Family Division

There may have been a time when lawmakers could look at the price tag on a piece of legislation and yawn. If so, it's ancient history now. With citizens demanding effective government at an efficient cost, the fiscal note can make or break a bill.For several years, the price tag has helped stall attempts in the General Assembly to create a family division within the state's circuit courts. Legislators would take one look at the inflated fiscal note, and everyone knew the legislation was doomed -- despite evidence that a family court would vastly improve the effectiveness of Maryland's judiciary in dealing with domestic matters.

The Maryland football team added a monster to its defensive line when Frankenshaw committed to the program Monday morning. David Shaw, as he's more commonly known, a junior from Spring Grove, Pa., is the fourth commit in the Terps' 2014 class and the first defensive recruit in the class. The 6-foot-6, 275 pound defensive lineman brings a combination of speed and strength to the line in addition to his work ethic. Shaw's nickname, Frankenshaw, came about when Spring Grove assistant Greg Bowman watched Shaw do a drill called “Frankensteins,” where he lifted one leg forward, touched his toes and switched to the other leg. Shaw comes from a family of Division I athletes, as his brothers, John and Jim, both played at Penn State and his father, James, played at Colgate.

Daren Ruffin had been home from jail for only about a week before he found himself in custody again. The charge was the same: second-degree assault, after his wife told Baltimore police that Ruffin beat her. But instead of spending a month in jail in lieu of bail, as he had before, Ruffin was released the next day on his own recognizance and ordered to stay away from his wife, Melissa Davis. Hours later, he was charged with first-degree murder. Police found Davis stabbed to death in the couple's apartment last Friday and say Ruffin confessed to the crime.

WHAT CAN BE done to help fathers fulfill their obligation to pay child support? Baltimore County is the latest jurisdiction to make the admirable effort to connect deadbeat dads to decent jobs. It's certainly not uncommon for fathers to fall behind in payments to children with whom they no longer live. Nationally, some $92 billion is owed in child support; Maryland accounts for about $1.4 billion, with about $30 million owed in Baltimore County. While failure to pay can result in jail time, more jurisdictions are figuring out that it may be better to help dads pay up rather than to lock them up. In Baltimore County, options such as work release and home detention proved to be only marginally effective, as the operational costs often exceeded the amount of support collected.

A 39-year-old man was arraigned yesterday in Baltimore Circuit Court on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse in the death of his infant son, who died from blunt force injury to the head, the state's attorney's office announced. Charles Dyson of the 1700 block of Ramblewood Ave. had his son, Daquan Antonio Dyson, at his home July 27 when the incident occurred. Daquan was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he died two days later. Assistant State's Attorney Julie Drake, chief of the felony family violence division, will handle the case, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 7 before Judge John N. Prevas.

The Baltimore State's Attorney's Office on Friday announced the formation of a “special victims unit” to prosecute cases similar to those seen on the “Law & Order: SVU” crime drama of the same name. Baltimore's SVU, which combines the city's family violence and sex offense divisions, will focus on crimes of violence - including sexual assault and abuse, domestic violence, child abuse and human trafficking - against “women, children, vulnerable adults and other victims of sexual assault and domestic violence,” according to the prosecutor's office.

Using music, poetry, dance and art, the Black Male Identity Project has been striving for the past year to overturn negative stereotypes of African-American men. "We know that Baltimore City has a lot of problems, but we wanted to celebrate the role of artists, of storytellers in producing narratives that can help us discover solutions," said Fanon Hill, a musician and co-director of the project. On Sunday, the project concluded at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, but organizers say the program's positive message will carry on here and elsewhere.

Judge John F. Fader II's benign, fatherly appearance doesn't fool anybody once he starts lecturing troubled families in his Baltimore County courtroom.The Circuit Court judge tells a divorced couple fighting over visitation with their teen-age sons: "We can't have two armed camps at their weddings."He tells a belligerent man in leg chains who owes $13,000 in child support: "There are murderers, there are pedophiles, and there are people who don't pay child support."As the Maryland Court of Appeals considers establishing family courts in Maryland's largest counties, Fader has carved a niche for himself as an authority on family law -- divorce, custody, child support, domestic violence.

PeopleDonna Ange, vice president of marketing and sales for Interpay Inc. -- a payroll company with local headquarters in Columbia -- has been selected by the Small Business Administration as the 1997 Women in Business Advocate of the Year. She was recognized for helping other women develop their businesses. Ange is divisional vice president and board member for the Howard County Chamber of Commerce, vice president and board member of the Jim Rouse Entrepreneurial Fund, board member for Developmental Services Group and a committee chairwoman for several local charities.

In the past four years, Kathleen M. Murphy has become an outspoken advocate for the establishment of a statewide family court system. It was her drawn-out divorce and child support case that sparked her activism. And it is that same case that has brought her efforts to an end.In exchange for Murphy's silence on matters relating to their legal battles, her former husband, Lloyd N. Schaeffer, agreed Friday to release Murphy from her responsibility to make monthly child support payments for their son.The settlement, ordered by Carroll Circuit Judge Raymond E. Beck on Friday, ends the public legal battles between Murphy and Schaeffer that have continued since their October 1992 divorce.