PRSTD STD US Postage Paid Permit No. 145 Waldorf, MD
Thursday, May 17, 2007 • St. Mary’s County, Maryland
Established 2006 • Volume 2 • Issue 20 • FREE
School Monsignor Harris Center Dedicated Bus Driver Archbishop of Washington Attends, Leads Congregation Charged for Sexually Explicit Messages to Students By Guy Leonard Staff Writer St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office investigators have charged a county public school system bus driver with allegedly using a cell phone to send sexually explicit messages to two teen-aged school girls while they were passengers on his bus route. In another incident, deputies say, Christopher P. Espina, 40, of Leonardtown allegedly used a portable DVD player to show a sexually explicit movie to three 17-year-old male passengers while Espina was operating the bus. Deputies also say Espina convinced one of the girls he reportedly illicitly text-messaged to skip school on one occasion. Charging documents from The District Court of St. Mary’s County state that these incidents involving Espina occurred over a five-month period between Jan. 1 and May 4. Investigators charged Espina with a criminal summons on five counts of possessing obscene matter with the intent to distribute and one count of contributing to the condition of a child. Lt. Rick Burris, commander of the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, said investigators were searching for other potential victims. See Lewd Driver page A-
Photo by David McKay
Monsignor Harris and Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl lead parishioners and guests to the dedication.
On this beautiful Sunday afternoon, May 13, a day to celebrate the love and devotion of mother’s everywhere, a 317 year old catholic parish in Hollywood celebrated its devotion to faith and commitment in providing facilities and teachings to future generations of Catholics. After more than 10 years of planning, fundraising, and construction, St. John Francis Regis Church and School dedicated the new parish hall, appropriately named the hall the Monsignor Har-
ris Center in honor of Reverend Martin P. Harris, the beloved pastor at St. Johns from 1970 until his retirement in 2003. Monsignor Harris who still lives in St. Mary’s County was in attendance for the ceremony. Monsignor Harris also participated in the mass service immediately preceding the dedication ceremony. The new hall features a middle school size gymnasium, a stage, new kitchen facilities as well as several meeting rooms, all of which will
serve the daily needs of St. John’s School, established in 1923 as the first parochial school in St. Mary’s County. The hall will also serve the parish community’s many other social and religious needs. In attendance at Sunday’s mass and dedication was the new Archbishop of Washington, Donald W. Wuerl. Archbishop Wuerl was named See Dedication page A-
BOCC Index Charter School Finally Given Some Promising News Pass $60 By Adam Ross Staff Writer
WCAC Champs B-1
Lady Braves B-1
The Chesapeake Public Charter School has sailed through its fair share of stormy waters, but it finally drifted to port when the St. Mary’s Board of Education May 9 gave it the go-ahead to open in August. Charter school supporters cheered and cried when the announcement was made, as the board had insisted up to that point that “the school be successful in its very first day.” Community members and even Stacy Maffei, the charter’s school project director, had perceived the school board’s attitude as “less than supportive,” especially when they were put on probation last month for failing to meet several objectives. Among those missed goals, was a slowed fundrais-
ing effort, hampered by miscommunication between the charter’s organizers who in March didn’t know that they had to raise $120,000 by July 1st. At the time, Margaret Meringolo, a member of the charter’s governing board revealed the school had only raised $20,000. So last month, the school board handed down seven objectives to the charter, one of which required them to show that at least one of the applicants for education director was fully certified. If the objectives were not met, the school board was armed with the power to stop the charter dead in its tracks, at least for the year. But when the charter’s organizers were able to meet all of the objectives early this month, they we’re given the green light by Martirano to move forward for an August opening. “Our community deserves this,” said Superintendent See Charter School page A-
Op.-Ed ..........Page A - 4 Obits .............Page A - 6 Police ............Page B - 5 Classifieds.....Page B - 7
For Continual News Updates Visit: somd.com Local Weather Friday Few Showers 68° Saturday Mostly Sunny 74° Sunday Mostly Sunny 75°
Photo by Adam Ross
Workers paint the outside of the home for the new Chesapeake Public Charter School in Lexington Park. The work is scheduled to proceed close to the schools’ opening in August.
Trash Fee
By Adam Ross Staff Writer The St. Mary’s Board of County Commissioners approved a new $60 trash fee Tuesday for all county residential properties, a move deemed its “only option” to balance a nearly $2 million deficit. The board meandered in silence for over a minute, before Commission President Francis Jack Russell (D- Piney Point) demanded a commissioner speak up and make a motion. “I don’t like this because I’ve criticized others for saying we don’t raise takes, but then raise fees,” said Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (DGreat Mills), “and here I’ve made the motion that I’ve criticized others for doing.” The $60 fee will impact all residential dwelling units after July 1, including individual apartment units, a measure that’s gone relatively under the radar with little negative feedback during this month’s public hearing. However unless amended, the fee will not be assessed to commercial property owners. Commissioner Thomas A. Mattingly Sr. (D- Leonardtown) has been outspoken of the fact that “everyone” in the county be partners in paying the fee. Leonardtown on the other hand has requested it be exempted from the fee because it handles much of its own solid waste needs, but its residents are still to be charged. See $60 Trash Fee page A-