WCTR News

Maryland State Police have arrested a man on charges of child pornography possession and distribution in Queen Anne’s County. The Kent County News reports Michael Lane, 50 of Crumpton, was interviewed and arrested Dec. 18 without incident and is being held without bail at Queen Anne’s County Detention Center, police said. According to a preliminary investigation, Maryland State Police said they received a CyberTip by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The investigation led to the identification of the suspect and his subsequent arrest.

A Cambridge man pleaded guilty last month for his role in a bank robbery in Easton earlier this year. The Star Democrat reports 20 year old Jeremiah Carter entered a guilty plea in Talbot County Circuit Court for firearm use in a felony or violent crime and contributing to certain conditions of a child. He, along with two others, were arrested in connection to a robbery at BayVanguard Bank on Idlewild Avenue on June 2. Deondre Williams, 31, of Cambridge, and Makhyla Jenkins, 21, of Easton, are the other two suspects facing charges.

While Marylanders are used to high costs of living, the end of 2025 is delivering a rare financial victory. For the first time in nearly half a decade, average gas prices across the Old Line State have dipped to levels not seen since 2020, providing a massive “holiday bonus” to commuters and families alike. As of December 29, 2025, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Maryland has dropped to $2.77, a significant 14-cent decrease from this time last year. Even more shocking for residents is the emergence of “price wars” in local metros, where some stations are undercutting the state average by nearly 40 cents.

On Christmas Eve, approximately 50 horses escaped their confines and had to be corralled in Kent County. The Kent County News reports, according to Kent County Sheriff Dennis Hickman, six sheriff’s deputies, including one off-duty, and one on overtime assignment and two Maryland State Troopers closed down roads from Vansant Corner to Locust Grove Road near Route 213 the night of Dec. 24. The agency did not identify the farm or owners, nor could they comment on how the equines came to be loose. The horses escaped approximately 4:30 p.m. and all were back safely around 7 p.m., Hickman said.

A special election for Chestertown’s Ward 3 and Ward 4 council seats will be held Tuesday, Jan. 27. Both races are contested. The candidates are John James Beloved and Andre DeMattia in Ward 3, and Marcus Goldman, Stephen Lozar and Ryan McGuire in Ward 4. The Evening Enterprise reports each met the candidacy requirements as spelled out in the town charter, according to Town Clerk Lynda Thomas. The filing deadline was Friday, Dec. 19. The winner in Ward 3 will be elected to a full four-year term, while the winner in Ward 4 will serve out the remaining two years on the term of Meghan Efland, who will be sworn in as mayor at the first meeting of the new year, Jan. 5, 2026.

A Texas doctor who served as a traveling cardiologist in Easton is no longer facing rape and sex offense charges after a plea agreement was reached Friday in Talbot County Circuit Court. The Star Democrat reports Dr. Aman K. Patel, 44, of Keller, Texas, pleaded guilty on Friday to three counts of second-degree assault for incidents in Easton in 2024. The majority of charges against Patel — over 70, according to his lawyers — were dropped, including first- and second-degree rape, fourth-degree sex offense, false imprisonment and harassment.

Several Eastern Shore counties have withdrawn from an appeal of Maryland’s recertification for the Conowingo Dam, a challenge that the state feared could jeopardize a $340 million settlement with Constellation, the dam’s owner. The Cambridge Spy reports the deal resolved years of legal wrangling between the dam owner and the state, plus waterkeeper groups that intervened in the litigation. In exchange for recertification — which is needed for Constellation to get a 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to keep operating the hydropower plant at the dam — Maryland is set to receive $340 million from Constellation for environmental projects at the site. Dorchester and Kent counties opted to abandon the administrative appeal.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal announced the arrest of Marshall Allan Murphy, 26, of Sudlersville, after Deputy State Fire Marshals assigned to the Upper Eastern Region Office served an arrest warrant on Friday. Daily Voice Silver Spring reports Murphy was indicted on 16 charges, including second-degree arson and three counts of attempted second-degree arson, each punishable by up to 20 years in prison, officials said.
The arrest followed a six-month investigation into an attempted arson at Murphy’s Transport in Ridgely. Investigators determined the business was targeted due to an ongoing dispute between Murphy and the owner, authorities said.

Preliminary testing has confirmed a positive case of H5 avian influenza, or commonly known as the “bird flu,” in a commercial broiler farm in Queen Anne’s County, the Maryland Department of Agriculture announced Saturday. ABC 7 News reports this marks the second case of the highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza (HPAI) on a commercial poultry farm in Queen Anne’s County this year and the 10th case in Maryland in 2025, according to officials.

Maryland State Police on Thursday, Dec. 18 charged a Queen Anne’s County man with five counts each of possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. The Evening Enterprise reports police identified the man as Michael Paul Lane, 50, of Crumpton. Lane’s arrest came after MSP received a CyberTip by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The subsequent investigation led to the identification of Lane. He is being held without bond. Lane has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 15 in the District Court for Queen Anne’s County.