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Sunday, January 26, 2020 | HINDSIGHT 2020

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

A SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE FREDERICK NEWS-POST

Looking back on 20 years of stories that shaped Frederick

T

he last 20 years brought Frederick County a Baltimore Orioles pitcher and second round draft pick, an epicenter of our downtown economy and an entirely new government.

But we also feared sending our children to school because of two snipers traveling along the beltway, watched loved ones perish in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and scrambled to respond to an opioid crisis that hit Frederick County particularly hard.

In the last two decades, The Frederick News-Post covered tens of thousands of stories that have made an impact on our lives. We’ve celebrated our highest achievers, covered deaths of our loved ones and documented the issues that impassioned readers and empowered them to speak up.

With Hindsight 2020, we remember and honor the people and stories

that have shaped our community over the last two decades. This special section pays tribute to those stories.

Part of our goal as the newspaper of record for Frederick County is to serve as a historical record keeper of major events in the community.

We document the events that made us cry, made us cheer or made us angry — events that made us feel something.

These stories touch every part of our lives, from education to government to sports to tragedies. Each of those parts is represented as a top story over the last two decades.

There are positive stories, but the news wasn’t always positive because life isn’t always positive. Bad things happen to us, and to our community.

But these stories, and the community’s response to them, played a big role in shaping our county.

In the process of developing this special section, our reporters se-

Publisher Geordie Wilson

lected five stories from each year as the most impactful stories that happened. We sought reader input through online polls and the results are shared in this section. Ultimately, we chose the story to represent each year, basing our decision on strength of the community reaction and what left a lasting effect on Frederick County. In many cases, we agreed with our readers.

Many of these stories didn’t change much year-to-year. Some carried on for nearly a decade. Some are still ongoing and we continue to cover them.

History is often as much a reminder as it is an indicator. As we look back on these stories, and move into the next decade, we look forward to following new stories that will continue to shape the county we call home.

Editors Allen Etzler Pete McCarthy Paul Milton Advertising Connie Hastings Staff writers Jeremy Arias Steve Bohnel John Cannon Allen Etzler Hannah Himes Ryan Marshall Colin McGuire Heather Mongilio Mallory Panuska Katryna Perera Erika Riley Crystal Schelle Design Katlynn Almansor

— Allen Etzler

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HINDSIGHT 2020 | Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 3

2000

County Commissioners increase taxes

BY STEVE BOHNEL

Commissioner Lenny Thompson uses one of several charts during a public hearing in October 2000 on impact fees to explain how the higher fees effect the sale and purchase of a property.

sbohnel@newspost.com

Taxes, taxes, taxes. When looking at local government, it’s often the question most asked by residents: will my taxes increase?

In 2000, they did. Quite a bit. The then-Frederick County Board of Commissioners voted to raise both the property tax 24 cents to $2.50 for every $100 of assessed value, and the recordation tax— placed on deeds, mortgages and other documents filed at the Frederick County Courthouse—was increased from $1.50 to $5 of value.

The former was needed to fund teacher raises, new county government deputy positions and transportation projects, commissioners said.

The latter was used to fund parks and farm preservation projects.

Part of the increase in recordation tax revenue was used to fund multiple park projects the following year, including $1.5 million at Old National Pike District Park east of New Market.

The money was used to speed up grading at athletic fields and parking lots, along with building acceleration and deceleration lanes at the park’s Md. 144 entrance, said Paul Dial, then the head of the county’s parks department.

David Gray, then-president of the Board of Commissioners, lauded Dial’s efforts and added it’s a sign that county tax dollars are going toward a worthy cause, “instead of thinking it all goes into the

News-Post file photo

fore an unsuccessful bid for County Executive in 2018.

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY “I see we are all going to be better off now that the • 9-year-old Christopher Ausherman is found dead commissioners have raised at McCurdy Field — 1st impact fees by 64 percent. As • President Clinton visits Camp David for Middle East Peace Commissioner Terre RhodSummit — 2nd erick stated, there are tax• The first election is held for Frederick County Board of es already in place to fund Education — 3rd services in the county. Relax • A series of tax increases levied by Frederick County Commissioner Rhoderick, it Commissioners to expand services — 4th will never be enough. I’d bet • The Frederick News-Post is sold to Randall Family LLC within two years there will be — 5th another impact fee or “tax” to fund yet more government growth ... I mean waste,” DeMonths after the commisgreat black hole of the generlauter wrote. sioners voted on all these inal fund.”

But, as the population increases, The Frederick NewsCommissioners also voted creased by more than 45,000 in 2000 to raise income taxes Post received multiple letters between 1990 and 2000, the from residents opposing the by 16 percent, and the impact tax increases. tax increases were needed to fee—charged on new home That included Kirby Delaut- expand services in a growing construction to help fund county, commissioners said. er, who has since served as school and library projects— Follow Steve Bohnel on both a county commissioner and County Councilman beincreased 64 percent.

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2001

Remembering Sept. 11 in Frederick County

BY HEATHER MONGILIO

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY

hmongilio@newspost.com

Sept. 11, 2001 began with a local primary election. It ended with a nation mourning a tragedy.

Mayor Jim Grimes was running for re-election against Jennifer Dougherty, who would win that year, becoming Frederick’s first female mayor.

Grimes told the News-Post in 2011 that he was on his way to the polls when he first heard that a plane hit one of the Twin Towers. He thought it was an accident.

But the plane that hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. was part of an attack, after hijackers commandeered four planes.

Two went into the towers, the second one hitting at 9:03 a.m.

Another plane hit the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. A fourth plane was likely headed toward the Washington, D.C. area. Passengers and flight crew were able to prevent the plane from reaching its destination. Instead, it crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Frederick had Fort Detrick and Camp David. Its proximity to Washington, D.C. alone made it so that security in the area needed to be tightened, Grimes told the News-Post in 2011.

Evacuation plans were made. Airport security firmed up. Grimes even made plans to secure water stations, in case they became vulnerable to an attack, he said. Fort Detrick allowed civilians to leave early, and in the following days, increased security.

In the week that followed the Sept. 11 attacks, Grimes and Dougherty, who won the

• Remembering Sept. 11 in Frederick County — 1st • Amerithrax attacks — 2nd • Fall out from the Black Book scandal — 3rd • Former TJ hoops star Terence Morris helps lead Maryland to its first Final Four appearance in 2001 — 4th • A game where you collect trading cards of Md. men sweeps Frederick — 5th News-Post file photo

Sharon and Pat Linton hold a photo of their son Alan Linton Jr., who was working in the World Trade Center when the planes struck.

rated with pictures of his girlfriend, Darlene Claypoole.

Ruth survived the impact, Sept. 11 election, decided to spent every half an hour call- Claypoole told the News-Post take a campaign hiatus while ing for information. A month in 2006. He and two co-workthe nation recovered. after the attacks, Linton was ers tried to find an exit, but Across the county, local still considered missing.

Ruth’s and one of the coworkresidents wondered what It took his mother seven er’s injuries were too severe. the attacks meant. Some told years to understand her son Claypoole was gardena News-Post reporter in the died in the towers, choosing ing when she learned of the days after they worried about to disbelieve it despite receivplane crash, she said. She a draft, others called for viing her son’s ulna, a bone in called Ruth’s phone and left a olence against the terrorists the arm. message. behind the attacks. Local clerThe Lintons established a For days after the attack, gy did what they knew best scholarship in their son’s name and started leading prayers. and donated $100,000 to the Ruth was listed as missing.

Claypoole did not know he Alan Patrick Linton Jr., 26, Alan P. Linton, Jr. Emergency worked in the Twin Towers.

Shelter, which bears his name. died.

“I kept having hope, you Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ron Vauk, 37, Vauk was working his secknow? I kept thinking mayand Army Chief Warrant Ofond day of annual reserve be he just hasn’t gotten to ficer William Ruth, 57, both duty when a plane crashed of Mount Airy, worked in the into the Pentagon. At the time a phone to call,” she said in of the attack, he had a 3-year- 2006.

Pentagon. All three died in A park in Mount Airy was old son. His wife, Jennifer, was the attacks.

Linton worked for Sandler pregnant with a daughter, who rededicated in honor of Ruth and Vauk. The town holds an would be named Meaghan. and O’Neil, which had officRuth was at his desk, in the annual 9/11 memorial. es on the 104th floor of the Follow Heather Mongilio World Trade Center. Two days impact zone, when the plane hit. His office desk was deco- on Twitter: @HMongilio. after the attack, the Lintons

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2002

D.C. Snipers’ rampage ends in Myersville

BY CRYSTAL SCHELLE

Law enforcement officers search the car which John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were in when police arrested them at a rest stop near Myersville on Oct. 24, 2002.

cschelle@newspost.com

For three weeks in the fall of 2002, people in Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland were terrorized by what seemed like random shootings.

The then-unknown assailants were dubbed the D.C. Snipers.

By the time 41-year-old John Allen Muhammad and 17-year-old Lee Boyd Malvo were caught at an Interstate 70 Myersville rest stop on Oct. 24, 2002, 10 people had died and three were wounded.

The first named victim on Oct. 2, 2002, was James D. Martin, a program analyst for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The 55-year-old was in the parking lot of Shoppers Food Warehouse in Wheaton, when he was gunned down.

Officials later pieced together that the actual first Maryland victim was Paula LaRaffa who had been shot outside of her Clifton, Maryland, restaurant Sept. 5, 2002.

Muhammad and Malvo made off with $3,000, that they later used to purchase the car and finance their rampage.

Each day another victim was shot — in Rockville, Aspen Hill, Silver Spring — all doing mundane daily tasks.

The youngest victim, 13-yearold Iran Brown, was shot and critically wounded outside of his middle school in Prince George’s County.

People in all three states were fearful of being outside, to shop for groceries or to pump gas. Afterschool activities were canceled, and local

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

across the U.S. from Arizona to Washington state, to MaryREADERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY land, to Georgia, Texas and Alabama before making their • D.C. Snipers three-week rampage ends in way back to Maryland.

Myersville — 1st • FBI agents twice searched the home of a former Fort In September 2004, MuDetrick researcher reportedly to find evidence of his ties to hammad was sentenced to anthrax-tainted letters — 2nd death. He was executed on • Drought causes widespread water restrictions — 3rd Nov. 10, 2009. Malvo’s two life • Maryland elects Republican governor for the first time since sentences were overturned 1966 — 4th stating he was a juvenile at • Newly-appointed city hall employee Rodney Pulliam and his the time and the laws did not three sons die in a crash — 5th allow for such sentencing for someone under 18.

In March 2019, the U.S. Suschools were placed on lock- firmed he was a victim of the preme Court agreed to hear downs during the school day. D.C. Snipers.

Malvo’s case. Arguments were An alert was sent out to But as the killings pulled away from Maryland to Virgin- look for a 1990 Chevrolet Ca- heard in October 2019. Now 34, he still remains in prison. price with New Jersey tags. ia — Oct. 9 in Manassas, Oct. Until the closing of the Less than an hour later, police 11 in Fredericksburg, Oct. Newseum in Washington, received a tip that the car was 14 in Falls Church, Oct. 19 in D.C., a portion of the trunk of Ashland, Oct. 21 in Richmond spotted in Frederick County.

— there was a small feeling of On Oct. 24, Muhammad and the Caprice the D.C. Snipers used was on display. A small Malvo were found at the rest relief in Maryland. hole in the trunk is where offiThat was until Oct. 22 when stop sleeping in the car and cials said the sniper would lay arrested without incident.

35-year-old bus driver Conin wait with a M-16 military asMuhammad and Malvo rad Johnson was shot in Aspen Hill while standing on the were later tied to several kill- sault rifle to shoot victims.

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2003

Local football star Billy Gaines dies at 19 after fall

BY JOHN CANNON

jcannon@newspost.com

The local sports community reeled in 2003 after the tragic death of a star athlete that was partly responsible for building a Maryland high school football dynasty.

Shortly after completing his freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh, former Urbana High School football star Billy Gaines died June 18 after a fall from the rafters of a church where he was renting a room. Gaines was 19.

Gaines suffered a fractured skull and spinal injuries after his accident at St. Anne Church in Homestead, Pennsylvania. He broke through the ceiling and fell about 25 feet, landing on a church pew in the sanctuary.

The speedy, 5-foot-7, 170-pound receiver was the Frederick News-Post Offensive Player of the Year during his senior season in 2001, when he helped the Hawks win their fourth straight state title and extend their winning streak to a state-record 50 games.

His performance earned him a scholarship to play at Pitt, where he saw playing time as a freshman and built a relationship with teammate and future National Football League star Larry Fitzgerald.

Before his senior year at Urbana, Gaines gained national recognition by posting the fastest 40-yard dash time among the more than 3,000 football prospects who took part in the national Nike Football Training Camps.

After word of his fall reached the Urbana community, more than 300 people joined hands in a prayer circle around the high school’s football field, hoping Gaines would recover from his life-threatening injuries.

Gaines had been on life support at a Pittsburgh hospital after the fall.

In August 2003, involuntary manslaughter charges were filed against the Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. Henry Krawczyk, who investigators said gave alcohol to Gaines before he fell to his

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • FBI continued investigating the Anthrax attacks — 1st • Local football star Billy Gaines dies at age 19 after fall — 2nd • William Robert Fagan Sr. was sentenced to serve the remainder of his life prison sentence — 3rd • Frederick Mayor Jennifer Dougherty, her administration’s conflict with city government officials continued — 4th • The Frederick County Liquor Board decided not to renew Xhale nightclub’s license to sell alcohol — 5th

The two young men were crawling in the rafters more than 25 feet above the church floor when Gaines fell. He died about 20 hours later.

In February 2005, Krawczyk pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. He admitted Courtesy providing alcohol to Gaines and other underage Pitt players during the cookBilly Gaines. out at St. Anne Church, according to court records. death.

He was placed on seven years of proIn the hours before his death, Gaines bation and ordered to complete 100 had attended a cookout at the church, hours of community service. where he and a Pittsburgh teammate, Gaines was a three-year starter for UrDavid Abdul, were staying temporaribana, which never lost a game during ly after a fire destroyed their apartment in May 2003, according to the Associat- his high school career. In his final high school game, the 2001 Class 3A state ed Press.

Police said the Rev. Krawczyk, who was championship game against Patuxent, Gaines helped the Hawks win their 50th pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe parish, knew Gaines and other young men at the straight game.

As a freshman at Pittsburgh, Gaines cookout were under the legal drinking caught one pass for 3 yards and returned age of 21.

27 punts for 137 yards. The Frederick An autopsy showed Gaines’ News-Post reported that he was projectblood-alcohol content was 0.16 pered to be a wide receiver on the 2003 cent, above the 0.1 percent legal limit team. for adult drivers.

In 2011, Gaines’ father, Bill Gaines, Authorities said Gaines and his teampublished a book about his son’s death. mate were searching for mysterious markings or symbols said to be located He called it the “most important thing in the church, which is part of the parish. I’ve ever done in my life.”

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HINDSIGHT 2020 | Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 7

2004

The black book scandal came to a close The “black book” materials acquired by the News-Post in 2004 included four computer compact disks, a floppy disk, two folders of records and a four-inch thick pile of papers.

BY KATRYNA PERERA kperera@newspost.com

The infamous black book scandal that plagued the city of Frederick starting in 1999, finally mostly came to a close in 2004 but not without a few more interesting episodes.

The black book refers to materials that were seized by Frederick Police from a convicted madame whose operation of a call girl ring drew national attention to Frederick during the early 2000s.

It all began when a local NAACP leader alleged in 1999 that the Frederick Police Department was using information in the black book to blackmail high-ranking elected officials who had purportedly used the call-girl service.

The Frederick News-Post and other media outlets spent years fighting to gain access to the black book documents, during which some of the materials were returned to madame Angelika Potter, and shredded.

In February 2004, several key items from the boxes of documents released by City Hall after the long legal battle seemed to be missing. These items included a Rolodex and index card files that listed client information, a diary, and spiral notebooks used for bookkeeping and describing clients.

Police property logs showed the items had been signed out by a special agent with the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2000 but never returned. The IRS had been asked to investigate

Staff file photo

by Bill Green

the finances of Potter for any wrongdoing. It was later reported there was no such evidence.

Shortly after it was reported that the key items were missing, it was revealed that the IRS had returned the material to Potter in 2000 long before the court battle regarding whether the documents were to be made public had concluded.

Those documents, especially the index card files, were seen as the best source of information for details about the escort service and the identity of the clients.

No copies of the materials were ever made, and the FPD said in 2004 that they were unaware the materials had been returned to Potter.

City Hall also closed the black book “reading room” in 2004 which had allowed the

TRANSFORM YOUR

BASEMENT

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • Courts rule data from “black book” scandal be made public; book and diary then goes missing — 1st • Constant sinkholes pop up around the county — 2nd • Fire ravages 133-year-old church in Libertytown — 3rd • Genesis plan to use the Frederick fairgrounds as a site for refugees during terrorist attacks — 4th • Frederick OB/GYN Professional Group decides to end its midwife positions — 5th

public to access information related to the scandal that had been made public.

The information is kept in binders and available to view.

However, if any videotapes of police interviews or surveillance want to be seen, individuals must make an appointment.

Since 2004, the only major news to come out related to the black book was that the city finally finished paying out

BEFORE

nearly $116,00 to the Frederick News-Post for improperly blocking public access to black-book information.

Only one elected official, Blaine Young, was named in the documents and reported to have been a client of the escort service. At the time of the documents release, Young was serving on the Board of Aldermen.

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HINDSIGHT 2020

301-485-4607

2005

Slots proposal dominated county discussion

BY RYAN MARSHALL rmarshall@newspost.com

The Maryland General Assembly wouldn’t actually pass legislation allowing slots gambling in Maryland for another two years.

But in 2005, the issue was one of the most talked about topics in Frederick County, with the county poised to possibly become a site for slots with a bill sponsored by a local delegate.

Then-Del. Galen Claggett (D-Frederick) sponsored one of the bills seeking to legalize slots betting in the state, and hinted that he would support putting some of the machines in Frederick County.

Another bill, by a Baltimore delegate, would have had 2,000 slot machines at a site near the intersections of interstates 70 and 270, and another 6,500 machines at three sites in other parts of the state.

Another Frederick Delegate, Joe Bartlett, opposed legalizing slots.

Claggett’s bill ultimately passed out of a House of Delegates committee and was passed by the House, before dying in the Senate, which had passed a different bill.

Despite the failure, the slots issue was a frequent topic in the county in 2005, with supporters talking up the revenue the machines could bring and opponents concerned about the negative social and other costs of gambling.

Sixteen United Methodist Church pastors wrote to the News-Post to express their opposition to the bill, citing a church position that “Gambling is a menace to society, deadly to the best interests of moral, social, economic and spiritual life, and destructive of good government.”

The Board of County Commissioners voted down an ordinance banning slots anywhere in the county, but did pass one outlawing the machines in unincorporated parts of the county.

Current County Executive Jan Gard-

News-Post file photo

A customer plays a machine at one of the slot machine parlors at Charles Town Races and Slots in 2005.

ner, then a commissioner, said that if the county had to fund a program with slots READERS’ CHOICE FOR revenue instead of tax dollars, then the MOST IMPACTFUL STORY county really didn’t want it.

“Government is likely to be the first • Carroll Creek Linear Park broke in line to be addicted to slots [reveground, dramatically changing nue],” Gardner said. downtown Frederick — 1st A Myersville councilman planned to • A debate over residency requirements pass an ordinance in that town in case between Frederick Mayor Jennifer the county’s measure failed.

Dougherty and the city aldermen went In Frederick’s mayoral election, Reto federal court — 2nd publican Jeff Holtzinger and Democrat • Burkittsville elected an all-female Ron Young, now a state senator, both council and burgess, a tradition the said the issue should go to local referentown has largely continued — 3rd dum if the state decided to allow slots.

• Slots proposal dominated Young lamented the amount of moncounty discussion — 4th ey going to nearby states from people • The mayor’s race between Jennifer looking to gamble.

Dougherty and Ron Young was an ongoing battle — 5th “I hate seeing all that revenue go out of Maryland,” he said. “If people are going to gamble, I’d like it to go to here and into our education system.” site ever came to Frederick County.

The General Assembly ultimately Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP. passed a slots bill in 2007, although no

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2006 A crowd gathered at Carroll Creek Linear Park for a grand opening celebration in 2006. Later in the evening the suspension bridge was dedicated to former Alderman William O. Lee. Staff file photo

by Sam Yu

Carroll Creek Park opens after decades of work

BY ERIKA RILEY

eriley@newspost.com

The story of Carroll Creek Park is a long, complicated and expensive one. After decades of planning and development, the first portion of the park finally opened on June 21, 2006.

The park isn’t just a park, of course: it is a flood mitigation project that was desperately needed after the floods of 1972 and 1976, which caused millions of dollars in damages to downtown Frederick.

State Sen. Ron Young (D-Frederick.), who was mayor of Frederick at the time, insisted that new infrastructure was needed in order to manage future floods. However, Young wanted to ensure that the project was going to be attractive for the city, unlike the initial plans of a largescale, unappealing sewer system that would have run through downtown.

He instead worked with

host to events like Alive @ Five and community festivals.

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY The next phase, which cost $15.8 million and spanned the • Carroll Creek Park opens after decades of work— 1st eastern portion of the creek, • Late June flooding in town resulted in several people was not finished until 2016. drowning, including two teenage boys — 2nd The project cost over $200 • Frederick County soldiers die overseas — 3rd million in public investment, • An undercover cop was stabbed during a “drug deal gone plus over $200 million in priwrong,” and then another cop shot and killed the man who vate investment. stabbed him — 4th Since, several residen• Marines hailed as heroes after coming home in November tial buildings and restaurants from fighting the war on terror — 5th have gone up alongside the creek, in addition to the renovations of the C. Burr Artz The original plan cost $60 teams of architects to develop the plan for Carroll Creek Park, million, which was three times Public Library and many other surrounding buildings. which was inspired by the Riv- the city’s operating budget.

Young’s promise of economic er Walk in San Antonio, Texas. Young was able to secure development panned out as The park, as it stands now, fea- some funding from the state by pitching the project for eco- the park became an epicentures bridges, walkways and nomic development, instead of ter of downtown Frederick. a 250-seat amphitheater for Fourteen years later, the one for community beautificapublic performances. park remains open and has tion or even flood mitigation.

People walking along the become a cultural and ecoThe flood control system creek now might not know was finished in 1993. Construc- nomic hub for downtown about the four conduits that tion on the park did not begin Frederick. There are still plans run underneath the park, to extend the park further until 12 years later in 2005. which take water from Baker Park and move it toward the The first phase of the park, east, which will be the final phase of construction.

Monocacy River. Each conduit from Court to Carroll streets, is large enough for a truck to opened on June 21, 2006.

Follow Erika Riley on drive through.

That same summer, it was Twitter: @ej_riley.

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Sunday, January 26, 2020 | HINDSIGHT 2020

2007

Walkersville residents debate Muslim retreat

BY COLIN MCGUIRE

cmcguire@newspost.com

Plans for a Muslim retreat in Walkersville were hotly debated throughout a large chunk of 2007.

At the heart of the discussion was a plan from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, who attempted to buy about 275 acres of land to both build a recreational center for 20 local families and also host an annual three-day religious convention, the Jalsa Salana festival, that would draw 5,000 to 10,000 people.

The plan drew criticism from some who believed that building the center in Walkersville might attract “terrorist activity” in the area, as the Frederick NewsPost wrote in August of that year. As a result, Ahsan Zafar, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, told residents at a summer town hall meeting that his community were “not extremists,” and they were “not violent.”

“We are not here to disrupt life, we are here to be a part of life,” Zafar also told the crowd while noting that the center would be open to people of all faiths.

His words would ultimately fall on deaf ears however, as after an 11-day hearing in early 2008, the Walkersville Board of Zoning Appeals denied the group’s proposal to build at 8939 Woodsboro Pike, which at the time was property owned by David Moxley.

Roman P. Storzer, the attorney for Moxley, said after the decision was made that he believed the underlying issue in play was hostility toward Muslims. He also added that it was a “sad, sad situation” for the town to deny Ahmadiyya members the ability to worship freely in America.

The conflict didn’t end there, however, as in 2009, Moxley filed a $16.5 million lawsuit against Walkersville’s burgess and four town commissioners.

Moxley alleged the town blocked the sale of the land to the Ahmadiyya Muslim community on the basis of religious and racial bias. As part of the settlement, the Town of Walkersville bought the land for about $4.7 million from Moxley.

The farm has since been transformed

Staff file photo by Bill Green

Thousands of Ahmadiyya Muslims marked the end of the month-long fasting period during Ramadan with prayers and fellowship at the Lynfield Event Complex on Hansonville Road in 2007.

of immigration throughout the county. Frederick County Sheriff Chuck JenREADERS’ CHOICE FOR kins in recent years has been vocal about MOST IMPACTFUL STORY his support of the 287(g) program and ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforce• Mortgage crisis makes its way to ment, throughout Frederick, which in turn Frederick and foreclosures rise has sparked debate regarding both the — 1st county’s ability and desire to allow illegal • A robbery gone wrong causes fire immigrants to reside in local areas. that levels Antietam Village Center; In 2007, though, it was clear where kills would-be robber — 2nd those who led Walkersville stood.

• City deals with increase in “People are very unrested,” Ralph Whitovercrowded dwellings due to more, the town burgess, told The Balti immigrants, serves cease and desist more Sun. “People in Walkersville, and I inorders — 3rd • A Mount Airy fire claimed seven clude myself, we know what a great place businesses and five homes causing it is to live and raise families and are al$4 million in damage — 4th ways concerned about things that might • Walkersville residents debate change our quality of life.”

Muslim retreat — 5th Currently, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has more than 70 local chapters throughout the United States and it has community centers located in into a wedding venue called Walker’s Overlook.

Baltimore, Silver Spring and Richmond.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s propFollow Colin McGuire on Twitter: osition served as a precursor to the issue @colinpadraic.

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2008

Bruce Ivins takes his own life days before FBI charges him in anthrax attacks

BY HANNAH HIMES hhimes@newspost.com

Bruce Ivins, a microbiologist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick and a suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks, took his own life in July 2008.

Shortly after, the FBI brought charges against Ivins, who they said was responsible for five deaths and 17 hospitalizations caused by the attacks.

“The relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo takes its toll in different ways on different people,” said an August 2008 statement from Rockville attorney Paul Kemp who represented Ivins. “In Dr. Ivins’ case, it led to his untimely death.”

Ivins was never convicted.

In the weeks leading up to Ivins’ death, he faced allegations that he had made homicidal and violent threats.

Jean Duley, who told the court she had been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury, filed for a peace order against Ivins on July 24.

Ivins was also taken to Frederick Memorial Hospital, and later Baltimore psychiatric hospital Sheppard Pratt Health System, after he was removed from Fort Detrick during a welfare check on July 10.

In September 2008, FBI Director Robert Mueller III was scheduled to appear before Congress to discuss the assertion that Ivins was responsible for the attacks.

Prior to Mueller’s appearance, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) sent him a list of questions, which included why Ivins kept security clearance for two years after he became the prime suspect in the case.

At the time, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (RMd.) said in an email statement that he didn’t believe that scientists at the USAMRIID could have created the anthrax used in the attacks.

On Sept. 24, court documents were

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • Bruce Ivins takes his own life days before FBI charges him in anthrax attacks — 1st • President Bush visited Wright Manufacturing in Frederick to discuss tax breaks and economic solutions in January — 2nd • Fire destroyed the 100-year old H.C. Summers, Inc. feed store in July — 3rd • The new Frederick News-Post building opened in April — 4th • Former Linganore High hoops star Joe Alexander becomes an NBA lottery pick — 5th

security gaps at the lab prosecutors said the anthrax came from meant that the spores could have been snuck out.

Two years later, scientists who worked with Ivins said he couldn’t have created Staff file photo by Sam Yu the amount of spores needed to carry out the attacks based on the equipment Bruce Ivins is seen volunteering at the American Red and time available to him at USAMRIID. Cross Emergency Shelter in the Frederick Community In 2014, a federal watchdog’s findings about the investigation of the attacks College gym in Oct. 2003. prompted an overhaul of the FBI’s biofounsealed that revealed that Ivins had rensics methods. emailed himself in 2007 saying he knew According to a Government Accountwho had carried out the attacks. ability Office report, when the FBI was At the end of October, Fort Detrick re- investigating the attacks they did not leased Ivins’ personnel file. have a framework that could standardize In 2011, a National Research Counits genetic testing process and provide cil committee said “it is not possible to confidential statistical results. reach a definitive conclusion about the Detrick researchers reported promisorigins of the anthrax in letters mailed to New York City and Washington, D.C., ing results in their quest to create an anthrax vaccine in 2016. based solely on the available scientific Today, an anthrax vaccine does exevidence.” ist but it is not generally available to the The Department of Justice stood by their belief that Ivins was the perpetrator public.

Follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannah_ of the attacks.

In October, outside investigators said himes.

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Sunday, January 26, 2020 | HINDSIGHT 2020

2009

Economic downturn hits Frederick hard Auctioneer William Weschler, right foreground, of Washington, D.C., conducted the auction for Mealey’s in New Market outside the Frederick County Courthouse in 2009.

BY ALLEN ETZLER

aetzler@newspost.com

Even Frederick County’s historically resilient economy was not immune to the economic downturn that began in 2008 and carried over for much of the next five years.

The crash hit Frederick particularly hard in 2009, as foreclosures skyrocketed, government entities suffered crushing budget blows, and bedrock business institutions of Frederick County closed their doors.

Unemployment hit 9.8 percent nationwide in September, and while Frederick County didn’t see numbers that high, the economy saw a noticeable spike in the unemployment rate.

The burst of the housing bubble in 2008 led to foreclosures across the country, hitting Frederick County particularly hard in the third quarter of 2009 when the county saw 759 foreclosures. Home prices saw major declines because of the unemployment rate and the increase in foreclosures.

Along with the higher unemployment and increasing foreclosures, state and county budget challenges resulted in tough decisions and cuts for Frederick County Public Schools and Frederick County Public Library.

At one point, the district even cut all swimming programs in the county, though funding for those was eventually restored. The school system spent much of the year grappling with how to trim as much as $20 million from its budget. The budget led to a series of years of underfund-

Staff file photo

by Sam Yu

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • Michael Voltaggio takes home “Top Chef: Las Vegas” crown — 1st • Economic downturn hits Frederick hard — 2nd • Brad Young fired as WHS softball coach then reinstated — 3rd • City annexes more than 500 acres of farmland that eventually will yield millions of feet of office and commercial space — 4th • State football champions Linganore, Catoctin mark first dual state football champions in county history — 5th

ing the school district that the school board still grapples with how to catch up on.

Along with the school system, the library system was hit with $400,000 in budget cuts — a major hit to the system.

The economic downturn resulted in delaying construction projects like the Myersville and Walkersville branches.

The Board of County Commissioners at the time cut a total of $13.3 million from its final budget due to income tax revenue being lower than expected.

The business community felt the sting of a shaky economy as well. Frederick Towne Mall visitors throughout the year lamented the lack of stores in the mall, as it was on its last legs at the time. The mall eventually closed completely, and has yet to reopen. However, plans for an entertainment hub and Warehouse Cinemas are in the works, which would help to revitalize the Golden Mile on the western part of the city.

Mealey’s Restaurant, a longtime staple of New Mar-

ket, shuttered in 2009, citing the economy as the number one reason for closing. Mayor Winslow Burhans expressed sadness for the closure at the time, citing challenges with the county in promoting businesses in New Market. The town continued to struggle to attract and retain businesses for much of the last decade.

But a streetscape project in town and some anchor businesses occupying Main Street, such as Vintage, which is in the old Mealey’s building, has led to a major increase in foot traffic for the one time “antique capital of the world.”

Similarly, Ingalls Lumber, a Middletown institution closed in 2009 after not being able to make ends meet.

The economic downturn in 2009 didn’t hit Frederick County as hard as other places throughout the country, but it left lasting effects that parts of the county are still feeling today.

Follow Allen Etzler on Twitter: @AllenWEtzler.

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HINDSIGHT 2020 | Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 13

2010

Nearly 30 inches of snow wreaks havoc in county

BY MALLORY PANUSKA mpanuska@newspost.com

The most talked about news event in 2010 happened just about a month in.

According to News-Post archives, on Saturday, Feb. 6, a “record-breaking” nearly 30 inches of snow fell on Frederick County. The storm caused power failures, stranded motorists and “even a disruption in mail service for the first time in at least three decades,” according to a story published the following day.

But it didn’t end there.

Two days later, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for the area beginning the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 9, and lasting until the following afternoon. The prediction was for another “5 or more inches” on top of the roughly 2½ feet still piled around the county. Then on Wednesday, Feb. 10, a NWS meteorologist upped the expected snowfall prediction to 10 to 18 inches by the end of the night. A whopping additional 20 inches ended up falling, bringing the grand total of snowfall from the two storms to more than 4 feet.

The storms dominated news coverage for days, not just in Frederick but across the region, and the event became known as “Snowmageddon.”

And while many areas across the state were hit hard, Frederick County gained notoriety with the second storm. During a visit on Feb. 12 to the Frederick County Emergency Operations Center, then-Gov. Martin O’Malley publicly declared the county was one of the “worst-hit areas” in terms of snowfall and snow drifts.

Stories about the snow continued for days, and ranged from documenting the efforts of officials to dig everyone — and everything – out, to publishing what residents were doing to cure cabin fever while stranded in their homes (the top answers were chores, books and playing Nintendo Wii).

On Feb. 19, nearly two weeks after the first snowflake fell, The Frederick News-Post printed a story that said crews were still struggling to pick up trash and recycling for residents on un-

Staff file photo by Bill Green

Frederick County recovers from severe snowstorms in 2010.

from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

While that all sounds pretty dismal, READERS’ CHOICE FOR Snowmageddon 2010 wasn’t all bad. A MOST IMPACTFUL STORY column by Lori Rypka printed Feb. 21 pointed out the lighter, more positive • Nearly 30 inches of snow wreaks side of the heavy snow: the camaraderie havoc in Frederick — 1st it stirred among neighbors.

• Randy White, the Kristen Renee “I will say that snow can really bring Foundation continued to advocate that Fort Detrick is to blame for a local a neighborhood together, and it’s realcancer cluster — 2nd ly great when you enjoy your neighbors.

• Republicans win big in local If I didn’t, those snowbound days would elections, Ron Young elected to have been pure hell,” Rypka wrote.

Senate — 3rd Fast forward several months to April, • Two Frederick High School grads and Snowmageddon was back in the died serving in the Marine Corps in news again with Frederick County EmerAfghanistan — 4th gency Communications dispatchers re• Robert Lee Murphy was charged ceiving awards for their work answering with first-degree murder in the death calls for service during the storms. of taxi driver Stephen Mark — 5th In November, the News-Post revisited the storm again when a “blizzard baby boom” hit the local hospital. Accordplowed and under-plowed roads. ing to a story from Nov. 13, the numThe storms were also costly. Accordber of births was up and hospital staff ing to a story from March, costs assomembers were struggling to find places ciated with the events went $700,000 for all of the expectant moms. The staff over the city of Frederick’s snow remov- members directly attributed the influx of al budget for fiscal 2010. The city budbirths to the February snowstorms, acgeted $310,511 and spent $1.03 milcording to the story.

Looks like residents failed to mention lion. However, there was a chance for reimbursement for a portion of the costs that activity in the cabin fever story.

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Sunday, January 26, 2020 | HINDSIGHT 2020

2011

Urbana High School teacher named National Teacher of the Year

BY HANNAH HIMES

National Teacher of the Year Michelle Shearer shares a laugh with President Barack Obama at the 2011 ceremony at the White House.

hhimes@newspost.com

Frederick County drew national attention in 2011 when Urbana High School teacher Michelle Shearer was selected as National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers.

Nine years ago, Shearer was an advanced placement chemistry teacher. In the year prior to being named Teacher of the Year and being honored by President Barack Obama at the White House’s Rose Garden, she had already been named Siemens Advanced Placement Teacher of the Year for Maryland, and Frederick County and Maryland Teacher of the Year.

“Throughout her career, working with both gifted and disabled students, she has set high standards and expected outstanding results,” said then State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick.

“The results have come, and her students are richer because of that success.”

After winning the award, Shearer advocated for public education at appearances across the country.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to represent the noble and challenging profession of teaching,” she said in May 2011. “We need someone to draw attention to the work of education, to who teachers are and what they do in the classroom.”

Then Gov. Martin O’Malley paid Shearer’s classroom a

Staff file photo

by Graham Cullen

visit in late-May. “I want to tell you how proud I am of all of you,” O’Malley said to the students. “And how proud I am of Mrs. Shearer.”

Shortly after her term officially began in June 2011, Shearer flew to China with the People to People Ambassadors program to meet Chinese students, teachers and education ministers.

The same year, SAIC-Frederick, now Leidos Biomedical Research Inc., started the Michelle Shearer STEM Fund, a component fund of the Community Foundation of Frederick County. The money goes to-

ward scholarships for Frederick County Public Schools graduating seniors who plan on entering a career in STEM. Shearer’s impact in public education didn’t stop there, though. She has since spearheaded the Linking Youth to New Experiences (LYNX) program at Frederick High. LYNX is an innovative program that allows students to create individualized plans and schedules to maximize flexibility.

In 2016, Shearer, then a chemistry and math teacher at Frederick High, went to Annapolis to support a Maryland Senate bill establishing a LYNX

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • A 5.8 earthquake hits Frederick in August — 1st • A gang bust resulted in 16 Frederick residents being indicted on federal charges — 2nd • Urbana High School teacher named National Teacher of the Year — 3rd • It snowed in October for the first time in about 30 years — 4th • A July rainfall that dropped two inches of rain on Frederick caused flooding — 5th

High School at the Frederick High School campus.

Shearer said she was excited about the program because it would offer personalized education goals to about 1,300 students on campus.

“The whole goal of LYNX is to empower students to choose,” said Shearer in July 2017, shortly before the program was offered to Frederick High freshmen for the first time. “We know there is more than one path to success for students, and we want to help them get there.”

Shearer is currently the LYNX Project Manager at Frederick High.

Follow Hannah on Twitter: @hannah_himes.

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HINDSIGHT 2020 | Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 15

2012

Kline becomes county’s highest drafted baseball player

BY COLIN MCGUIRE

Branden Kline, shown pitching for the Keys in 2014, became the highest drafted Major League Baseball player from Frederick County in 2012.

cmcguire@newspost.com

Tuesday, June 5, 2012, proved to be one of the hallmark days in Frederick County baseball history as Gov. Thomas Johnson High School graduate Branden Kline was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles.

Selected near the beginning of the second round as the 65th overall pick, Kline became the first baseball player from the county to be drafted that high.

It wasn’t the pitcher’s first flirtation with the big leagues.

Three years prior, in 2009, Kline was drafted by the Boston Red Sox, his favorite MLB team.

Yet after some consideration, he decided to opt for a career playing college ball at the University of Virginia, where he amassed a 16-5 record over three seasons.

He told The Frederick NewsPost at the time that it was a mixture of factors that led to his decision to forego his senior season at the University of Virginia. Among them was the ability for his parents to see him pitch in the minor leagues as most of the O’s minor league franchises are within driving distance of Frederick — including, of course, his hometown Frederick Keys, the Class A affiliate of the franchise.

It wasn’t long before he and the Orioles agreed to the terms of his contract, which he signed in July, and included a nearly $800,000 signing bonus. If he had taken the deal with the Red Sox in 2009, he would have earned about

Staff file photo by Graham Cullen

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • Superstorm Sandy hits Frederick — 1st • The G-8 Summit is held at Camp David — 2nd • Tough Mudder competition brings thousands, severe traffic delays to Frederick — 3rd • Kline becomes county’s highest drafted baseball player — 4th • Middletown football repeats as state champions — 5th

a quarter of the bonus he received as part of his agreement in 2012.

“I would say it was just a great moment,” Kline told

The Frederick News-Post after being drafted. “Some of my coaches and teammates were around when the pick was announced, and it was great to be able to share that moment with them. They helped mold me into the person and player I am today.”

The setting for Kline’s first pro start was Lowell, Massachusetts, on Aug. 16, when he took the mound for the Class A short-season Aberdeen Ironbirds. During the outing, the TJ grad struck out five, walked one and allowed three earned runs on four hits in three-plus innings. He ended his 2012 season in Aberdeen with a 4.50 ERA and a record that didn’t include a decision.

Kline would continue his journey for the next seven years, including a 2014 stint with his hometown Freder-

ick Keys in 2014 and 2018. It wouldn’t be until the final year of the decade, however, that the pitcher would take the major league mound for the first time as he appeared in 34 games for the Baltimore Orioles, mostly in relief.

Still, as Kline’s career continues to evolve, being drafted as the 65th overall pick in the 2012 draft remains not only one of Frederick County’s most prominent success stories in sports, but it’s also a memory upon which Kline himself will forever be able to reflect.

“It’s really been like a dream,” Kline told the NewsPost in 2012. “A lot of hard work and determination has paid off.

For a small-town kid from Frederick, Maryland, to go so high in the draft, it’s unreal.”

Follow Colin McGuire on Twitter: @colinpadraic.

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Serving Frederick for 21 years

2013

Monrovia Town Center spurs outrage from residents

BY ERIKA RILEY

eriley@newspost.com

In 2013, plans to build a 1,510-unit development in Monrovia caused public outrage from concerned citizens.

The development, named “Monrovia Town Center,” would sit at the intersection of Md. 75 and Md. 80 and could triple the population of the small town.

At a public hearing for the development in October, over 150 individuals offered public comment. Most of the speakers opposed the development, which they believed would negatively impact Monrovia’s rural character and overcrowd the town’s schools.

The protesters formed their own advocacy group, Residents Against Landsdale Expansion (RALE), headed by Monrovia resident and current County Council member Steve McKay. They were right about one thing for sure: the development would cause crowding in schools and therefore failed the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance school test. The developers, 75-80 Properties LLC and Payne Investments LLC, would have to pay $20.6 million in school impact fees and $14.3 million in school mitigation fees, in addition to $621,307 for road improvements if the plans were approved.

The story didn’t end in 2013. This was just the beginning of a yearslong legal battle.

In April 2014, the Frederick County Board of Commissioners approved the Monrovia Town Center plans when they agreed to rezone the 392 acres from agricultural to planned unit development.

Several commissioners insisted that the development would “pay for itself,” and the introduction of new tax-paying residents would benefit the town.

Then, the story got messier in September 2015, when the commissioners voted to hear the case again from the beginning.

RALE asked a Frederick County Circuit Court judge to take up the case again, on the basis that a letter from the Frederick Area Committee for Transportation (FACT) entered into the record before the initial

News-Post file photo

Opponents of the Monrovia Town Center silently applaud during a resident’s public comment at Winchester Hall.

vote had tainted the process.

The letter was signed by the entire READERS’ CHOICE FOR FACT board but only written by two memMOST IMPACTFUL STORY bers. More importantly, Paul Smith, a county commissioner and the county’s li• Three Frederick County deputies aison to FACT, had initially asked the orwere placed on paid administrative ganization to write the letter, which voiced leave pending the results of an support for the development. Smith voted investigation into the in-custody death to approve the plans for Monrovia Town of Robert Ethan Saylor — 1st Center.

• A house fire claims the lives of After the developers sued the county Sophie and Madigan Lillard — 2nd for $500,000 in 2016 and then reached • Monrovia Town Center spurs a settlement, the County Council asked outrage from residents — 3rd • Francis Scott Key is reunited with the Circuit Court to take “whatever achis famous anthem after an original tion necessary” so the council could remanuscript is brought to Frederick consider the case from its beginning. A — 4th judge granted them the opportunity in • Despite protests, county decides to October 2017. sell Citizens at Montevue — 5th Eventually, the case ended up at the Appellate Court, Maryland’s second-highest court, in November of 2018, and the Maryland Special Court of county and the developers.

Appeals just last year. The Special Court As it stands, it looks like the developof Appeals held up the decision to nulment won’t be moving into Monrovia lify the 2014 agreement between the anytime soon.

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HINDSIGHT 2020 | Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 17

2014

Gardner becomes Frederick’s first county executive Jan Gardner celebrates she arrives to a cheering crowd at Cafe 611 on Election Day in 2014.

BY RYAN MARSHALL rmarshall@newspost.com

2014 brought a seismic change to Frederick County politics, as the county’s transition to charter government became complete with the election of the first County Council and of Jan Gardner as the first county executive.

Gardner defeated Republican Blaine Young, then-president of the county’s last Board of County Commissioners, in the race for the county executive spot.

“The voters have created a new structure, but the men and women up here will create the substance,” former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski told the crowd assembled at the Weinberg Center for Gardner’s and the council’s swearing in.

Voters approved the move to charter government, replacing the five-member board of commissioners with the seven-member council format with five district members and two elected at-large.

Supporters of the change argued that it would increase Frederick County’s prominence and influence in the state.

With the change, Frederick joined Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Cecil, Dorchester, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George’s Talbot and Wicomico counties and the city of Baltimore as charter government counties.

Gardner and Young

Staff file photo

by Sam Yu

Council consisted of Republicans Bud Otis, Billy Shreve, READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY Kirby Delauter, and Tony Chmelik, and Democrats M.C. • Gardner becomes county’s first executive — 1st Keegan-Ayer, Jerry Donald, • Two Ebola patients from an outbreak in West Africa and Jessica Fitzwater. landed at Frederick Municipal Airport enroute to the National The group faced problems Institutes of Health in Bethesda — 2nd with infighting, and struggled • Three are killed in a mid-air collision near Frederick to get things done. airport — 3rd Otis beat Shreve for the first • Thurmont’s Cozy Inn close abruptly in June. It was later council president post, capfound that the restaurant’s owner owed $180K in back taxes turing the votes of the three — 4th Democrats on the panel.

• Gov. Martin O’Malley forms committee to improve law Otis then voted with the enforcement interactions with disabled residents after the Democrats to make Keein-custody death of Ethan Saylor — 5th gan-Ayer vice president, again defeating Shreve.

A new council was electsparred over school funding developers and the commis- ed in 2018, with Keegan-Ayer, and the pace of development sioners during Young’s tenDonald, and Fitzwater mainin the county with developure, in a heated county execu- taining their seats. tive race. ment rights and responsibilFollow Ryan Marshall on The first Frederick County Twitter: @RMarshallFNP. ities agreements signed by

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2015

Roger Taney’s past a hot debate

BY KATRYNA PERERA

The bust of Roger Brooke Taney, former Frederick resident and author of the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision, was displayed out Frederick City Hall until its removal in 2017.

kperera@newspost.com

One of the biggest community debates seen in 2015 surrounded the removal of the bust of a former Frederick resident.

The bust of Supreme Court Justice Roger Brooke Taney, which had previously sat outside City Hall since 1931, was thrown into the spotlight after an Alderwoman proposed its removal.

Taney was the fifth U.S. chief justice and wrote the decision in the infamous 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford Supreme Court case, which said the rights of American citizens put forth in the Constitution were not meant to apply to black people. Taney has long been considered a “pro-slavery” figure in history.

Taney began his legal career in Frederick but had moved out of the city by the time he joined the Supreme Court.

Two months after Alderwoman Donna Kuzemchak’s proposal, the bust was vandalized with red latex paint.

Shortly afterward, the Board of Aldermen unanimously voted in support of removing the bust.

Following the vote, the removal process stalled for over a year and a half as the city waited for approval from various historical agencies and state review boards.

Three residents also held up the process by submitting a petition contesting a vote by the Historic Preservation Commission’s vote for removal – the HPC’s vote was one of the final hurdles for the city. Many in support of keeping the bust spoke of its historical significance to the city of Frederick and that despite Taney’s hand in the Dred Scott case, he was a talented legal scholar.

The residents eventually dropped their petitions and in March 2017 the bust of both Taney and Gov. Thomas Johnson, which also sat outside City Hall, were removed and moved to Mount Olivet Cemetery along with informative plaques.

During this time there was also de-

Staff file photo

by Bill Green

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • Gunfire breaks out at a JV basketball at Frederick High School; two students injured — 1st • County government reaches an agreement to fully return Citizens at Montevue to county control — 2nd • Roger Taney’s past a hot debate in county — 3rd • Hepatitis treatment dry up with no new funding source in sight — 4th • Towns, businesses and homeowners embrace solar power — 5th

bate at the state level regarding a statue in a storage facility in Baltimore County of Taney that sat outside the Maryland with no immediate plans for its future.

State House in Annapolis. The statue was Follow Katryna Perera on Twitter: removed in August 2017 and now sits @katrynajill.

HINDSIGHT 2020 | Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 19

2016

America’s opioid crisis hit home in county

BY JEREMY ARIAS

First responders hold candles in 2016 at the first Drug Overdose and Prevention Vigil, sponsored by the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office, at St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church.

jarias@newspost.com

Few stories have been followed more closely in the 2010s than America’s opioid epidemic, and in no year was this nationwide problem made more tragically local than 2016.

While local law enforcement agencies began tracking their officers’ responses to opioid overdoses and deaths as early as 2012 — during which time the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office tallied six fatal and 15 nonfatal overdoses countywide — those numbers steadily grew each year until 2016, when the totals suddenly skyrocketed.

From an already alarming total of 19 fatal and 121 nonfatal overdoses in 2015, a shocking 54 deaths were attributed to opioid-related overdoses in 2016, of which law enforcement responded to an unprecedented 409 total, according the sheriff’s office’s data.

“Sure it’s frustrating,” Sheriff’s office Maj. Tim Clarke said in a story published Jan. 7, 2017 in the News-Post, when final tallies for the prior year were released. “Very frustrating. And everyone is trying to find an answer, but no one can find that magic button to push to make everything better. …

Nothing seems to be working.”

Much of the spike in both overdoses and deaths was attributed to the increased presence of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid up to 100 times more potent than morphine, finding its way into the state.

Of the 1,212 heroin-related overdose deaths reported in Maryland in 2016, a total of 705 — about 58 percent — were determined to be combined her-

Staff file photo

by Sam Yu

oped a multi-faceted approach to address the issue.

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY While a “Good Samaritan” law giving individuals calling • Former Frederick County Board of Commissioners President to report overdose emergenBlaine Young was apprehended in a prostitution sting — 1st cies limited protection from • Winter storm Jonas dumped as much as 35 inches of snow on criminal prosecution passed in parts of Frederick County — 2nd 2015 helped destigmatize the • America’s opioid crisis hit home in Frederick County — 3rd crisis, nowadays peer recov• Mount St. Mary’s University President Simon Newman ery specialists placed with the resigned — 4th Frederick police, in the court • Lloyd Arbard Harris was charged with the 1996 murder of 15-year-old Stacy Lynn Hoffmaster — 5th system, local hospitals and elsewhere to direct individuals struggling with substance abuse toward treatment.

“Just in talking with people oin-fentanyl deaths, according Countywide, efforts are well to the Maryland Department of who have been revived with Narcan or hearing from people underway to open a 28-bed Health and Mental Hygiene’s detox facility at the Frederick 2016 drug-and alcohol-related who have revived their loved ones with Narcan, we are hear- County sheriff’s work release intoxication deaths report. center by December of 2020. ing that fentanyl has played a According to the departPerhaps due in no small huge role in these overdosment’s 2015 report, just 29 es and very often it is unknown part to these and other meapercent of the state’s 748 tosures, opioid related overdosfentanyl, unknown to the ustal heroin-related overdoses es —while still perilously high that year were determined to ers,” Frederick County Behaveach year — have yet to apbe from a combination of her- ioral Health Services Managproach the record high 409 er Sarah Drennan said in that oin and fentanyl. responded to by county law Worse, many users were un- same Jan. 7, 2017 article.

In the years since, public enforcement in 2016. aware of the addition of fentansafety and health officials in yl to heroin, further increasing Follow Jeremy Arias on Frederick County have develthe likelihood of overdoses.

Twitter: @Jarias_Prime.

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2017

Catoctin High School student’s mass school shooting plans stopped

BY CRYSTAL SCHELLE

Catoctin High School is seen in 2018, a year after a student planned to commit a mass shooting on campus.

cschelle@newspost.com

When authorities thwarted a teenager’s plot to commit a mass shooting at Catoctin High School in April 2017, they said she had been planning the attack since as early as December 2016.

The arrest of the then 18-year-old shook the small town of Thurmont, as details were revealed that she collected information on how to build a bomb and a timeline for the shootings to happen on April 5, 2017.

The teenager was said to have kept a journal that outlined her plans to become “the first real female school shooter” and had started collecting the makings of explosive materials. Officials said what she had in her possession could not be made into a bomb.

Her diary also contained what she expected to encounter as well as information she gathered from speaking with the school’s resource officer.

Her father was the one who alerted authorities to her intentions. She was pulled out of class and taken into custody.

She was enrolled in the law enforcement/criminal justice program at the school district’s Career and Technology Center.

Once arrested, she was committed involuntarily for a mental health evaluation. Frederick County deputies arrested her March 31, 2017, when she was released.

She later admitted to the plot as well as wanting to kill herself after detonating bombs.

In January 2018, the teenager was sentenced to 20 years in prison, after pleading guilty to possession of explosive material with the intent to create a destructive device.

She was 19 years old at the time of the sentencing.

Staff file photo

by Dan Gross

READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY • Catoctin High School student’s mass school shooting plans stopped — 1st • The bust and statue of Roger Brooke Taney is removed from city hall — 2nd • Marylanders are now allowed to buy medical marijuana — 3rd • Gov. Larry Hogan announces roads plan that will widen I-270 through Frederick and Montgomery Counties — 4th • The new $114 million Frederick High School opens — 5th

Upon release, she will be placed on five years of supervised probation with the special condition that she stay away from all educational institutions.

When the Frederick News-Post revisited Catoctin High a year after the arrest, the school was still recovering, thankful that she was not able to continue out her plans.

If she would have been successful with carrying out the plot, she would have joined the ranks of less than 10 women in the U.S. who have commit-

ted a mass shooting.

In 2018, a student at Great Mills High School in Maryland was arrested after shooting two students at the school.

According to data from Gun Violence Archive, by the end of 2019, there were 417 mass shootings in the U.S. last year alone. The nonprofit GVA tracks every mass shooting in the country. Thirty-one of those shootings were mass murders.

Follow Crystal Schelle on Twitter: @crystalschelle.

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HINDSIGHT 2020 | Sunday, January 26, 2020 | 21

2018

Flooding attempts to wash away county

BY HEATHER MONGILIO

Cars try to plow their way through high water on North Market Street during the storm.

hmongilio@newspost.com

Five hours. 300 rescue calls.

More than 6 inches of rain.

For Frederick County residents, May 2018 can easily be remembered as the month of the flood.

Rain began May 15 and carried into May 16, with another rain storm headed toward Frederick days later. It was a 100-year storm, which meant that there was a one percent chance of a rainstorm like this one. It came three years after the last 100-year flood in 2015.

Rainwater brought hail and swept away roads. It lifted cars in downtown Frederick, leaving one resident to describe cars as surfers.

“There was this little white Toyota parked across the street over there, and every time a car would pass, you would see it rise up like it was surfing a wave,” Beth Baker told the News-Post in 2018. “It was just like the ocean. ... You could see a wave of water just sweep up the street and into our yards.”

During the rain, the Frederick County Emergency Communications Center received 300 calls for service, with law enforcement, fire and rescue personnel making at least 60 rescues for people trapped in high water. Some were trapped in their cars.

The YMCA on Market Street was flooded, with those who were at the gym moving to the second floor to avoid flood waters. Cars in the parking lots were submerged in water up to their handles.

Residents watched as water filled their basements.

Even Frederick City Hall had

Staff file photo

by Bill Green

parks department tweeted out that the fish were free to anyone who brought a bucket.

The fish were invasive, • Flooding attempts to wash away county — 1st thought to be the result of • Controversy surrounds Frederick Community College President people dumping them into Elizabeth Burmaster as employees raise concerns of bullying and Culler Lake if they were unharassment from her — 2nd wanted pets, Sean Poulin, a • Thousands of students in FCPS walk out of school to protest gun violence — 3rd city parks and recreation em• A riot breaks out involving juveniles detained at Victor Cullen ployee, told the News-Post.

Center and staff — 4th “They’re not supposed • Oakdale High School wins state football title — 5th to be in [the lake] in the first place,” Poulin said in 2018.

“But they really aren’t supposed to be in the field.” water in its basement. been brought back online.

Cleanup from the May 2018 The U.S. Army Medical ReThose traveling on the search Institute of Infectious MARC train toward Brunswick flooding is still underway in the county. USAMRIID was shut Diseases at Fort Detrick expe- during the rainstorm spent down by the Centers for Disrienced water damage to its hours on the train after it besteam sterilization system due came stuck in floodwaters. ease Control and Prevention in to the rain and had to halt its 2019, partly due to problems In all, the total amount of work while repairs were made. damage to public infrastrucsustained during the flooding.

The rain extended past the ture was about $6 million. That Brunswick continues to fix city, hitting Brunswick particdamage from the flooding, indid not include damage to ularly hard. Brunswick evencluding its Public Works yard people’s homes or property. tually closed one of its water and some of its culverts that Some non-human victims sources due to groundwaof note were the hundreds of were affected by the storm. ter seeping into the system. fish swept from their watery Follow Heather Mongilio The water source has still not homes to a soccer field. The on Twitter: @HMongilio.

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2019

Immigration issues at forefront of local politics

BY STEVE BOHNEL

sbohnel@newspost.com

With all the issues facing Frederick County in 2019, one constantly drew the attention of its residents: immigration.

The issue split residents into those who believed county officials should be more inviting to immigrants, versus those who felt current programs and policy help keep the county safe from threats posed by people who live here illegally.

The program at the center of this debate was the 287(g) program, one put in place under Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and his office. The program allows Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to train sheriff’s deputies to ask about the immigration status of anyone booked into the county’s adult detention center, and begin deportation proceedings if necessary.

The Frederick News-Post wrote dozens of stories pertaining to the program in 2019. Opponents of the program are skeptical of its effectiveness and believe it scares the immigrant community from reporting crime in their neighborhoods; supporters say the program has taken hundred of violent criminals off the streets and is a major reason Frederick County is a safe place to live versus other jurisdictions located east of the county.

Local, state and federal politicians have also taken an interest in the impact the 287(g) program is having in Frederick County. In early August, County Executive Jan

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins, pointing, is applauded by people attending the Citizens for 287(g) Rally on Oct. 6, 2019, at the bandshell in Baker Park.

Staff file photo

by Sam Yu

come of that letter.

During much of last year, READERS’ CHOICE FOR MOST IMPACTFUL STORY residents showed up at county council meetings to ei• An assault at the Great Frederick Fair leads to the death of ther express support or opMount Airy resident John Weed — 1st position to Jenkins and the • Residents raise concerns of crime, homelessness in downtown 287(g) program. And in early and in particular along Carroll Creek — 2nd October, hundreds gathered • Immigration issues at forefront of local politics — 3rd in opposing rallies both in • City of Frederick rolls out new logo to chagrin of residents in support of the program and rebranding campaign gone awry — 4th those in support of the local • Frederick Keys find themselves on the chopping block as immigrant community.

MLB releases list of minor league teams it may dissolve — 5th Immigration should again be at the forefront of county politics in 2020, with it beGardner and County Couning committees as part of ing a presidential election cil leadership announced an the 287(g) agreement with year. For his part, Jenkins has audit into how much the pro- ICE. It’s unclear whether the been a frequent visitor to the gram is costing the county.

Inspector General has reWhite House to discuss imThat audit is still being conviewed that request. migration policy and reform ducted.

And in September, Del. with President Donald Trump.

Later that month, Rep. Da- Karen Lewis Young and Sen. The results of the 2020 vid Trone (D-Md.), sent a let- Ron Young sent a letter to the election could hint at what’s ter to the Department of state Attorney General askto come for local elections Homeland Security’s Inspec- ing for clarification on coun- in 2022 and the future of the tor General. The scope of ty government’s role in the 287(g) program in Frederick that letter asked whether 287(g) program, along with County.

Jenkins and his office should similar inquiries. It’s also unFollow Steve Bohnel on be holding public steerclear what, if anything, might Twitter: @Steve_Bohnel.

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