Lothian

NOT EVERY relationship between a church and a government violates the Constitution. Government and faith institutions can join forces to deal with common concerns.It is when government goes too far that Thomas Jefferson's wall of separation comes into play.Where to draw the line, or erect the wall, was the question recently for the Anne Arundel County Council when it decided whether to cut funds for a church day-care center in Lothian.County Executive Janet S. Owens asked the council to approve an application by the Mount Zion United Methodist Church of Lothian for a $26,500 grant to furnish a proposed day-care center.

Debra L. Osbourne to chair committeeDebra L. Osbourne of Tracy's Landing will chair a south county Small Area Planning Committee named by County Executive Janet S. Owens.The small area committees, now being organized to cover western and southern Anne Arundel County, are charged with drafting plans on how to use private property and spend public money over the next 25 years.In addition to Osbourne, members of the south county committee are: Susan P. Barber of Rose Haven, Gisela R. Barry of Davidsonville, Marjorie M. Brown of North Beach Park, E. Steuart Chaney of Lothian, Joseph F. Collinson III of Friendship, Charles DiNenna of Davidsonville, Claire T. Frye of Lothian, Jeffrey W. Griffith of Lothian, Karen M. Hladik of Harwood, Pamela R. Jessup of West River, Wemyss "Pat" Moreland of Lothian, Peter M. Perry of Harwood, Paul M. Rensted of Tracy's Landing, Carter C. Shepherd of Lothian, Charlotte S. Smutko of Lothian, Joan L. Turek of Harwood and Gregg D. Wayson of Davidsonville.

Lori Lothian isn't holding a crystal ball when she opens the door to her small, wooden house outside Annapolis. She owns a crystal ball but doesn't know how to use it.She looks young for 36, wearing cords and gold earrings. Nothing like the stereotyped fortuneteller in a turban that many expect when they come to her living room to have their destinies revealed.Lothian is a New Age fortuneteller, a teacher who, unlike most of her palm-reading colleagues, believes psychic ability can be taught.

An 18-year-old Calvert County man died yesterday morning in Lothian after he lost control of his car and struck a utility pole, county police said.Police said Bruce Joseph Brown of Huntingtown died at the scene after his 1985 Chevy Camaro struck the utility pole just before 5: 15 a.m.Brown was northbound on Southern Maryland Boulevard north of Lower Pindell Road when his car veered to the left, police said.Police said he steered sharply to the right, lost control and struck the pole on the driver's side.

Lothian Elementary School was closed yesterday after a water main break cut off the water supply to most of the school. The break was repaired yesterday, and the school will reopen today, said Principal Max Muller.The break was discovered in the boiler room about 6 a.m. when a custodian came in and heard water running into a drain there. The school system announced the closing on local radio and television stations.Buses did not show up, and teachers told parents who brought their children to the school parking lot that the school was closed.

Pay the rent or buy groceries.After hurting her hands, knees and back in a fall at a catering job about four years ago, that's the choice Cathy Fowler faces today as she juggles bills and feeds a family on a weekly $300 workers' compensation check.The Lothian resident was one of many South County residents who reached their "last dollar" recently and went in search of assistance to the area's new food bank in St. James Episcopal Church in Lothian.For the 40-year-old mother of three, the bagful of kale, pasta, cereal and other staples was a "virtual godsend."

State police arrested a Lothian man yesterday and seized more than $220,000 worth of marijuana that was growing on his property in a highly publicized raid with the governor and lieutenant governor watching from a circling helicopter.Troopers found 113 marijuana plants growing in two patches of land along a tree line several yards from the house of Wayne Antosh in the 500 block of Barksdale Farm Road, police said.The house in rural southern Anne Arundel County, surrounded by fields of soybean and corn, is three miles from Lothian Elementary and Southern Middle schools.

County police arrested a 10-year-old Lothian boy on bomb threat charges yesterday just hours after administrators evacuated Lothian Elementary School because of the threat.Police said they went to the school about 10 a.m. after someone found a threat written on an inside wall. Police searched the building but found nothing. Later, a student told administrators that he saw the suspect write the note, and the officials called police, a police spokesman said.The boy was charged as a juvenile with one count of false report of a bomb and released to his parents' custody.

Thieves walked into an unlocked Lothian home Friday and took $300, a watch, several keys and the victim's car, county police said.David Dennehy, 23, of the 700 block of Mount Zion Marlboro Road called police about 4: 30 p.m. to report the theft. He told police that when he returned to his house after 12 hours away, he found several keys missing from a peg board in the kitchen.A watch and cash had been taken from one of the bedrooms, and a blue 1987 Nissan Sentra was missing.Dennehy found the car about two miles away on Sands Road, police said.

State police arrested a Lothian man yesterday and seized more than $220,000 worth of marijuana that was growing on his property in a highly publicized raid with the governor and lieutenant governor watching from a circling helicopter.Troopers found 113 marijuana plants growing in two patches of land along a tree line several yards from the house of Wayne Antosh in the 500 block of Barksdale Farm Road, police said.The house in rural southern Anne Arundel County, surrounded by fields of soybean and corn, is three miles from Lothian Elementary and Southern Middle schools.

In the latest turn in a four-year struggle by a Baptist church to build a school in rural Lothian - near one of Anne Arundel's most environmentally sensitive areas - county lawmakers put off a vote this week on legislation that would clear the way for construction and keep the county out of a $3 million lawsuit in federal court. County Council members listened intently Monday as opponents of a proposed expansion of Arundel Bay Christian Academy that would be built on a 57-acre tract near the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary pleaded against the school, which is affiliated with Riverdale Baptist Church.

Annette Dixon remembers summers and weekends at her grandfather's tobacco farm in Lothian, learning how to pick tobacco while other kids splashed at the pool. Her mother, Dolores, said her children would complain, "It's bad enough that Poppa gets us up at the crack of dawn, but then if we finished early, the next thing you know, he's saying, 'Let's go see what Uncle Jim or Uncle Robert's doing, and help them out for a while.' " Now 26, Annette knows her experience was special, a product of generations of a close-knit family that sought to keep the farming tradition alive - they still butcher their own meat - even as the younger generation sought jobs away from the farm.

Anne Arundel County has received state funding to preserve a 183-acre farm in Lothian and is on its way to getting money for two more properties in South County. The state Board of Public Works has approved $2 million in funding for the $2.6 million purchase of an easement on the William Hall farm on Route 2, and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation is considering applications by two more farmers for 306 acres of rural property in Harwood. The easement - essentially an agreement that allows the state to control the land, impose development restrictions and perform regular inspections - was reviewed by the board of the MALPF and the county, which will contribute $670,000 in matching funds.

Anne Arundel County has reached an agreement to allow a Baptist church to build a school on a controversial site in Lothian, potentially ending a federal lawsuit that accused the county of unlawfully altering its zoning rules to block the project, officials said. Under the deal, the county would expedite a review of the project plans on 57 acres by Riverdale Baptist Church Inc. as well as applications for building and grading permits. The lawsuit has been stayed for two years, during which time the conditions must be met, according to court documents.

Margaret Julia Thomas Bivins, a retired Anne Arundel County public school teacher, died of congestive heart failure Wednesday at Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown. She was 99 and lived most of her life in Lothian. Born Margaret Julia Thomas in Lothian, a southern Anne Arundel County community where her family had lived for generations, she was educated at the Zion Academy in her hometown and graduated from Armstrong High School in Washington. Early on, she wanted to be a teacher, and she earned a diploma from Minor Teachers College in Washington.

The Lothian man who was fatally shot in his home by an Anne Arundel County police officer discharged his weapon first, police said yesterday. Police also identified the officer who killed Mansfield Albert Hurley as Officer Timothy Schultz, an 8 1/2 -year veteran of the force. He and other members of a tactical team forced their way into Hurley's home in the 5100 block of Sands Drive at 10:47 p.m. Nov. 2 in connection with a shooting that morning that left another man wounded. Hurley, 25, pointed a rifle at the officers and ignored commands to lower his weapon, police said.

A Davidsonville woman was killed yesterday when she pulled out of her driveway into the path of a sport utility vehicle, Anne Arundel County police said. Police also said another woman died yesterday from injuries suffered in a Sept. 4 crash in Lothian. Peggy Martin, 71, of the 600 block of Governors Bridge Road was making a left turn out from her driveway about 9 a.m. when she was struck by a GMC Yukon. The driver of the Yukon, William Doolan, 20, of Riva, tried to avoid hitting Martin's Volkswagen Passat but crashed into the driver's door.

A senior at Southern High School in Anne Arundel County was killed Thursday when she lost control of her car in Lothian and struck a truck, police said. Sasha Crystal Ruiz, 18, was driving a 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier convertible on Mount Zion Marlboro Road about 10:30 a.m. when she missed a curve in the southbound lane and crossed into the northbound lane, county police said. The Cavalier struck a flatbed truck being driven by Brian Eugene McKinney, 45, of Union Bridge in Carroll County.

James T. Bivins Sr., a retired automobile mechanics teacher, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease April 18 at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Ashburton resident was 74. Born in Baltimore and raised in the city and later in the southern Anne Arundel County community of Lothian, he was a 1947 graduate of the old Bates High School in Annapolis. He earned a bachelor's degree from the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Va. During the Korean War, he was a diesel mechanic at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

On April 4, 2006, MARIE Z., beloved wife of the late John Smith. Friends may call at the CHATMAN- HARRIS FUNERAL HOME, 5240 Reisterstown Road, Friday after 12 noon to 8 P.M. Family will receive friends at the Church of God, 1228 Marlboro Road, Lothian, MD, Saturday 10 A.M. Funeral service will begin 11 A.M. Interment Maryland National Memorial Park, Laurel, MD.