WMDT Top News Stories

Bomb Scares

Ryan Hughes — 2010-03-17T16:05:00.0000000-07:00

SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Students and staff evacuated three different schools in Sussex County yesterday after police were told bombs were in the buildings.
Students and staff at Sussex Tech High School was forced to evacuate on Tuesday after police were notified of a bomb threat.
"The caller just made the statement that there was a bomb in the school and hung up on the call," said Cpl. Gary Fournier of the Delaware State Police.
Fournier says about an hour later another call came in threatening Seaford and Laurel High Schools.
"We are assuming that these two threats to the schools are the same person," said Fournier.
According to police the caller dialed from a cell phone.
"We have the caller ID and that's going to be able to track this person down," said Fournier.
Although the threats turned out to be fake, Laurel High School's resource officer says he rather be safe than sorry.
"You get outside and you think ok is this another one of these fake bomb threats or is this for real," said Andy Will, who help lead the evacuation.
This isn't the first time schools in Sussex County have been forced to evacuate. Almost a year ago to the day many students received threatening text messages placing several schools on lockdown.
Those suspects were arrested, and Laurel High School's Principal Dean Ivory is hoping history doesn't repeat itself.
"Last year it was our whole district and this year it was just the High School," said Ivory. "So I'm hoping this trend won't continue a third year."
Police say the suspect will be charged with a felony.
Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 800-TIP-33-33.

Medical Marijuana

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T16:04:00.0000000-07:00

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A bill is up for debate that could make Maryland the 15th state in the country to allow a medical marijuana law.
If approved, pharmacies can provide medical marijuana to sick patients who receive a recommendation from their doctor.
The bill will be discussed in front of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Thursday.

Pool Party

Stacy Sakai — 2010-03-17T14:21:00.0000000-07:00

BERLIN, Md. - A pool party to benefit the CRICKET Center in Worcester County is calling all swimmers.
The party will take place at the Francis Scott Key on Route 50 in Ocean City on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 from 4-7 PM.
Pizza and beverages will be available for purchase.
The cost is five dollars and proceeds go towards supporting programs that "promote, investigate and prosecute child abuse in Worcester County."
The CRICKET Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
For more information or to get your tickets you call 410-641-0097.

"Sunday Best"

Carlos Holmes, DSU — 2010-03-17T14:16:00.0000000-07:00

DOVER, Del. – Delaware State University will feature the best choirs in Delaware in the gospel showcase Sunday Best at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 27 in the Education & Humanities Theatre on campus.

The Sunday Best event, which is being held to raise academic scholarship dollars for DSU students, will feature some of the best choirs from all three Delaware counties in a music competition in which the top choir will win $1,000.

The gospel music extravaganza will also feature guest artist Coco McMillan, 2010 Stellar Award nominee. She is currently featured on the Praise Collection DVD with various artists including Mary Mary, Fred Hammond and others. Ms. McMillan has performed on the Bobby Jones Show on BET and has done guest performances throughout the country.

Tickets for adults are $15 before March 19 and $20 at the door. Tickets for children age 11 and below are $5. To purchase tickets, visit www.desu.edu/sundaybest.

For more information, call (302) 857-6055

(Note to the media): In sharing this, please take care not to confuse the title of the event “Sunday Best” with the day it is being held, which will be Saturday, March 27.)

Attempted Robbery Sentence

Stacy Sakai — 2010-03-17T14:14:00.0000000-07:00

SALISBURY, Md. - A man found guilty of walking into a PNC bank and handing a teller a note threatening to blow up the bank if he didn't get money was sentenced to eight years today.
The Wicomico County State's Attorney's office says 43-year-old Munther Haddad was found guilty of Attempted Armed Robbery, Attempted Robbery, 2nd Degree Assault, Attempted Felony Theft, and Threat of Arson this morning.
The incident happened back in August of 2009.
No one was injured in the attempted armed robbery and Haddad was arrested shortly after he left the bank with no money.
His photo and a description of the getaway vehicle was broadcast on local media stations led to an arrest.
Deputy State's Attorney Sam Vincent says, Haddad confessed to police that he had committed the crime.

School Dropouts

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T13:55:00.0000000-07:00

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Maryland senators have endorsed requiring
school attendance until age 18, but the change is contingent on the
governor funding the initiative.
Senators voted 31-16 Wednesday to increase the dropout age from
16.
A fiscal note says the bill could cost $48.8 million in its
first year of implementation. Proponents argue the state would save
money on services for delinquent youth.
The measure would phase-in the changes in age for mandatory
school attendance. In school year 2012-2013, students would be
required to attend school until they are 17. In 2013-2014, the
dropout age would become 18.
The bill now moves to the House. If both chambers approve the
bill, the changes can't be implemented unless the governor includes
funding in the budget.

---
On the Net:
Read Senate Bill 239:
http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/SB0239.htm

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Strangulation Bill

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T13:51:00.0000000-07:00

DOVER, Del. (AP) - A state Senate panel has released a bill
defining strangulation as a crime in Delaware and classifying it as
a felony.
Currently, a person accused of strangling someone typically is
charged with assault or reckless endangering. But those crimes can
be hard to prove because the act usually leaves no visible
injuries.
Supporters of the bill say there needs to be a separate defined
crime of strangulation because it often is found in domestic
violence situations and can be a precursor to even more violence.
The judiciary committee released the bill Wednesday, although
some members expressed concern that it could subject defendants to
felony charges based not on physical evidence, but simply on a
statement from the alleged victim.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Salisbury Sludge Spill

Stacy Sakai — 2010-03-17T13:50:00.0000000-07:00

SALISBURY, Md. - Tuesday, city officials say a lagoon at the City of Salisbury Waste Water Treatment Plant ruptured, spilling an estimated 36,000 gallons of sludge.
The spill leaked onto a neighboring farm.
The plant has been plagued with problems, in a 2008 interview with mayor Jim Ireton, who was then a Salisbury University community activist, he said in the last ten years 3.5 million gallons of sewage had been leaked.
Officials with the city claim that this spill did not leak into the Wicomico River.
Salisbury has faced multiple fines from the state for unsafe nitrogen levels in the water since the plant's upgrades in 2008.

Cellmate Killing

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T13:47:00.0000000-07:00

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A divided federal appeals court has upheld
the death sentence of an inmate who stole his cellmate's breakfast
then strangled him with a bath towel for complaining about it.
The 2-1 ruling Wednesday by a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals affirms a federal jury's decision that Carlos Caro
should be put to death for the 2003 slaying of Robert Sandoval at
the U.S. penitentiary in Lee County.
Caro was eligible for the federal death penalty because of
previous drug convictions. He raised several issues on appeal, all
of which were rejected by the panel majority.
Judge Roger Gregory wrote in a dissenting opinion that said Caro
should be spared the death penalty because his drug offenses were
nonviolent.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Judge Nomination

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T13:46:00.0000000-07:00

DOVER, Del. (AP) - President Obama has nominated Leonard Stark
to be a U.S. District Court judge in Delaware.
Stark, a former assistant United States attorney, currently
serves as a magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court in
Wilmington.
Delaware's senior senator, Tom Carper, said he would work with
members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, included fellow Delaware
Democrat Ted Kaufman, to win quick confirmation for Stark's
nomination.
Stark holds three degrees from the University of Delaware and
doctoral degree in politics from the University of Oxford, where he
was a Rhodes Scholar. He earned his law degree from Yale University
in 1996 and worked in private practice in Wilmington before joining
the U.S. Attorney's office.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Guards Attacked

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T12:04:00.0000000-07:00

SMYRNA, Del. (AP) - Delaware State Police say charges are
pending against a prison inmate accused of assaulting two guards.
Police say 25-year-old Ruben Porter is accused of stabbing a
22-year-old prison guard twice with a homemade shank Tuesday night
in a maximum security unit at the prison in Smyrna, which remained
on lockdown Wednesday.
Porter also is accused assaulting a 53-year-old guard, who was
treated for a facial injury.
Authorities say the injuries suffered by the guard who was
stabbed are not considered life threatening. He was flown to
Christiana Hospital in Newark for surgery reported in good
condition.
Porter is serving time for attempted robbery, assault,
possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited and possession
of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Officer In Jail

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T12:03:00.0000000-07:00

BALTIMORE (AP) - A Baltimore police spent the night in Central
Booking after a judge issued a material witness warrant against her
when she failed to show up at a trial.
Court records listed the officer as 36-year-old Victoria
Wingfield. When she didn't appear for a trial in Baltimore City
Circuit Court on Monday, Judge Gale Rasin, at the request of the
state's attorney's office, issued the warrant.
Wingfield appeared Tuesday in court. Margaret Burns, spokeswoman
for the state's attorney's office, said Wingfield's testimony was
key in contesting a defense motion to suppress certain information.
On Tuesday, a jury returned a conviction in the case, a gun
trial.
A police department spokesman says the incident is under review.
---
Information from: The Baltimore Sun, http://www.baltimoresun.com

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

6 Arrested For Rape

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T12:00:00.0000000-07:00

WALDORF, Md. (AP) - Charles County authorities say they have
arrested half a dozen men for sexually assaulting a 30-year-old
woman from northern Virginia.
The sheriff's office says the woman was at an Alexandria, Va.,
nightclub on Monday when she met a man who later offered to drive
her home. She went into his car and found several other men inside.
Officials say she was taken against her will to a Waldorf home
where more than a dozen other people live.
Authorities say a group of men, including one with a knife,
forced her to perform various sexual acts and threatened to kill
her. On Tuesday morning, the woman escaped and ran to another home
to get help.
Officers arrested and charged six men, ages 18 to 28, with
first-degree rape and false imprisonment.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Flea And Tick Safety

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T10:39:00.0000000-07:00

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency is trying
to improve the safety of flea and tick treatments after seeing a
significant increase in pets harmed by the products.
The EPA says it will develop stricter testing and evaluation
requirements for topical flea and tick treatments. The agency also
will begin reviewing product labels to determine which ones need to
say more clearly how to use the products.
The EPA's actions follow an increase in bad reactions to
"spot-on" flea and tick products, which are applied directly to
an animal's skin. Pet owners say the products have triggered bad
reactions in dogs and cats, ranging from skin irritation to
neurological problems and even deaths.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Hit And Run

Stacy Sakai — 2010-03-17T09:45:00.0000000-07:00

SALISBURY, Md. - Police are looking for a hit-and-run suspect.
Tuesday, a deputy from the Wicomico County Sheriff's stopped to check on someone walking in the road at 2:00 in the morning.
While talking to the person, the deputy says a car was speeding toward them, in order to avoid being hit the deputy pulled the person to the side of the road.
But, instead of the car avoiding the deputy and other person it swerved around the patrol car and hit the person on the side of the road.
The pedestrian was taken to the hospital by ambulance and a search began for the vehicle that sped off without stopping.
Police describe the vehicle as a late model Silver Ford Mustang.
The tags are out of Delaware.
If you have any information call police at 410-548-4891 or Crime Solvers at 410-548-1776.

Animal Cruelty

Associated Press — 2010-03-17T07:40:00.0000000-07:00

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) - A Thurmont man whose Rottweiler died from
heatstroke after being left chained to a stake in the hot July sun
has been sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Frederick County District Judge Janice Ambrose also ordered
24-year-old Michael Flemming on Tuesday to do 50 hours of community
service, preferably at an animal shelter.
Flemming was convicted in February of one misdemeanor count of
animal cruelty and three misdemeanor counts of restraining an
animal without water and shelter.
Prosecutors say the 112-pound dog died of severe heat exhaustion
after he was left chained outside in temperatures near 90 degrees.
Flemming told the judge he loved the dog, and that no jail time
could erase what he has to deal with every day.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Odessa Canceled Election

The Associated Press — 2010-03-17T05:05:00.0000000-07:00

ODESSA, Del. (AP) - Officials in Odessa are canceling the town's April 5 election due to a lack of candidates.
Incumbent Odessa Town Council members Bob Grove and John Freeman are the only candidates to file for the unpaid posts. They've won
new two-year terms.
Odessa Board of Elections Chairwoman Joan Mason says no one filed for the other ballot spot for the last year of a two-year term as town treasurer. The post has been vacant since the long-serving treasurer, Jim Grant, retired early last year.
Council took advantage of the vacancy to hire Odessa's first clerk, Patty Potter of Clayton, to handle finances. That made the treasurer post mainly one of presenting reports and Mason says Potter will continue to handle that duty.

Former MD Mayor-Haircut

The Associated Press — 2010-03-17T05:00:00.0000000-07:00

BALTIMORE (AP) - Records show ousted Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon billed the city $260 over 18 months for hairstyling.
Dixon's stylist submitted invoices for "curling and styling hair" twice in 2008 and once in January, according to the records obtained by The Baltimore Sun.
Dixon told the newspaper that she occasionally had her hair styled before taping segments for the city's public access channel and the styling appointments were approved by her former communications director.
Dixon stepped down earlier this year after pleading guilty to perjury for lying about gifts she received. A jury also convicted her of embezzling gift cards donated to the city for needy families.

VA Crab Season

The Associated Press — 2010-03-17T04:58:00.0000000-07:00

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Cold waters and a license buyback program will likely keep most Virginia watermen out of Chesapeake Bay for the start of blue crab season.
The season opener Wednesday is the first since hundreds of watermen surrendered their licenses under a $6.7 million federal buyback program intended to ease pressures on the bay's signature catch.
Regulators in Virginia and Maryland have also shortened the crabbing season, created sanctuaries and ended the century-old practice of raking up pregnant hibernating crabs from the bay's bottom, which had a high kill rate.
Ken Smith of the Virginia Watermen's Association says he doesn't expect many crabbers to begin working the waters until the bay warms.

MD Sex Offenders

The Associated Press. — 2010-03-17T04:56:00.0000000-07:00

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Life may soon become a whole lot tougher for people convicted of sex offenses against children in Maryland.
The Maryland House of Delegates is expected to consider seven measures Wednesday designed to strengthen the state's sex offender policies.
Members of a House Committee endorsed bills last week that would eliminate time off for good behavior for people convicted of committing first- and second-degree sex offenses against victims under 16. The panel also approved eliminating diminution credits for all repeat third-degree sex offenders and people who commit first- and second-degree offenses against victims under 13.
Committee members also want to require people convicted of child pornography possession or indecent exposure in the presence of minors to register as sex offenders.