Year: 2019

BCPS Superintendent Discusses Bullying, Bus Drivers and Other Topics at Perry Hall Meeting


New Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Superintendent Darryl L. Williams, Ed.D took questions from the public at a meeting at Perry Hall High School on Tuesday night. Some of the topics included preventing bullying and bus driver shortages.

One parent was critical of BCPS response time to bullying incidents. Williams responded that BCPS wants to take a proactive approach to bullying cases and BCPS is looking into bringing a systematic, disciplined approach. Williams added that sometimes the victim of bullying does not know where to go for help.

“We are teaching conscious discipline. We want to inform students [being bullied] where to go for [help], Williams said.
“We need to help the student that is receiving the action along with the student that is giving it.”

The BCPS Superintendent stated that society needs to go back to a “agree to disagree” mentality that does not result in a physical altercation and making rude comments to each other.

“We have to be able to teach our students that we live in a [civilized and respectful] society,” Williams added.

Baltimore County has a shortage of around 50 bus drivers. Sen. Kathy Klausmeier was at the meeting and she said she plans introduce legislation that will create incentives to help hire more bus drivers. Williams said adding bus drivers is a goal of BCPS.

“The recruitment is going to be key on how we hire and keep bus drivers,” Williams explained.

Other parents asked about having a more diverse staff similar to many of diverse student populations in Baltimore County schools.

According to Williams, BCPS would like to build a “pipeline” with black colleges such as Morgan, Coppin State and Howard and would like to recruit today’s BCPS students to become tomorrow’s BCPS educators. He would like to see more male role models too.

“There is also a gender issue. How do we get males to consider education? “Williams said. “The shortage of teachers is a national problem. We are looking into ways to improve our recruiting efforts.”

There were questions about seven period days vs. the four-period day, hiring more counselors and trying to get more stakeholders involved with BCPS.

“We have had some discussion on how we can get the community involved to support our schools,” Williams said.

Driver Dies in Crash on Kenwood Avenue on Tuesday


The driver of a Jeep Cherokee involved in a single-vehicle crash on Kenwood Avenue on Tuesday morning has died.

The preliminary investigation revealed that the Jeep was traveling westbound on Kenwood Avenue approaching the intersection at Lillian Holt Drive around 7:30 a.m.

For unknown reasons, the Jeep failed to stop at the red traffic signal and continued through the intersection until it struck a light support pole and came to a stop.

The driver, identified as Norris Carl Assam (77) of the 1800 block of Hanford Road, 21237, was transported to MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased.

The Baltimore County Police Crash Investigation Team is continuing their investigation into the factors contributing to this fatal crash.

BCPS Superintendent to Hold Tuesday Night Meeting in Perry Hall


New Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) Superintendent Darryl L. Williams, Ed.D. has been hosting community conservations around Baltimore County and he is attending Perry Hall High School on Tuesday, Oct. 15 from 6 to 7 p.m. This is the sixth of 10 scheduled meetings throughout the county.

BCPS did not release the details of the “Community Conservations” but it expected to be a format where the public can ask Williams questions about the local schools.

Williams will hold his 10th and final meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Chesapeake High School in Essex from 6 to 7 p.m.

Child care will be available for toilet-trained children ages 4 and up, courtesy of Open Door Before and After Care.

Perry Hall Driving School Has Closed Down


Councilman David Marks has reported that Perry Hall Driving School located at 9539 Belair Road has closed.

Their website is also down. There were a few posts by customers on the Perry Hall Driving School Facebook page that claim the driving school was shut down by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Association.

No word on the reason for the closure.

Essex Man Wins $50,000 from Lottery


Filling up vending machines with delicious snacks is his day job, Eldon Ritchie told Maryland Lottery officials. Playing scratch-offs is something he does for fun almost every day after work. Those two pursuits connected last week, delivering a $50,000 scratch-off prize to the husband and father.

“I was working on a machine in a check-cashing place and there was this Lottery vending machine right next to it, right next to me,” the Essex resident said. “I was there a good 20 minutes so I was able to check out all of the tickets they had in there. I noticed that there was a crossword ticket. Crossword games are my favorite and the store I usually go to hadn’t had one the last time I looked.”

On his way out of AA State Hanover Check Cashing in Baltimore, Eldon purchased the Deluxe Crossword instant ticket he had spied in the machine. Although he had played the $5 game plenty of times, he sat in his truck confused about what he was seeing.
“I said to myself when I saw the words I had uncovered, ‘Did I scratch the wrong places?’ I knew it couldn’t really be a $50,000 winner.” Gripping the wheel with shaking hands, Eldon drove to another Lottery retailer to verify the prize that he thought — but dared not believe — his Deluxe Crossword scratch-off was promising.

“My hands continued to shake even after I scanned it and the message told me that I’d won $50,000. Heck, they’re still shaking now – a full day later,” he said.

After taking care of a few bills with the prize, Eldon and his wife plan to share their winnings with their kids and grandchildren.
Seven more $50,000 top prizes remain among the Deluxe Crossword tickets on sale in Maryland stores. The game debuted in August. Eldon’s lucky Lottery store, AA State Hanover Check Cashing at 2830 South Hanover Street in Baltimore, can also celebrate his big win. The store earned a $500 bonus for selling a top-prize instant ticket.

Overlea, Parkville & Eastern Tech Football Winners in Week 6


Overlea 60 St. John’s Prospect Hall 0
It was a special night in Overlea as it was Homecoming and the school held their official ribbon cutting for its new turf field. St. John’s Prospect Hall from the Frederick region probably knew it was going to be a tough night with all the Overlea excitement before kickoff and it showed as the Falcons destroyed St. John’s by 60.

Dundalk 22 Kenwood 6
Kenwood lost their second game in a row and three of their last four on Friday in a Homecoming loss to Dundalk. After starting off 3-1 with a close loss to Haford Tech, the Bluebirds have lost by double digits in back-to-back games against Franklin and Dundalk. Kenwood will look to get back on track this Saturday at 4-2 Woodlawn.

Eastern Tech 40 Sparrows Point 28
Eastern Tech did not dominate winless Sparrows Point as the Pointers stayed around in the game, but Tech will take the much-needed win to improve to 3-3 on the year. The Mavericks will look to get above .500 for the first time this year at 1-5 Lansdowne this Friday night.

Parkville 45 Perry Hall 23
Perry Hall has dominated Parkville over the years and this game was expected to be reversed as Parkville came into the game undefeated and the Gators were winless on the season. The Knights remained undefeated with a win, but Perry Hall kept the score under 30. The Gators will argueably face the best team in the county and defending state 3A champions Franklin on the road Friday night. Parkville travels out to Randallstown to play a Rams team that has won four straight games against smaller schools.

New Town 36 Chesapeake 0
Since getting their first win over Lansdowne three weeks ago, Chesapeake has lost three straight games and it has not been pretty. The Bayhawks have been outscored 111-8 and have been shutout the last two weeks by Milford Mill and New Town. Chesapeake travels to play at 3-3 Owings Mills this week. Then the Bayhawks play winless Sparrows Point and Western Tech the last two weeks of the season.

Source:https://mpssaa.countysports.zone/football/

Victim of September Assault Dies, Ruled Homicide in Essex


The Baltimore County Police Homicide Unit is now investigating a serious assault case after the victim died of his injuries.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the man’s death a homicide from multiple head injuries with complications on Friday morning after an autopsy was performed.

The man, identified as William David Johnson Jr. (78) with no fixed address, remained hospitalized at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center since the incident on September 24 until his death Sunday morning, Oct. 6.

Police were dispatched to the 500 block of Eastern Boulevard in Essex for a call of an unconscious subject just after 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24.The victim had been struck repeatedly with a blunt object, causing multiple injuries to the man.

No suspect has yet been identified in this case, which has been forwarded to the Homicide Unit for further investigation. Anyone who may have information is asked to call 410-307-2020. Callers may remain anonymous.

Overlea High Gets New Turf Field


Overlea High School received a nice gift this year as Baltimore County presented the school a new turf field. Many football fields are subjected to wear and tear over the years, so many schools have started to install modern turf fields. Perry Hall High School received a new field last year and Overlea High received their turf field this year for their football program.

The official ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Friday night before the Overlea football team played against St. Johns Catholic Prep and County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr. was at Overlea for the new field.

“Honored to join the Overlea community tonight to celebrate the new turf field here at Overlea High School. Congratulations, and good luck to our student athletes,” Olszewski said on social media.

Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, who represents the Overlea area, also attended the ribbon cutting.

“Today was a beautiful day for a ribbon cutting ceremony at Overlea High School to celebrate the school’s new turf field. This was a $800,000 project that took much time and dedication,” Bevins said.
“It is awesome having such great partnerships with the school, the County Executive, and the community.”

BCPS Has Three Options for 2020-21 Calendar


The BCPS Board of Education is considering three proposed 2020-2021 school calendar options. The three options for the BCPS calendar can be found here.

Option A calls for the start of the school year on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020 before Labor Day. The school year would end on June 11, 2021 if there are no weather-related closures and it would end on June 18 if there are five weather-related closures. Spring break would take place from March 29 to April 5, 2021 and schools would reopen April 6, 2021.

Option B has schools opening on the Tuesday after Labor Day on Sept. 8. The school year would end on June 15, 2021 if there are no weather-related closures and it would end on June 22 if there are five-weather related closures. Spring break would be shorter under this model from April 1 to April 5, 2021 and schools would reopen April 6, 2021.

Option C has a model where students and teachers would start after Labor Day on Sept. 8 and would have the full spring break from March 29 to April 5, 2021, but the school year would end on June 21 if there are no weather related closures and it would end on June 28 if there are five weather-related closures.

All three options would meet the requirement of 1176.5 hours for elementary schools and 1183 hours for middle and high schools. The public may provide feedback to the Board of Education at the public input hearing on Tuesday, October 22 at 6:30 pm at Greenwood. The Board will vote on the calendar options on Tuesday, November 5.

21 Displaced in 4-Alarm Dundalk Fire


Twenty-one people have been displaced from their homes as a result of last night’s four-alarm fire in Dundalk.
The fire, which involved four townhomes in the 100 block of Highshire Court, remains under investigation by BCoPD fire investigators.

BCoFD fire units were dispatched at 10:46 p.m. Tuesday for a working dwelling fire that escalated quickly as fire spread across the rooftops of the townhomes. Commanders subsequently called for second, third and fourth alarms that ultimately brought more than 30 pieces of apparatus to the scene.

Firefighters from Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County responded under mutual aid agreements. BGE and the Maryland Department of the Environment also responded.

First-arriving crews found smoke showing from the front of a townhome and found the rear of the home fully involved.
One civilian was injured and evaluated at the scene , but declined transport to a hospital.

At about 11:07 p.m., a “Mayday” was called when a career firefighter fell through the roof. The firefighter self-extricated within minutes and was evaluated by EMS crews at the scene. He was not seriously hurt.

The fire was knocked at 11:29 p.m. The Red Cross responded to assist the displaced residents.