Queen Anne

Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Wednesday the appointment of former Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr., who was defeated in his re-election bid in 2010, to a District Court judgeship in Queen Anne's County. Kratovil, a Democrat, served a single term in Congress after scratching out a narrow victory over then-state Sen. Andrew P. Harris in 2008. Kratovil, 43, whose voting record in Congress was well to the right of the typical Democrat, was nevertheless defeated by Harris in a 2010 rematch as the district swung back to its Republican leanings.

A man who died in a Stevensville subdivision house fire on Dec. 2 purposefully set the fire, police said Friday. A man who died in a Stevensville subdivision house fire on Dec. 2 purposefully set the fire, police said Friday. Police had been investigating the death as possibly involving foul play. William Matthews, 47, died in his home in the 200 block of Queen Anne Club Drive from smoke inhalation and burns, according to a statement from Maryland State Police. Firefighters found Matthews on the second floor of his two-story home, police said.

The man accused of taking money from Maryland schools in order to produce Ravens players for assemblies – and then not following through but keeping the funds – was arrested Tuesday in Aberdeen, police said. Joseph Gill, of Annapolis, was taken into custody by the Aberdeen Police Department on a warrant from Queen Anne's County, said Dale Patrick, a spokesman for Queen Anne's County's office of the sheriff. He is being held at the Harford County Detention Center on $10,000 bail.

An Annapolis man accused of charging dozens of schools across the state to deliver Ravens players for assemblies then reneging without refunding the money has been placed on the most-wanted list in Queen Anne's County, where he has been charged with three counts of theft, police said. Schools and parent groups statewide have sought to recoup money from Joseph Gill of Annapolis and his company, Odyssey Group LLC, saying that the company charged them to schedule Ravens players to speak to students about bullying prevention and character education at assemblies.

When you have a game plan that works, you stick with it. Score early and often has been No. 1 Glenelg's mantra this season, and the the Gladiators worked it to perfection Wednesday, defeating Queen Anne's, 7-1, in a Class 2A state semifinal at Broadneck. Glenelg will play Poolesville in an 11 a.m. state final Saturday at Washington College. Just one minute into Wednesday's game, Glenelg barely missed a tip-in goal, but the Gladiators quickly came back to score. Meagan Guthrie, Alyssa Parker and Meghan Milani put in goals in fast succession, giving their team a 3-0 lead after less than six minutes of play.

Clayton Cann Carter, a retired Queen Anne's County Circuit Court judge who was a Maryland history buff and a collector of Maryland-related objets d'art, died July 30 of an apparent heart attack at Chesterfield, his Centreville home. He was 92. The son of a miller and a storekeeper, Judge Carter was born and raised in Centreville. He was a 1935 graduate of Centreville High School and earned a bachelor's degree in 1939 from Duke University. "There were only 11 grades in those days at Centreville High School and he was 16 when he entered Duke, where he earned his degree at 20," said a daughter, Rachel MacDonough Carter Gross of Chestertown.

The Queen Anne's County state's attorney's office has filed criminal charges against the owner of a Centreville horse farm from which 140 animals were seized in April. Marsha H. Parkinson, 66, owner of Canterbury Farms, faces 35 animal cruelty charges of failure to provide adequate care for an animal, after the horses were taken from her Melfield Lane farm, according to electronic court records. Neither Parkinson nor Queen Anne's State's Attorney Lance G. Richardson returned calls seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

The Maryland state school board has chosen an education department official and former local school superintendent as the temporary replacement for Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick, who will retire this month. Although Bernard J. Sadusky, the former superintendent of Queen Anne's County, could be in the job for only months, he is likely to have significant influence over a series of decisions on sensitive issues, including the new teacher evaluation system that factors in student performance.

State police on Friday charged the driver who investigators said pulled out in front of a tour bus carrying a group of Kent County kindergarten students and parents to the National Zoo in Washington. Carl Trenz Jr., 49, of the 100 block of Big Holly Court in Stevensville faces reckless driving, negligent driving and related charges after the Queen Anne's County crash that sent 17 people to area hospitals on Thursday. Trenz was driving a 2010 Volkswagen Toureg and pulled out from White Marsh Road onto southbound Route 213, directly into the path of the southbound tour bus, state police said.