Frederick County

Teacher sentenced for threatening notes A sixth-grade teacher was sentenced yesterday to nine months in jail plus nine months of home detention for writing threatening notes to five students with messages such as, "Tick Tock Tick Tock. Is it a bomb or is it a clock?" Michelle J. Dohm, 42, of Thurmont didn't acknowledge guilt or remorse during the hearing but expressed sympathy for the students' families. Dohm was convicted by a judge in April after agreeing to a statement of facts that included handwriting analysis and a microscopic comparison of fibers in postage stamps.

ANNAPOLIS -- Sen. Barack Obama's campaign released the names of 100 prominent Maryland supporters yesterday as the state activists from both parties ramp up for the Feb. 12 Democratic presidential primary. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign already boasts the support of some of the marquee names in Maryland politics, including Gov. Martin O'Malley and Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. But the Obama campaign is claiming that the Illinois senator's list is longer. His state campaign is headed by Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler and U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings and boasts dozens of supporters in the General Assembly and local governments.

FREDERICK -- Frederick's Board of Aldermen will consider removing from City Hall a bronze bust of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney, author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision affirming slavery. The statue of Taney, who lived about 20 years in Frederick, "does not belong in front of the city center," Democratic Alderwoman Donna Kuzemchak said Thursday. Four of the five aldermen agreed to start the discussion by asking the city staff to investigate the possible removal of the bust from the spot it has occupied in front of City Hall for 75 years.

David P. Daggett OCCUPATION Chief deputy state's attorney, Carroll County in the news After the state medical examiner ruled the death of 17-year-old Isaiah Simmons at Bowling Brook Preparatory School a homicide, the case fell to Daggett to handle. He says he will present evidence to a county grand jury next month and will ask it to determine whether it supports any criminal indictments. He has said it seems that clear no one intended to kill Simmons, who died after being restrained by the school's staff for three hours.

Awards The Anne Arundel Tech Council announced the winners of its 2007 TechAwards. Receiving the Good Chip Award was Carematic Systems Inc., developer of online software for adults with developmental disabilities; the Tech Service Award: NMR Consulting, an information technology company; and the Innovator Award: RxNT, maker of an automatic prescription system. Force 3, a 300-employee firm that provides communications networks, network management and application support to mostly government customers, was named Tech Company of the Year.

Harford County : Edgewood Sports bar stabbing being investigated The Harford County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the stabbing early Saturday of an unidentified man inside an Edgewood sports bar. Sgt. Christine Presberry, a sheriff's office spokeswoman, said deputies responding to a report of a stabbing at the Edge Sports Bar and Grill in the 2200 block of Hanson Road about 1:30 a.m. found the victim lying on the floor and bleeding from...

1 Loss for new Liberty volleyball coach Laura Ritter after her team's 25-15, 22-25, 25-19, 26-24 setback to Williamsport of Washington County in the season opener. The Lions regrouped on Thursday for a four-game win over Urbana of Frederick County. 2 Goals for the Westminster field hockey team in last week's season-opening shutout win against Century. The win avenged a 1-0 loss to Century a year ago. 3 New athletic directors in the county this school year, with the addition of Ed DeVincent at Liberty, Steve Speck at Winters Mill and Missi Henry at Carroll Christian.

I-95 work will mean lane closings, detours Road work in the Interstate 95 corridor northeast of Baltimore will require overnight lane closings and detours next week as the Maryland Transportation Authority moves steel girders into place for the addition of toll lanes. Next Monday through Thursday at 9 p.m., the right lane of southbound I-95 near the I-895 split will be closed. Another lane will be closed at 11 p.m., and a third lane will be closed at midnight, closing southbound I-95 and leaving open only the two lanes that lead to I-895 and the Harbor Tunnel.

House Speaker Michael E. Busch had a spring in his step as he walked toward his State House office yesterday morning. "What a difference a day maaaakes," he crooned. "Just twenty-foourrr hours later ... " Indeed, 24 hours before, a fragile coalition behind the slot machine gambling referendum in the House of Delegates was crumbling. But by the time Busch was singing his way down the hall, albeit with some of the wrong lyrics, the referendum was hours away from passing, 86 to 52. What happened was a case of intense closed-door negotiations, some classic Busch legislative legerdemain, a tirade from Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, and some late-night lobbying by Gov. Martin O'Malley in a swanky Annapolis bar. It was, Annapolis veterans say, about the craziest day they've ever seen.

FiresMount Airy: Firefighters responded at 5 p.m. Wednesday for a gas tank leaking in the 4500 block of Bartholow Road.Mount Airy: Units responded at 9: 28 p.m. Wednesday to a brush fire along the railroad and Route 144 in Frederick County.Pub Date: 7/30/99

State police found four people dead Friday evening in what they described as a murder scene at a home in Frederick County. The bodies of a man, woman, boy and girl - all believed to be related - were discovered about 5:40 p.m. in a home in the 300 block of Contour Road in Mount Airy, said Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman. A friend who had not heard from the family in a few days went to the house to check on things Friday and saw a body through a window, then called 911, Shipley said.

Body of missing man found floating in Dundalk cove The body of a man reported missing early Thursday was found hours later near a boat moored at a marina on Lynch Cove in Dundalk, Baltimore County police said. The man's name was not released. About 3 p.m., police received a 911 call that a man's body was floating in the water at Sheltered Harbor Marina off the 8000 block of Stansbury Road. The body was removed by county firefighters and taken to the state medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

For 10 days beginning tomorrow, the Maryland State Fair in Timonium will offer samplings of the best the Old Line State has to offer: crab cakes, horse racing, corn on the cob, livestock, carnival rides, bull-riding. OK, maybe one of those doesn't exactly fit - Maryland has never been known for its cowboys and bucking bulls. But don't tell that to the thousands of people who show up throughout the summer at the J Bar W Ranch in Johnsville in Frederick County, where breeding, training and riding bulls is a 24-hour-a-day operation.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore has removed the pastor of a Cumberland church as it investigates allegations that he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s, the archdiocese announced Sunday. Monsignor Thomas Bevan, pastor of St. Patrick Church since 1997, has denied the allegations, according to the archdiocese. Representatives of the archdiocese met with parishioners and staff at St. Patrick on Sunday to inform them of the allegations and to answer questions, according to the archdiocese.

It's never too early to smother a really, really bad transportation project. These things take on a life of their own if they're allowed to progress too far, and before you know it you're being tossed out of your home so that folks who freely chose to live in outer suburbia can race home in congestion-free comfort to down their dinner a little earlier in the evening. That's apparently the plan for 251 families who live along the Interstate 270 corridor in Montgomery and Frederick counties.

Cool, wet summer promotes fungus growth Maryland agriculture officials say the cool, wet summer is leaving the state's grain crops vulnerable to fungus damage. Agriculture Department spokeswoman Sue DuPont says farmers noticed a problem with the crops about a month ago. The University of Maryland agriculture extension office says the state chemist's office has been distributing test kits to farmers across Maryland. Testing has found increased levels of a fungus known as vomitoxin across the state with the bulk reported in Southern Maryland.

Frederick Co. woman killed in head-on crash 1 A 51-year-old Frederick County woman was killed in a head-on collision Saturday afternoon on Route 26 at Old Liberty Road, state police said. Police said Patricia Marie Ryan was killed when the car she was driving east on Route 26 crossed the center line and collided with a pickup truck, causing the truck to overturn. Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the truck, Alfonso Contreras Balderas, 32, of Frederick County and two passengers were taken to Washington County Hospital, where they were treated for injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said.

The same forces that contended in the decades-long struggle over the Inter-County Connector have drawn new battle lines over a $4.6 billion proposal to widen Interstate 270 in Montgomery and Frederick counties - potentially the most expensive transportation project in Maryland history. The proposal to add four express toll lanes to the heavily congested highway - at a cost almost twice that of the $2.6 billion ICC - is drawing the support of Montgomery County business leaders and fierce opposition from environmental groups.

Julien Paul Delphey, a former Frederick County Republican member of the Maryland House of Delegates and a sporting-goods store owner, died of an aneurysm July 12 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was 91. Mr. Delphey was born and raised in Frederick, and graduated in 1937 from Frederick High School. During World War II, he served with the Army Signal Corps at Edgewood Arsenal. After the war, Mr. Delphey went to work for Delphey's Sports Store, a business his father, J. Paul Delphey, established in 1905 on West Patrick Street in Frederick.

A thoroughbred's tattoo - an identification code stamped inside its upper lip - serves as a key to unlocking much of its past. But what the racing industry mark can't reveal is which of a former racehorse's various owners took good care of it and which did not. Such was the case with two emaciated thoroughbreds recently brought to Days End Farm Horse Rescue, said Kathy Schwartz-Howe, co-founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization....