MARYLAND BRIEFING

Saturday, October 4, 2008

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY

Md. Teacher of the Year From Wise

A Prince George's County social studies teacher has been named the 2009 Maryland Teacher of the Year, state officials announced yesterday.

William Thomas, a teacher at Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. High School in Upper Marlboro who specializes in government, earned the state's highest honor for teachers out of a pool of 24 candidates from each county and Baltimore.

State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick said in a statement that Thomas "equates classroom teaching to art" and has repeatedly declined offers to become an administrator because teaching is "his life's calling."

Thomas will receive $9,000, several thousand dollars' worth of teaching materials, a trip to the Teacher of the Year conference in Dallas and a Saturn Aura. Thomas will also participate in a national competition. The winner will be announced in April.

-- Nelson Hernandez

Health Dept. Probes Girl's Death

The Prince George's County Health Department is investigating the death of a middle school student. William R. Hite, interim superintendent for the school system, said the girl was an eighth-grader at Walker Mill Middle School in Capitol Heights.

A spokeswoman for the health department said that the girl died at a local hospital and that she did not know when the girl was admitted or what symptoms she displayed.

Health Officer Donald Shell said authorities will conduct a battery of tests, including for bacterial meningitis, but expect no results for 24 to 48 hours. He said officials have only sketchy information on the girl's death so far, but what they had learned as of yesterday evening suggested to them that other students and staff were not in any immediate danger.

-- Rosalind S. Helderman and Nelson Hernandez

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

Phone Outage Might Hit Aspen Hill

A Montgomery County telephone pole fire yesterday caused an outage that could affect phone service through the weekend in the Aspen Hill and Laytonsville areas, and county officials are urging residents to go to their nearest fire station if they need emergency help. It took fire officials about 45 minutes to extinguish the blaze, spokesman Pete Piringer said.

There are several fire stations in the affected area, all with direct phone lines to the emergency command center:

Station 12, at 10617 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring; Station 24, at 13216 New Hampshire Ave., Silver Spring; Station 5, at 10620 Connecticut Ave., Kensington; Station 18, at 12251 Georgia Ave., Wheaton; Station 25, at 14401 Connecticut Ave., Aspen Hill; Station 21, at 12500 Veirs Mill Rd., Rockville; and Station 17, at 21400 Laytonsville Rd., Laytonsville.

For a complete list of Montgomery fire stations, visit http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/firerescue/crrs/firecode/stations/stationlistings.pdf.

-- Miranda S. Spivack

MEDEVAC CRASH FUNERALS

Processions Likely to Slow Traffic

Funeral processions for rescue workers killed in a helicopter crash last weekend are expected to slow traffic in Charles and Prince George's counties today.

Drivers can expect traffic at all intersections along funeral paths to stop temporarily as motorcades of police and fire department vehicles escort the processions through the area.

Services for Tonya Mallard, a volunteer EMT with the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department, start at 9 a.m. at North Point High School, 2500 Davis Rd., Waldorf.

The procession from the school to Delaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium will start on Davis Road, continue onto Berry Road and Middletown Road to Smallwood Drive, past the fire station where Mallard volunteered.

The procession will head north on Route 301 to Delaney Valley Memorial Gardens, 200 East Padonia Rd., Timonium.

Services for Maryland State Police pilot Stephen H. Bunker start at 11 a.m. at South Potomac Church, 4915 Crain Hwy., White Plains. The parking lot at South Potomac Church will be closed to anyone not attending the funeral.

The procession will travel from the church to Cedar Hill Cemetery in Suitland, heading north on Route 301 to Branch Avenue to the Capital Beltway to Pennsylvania Avenue, where it will end at the cemetery, at 4111 Pennsylvania Ave.

-- Jenna Johnson