Restraining Order

A District Court judge denied a request yesterday from a former member of the PTA Council of Baltimore County to extend a temporary restraining order against the former president of the organization. Judge Alexandra N. Williams denied the petition after Roxanne Umphery-Lucas did not appear for the hearing in Towson. In her request for the temporary restraining order that was granted Jan. 19, Umphery-Lucas, 43, of Owings Mills accused former PTA Council President Michael C. Franklin of stalking and threatening her. She alleged that he slashed her car tires in May, threatened to burn down her house and committed "mail theft," court and police records show.

Baltimore is wasting about $400,000 every month it does not install a new phone system, a lawyer for Comptroller Joan M. Pratt argued in court Thursday. But the mayor's lawyers argued that Pratt has no legal right to sue the city because she is a city officer. Pratt and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake have been sparring for months over who should upgrade the city's phone system, leading to a war of words, an investigation by the city's inspector general and now a court battle. "The city is throwing money down the drain," said Pratt's attorney, Charles G. Bernstein, a former city judge who works for Orioles owner Peter Angelos' law firm.

A temporary restraining order that blocked the scheduled closure of the Ev-Mar Mobile Home Park in Savage on Wednesday is scheduled for a hearing in Howard County Circuit Court today. Lawyers for the owners of the 6.8-acre park, on Gorman Road near U.S. 1, gave notice 13 months ago that the park would close June 1 to prepare the land for redevelopment, but seven families living there engaged Civil Justice Inc., a public interest law firm, to argue that the closure violates Maryland laws and that their evictions are in retaliation for residents' opposing a zoning change on the land.

Baltimore Comptroller Joan M. Pratt filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to stop Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's technology office from installing a new phone system, alleging the administration used an "underhanded, illegal technique" to bypass the competitive bidding process. The suit seeks a temporary restraining order against the Rawlings-Blake administration to prevent the Mayor's Office of Information Technology from using existing contracts with Digicon Corp. to install a Voice over Internet Protocol phone system.

Union protest organizers agreed yesterday not to picket the Arundel Mills construction site while a judge decides whether to restrict protests. Circuit Judge Robert H. Heller Jr. is expected to rule on the case today. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America Local 101 officials agreed to temporarily stop picketing the construction site Thursday after an Anne Arundel County Police officer was injured by a rock thrown by protesters. Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., the mall's main contractor, is asking for a permanent restraining order to limit protests at the site.

The Howard County sheriff is investigating whether the mistake that allowed Richard Wayne Spicknall to obtain a handgun -- despite a domestic violence restraining order -- is indicative of a larger problem with the way his office handles judicial restraining orders.Sheriff Charles M. Cave acknowledged yesterday that "there was a mix-up" in his office, and the restraining order against Spicknall issued Dec. 2 in Howard County Circuit Court was "inadvertently removed" from computer records in January.

Baltimore City Schools Superintendent Walter G. Amprey has been charged with battering his wife a week ago in an incident she says left her with bruises.Freda Jones Amprey, the superintendent's wife and an employee of the city school system, claimed yesterday in a criminal summons that her husband "assaulted me and threw me to the ground" after he entered the couple's home in the 400 block of N. Chapelgate Lane about 4: 30 p.m. Aug. 24.In the summons, Walter Amprey, 51, was ordered to appear in court Oct. 11 to face the common law charge.

An oversight by the Howard County Sheriff's Department enabled Richard Wayne Spicknall II to buy a gun that police say he used to kill his 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter, authorities said yesterday.Spicknall, who police say admitted shooting the children as they sat strapped in child-safety seats, likely faces a second count of first-degree murder in the wake of his daughter Destiny's death at 2: 45 p.m. yesterday at Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. He has been charged in the death of his 2-year-old son.Destiny Spicknall clung to life for more than a day after her brother, Richard Spicknall III, was declared dead at a Cambridge hospital Thursday morning.

The wife of Columbia gun collector Richard M. Loewinger testified in court yesterday that she feared for her safety after what she called years of mental and physical abuse.Susan Loewinger filed four counts of second-degree assault against Richard Loewinger, 53, on July 11, one day after she said he dragged her from the bed by her ankle and hair and then grabbed her by the jaw, twisting her head around. She also said he slammed her against a wall.She is seeking a temporary restraining order against Loewinger.

A Carroll County Circuit Court judge halted county plans yesterday to auction the old Hampstead Elementary School, leaving an opening for town leaders to pursue their development plans for the building. Commissioners Donald I. Dell and Robin Bartlett Frazier had ordered the auction, which was scheduled for this morning, but the 10-day restraining order takes the decision away from the two, who leave office Dec. 3. The three incoming commissioners have said they probably will defer to town leaders' desires and cancel the auction.

The Anne Arundel County Council can begin the process of replacing Councilman Daryl D. Jones next week when he begins serving a five-month federal prison sentence, a judge ruled Wednesday. Judge Raymond G. Thieme Jr., a retired Court of Special Appeals judge, ruled against a request by Jones' attorney for a temporary restraining order to prevent the council from selecting a replacement. Earlier this month, another judge threw out a similar request, calling it premature because Jones had not suffered harm.

Baltimore International College is facing new questions about its ability to continue operating as the culinary college fights to keep its accreditation until a planned takeover by Virginia-based Stratford University. The college won a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, protecting its accreditation until Sept. 12. But the college will likely have to return to court next week to seek a preliminary injunction that would extend the protection for an undetermined amount of time.

The brouhaha surrounding the trademarking of the word "hon" seemed to become more serious Monday as Denise Whiting was granted a restraining order against a man who organized recent protests against her. Judge Joan Bossman Gordan issued the so-called peace order on Monday on Whiting's behalf, barring Steven Akers, a 25-year-old student from Severn, from any of Whiting's Hampden businesses and from contacting her or harassing her. Gordan extended...

Howard County Board of Education member Allen Dyer filed a lawsuit last week against the board attempting to prevent it and its employees from deleting electronic messages and other documents, but his request for a temporary restraining order was denied. Dyer requested a restraining order Tuesday as well as a temporary and/or permanent injunction in Howard County Circuit Court, insisting that the board cease destroying documents — particularly any e-mail from board members and employees — until it has a written policy outlining how such documents should be handled.

TV Ex-Ravens tight end Sharpe facing restraining order A woman has filed a temporary restraining order against TV analyst and former Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe . The woman filed the petition Thursday in Atlanta's Fulton County Superior Court. The case is classified under the "family violence" category. No court hearing has been scheduled. It was not immediately clear why the restraining order was filed. The ex-Denver Bronco and Raven is under consideration for the Hall of Fame.

The mother of Terrell Suggs' two children was granted a restraining order against the Ravens linebacker in a Baltimore District Court hearing that was devoid of abuse allegations and involved both sides working out custody and child support terms as they await the outcome of two civil lawsuits filed by the woman. Suggs' attorneys stressed that there was mutual agreement about the restraining order and said the 27-year-old football player denies any allegations of abuse involving Candace Williams, 26, who says he assaulted her on two occasions last month.

LANDOVER -- Rookie forward Rasheed Wallace was back with the Washington Bullets last night, one day after his arrest in North Carolina on a misdemeanor assault charge involving his former girlfriend.Police in Durham, N.C., said Wallace was arrested there Sunday after failing to obey a restraining order filed against him by Chiquita Bryant, the mother of Wallace's son, Ishmiel.Under the advice of his agent, Bill Strickland, Wallace would not comment on the charge. Strickland said that he was unaware of any restraining order, and that Wallace did not strike Bryant.

A 35-year-old man, apparently upset that his wife had moved out of their West Baltimore home and obtained a restraining order against him, was charged yesterday with shooting the woman and a friend with a sawed-off shotgun.City police charged Lonzell Johnson of the 1400 block of Druid Hill Ave. with two counts of attempted murder in an arrest warrant. He was being sought.The suspect's estranged wife, Bonnie Johnson, 31, was shot in the back of the head. She was listed in critical condition last night at Maryland Shock Trauma Center.

A Baltimore County woman alleged in a court filing last week that Ravens linebacker-defensive end Terrell Suggs knocked her down and spilled bleach on her last month after an argument over game-day tickets, records show. Candace Williams, 26, who identifies herself as Suggs' fiancee and the mother of his two children, received a temporary protective order Friday requiring Suggs to stay away from her and to vacate their Windsor Mill home until a District Court hearing this Friday.