Tuesday, November 20, 2007
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Ex-State Official Picked for Environment Chief
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) tapped Robert G. Hoyt, a former assistant secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, yesterday to serve as his environment chief.
Hoyt, 56, co-founded EcoLogix Group in Annapolis, which provides strategic environmental planning to companies and government agencies. For five years before serving in state government, Hoyt worked for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
His appointment to lead the county's Department of Environmental Protection would fill the last major vacancy in Leggett's administration. Leggett said yesterday that the search was prolonged because of his interest in finding someone with the right "environmental credentials and credibility."
Environmentalists praised Hoyt's track record. Dolores Milmoe of the Audubon Naturalist Society said the department "needs a very strong environmentally sensitive leader, and Mr. Hoyt fits the bill."
Hoyt replaces James A. Caldwell, who was among the appointees of former county executive Douglas M. Duncan fired soon after Leggett took office. If confirmed by the County Council, Hoyt would be paid $176,000.
-- Ann E. Marimow
2 Charged in Sligo Creek Park Stabbing DeathMontgomery County police charged two men over the weekend in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 41-year-old Laurel man whose body was found Nov. 11 in Sligo Creek Park, authorities said yesterday.
Antonio Rivera-Contreras, 25, of Laurel and Miguel Gomes, 21, of Windsor Mill, Md., were charged with first-degree murder. Police say the men confronted Julio Alvarado about a recent arson in Laurel in which Alvarado was a suspect. The night of Nov. 10, the two men drove Alvarado to Sligo Creek Park, where Rivera-Contreras, also known as Antonio Escobar Rivera, stabbed him and then fled with Gomes, according to police.
Police say Alvarado was a suspect in a July 22 arson at a garden apartment building in the 14800 block of Bowie Road in Laurel. The fire displaced hundreds of people but caused no serious injuries, Prince George's County fire department spokesman Mark Brady said.
-- Ernesto Londoño
County Is New Home for State Senior OlympicsMontgomery County will be the new host of the Maryland Senior Olympics beginning next fall, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) announced at a news conference yesterday.
The annual event, held for its first 26 years during the fall at Towson University and last spring at Salisbury University as part of the Eastern Shore Games, attracts about 2,000 athletes older than 50.
Montgomery has hosted several competition events in the past and was selected because of the county's proximity to major population centers, said Maryland Senior Olympics Chairman Emeritus Bob Zeigler. Although the venues for most events have not been determined, organizers hope to center most of them in the Germantown area.
-- Michael Tunison
Man Sentenced in 2006 Rape in RockvilleA District Heights man received two life sentences plus 85 years for raping a 25-year-old woman he ambushed May 22, 2006, at the parking lot of a Safeway store in the King Farm area of Rockville.
Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David A. Boynton imposed the stiffest sentence possible. The man, David Nathaniel Hall, 39, had been convicted of numerous violent crimes before. Hall took the stand during his trial and said the sex had been consensual.
-- Ernesto Londoño
ANNAPOLISCouncil Rejects Proposed Plastic Bag Ban
The Annapolis City Council rejected a proposed ordinance last night that would have banned the use of plastic grocery bags at local stores.
The majority of the council members endorsed alternative legislation that would encourage voluntary use of reusable bags by residents and retailers. By introducing that measure, council members avoided the possibility of defeating the original legislation banning plastic bags. A public hearing will be held on the revised proposal before a final vote is taken.
Alderman Samuel Shropshire (D-Ward 7), the proponent of the plastic bag ban, said Mayor Ellen O. Moyer (D) and other council members "sidestepped the issue."
"This was a cop-out," Shropshire said. "It gave them the right not to face the issue of plastic bags."
-- Raymond McCaffrey
FREDERICK COUNTYMan Who Died After Stun Gun Use Is Identified
A 20-year-old man who died Sunday after a Frederick County sheriff's deputy used a stun gun on him to break up a fight was identified by authorities yesterday as Jarrel Gray.
Cpl. Jennifer Bailey of the sheriff's office said a deputy used the Taser about 5 a.m. in the 7000 block of Gresham Court East. Bailey said Gray apparently refused to take his hand out of his pocket after being ordered to, which prompted the deputy to act. Gray fell to the ground and was taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where he died.
-- Lori Aratani
PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTYWoman Gets 6 Months for Relief Fund Fraud
A 28-year-old Suitland woman has been sentenced to six months in jail in Prince George's County for bilking a nonprofit organization out of more than $78,000 in relief funds for Hurricane Katrina victims, authorities said yesterday.
Latarsha Delaine pleaded guilty Friday during a court hearing in Upper Marlboro to stealing $78,394 from the General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, a nonprofit group associated with the Masons, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Delaine, who worked in the accounting department, recorded fraudulent entries in the organization's check register for checks "made payable to charitable organizations" or to "Hurricane," referring to Katrina relief, and then wrote checks to herself, depositing them at Prince George's credit union locations, prosecutors said.
-- Candace Rondeaux
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