstrations of chestnut woodcraft, chestnut wreath making and chestnut pancakes making, plus Colonial crafts and children's games, music, storytellers, carriage rides and tours of the farm and its chestnut gove.