Jessup

On February8, 2009, MELVIN E. DAVIS, SR. Family will receive friends at Howell Funeral Home, 10220 Guilford Road, Jessup, MD, on Sunday, February 15, 2009 from 1 to 5 P.M. Funeral service will be held at the funeral home on Monday, February 16, 2009. Wake 10 to 11 A.M. Service will

A man's body was found Saturday in a ravine in Jessup, Anne Arundel County police said yesterday. The body, discovered by a resident in a streambed on Max Blob's Park Road about 5 p.m., had apparently been there for some time, said Cpl. Sara Schriver, a police spokeswoman. An autopsy performed Sunday showed no outward signs of trauma. The man was described as white, 40 to 60 years old, between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 180 pounds; he had a stent placed near his heart.

After stopping a van for speeding on southbound Interstate 95 in Jessup yesterday, state troopers searched the vehicle and reported finding several pounds of suspected semisolid marijuana and hashish oil worth several thousand dollars.Three Florida men were arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, police said. Tfc. Clifford Hughes of the Waterloo barracks, who was driving an unmarked patrol vehicle, said he paced the 1986 Chevrolet van with Florida tags at 77 mph in a 65-mph zone and stopped it about 8: 30 a.m.He said he became suspicious when he noticed that there was no luggage in the van and when the men gave conflicting information about their trip to New York.

Howard County police are searching for a Jessup youth charged with shooting two acquaintances during an argument -- apparently the result of a feud -- late Friday in Savage.The gunman fled on foot after the incident at 11: 39 p.m. in the 8800 block of Baltimore St.Police issued a warrant yesterday for Andrew E. Scott, 16, of the 9200 block of Vollmerhausen Road in Jessup. Scott was charged as an adult with attempted murder, assault and weapons charges.The suspect's mother, Antoinette Scott, 46 and also of the Vollmerhausen Road address, declined to comment.

Gregory Lawrence, accused in a movie-like jailbreak in May from the Maryland Correctional Institution in Jessup, pleaded guilty yesterday to escape, and six years were added to his life sentence.The convicted murderer was charged with escaping with an armed robber whose prison therapist paramour is accused of aiding them in a highly publicized case. Byron Smoot, the robber, Elizabeth Feil, the therapist, and Lawrence's girlfriend are awaiting trial on charges stemming from the escape.Lawrence, 39, told Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Clayton Greene Jr. that he was pleading guilty because the law barred him from the defense he wanted: that he should not have been in prison because he was unjustly convicted of the Baltimore killing that resulted in his life sentence.

A three-alarm fire in Jessup early yesterday brought curious residents out of their homes and sent a Howard County firefighter to a hospital after he became dizzy, authorities said.Fire officials said the blaze started about 12: 13 a.m. inside Pallet Guy, a pallet refurbishing company in the 7900 block of Dorsey Run Road.Fifty-five firefighters from Howard, Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties battled the blaze for two hours before bringing it under control. Firefighter Brandon Maddox was treated at Howard County General Hospital and released.

In a move to improve security at Maryland correctional institutions, inmates serving life terms who have an escape history have been transferred to more secure facilities.As of July 28, said Commissioner of Correction William W. Sondervan, 52 of 73 inmates whose records were reviewed have been transferred to the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup, the Roxbury Correctional Institution at Hagerstown or the Western Correctional Institution in Cumberland.The action followed the recent escape of two inmates from the Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup, Sondervan said.

THE STATE Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has a slew of questions to answer about last week's escape from the medium-security state prison in Jessup.Security breaches gave hours of freedom to Gregory Lee Lawrence, a convicted killer, and Byron Lester Smoot, a convicted armed robber. The convicts were aided and abetted by a series of troubling breakdowns in the system.Among the problems: A guard was slow to respond to a motion detector as the prisoners climbed a fence; a guard tower was left unmanned; one escapee apparently was not escorted from the infirmary back to his cell; the inmates mysteriously crossed the prison's yard undetected; and it took guards a half-hour to discover Smoot's absence and 3 1/2 hours to discover Lawrence's escape.

Hundreds of police officers were hunting last night for a murderer and an armed robber who escaped in broad daylight from the medium- security state prison in Jessup by sliding past an unmanned watchtower and scaling two fences, one topped with razor wire.Yesterday morning, blood was visible on the fence where Byron Lester Smoot, 38, and Gregory Lee Lawrence, 39, leaped to freedom. Smoot was found to be missing at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to prison officials, launching a manhunt for the first escapees from the Maryland Correctional Institution at Jessup since 1986.

Theodore R. Moore, 93, Jessup residentTheodore Roosevelt Moore, a retired mason, died Monday of natural causes at his Jessup home. He was 93.The lifelong Howard County resident worked as a mason for several construction companies and retired in the early 1970s.He married Cora Robinson in 1928; she died in 1981.Mr. Moore was a member and past chairman of the Deacon Board at First Baptist Church of Guilford, 7504 Oakland Mills Road in Columbia, where services are scheduled to be held today at 10: 30 a.m.He is survived by his second wife, the former Ernestine Porter, whom he married in 1983; six sons, Theodore Roosevelt Moore Jr. and Irving Moore, both of Columbia, David Moore and Lloyd Moore, both of Laurel, Ulysses Moore of Jessup, and Jacob Moore of Chillum; four daughters, Bertha Hawkins of Baltimore, Cora Allen of Severn, Vashti Jackson of Odenton and Naomi Booker of Jacksonville, Ala.; a brother, Samuel Moore of Jessup; two sisters, Florence Moore Guy of Jessup and Mary Parker of Yonkers, N.Y.; 30 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren.

A stretch of U.S. 1 in Jessup and North Laurel that has long been known as a haven for prostitutes has recently gained another reputation: an area where police are cracking down on those looking to pay for sex. "I have seen some improvement," Howard County Council member Calvin Ball said last week, after police made more than 50 arrests in the area during the past two months. The arrests of 19 men Oct. 2 accused of soliciting female officers posing as prostitutes were the result of the second reverse prostitution operation in Laurel in less than a month and the third since a new undercover officer took over in August as the operation's lead detective.

A plan to use $1 million in federal stimulus money to help build an innovative combined office building-greenhouse on Route 175 in Jessup is faltering because its owner can't get bank financing for the project. Stanley J. Sersen, a 30-year veteran of the energy wars, was forced Wednesday to withdraw his application to Maryland environmental officials for the federal funds, which must be used by year's end. The national credit crunch has stymied his effort to get financing for the project, he said, but he hasn't given up. "As our project is critical to showing how the built environment can stop toxic runoff into the bay, we will continue on our journey to get the project built," he said in a statement.

On April 11, 2009 EARLEAN CRAWFORD. A memorial service will be conducted for Mrs. Crawford at 12 Noon on Friday, April 17, 2009 in the Howell Funeral Home Chapel, 10220 Guilford Road, Jessup, MD (21094). Interment private. Inquiries to 301-604-0101.

2 sought in Columbia armed robbery Howard County police are seeking two men in an armed robbery Thursday at Parcel Plus in the Long Reach Village Center in Columbia. Officers responded to a call at 10:07 a.m. from the owner of the store, at 8775 Cloudleap Court. The owner told police that two men, one of whom had a gun, entered the business and demanded cash from the register. The owner complied, and the pair fled on foot, possibly getting into a car in the rear parking lot, police said.

On March 8, 2009, RICHARD RANDOLPH BURGESS. Funeral Service will be held Saturday, March 14, 2009 at Howell Funeral Home, 10220 Guilford Rd, Jessup, MD. Wake 10 to 11 A.M. Service will follow. Interment private. Inquiries 301-604-0101.

On February8, 2009, MELVIN E. DAVIS, SR. Family will receive friends at Howell Funeral Home, 10220 Guilford Road, Jessup, MD, on Sunday, February 15, 2009 from 1 to 5 P.M. Funeral service will be held at the funeral home on Monday, February 16, 2009. Wake 10 to 11 A.M. Service will

, 75, of Denton, MD, on January 8, 2009, formerly of Baltimore City; at her home; dear wife of the late John Jessup; beloved sister of Elsie Regina Thomas, Yvonne Thomas and Reginald R. Thomas, Jr. A memorial service will be 11:30 A.M. on Tuesday, January 13th, at the Moore Funeral Home, P.A., 12 S. Second St. in Denton, MD 21629. The interment is private. In lieu of flowers, please send memorial donations to the Caroline Medical Adult Day Care, P.O. Box 603, Denton, MD 21629.

Six inmates stabbed in Jessup altercation Six inmates were stabbed yesterday at the medium-security men's prison in Jessup, a state correctional services official said. None of the injuries at Maryland Correctional Institution-Jessup appeared to be life-threatening, spokesman Mark Vernarelli said in an e-mail about the incident. But two inmates were transported to the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore and another was sent to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, Vernarelli said.

On November 15, 2008 BENJAMIN F. beloved husband of Elaine H. Thomas; he is also survived by one sister Nellie L. Butler, nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the family owned Howell Funeral Home-Jessup, 10220 Guilford Road, Jessup, MD on Thursday 2-8 p.m. Family will receive friends at Asbury United Methodist Church, 10420 Guilford Road on Friday 10-11 a.m. with funeral services immediately following.

On July 24, 2008 SANDRA LEE BUCK. The family will receive friends at the family owned Howell Funeral Home, 10220 Guilford Rd., Jessup, MD on Monday, August 4, 2008 from 3 to 8 P.M. Funeral Services will be private. Inquiries to (301) 604-0101.