Anne Arundel year in review

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284 days ago: New Year’s predictions for D.C.-area officials

284 days ago: Carroll year in review

» 284 days ago: Anne Arundel year in review «

284 days ago: Baltimore year in review

284 days ago: Harford year in review

284 days ago: Howard year in review

284 days ago: The highs and lows of state legislation in 2007

288 days ago: Shooting, scandals and suits from 2007

(Arianne Starnes/Examiner)
Amy Koblinsky of Brooklyn Park, said she is concerned about why her neighborhood was not alerted when the federal Environmental Protection Agency determined the warehouse near her community a serious fire hazard.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - JANUARY

THEN: The county public school system reports that 993 students do not have vaccinations against hepatitis and chicken pox; about 100 students go to the county’s health department for free vaccinations.

NOW: Prior to the winter break, which began Dec. 21, about 30 students had not received the immunizations.

THEN: Gov. Martin O’Malley proposes the creation of a sub-Cabinet group headed by Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown that would deal with the Base Realignment and Closure process.

NOW: The group submitted its action plan in December.

FEBRUARY

THEN: The University of Maryland system extends its Maryland Transfer Advantage Program to Anne Arundel Community College.

NOW: Students may transfer their credits from the community college to a four-year university in Maryland.

THEN: The county’s fire and emergency medical services department restarts its cadet program to teach high schoolers basic firefighting and rescue skills after it stopped in 2006 because of lackluster attendance.

NOW: The class that started in September has 12 students.

MARCH

THEN: The police department is developing a policy for the appropriate use of Tasers, spokesman Lt. David Waltemeyer says.

NOW: Some specially trained police officers are carrying Tasers.

THEN: Maryland decides not to build a horse park at the former Naval Academy Dairy Farm in Gambrills.

NOW: The U.S. Navy awards the farm to the county government and will pay $20,000 a month to keep most of the property agricultural, along with a 150-acre park.

APRIL

THEN: County Executive John R. Leopold submits a bill to set limits on noise levels and create a penalty for violators.

NOW: The County Councils kills the bill, but the Maryland Department of the Environment grants the county’s police the authority to enforce its tougher noise law.

THEN: A hit list of cheerleaders is posted on Myspace.com by the friend of a 14-year-old Lindale Middle School student who was suspended for bringing a pocket knife to school. The friend alleges the Lindale student plotted to kill several cheerleaders.

NOW: The message on Myspace.com was fabricated; the student who brought the knife to school was charged as a juvenile with possession of a deadly weapon.

MAY

THEN: Wal-Mart withdraws plans for a store after more than a year of community opposition.

NOW: A Target department store and Wegmans food store are expected to be built on Route 3 in Crofton.

THEN: Former Glen Burnie High School Band Director Jeffrey Thompson, 38, who had a sexual relationship with his student, is sentenced to 18 months in jail.

NOW: Thompson is in the county’s detention center and registered as a sex offender.

JUNE

THEN: A jury trial for Leeander Blake, 22, of Annapolis, accused of carjacking and killing Straughan Lee Griffin, 51, also of Annapolis, in 2002, begins in U.S. District Court in Baltimore City.

NOW: Blake is in federal prison for life plus 10 years.

THEN: Animal Control officers find five dead dogs “in various states of decomposition” in a Glen Burnie residence, police say. Police call it the worst case of animal cruelty in the county’s history.

NOW: Kelly Lynn Schreck, 28, is under house arrest and awaiting trial this month.

JULY

THEN: Annapolis Alderman Sam Shropshire proposes a ban on plastic checkout bags at stores.

NOW: The City Council replaced Shropshire’s proposal with Mayor Ellen Moyer’s less-drastic environmental bill in November.

THEN: County Executive John R. Leopold introduces a bill to ban the dumping of coal fly ash in the county after the material was found to contaminate dozens of wells in Gambrills.

NOW: The bill passes as a one-year moratorium. The owner of the ash, Constellation Energy, is issued a fine and is sued by a Gambrills resident. Residents either are on public water or given bottled water by Constellation Energy.

AUGUST

THEN: Annapolis High School officials help prevent Torrence Davis, 22, of Annapolis and a registered child sex offender, from entering the building after a routine visitor check-in alerted them to him.

NOW: Davis’ conviction for a July 2005 sex offense charge has been reopened in Circuit Court, because he violated his probation by going onto the school property.

THEN: Megan Patria, of Arnold, is guilty of murdering her baby by putting her newborn in the toilet and disposing of the body.

NOW: Patria is living in an undisclosed juvenile detention center after Circuit Judge Nancy Davis-Loomis turned over custody of Patria to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services in October and ordered her committed to a non-community residential program where she will continue psychiatric treatment.

SEPTEMBER

THEN: County police use a neighbor’s tip to bust a ring of dogfighting, drugs and guns at a Severna Park house.

NOW: Kevin Green, 44, has posted a $750,000 bail and is awaiting trial in February.

THEN: County police search for Colin Jackson, who is believed to have been kidnapped more than a week before by his noncustodial parent, David Kistler Jackson.

NOW: Colin Jackson is home with his mother after police found him and his father in Swain County, N.C., in September. David

Jackson is awaiting trial in February.

OCTOBER

THEN: A state law banning panhandling in the county goes into effect Oct. 1, which is further bolstered by the County Council banning all forms of panhandling on county roads.

NOW: As of Dec. 12, there have been 67 calls for service, three citations and three arrests by the county police.

THEN: Four high schools have 28 reported cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureas.

NOW: Not all of the reported cases have been confirmed as MRSA. The health department’s last count of confirmed cases was 12.

NOVEMBER

THEN: An investigation finds that Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Askew Gatewood illegally dumped tons of construction equipment around his property into the Patapsco River.

NOW: The attorney general’s office filed a complaint seeking a $10,000 fine, while the county is seeking an $8,500 fine against Gatewood, who is working with the Maryland Department of the Environment to clean up the debris.

THEN: County Executive John R. Leopold and the County Council seek to determine whether public schools are overcrowded, which can deter development.

NOW: The council, with the backing of the school board, approves the bill; county officials say a new school-capacity formula linked to impact fees will come before the council.

DECEMBER

THEN: Schools Superintendent Kevin Maxwell recommends a $968.85 million fiscal 2009 operating budget — nearly $100 million more than the approved funding last year.

NOW: Public hearing is set for Jan. 17.

THEN: A study by a consultant shows Anne Arundel is getting back 20-30 percent of its construction costs for new roads and schools from impact fees charged on new residential development.

NOW: County Executive John R. Leopold and council members have vowed to increase the fees, with a first look at the figures occurring Thursday.

SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY

EMAIL STORY

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284 days ago: New Year’s predictions for D.C.-area officials

284 days ago: Carroll year in review

» 284 days ago: Anne Arundel year in review «

284 days ago: Baltimore year in review

284 days ago: Harford year in review

284 days ago: Howard year in review

284 days ago: The highs and lows of state legislation in 2007

288 days ago: Shooting, scandals and suits from 2007