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Oxon Hill resident faces 30 years in jail for Suitland theft by Andrea Noble | Staff Writer Gazette.Net An Oxon Hill man convicted last week of armed carjacking insisted to the jury in his trial that he didn't steal the victim's car — he was borrowing it to buy marijuana. After less than an hour of deliberation Feb. 16, the Prince George's County jury found Lowell Braswell, 46, guilty of nine counts including armed carjacking, robbery with a deadly weapon, first- and second-degree assault and auto theft, county prosecutors announced Feb. 18. He faces up to 30 years in prison. According to prosecutors, on Oct. 23, 2008, Braswell approached Oakley Hopkins, 66, while Hopkins was unloading his car at the Parklane Bowling Alley in Suitland. Braswell pulled a handgun, demanded Hopkins' car and drove away. Hopkins was not injured in the incident. Police stopped Braswell less than 10 minutes later in Hopkins' car and brought the Temple Hills resident to the ...

Resident came home during break-in Feb. 18, police said by Andrea Noble | Staff Writer Gazette.Net Prince George's County police have arrested and charged four individuals, including three juveniles, with a series of home burglaries that span back three months in a Lanham neighborhood. Three Washington, D.C., juveniles under the age of 16 and one 18-year-old who lived in the Seabrook neighborhood where the burglaries were being committed have been charged with first-, third- and fourth-degree burglary in at least seven break-ins, police said Monday. The juveniles, who were not named because they are under the age of 18, and Marvis Patrick Harris, 18, of the 9400 block of Washington Boulevard in Lanham were arrested last week after a homeowner in the latest burglary came home in the middle of the break-in and surprised the group, police said. Police were responding to a residential alarm that went off in the 6000 block of Emack Avenue in Lanham on Feb. 18. When they a...

With children having more than a week off from school due to over 24 inches of snow hitting the Maryland area, it's now time to clean the sidewalks, not just the streets. Tax-paying citizens are going to work, supporting their families, paying bills, along with shoveling their driveways to achieve their fiscal responsibilities. It would really be nice for the county inmates to get out of county jail for a few days and shovel the sidewalks so our children can make it to school safely and receive an education. Taxpayers funded the county jail with a total of $70,598,400 in fiscal 2008, according to the Prince George's County, Maryland Department of Corrections Statistical Overview. I think it's about time the county inmates pay their dues to society after breaking laws in our county and get out there and shovel those sidewalks. It's the least they can do since taxpayers are obligated to support them. Janet Bello, Capitol Heights Gazette.Net

Additional cuts considered after enrollment errors were caught, school official says by Megan McKeever | Staff Writer Gazzette.Net Prince George's County school officials are proposing to lay off more than 329 employees — including 192 teachers — next school year to adjust to a $39.6 million budget cut. Officials had previously anticipated a $42.6 million reduction next fiscal year but recently revealed enrollment errors are expected to hinder the budget even more. The latest estimates would bring the budget to $1.63 billion, which is $82.2 million less than the current fiscal budget of $1.71 billion. School system Chief Financial Officer Matt Stanski said Feb. 18 that the state overestimated the number of students expected in county schools next school year by 390, so state funding will be less than initially expected. The school system receives state funding on a per-pupil basis. In addition to the teachers, 90 bus drivers, 10 instructional coaches, and 37 positio...

Thursday, February 18, 2010 ASSOCIATED PRESS The chairman of the D.C. Council on Tuesday said the body could censure former mayor Marion Barry over a report accusing him of violating conflict-of-interest laws. Mr. Barry, a Democrat who represents Ward 8 on the council, is accused of benefiting from a $15,000 city contract that he obtained for a former girlfriend in 2008 and using earmarks to benefit friends and supporters. He has until Tuesday to respond officially to the report by lawyer Robert S. Bennett and a team of investigators. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray said the council could consider a possible censure resolution on March 2. It would be up to the council to determine punishments, such as stripping Mr. Barry of his chairmanship of the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development.

By Michael Birnbaum Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, January 5, 2010; B06 Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced Monday that the city had posted police at more than two dozen D.C. charter schools, further normalizing charters within city life and attempting to address a spate of violence that plagued some of the schools this fall. But the plan -- which maintains the overall number of police dedicated to schools but spreads them among both charter and traditional public schools -- has some worried that all the schools will be shortchanged in the end. Police haven't been posted to charters for several years, although they have a presence in other D.C. public schools. After after-school assaults and robberies near the Minnesota Avenue Metro station this fall, pressure mounted to give charter schools the same services as other schools. "If you've followed education in D.C., . . . you know that the same challenges that exist in the traditional public schools exist...

By Gene Fynes | February 24, 2010; 5:53 PM ET, Washington Post A Fairfax County Circuit Court clerk was arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing money from the clerk’s office, Fairfax police said. Deborah Sterling, 58, of Clifton had worked as a cashier in the civil intake division, police said, where lawsuits and motions are filed, often with accompanying fees. She worked in the clerk’s office for nine years. Last week, Fairfax Circuit Clerk John Frey contacted police to say his staff had detected irregularities in the office’s fee tracking system, Frey said Wednesday. He said he did not know how long the alleged thefts had been occurring or how much money might have been taken. “At this point it doesn’t appear it’s a huge amount of money,” Frey said. He added that he had fired Sterling. The Fairfax clerk’s office handled about $200 million in revenue and trust funds last year, the police said, and is the largest clerk’s office in Virginia. Sterling was charged with f...

By Maria Glod | February 24, 2010; 2:25 PM ET ,Washington post A 67-year-old Georgia man was sentenced to about 10 years in prison in connection with a sexual relationship he had with a Maryland teenager, federal authorities said. Mack Gordon Harris, of Social Circle, Ga., was convicted in federal court in Richmond of transporting a minor for illegal sexual activity, officials said. According to court papers, in summer 2005 Harris began using a Christian online chat room to communicate with a 15-year-old Maryland girl. Harris exposed himself to the girl using a webcam, authorities said. Harris visited the girl around the time she turned 16, the age of sexual consent in Maryland, and they had sex, according to court documents. In December 2005, he picked up the girl in Maryland to take her to his home in Georgia, telling her not to speak with anyone on the way and, if she did, to say she was 25. On the way they stayed in a hotel in Virginia, where the age of consent is ...

By Jenna Johnson and Michael Birnbaum Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, February 25, 2010; B02 A Montgomery County teacher has agreed to apologize to a 13-year-old student whom he reprimanded and sent to the office for twice refusing to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance , said a lawyer who represents the student. The unidentified student was embarrassed and humiliated after the teacher called a school security officer to escort her to the counselor's office, said Ajmel Quereshi, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland who is representing the family. The student has not returned to Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown since the incident in late January but plans to return to class this week, he said. A Montgomery County schools spokesman confirmed that the issue is being resolved. The middle school's acting principal sent a letter home with students Wednesday that explains the situation and how the school is addressing it. In...