WCTR News

Looking at future wastewater capacity, the Queen Anne’s County commissioners recently approved a temporary moratorium on residential and mixed-use development. The Bay Times and Record Observer reports with the area Wastewater Treatment Plant near capacity, the commissioners adopted a moratorium on applications, approvals, construction, expansion, processing or issuance of subdivision, concept plan, site plan or building permit applications for residential or mixed-use projects in Kent Narrows, Stevensville, Grasonville, Prospect Bay, Cloverfields, Bay City and Southern Kent Island.

A woman from Chestertown is being sought after police say she fatally struck a pedestrian with a vehicle and left the scene of a crash in Delaware. On August 31st, around 2:00 a.m., Dover Police responded to the 200 block of North DuPont Highway. Officers met with the victim, 62-year-old Barbara Benson. She later died on the scene as a result of her injuries. Police say the driver, 24-year-old Aaliyah Graves, had already left the scene when police arrived, and investigators say they later found the vehicle in Worton, Md. Police have filed warrants for Graves’ arrest.

Caroline County Public Schools will be bringing back cellphone pouches in middle schools for the second year.
The Star Democrat reports cellphone pouches were introduced in the 2024-25 school year as a pilot program aimed at keeping students off their phones. Students carry locked pouches during the entire school day, with their phones inside and not accessible. Each student has their own pouch, which travels with them daily from home to school. Phones are locked into the pouches at the beginning of the school day and unlocked at the end using a magnetic device. If a student leaves the pouch at home, they put their phone in the school office for the day.

Five teens are facing charges after police say they confiscated illegal firearms from the group’s vehicle.
On August 22nd, around 11:49 p.m., Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s deputies were conducting traffic enforcement on Route 301 in the area of Route 305. Police say they saw a vehicle speeding at a rate of 82 miles per hour in a 55 miles per hour zone. All of the suspects are from Delaware. Police found a loaded handgun under the front passenger seat, an extended magazine in the glove box, and an unloaded shotgun in the trunk. Shotgun ammunition was found in the center console and the trunk.

Governor Wes Moore has announced the redesignation of Chestertown as an Arts and Entertainment District, allowing for the continuation of tax incentives that encourage economic development through arts and tourism. In FY 2024, visitor spending in those districts contributed to a total economic output of $136 million generated by the 29 designated districts statewide. By operating within Arts and Entertainment districts, property owners may be eligible for property tax credits, artists may be eligible for income tax subtraction modifications, and local governments may be exempt from admissions and amusement taxes. The resulting arts activity supports economic development by attracting businesses and tourists to communities across the state.

A self-employed stonemason disappeared from Queen Anne’s County in 2013, and has never been seen or heard from again, leaving investigators with a puzzling missing persons case. WMAR reports
James Colicchio was living out of a commercial rental unit on 4-H Park Road near Queenstown before he vanished. He may have been gone for two months before anyone reported him missing to the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Gary Hofmann leads the county’s law enforcement agency, and led it 12 years ago when the search first started. Colicchio’s disappearance remains one of just three unsolved cases in the entire county. Anyone with information on the case should reach out to authorities.

Mid Shore Behavioral Health, Inc. (MSBH), in partnership with the health departments of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot Counties is holding the sixth annual “The Mid-Shore is Going Purple Together” event, taking place on Saturday, September 27th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Church Hill Park in Church Hill, MD. Organizers say it’s an event to celebrate recovery, offer support to those affected by substance use, reduce stigma, and promote community healing.

A Baltimore man pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment last week in connection to a shooting at a Greensboro grocery store in February. Jeffrey Smith Sr., 47, of Baltimore, entered the plea for the singular count on Aug. 20. Nine other charges, including first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault and firearms counts, will not be prosecuted by the state as part of the plea agreement.
The shooting occurred on Feb. 12 in the parking lot of the Save A Lot on Greensboro Road. Police did not identify any victims immediately following the incident.

A possible “solar garden” occupying a 10-acre parcel of agricultural land straddling the Marydel-Caroline County line drew almost two dozen residents to the Marydel town hall meeting room recently.
The Caroline Review reports solar project planners from Denver-based Pivot Energy presented the proposal and answered questions during the 2-hour meeting. Social media posts on the town’s Facebook page prior to the meeting stated mostly opposition to the project in principle and referred to the sprawling utility scale solar project on nearly 800 acres along State Route 313 between Goldsboro and Greensboro.

Clayton Mitchell, a Stevensville resident formerly of Kent County, is serving as an adviser to the gubernatorial campaign of Dundalk native and storied businessman Ed Hale Sr. The Kent County News reports Hale, previously a registered Democrat, declared his intention to run as a Republican in the upcoming election. Taking the podium at Canton Waterfront Park, he said his campaign would focus on public safety and education. His formal announcement came just three months after he informally declared his candidacy as a Democratic opponent to incumbent Gov. Wes Moore.