Suspended License

Sheirmiar White launched Ohms Energy Co. in spring 2006 with a promise to beat Baltimore Gas and Electric's rates, hoping to show that deregulation could deliver lower electricity prices. Instead, Ohms last week became the latest example of how alternative energy providers have struggled to gain a toehold in Maryland despite BGE's 70 percent rate increase over the past year. The state Public Service Commission indefinitely suspended Ohms' license to sell power Friday after it fell behind on payments to suppliers and disclosed that it could no longer serve its 2,100 customers.

Former Montgomery County delegate, county executive candidate and well-known sports heckler Robin K.A. Ficker is out of the practice of law for at least a year. The Maryland Court of Appeals suspended his law license yesterday, saying that despite four previous warnings, he ran his Bethesda law office in a slipshod way to the detriment of clients. "I will be back practicing in a year," Ficker said yesterday, adding that his associates will continue to staff the office without him. With his real estate sales business, efforts to roll back the state sales tax and other initiatives, he said, "I've got plenty on my plate."

A 38-year-old Baltimore man will spend more than eight years in prison after a federal judge sentenced him yesterday for possession of an unregistered short-barreled shotgun. According to court papers filed at his earlier guilty plea, Clifford Edwards was stopped and arrested by a Baltimore police officer on Feb. 14, 2005, for driving a truck with a suspended license and not having a front license plate. Officers recovered from the truck a Zabala Hermanos double-barreled shotgun and both barrels of the weapon were less than 18 inches.

The Maryland Board of Physicians has suspended the license of a nationally known pain specialist, alleging that the Baltimore County psychiatrist traded drugs for sex with patients and handed out pain pills without proper prescriptions. Dr. Nelson H. Hendler, medical director and founder of the Mensana Clinic in Stevenson, also is alleged to have had an affair with a patient. Investigators said he admitted having a romantic relationship with the woman, identified as "Patient A." The complaint said she accused him of shoving and choking her in a Baltimore hotel room on July 4, 2004.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Quarterback Marcus Vick was dismissed from Virginia Tech's football team yesterday because of "a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play," according to a release from the school's athletic department. Vick, 21, told The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk last night that he would turn professional. "It's not a big deal," Vick told the newspaper when spotted at a Virginia Beach restaurant. "I'll just move on to the next level, baby." In addition to being dismissed from the team, Vick has more legal trouble to deal with later this month.

The state is moving to close a Hagerstown nursing home and relocate its 40 residents, citing violations that included leaving a demented 83-year-old man alone during a meal against doctors' orders. He choked to death. Officials began informing residents of Clearview Nursing Home and their families of the decision yesterday. Beds for all of the residents are available at other Washington County nursing homes, said Charlene Lloyd, manager of long-term care programs for the Washington County Commission on Aging.

A 2-year-old girl drowned yesterday morning in a pool at a home day care facility in Parkville, prompting state officials to suspend the license of the day care provider, authorities said. Tashear Alston of Curtis Bay was discovered floating in the pool about 9 a.m. by her day care provider in the 8600 block of Oakleigh Road, said Sgt. Vickie Warehime, a county police spokeswoman. The girl was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, Warehime said. The girl, who would have turned 3 next month, apparently followed another child who opened the gate to the fenced area around the pool to let out a cat, Warehime said.

An Annapolis District Court judge raised the bail to $500,000 yesterday for a Queenstown man accused of slamming his pickup truck into a police cruiser and killing a Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer in July. After hearing that Albert Gene Antonelli, 32, repeatedly drove despite having a suspended license and had failed to show up in court eight times for traffic citations before the crash, Judge Robert C. Wilcox increased the bail from the $375,000 set by a commissioner after his arrest Friday.

An Annapolis District Court judge raised the bail yesterday to $500,000 for a Queenstown man accused of slamming his pickup truck into a police cruiser and killing a Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer in July. After hearing that Albert Gene Antonelli, 32, repeatedly drove despite having a suspended license and had failed to show up in court eight times for traffic citations before the crash, Judge Robert C. Wilcox increased the bail from the $375,000 set by a commissioner after Antonelli's arrest Friday.

An Annapolis District Court judge yesterday raised the bail to $500,000 for a Queenstown man accused of slamming his pickup truck into a police cruiser and killing a Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer in July. After hearing that Albert Gene Antonelli, 32, repeatedly drove despite having a suspended license and had failed to show up in court eight times for traffic citations before the crash, Judge Robert C. Wilcox increased the bail from the $375,000 set by a commissioner after his arrest Friday.