WCTR News

Horizons of Kent & Queen Anne’s, a leading non-profit organization dedicated to providing academic and enrichment opportunities for under-resourced students in grades PreK-8, is pleased to announce the appointment of a new member to its board of directors. The addition of this accomplished individual will further strengthen the organization’s mission and enhance its efforts to build capacity, expand programming, and continue to make a positive impact in the community. According to the Bay Times and Record Observer, joining the board is Isabel Hardesty, who brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Horizons of Kent and Queen Anne’s. Her professional background and commitment to the community make her a valuable asset to the organization.

In Kent County Sunday, the ceremonial lighting of the first Hanukkah candle on a 6-foot menorah at sundown in Chestertown’s downtown Fountain Park. The Evening Enterprise reports an additional candle will be lit on each successive night until, on the eighth night of Judaism’s winter festival of lights, Dec. 22, the menorah is fully illuminated. Sunday’s event, which began at 5 p.m., was sponsored by Main Street Chestertown, Chestertown Havurah and Washington College Hillel. The ceremony was abbreviated because of the bone-chilling cold.

A 17-year-old student was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 11, after allegedly assaulting a staff member at Matapeake Middle School and leaving campus without permission, prompting lockdowns at three nearby schools, authorities said. The Bay Times and Record Observer reports the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office said a school resource officer responded to a report of an assault involving the special programs student and a family staff member. The student left the school grounds following the incident. Three schools — Matapeake Middle School, Matapeake Elementary School and Kent Island High School — were placed on precautionary lockdown while law enforcement searched for the student, Queen Anne’s County Public Schools interim Superintendent Matthew A. Kibler said in a letter to families. Deputies established a perimeter and located the student a short time later without incident, the sheriff’s office said. The student was taken into custody.

To find new council members for Wards 3 and 4, the Chestertown Mayor and Council have decided they will hold a special election at the beginning of the year. The Kent County News reports Mayor David Foster said this is a chance for citizens to engage in their community with issues they feel strongly about by throwing their hat into the ring. But they have a limited time to act. Potential candidates in Town cannot wait for the holidays to wind down. They have until Friday, Dec. 19 no later than 5 p.m. to submit their application on the town’s website.

Easton town officials will soon consider whether to adopt an expansive, forward-looking plan that aims to revitalize the town’s East End corridor. According to the Star Democrat, a draft version of the East End Small Area Plan was presented Monday during a joint workshop of the Easton Town Council and Planning Commission. Town planners alongside consultants outlined recommendations on how the town should envision the future of the East End.
The East End area mainly consists of land west of U.S. Route 50 and east of Aurora Street, sandwiched south of Goldsborough Street and north of Idlewild Avenue.

The Kent County Sheriff’s Office has arrested Charles Alsup III of Chestertown and Tavon Bordley of Ridgely, for the murder of Jermaine Lafel Miles. The Star Democrat reports on Nov. 4, deputies responded to a 911 call reporting a vehicle stopped in the roadway on Lovers Lane near Quaker Neck Road in Chestertown. According to police, the deputy found Miles, 50, of Grasonville, dead in the vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds.
The Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division, assisted by the Maryland State Police Crime Scene Unit, assumed the investigation and was able to identify Alsup III and Bordley as the suspects.

Update on a story we told you about earlier. The Office of the Maryland State Fire Marshal is investigating a two-alarm fire that displaced 24 people early Sunday morning in Queen Anne’s County. WBOC reports firefighters from the Sudlersville Volunteer Fire Company responded at approximately 6:30 a.m., Dec. 7, to 341 Roe Ingleside Road in Centreville, where a double-wide trailer serving as a single-family dwelling was engulfed in flames.
One occupant woke to the smell of smoke and alerted other occupants and dual-family members, who all safely evacuated the structure. No injuries or deaths were reported. Twenty-five firefighters brought the blaze under control in approximately 40 minutes. A neighboring trailer also sustained fire damage.

Fire officials say two families safely escaped after a fire broke out at a double-wide trailer. WBOC reports the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office says the fire happened on Dec. 8, around 6:30 a.m., on Roe Ingleside Road, near Centreville. Investigators say it was caused accidentally by an electrical failure inside the master bedroom wall. Officials say one person woke up to the smell of smoke and notified the other occupants. A neighboring trailer sustained fire damage.

A 39-year-old man was killed early Sunday morning in a rollover crash in Denton. The Star Democrat reports
Robert Rowland Jr., of Church Hill, was pronounced dead on scene of a single-car crash near Greensboro Road and Adams Landing Road just before 2 a.m. Sunday. Rowland was in the front passenger’s seat, police said. The driver, 44-year-old Michael Steinberg, of Dunkirk, was transported to a nearby hospital in Delaware in serious condition. Investigators determined Steinberg was driving south on Greensboro Road when his vehicle, “for unknown reasons, left the roadway, and entered the front yard of a residence on Greensboro Road.”
The car overturned and then struck trees before coming to a rest, police said.

The most recent Maryland School Report Card was released in November, revealing year-to-year improvements for some schools and drops for others. But as local districts dissect the scores and what they mean for Mid-Shore students, officials are looking to change the ranking system. The Bay Times and Record Observer reports the Report Card ranks each school from one to five stars based on a 100-point scale. Schools 75 and above earn five stars; 60 to 74, four stars; 45 to 59, three stars; 30 to 44, two stars; and less than 30, one star.
Statewide, 43% of schools earned four- or five-star ratings in the 2024-2025 school year, up from 41% in 2023-2024. Add in schools with three-star ratings, and 86% of schools are accounted for statewide.