FREE St. Mary's THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021 CountyWWW.COUNTYTIMES.SOMD.COM Times Young Life Lost On the COVID Frontline Grace Fuller, feeds Jamie the horse at Summerseat Farm, one of many volunteer roles she has take on over the last 40 years. 2 The County Times Thursday, May 6, 2021 CONTENTS LOCAL 3 COPS & COURTS 12 LOCAL 7 COMMUNITY 13 New water tower takes shape in Hickory Hills. FEATURE 16 EDUCATION 18 SPORTS 21 CALENDARS 23 COVER 16 COMMUNITY 14 National Nurses Week starts May 6. Special Olympics gets a little help from its friends CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 24 LEGALS 25 “IT'S GETTING WORSE.” VICE/NARCOTICS UNIT CAPT. ERIC SWEENEY ON THE OBITS 26 RISE IN FATAL AND NON-FATAL OVERDOSES. BUSINESS DIRECTORY 30 WEEKLY FORECAST FUN & GAMES 31 DO YOU FEEL CRABBY WHEN YOU GET YOUR INSURANCE BILL P.O. Box 250 • Hollywood, Maryland 20636 IN THE MAIL? 301-373-4125 CountySt. Times Mary’s County ● Calvert County www.countytimes.net GIVE US A CALL.BRYANS ROAD YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID. LEONARDTOWN Burris’ Olde Towne Insurance Auto • Home • Business • LIFE LEONARDTOWN BRYANS ROAD As of May 5 301-475-3151 301-743-9000 WWW.DANBURRIS.COM 7087 123 AN INDEPENDENT AGENT REPRESENTING ERIE INSURANCE GROUP Information provided by St. Mary's Health Department Thursday, May 6, 2021 The County Times Local News 3 St. Mary's Graduations Will Be Indoors, With Limited Attendance By Guy Leonard 1,500 people to view a graduation Staff Writer ceremony, Smith said, but social Graduation ceremonies for St. distancing requirements mean Mary’s County high school se- that they could only accommodate niors this year will be much like 300 at a time. those of seniors last year – indoors “That means high schools are with attendance limited to just the going to have to have several graduate and parents, Superinten- ceremonies on their given days,” dent Dr. J. Scott Smith said last Smith said. week. High school graduations are set Smith made his announcement to take place the week of June 1. at the April 28 St. Mary’s County Smith said system planning staff Board of Education meeting, not- had worked out several scenarios ing that despite recent lifting of in an attempt to see if single cere- restrictions on the wearing of face mony graduation events were pos- masks outdoors during the COV- sible but could find no other op- ID-19 pandemic there was still a tion than the in-door ceremonies requirement to social distance. at each individual high school. This made having mass gradu- The school system also did not ation ceremonies here almost im- have any arrangements with large- possible, as space at local sports scale venues such as the Show stadiums was effectively cut to 20 Place Arena in Upper Marlboro or percent capacity with social dis- Bowie Baysox Stadium in Bowie tancing imposed. to hold a graduation ceremony, “There’s been no reversal of Smith said. the requirement for us to socially “I know that’s going to be a dis- distance outside,” Smith told the appointment to a lot of people,” school board. “We’re preparing to Smith said. “But that’s where we In a later interview with The Each high school will have their go down the path of indoor cer- are.” County Times, Smith said gradu- own day assigned to that class emonies and they're going to have However, the superintendent ating seniors will be divided into starting June 2, Smith said, and to be cohorted.” said the school system was com- groups of 40 to 50 students to walk the ceremonies will be recorded Bleachers at high school loca- mitted to making graduations an the auditorium stage and receive and broadcast. tions under normal conditions “exceptionally memorable event their diploma at their respective [email protected] could accommodate as many as for all these kids.” schools. 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LEXINGTON PARK, MD 4 Local News The County Times Thursday, May 6, 2021 Thursday, May 6, 2021 The County Times Local News 5 Opioid Overdoses Already New Hickory Hills Water Surging Over Prior Years By Guy Leonard ing with prescription opioid medication Staff Writer fraud - which is widely believed to be where Tower Gets Capped The sheriff’s office top narcotics enforce- the opioid addiction crisis began in the last By Guy Leonard ment officer told elected leaders this week decade - but much cheaper and more read- Staff Writer that, for the first four months of 2021, opioid ily available alternatives such as heroin and Construction crews hoisted the overdoses are already increasing in numbers the synthetic pain killer fentanyl are behind holding tank on top of the new over prior years for the same period. many fatal and non-fatal overdoses alike. Hickory Hills water tower May 2, Capt. Eric Sweeney, commander of the Fentanyl is many times more powerful completing a major step in a proj- vice/narcotics unit, “We are ahead of the last than heroin and many other opioids. ect that will provide greatly in- several years in terms of fatal and non-fatal Sweeney and Lottie Bell, the sheriff’s of- creased water capacity to the Lex- overdoses,” Sweeney told Commissioner fice budget director, were before the Com- ington Park Development District. Mike Hewitt, who first broached the ques- missioners of St. Mary’s County at their It will replace a much older wa- tion. “We have more. May 4 meeting to request approval for a ter tower with much lower capac- “It’s getting worse.” grant application to fund a heroin coordina- ity that had also been called out Sweeney did not give exact numbers re- tor position at the agency. by some local elected leaders as garding fatal and non-fatal overdoses so far This full-time employee coordinates data an aging eyesore gone to rust. this year but data from the sheriff’s office regarding opioid use, related crimes and The foundation and ring wall to shows there have already been six confirmed overdoses for the sheriff’s office. support the new tank was com- Commission (MetCom), the de- fatal overdoses as of Apr. 19, however there Dr. Meena Brewster, the county’s health pleted in June of last year; the new velopment district’s public water are eight deaths believed to be related to opi- officer, also told commissioners “the opioid tank is capable of holding two mil- and sewer provider, it will be used oid intoxication that are pending confirma- epidemic continues to strike us.” lion gallons of water, four times to stabilize water system pressure tion from the state Medical Examiner. “Despite the pandemic, it hasn’t the capacity of the old tank next throughout Lexington Park and To date there have been 67 non-fatal over- taken a pause,” Brewster contin- to it located just off of the Three improve water storage deficits in doses, the sheriff’s office confirmed. ued. “We’ve seen a worsening situa- Notch Trail near the Hickory Hills water demand in the community. For 2020 there were 30 fatal overdoses tion in terms of non-fatal overdoses.” Shopping Center. Included in the new facility is recorded by the sheriff’s office and 225 non- Overall deaths from opioids seemed to be The old water tower was fin- a new well house, pump controls, fatal overdoses to which they responded. less for 2020 than prior years, she said, but ished in 1992. new equipment for disinfection, These do not include those Maryland the crisis persisted. The budget for the new tower metering and telemetry, and a die- State Police recorded. The county health department’s opioid is $6.3 million, funded through sel generator. If the additional unconfirmed deaths are data monitoring program shows there were a low interest loan from the state Demolition of the old tower is revealed to have been caused by opioids, St. 23 fatal opioid overdoses last year, differing Department of Housing and Com- also part of the construction proj- Mary’s will already have reached nearly half with the sheriff’s office report. munity Development. ect, according to MetCom. of last year’s fatalities before mid-year. [email protected] According to the Metropolitan [email protected] Sweeney said problems still exist in deal- SERVICE Taylor Gas Company offers full service installation and repair for a breadth of propane related systems. DEPENDABILITY The customer is our top priority here at Taylor Gas. We provide 24 hour emergency service and deliveries to the Sourthern Maryland area. EXPERIENCE Combining extensive training with 68 years of on-the-job experience, you can be sure that you’ll be getting the best service available. 6 The County Times Thursday, May 6, 2021 Every day, every hour, every patient–thank you for always being there. You never lost hope. You never gave up. Throughout everything we could always count on you. Happy Nurses' Week! MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital is proud of the incredible care provided by our nursing team during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Nurses’ Week 2021, we want to express our gratitude for your commitment, compassion, and caring. You change lives every day. A heartfelt thank you to all of our nurses! Thursday, May 6, 2021 The County Times 7 UnveilsGovernor Historic 1600s VisitsArtifacts Historic St. Mary City Maryland Governor Larry Hogan colonial interaction in the early 17th on April 27 visited Historic St. Mary century. City(HSMC), a living history mu- Five saints medallion: Small re- seum at the site of Maryland’s first ligious medal depicting five saints capital and the fourth oldest English canonized by Pope Gregory XV in Colonial settlement in the nation, 1622: Ignatius Loyola, Francis Xavi- to unveil historic artifacts at the re- er, Philip Neri, Theresa of Avila, cently discovered St.