Wicomico

WHITEHAVEN -- As the sun rises over the Wicomico River, Capt. Bobby Bean raises the red bar on the ferry ramp and steps out of the way. A paving company truck and two pickups drive aboard. The minivan will have to wait. A minute later, Bean is guiding the Whitehaven Ferry across the river. Passengers barely have time to skim the newspaper's front page before he lifts the bar on the other side of the river and the trucks drive off into the marshy beyond. Rush hour has begun in Whitehaven, population 37. Total commute time across the river: six minutes.

For the six senior starters on the Centennial baseball team, getting to the Class 2A state final is more than just a goal. It's a second chance to wipe away a bitter memory.The Eagles, the West region champions, cashed in on their opportunity last night by scoring 13 runs in five innings to beat East region champ Wicomico, 13-1, in a state semifinal at Arundel Senior High School in Gambrills.Centennial, ranked eighth with a 20-5 record, will vie for the state title against Walkersville, the North region champion, at 3: 30 p.m. Saturday at Joe Cannon Stadium.

FRUITLAND -- Police yesterday arrested a 23-year-old man and charged him with bludgeoning and stabbing to death an elderly couple and their granddaughter, then returning to their house and setting it afire.The people of the town of Fruitland, on a fork in the road on the southern edge of Salisbury, have been mourning the loss of the family since Thursday, when John and Geraldine Mainor were found in the rubble of their burned ranch home with their granddaughter, Christie Mainor.It was not until Monday night, though, that authorities disclosed that the family had been killed before the fire was set, and fear began accompanying sadness around town.

SALISBURY -- For Rudolph and Honiss Cane, life has been about picking their battles and moving forward. And on the slow-to-change Eastern Shore, the brothers say, the next election is just one more reason to remain focused on the prize of equal opportunity.The men are veterans of the struggle to eliminate the at-large voting systems and other election laws that black leaders blamed for keeping them from power for decades.Rudolph, 63, a two-term Wicomico County commissioner, is bent on becoming the first African-American from the nine-county peninsula to win a seat in the General Assembly.

SALISBURY -- The suspension of Police Chief Coulbourn Dykes this week by this town's new mayor has opened a lot of old wounds here.In a town of just 20,000 -- one still small enough that everyone seems to know everyone, especially around City Hall and the Wicomico County office building -- the political infighting has been fast and furious.The finger-pointing has almost overshadowed allegations of mismanagement and possible criminal misconduct by a regional drug task force -- charges leveled this week against the city's top police officer by Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman, who took office last month.

SALISBURY -- Thwarted four years ago in a bid to elect the Eastern Shore's first African-American state legislator, activists and politicians are vowing that history will not repeat itself in Tuesday's primary vote.Still, the last-minute entry of a white challenger to two prominent black candidates in the peninsula's only majority-black legislative district is familiar.In the 1994 general election, the delegate's seat from District 37A slipped away from a pair of African-American hopefuls in favor of a white candidate.

Eastern Shore farmers, fearing a rush to regulate their operations after last summer's Pfiesteria outbreak, will ask state lawmakers tomorrow to hold out for airtight proof of a link between farm practices and the microorganism's toxic outbreaks.Wicomico County Councilman Louis R. Molnar, a produce and poultry farmer, has organized a public hearing of legislators and other state officials to be held at 7 p.m. at Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury.In a written invitation, Molnar asked poultry growers to turn out in force to send a go-slow message to legislators a week before the start of the General Assembly session.

A Woodlawn man received the death penalty this week for the second time, after a Wicomico County jury deliberated for three hours on his sentence for the 1994 murder of his former girlfriend's mother in Baltimore County.The 1996 death sentence for Clarence Conyers Jr. was overturned last year when the Court of Appeals ruled that the jury sentencing him was given inadmissible evidence of his juvenile arrest record.Conyers was convicted in 1996 of murdering Wanda Johnson of the 7100 block of Bexhill Road in southeastern Baltimore County on Oct. 21, 1994, while he was burglarizing her home.

A man sentenced to death last year for murdering a Baltimore County woman in a break-in at her home won a chance yesterday from the state's highest court to plead for his life a second time.Clarence Conyers Jr. 29, was wrongfully sentenced for the murder of Wanda Johnson because prosecutors used inadmissible evidence about his juvenile record to persuade jurors to impose the death penalty last year, the Court of Appeals ruled.Conyers was sentenced by a Wicomico County jury for fatally shooting Johnson, the mother of his former girlfriend, when she interrupted a burglary attempt at her home in the 7100 block of Bexhill Road in Hebbville on Oct. 21, 1994.

MARYLAND'S Program Open Space recently earmarked almost $1 million to preserve parkland. But the money's most immediate effect might be cutting down a large, old Eastern Shore forest.Protecting forests gets lots of lip service -- and some action -- as study after study shows the value of forests for protecting water quality and maintaining wildlife and plant species.But consider the proposals for the latest and largest park in Wicomico County on the lower Shore, and you wonder if we understand the difference between the price of timber and the worth of forests.

Ex-church deacon arrested in molestation case A 48-year-old former church deacon was arrested Wednesday and charged with sexually molesting a boy who had been a member of his church, according to city police. Curtis Allen, 48, of the 5200 block of Cuthbert Ave. faces 13 charges of sexual abuse of a minor, rape and sexual assault. Allen is a former deacon at Beth-El Temple Church of Christ, in the 3900 block of W. Rogers Ave. Police began investigating the case after the 16-year-old contacted the department last year, a spokesman for the department said.

Arrest made after stabbing of juveniles City police arrested a suspect in connection with the stabbing of two juveniles early Saturday morning in the West Arlington neighborhood in Northwest Baltimore, police said. The two youths were in the 4700 block of Navarro Ave. about 1 a.m. when they were stabbed, a police spokeswoman said. Their injuries were not life-threatening, police said. No additional information was available on the person arrested in the incident or on the two youths hurt.

Public forums on growth set across state Marylanders will have an opportunity to air their views about future growth and development in a series of "listening sessions" scheduled across the state next month, the Maryland Department of Planning said yesterday. The six forums are planned to provide public input to a task force appointed by Gov. Martin O'Malley to review Maryland's Smart Growth laws and policies. Officials say the forums are planned as "town hall" meetings, with open discussion among attendees.

A Delaware man who was high on crack cocaine when he beat to death a retired Wicomico County preacher with a chair was sentenced yesterday to life in prison. Antonio E. Herneisen, 41, of Dagsboro pleaded guilty in May to first-degree murder for the March 30, 2007, killing of the Rev. Van Crawford, 76, of Delmar, near the Delaware border. Prosecutors initially sought the death penalty, which prompted a change of venue to Anne Arundel County, where Judge Ronald A. Silkworth sentenced Herneisen.

Seven injured, traffic snarled in JFX crash A five-car accident snarled traffic on the Jones Falls Expressway yesterday afternoon and sent seven people to local hospitals, including one person who tried to help a victim, fire officials said. One car hit another about 3 p.m on the southbound side of Interstate 83 just south of Cold Spring Lane, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a city fire spokesman. "One motorist got out to assess the damage," Cartwright said. "She was struck by another car."

Dozens of police officers combed Eastern Shore communities and rural areas yesterday in search of 18-year-old Brandon Curtis, who they believe went to his mother's house and killed a man who may have been her former lover. As the manhunt continued through the day, police obtained a warrant charging Curtis with murder. Neighbors had seen him speeding away yesterday morning from his mother's home in rural Hebron in a burgundy Chevrolet Trailblazer, Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley said.

COLLEGE PARK -- Playing in the state tournament can be a daunting experience for any high school player. The games are played at the University of Maryland's Comcast Center under bright lights. The court's bigger. The crowd's louder. But for the Randallstown boys, winners of the past three Class 2A state championships, there are different reasons to be nervous. "It's a lot of pressure because we don't want to be that team that lets the torch down," Rams guard Tione Womack said. "We've got to come to play every game with a high intensity."

Poly's girls basketball team learned a few things from last year's experience in the state semifinals, and they paid off last night. The No. 12 Engineers broke the press and dominated the boards down the stretch to turn a close game into a 62-55 victory over Wicomico in the state Class 2A semifinals at UMBC's RAC Arena. Poly (21-5) will meet No. 4 Mount Hebron for the title, 5 p.m. Saturday at UMBC. Early on, Poly struggled with the press just as it had a year ago, committing 45 turnovers in the semifinal loss to Southern.

Wicomico : State's attorney Ruark takes leave after his arrest After a drunken driving arrest Friday, Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark says he's taking a leave of absence. Ruark, who apologized after the arrest and called it "a tremendous error in judgment," told WBOC-TV in Salisbury that he's going away for 30 to 40 days. Officers began following Ruark in Ocean City on Friday night after getting a 911 call about someone driving erratically on Route 90. Police say he was pulled over when officers saw him speeding and crossing the center line.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, in ordering a special session later this month, expressed confidence yesterday that the gathering will produce a plan for closing Maryland's $1.7 billion budget gap. But calling lawmakers back to Annapolis also has the potential for handing him a significant defeat in a legislature controlled by his party. O'Malley signed an executive order yesterday for a special session to start Oct. 29 to consider his tax-and-slots plan, despite vows from Republicans to fight any tax increases and warnings from the Senate president that votes to pass the controversial proposal are not in place.