Gaithersburg

A 27-year-old Gaithersburg man, who prosecutors say met a 13-year-old girl through the Internet and had sex with her in 2007, avoided a trial that was to have begun Thursday by pleading guilty to second-degree rape. Bradford Lee Atkins Jr., who had been charged at least twice previously with sex offenses and on another occasion with gun violations, is to be sentenced Feb. 4 by Baltimore County Circuit Judge Mickey J. Norman. The judge had begun picking a jury Wednesday and was to have resumed the process Thursday when Atkins chose to accept a plea deal on a single count rather than be tried on all six counts with which he was charged.

On Friday February 20, 2009 of Lee's Summit, MIssouri, formerly of Gaithersburg, MD. Beloved husband of Kathy Pearce; loving father of Jennifer Shotlander (David), Jacqueline Pearce Garrett (Jerry), Jessica Pearce; stepfather of Kristina Borge, Brian Borge (Heather) and Kevin Borge; brother of Susan Pearce. Also survived by two grandchildren, Felicity and Carl. Friends may call at DeVol Funeral Home on Wednesday February 25, 2009 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8pm. A Memorial Service will be held at Unity Christ Church 111 Central Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 on Thursday February 26, 2009 at 11:00am.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown's cousin was fatally shot in Gaithersburg on Saturday night by her ex-boyfriend, who was then killed by Montgomery County police officers responding to the domestic dispute, officials said yesterday. Catherine T. Brown, 40, a teacher at Beauvoir National Cathedral Elementary School in Washington, was pronounced dead at the scene after being shot in the garage of her home in the 9400 block of Vineyard Haven Drive in Montgomery Village, police said. The lieutenant governor flew back to Maryland yesterday morning from Denver, where he was participating in the Democratic National Convention.

On April, 18, 2008, MARGARET M. (nee Manger) of Gaithersburg, formerly of Woodensburg, MD; beloved wife of the late Robert B. Wooden; sister of the late Anna Grace Hendrickson. Also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Services at Asbury Methodist Home at Wilson Health Center, 301 Russell Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 n Thursday, at 11 a.m. Interment in Mt. Gilead Cemetery, Woodensburg, MD. Arrangements by the Eline Funeral Home, 934 S. Main St., Hampstead, MD 21074. Online condolences may be made at www.elinefh.

Log onto theeconomist.com and pretty much the only thing you'll see is a giant mug shot of Alan Greenspan - which irks The Economist magazine to no end. The 165-year-old English publication, read by financial and political junkies worldwide, is stuck using plain old "economist.com" - sans the all important "the" - as its Web home, even though it has trademarked the two-word title. Three weeks ago, a United Nations intellectual property arbitrator ruled that while he's "highly sceptical and almost incredulous" over aspects of the situation, there's no legitimate reason to rip the domain name from the owner who claimed it in 1996.

Labor groups, immigrant advocates and city leaders applauded yesterday's opening of a Southeast Baltimore employment center, a move designed to keep day workers off street corners and provide them with jobs, training and legal assistance. Operated by the immigrant advocacy group CASA of Maryland, the refurbished brick warehouse at East Fayette and Madeira streets will offer workers an alternative to congregating at a 7-Eleven parking lot on South Broadway, a popular spot for laborers seeking temporary employment.

House Majority Leader Kumar P. Barve, who has supported stricter drunken-driving laws, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after being arrested in Gaithersburg late Thursday, police said. Barve, 49, a Montgomery County Democrat, was stopped by a Gaithersburg police officer after his car left a parking lot in oldtown Gaithersburg through a driveway marked "entrance only," police spokesman Sgt. Rudy Wagner said. The delegate did not return calls seeking comment yesterday evening.

Montgomery County police were seeking the driver of a car that did not stop after striking and killing a retired newspaper editor as he crossed a street in Gaithersburg on Monday evening. Ronald Bender, 64, former news editor of the Rapid City (South Dakota) Journal, was crossing South Frederick Avenue about 6 p.m. when he was struck by a burgundy 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible with Virginia tag KLH 5957, whose driver sped away. Bender died at the scene. Police said Bender was in Gaithersburg Monday to attend his brother's wedding and had gone to a nearby store when he was run down.

Aurora Loan Services LLC, the mortgage-lending subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., has laid off 160 employees in Gaithersburg as the parent company moves to scale back its home-loan business in response to turmoil in the industry and in the secondary market where investors trade mortgage debt. The layoffs were disclosed in a notice filed with the state Labor, Licensing and Regulation Department. Aurora originates both prime and subprime mortgages. A Lehman spokesman said yesterday that the company closed a regional operating center in Gaithersburg last month.