On Wednesday, April 6^th  2022, the case involving an Elkton woman being arrested at a Cecil County School Board meeting was heard in court. Brooke Somers, a mother of school aged children, was arrested in early February and charged with six misdemeanors: disturbing school operations, school trespassing, disorderly conduct, failure to obey a lawful order, resisting arrest, and trespassing on private property. All initial charges stood at the time of the trial.

The incident leading to Brooke Somers arrest originated from her attempt to attend and participate in a School Board meeting while not wearing a mask. The full body-cam footage of Officer Anthony Devine, the arresting officer, has been viewed by Cecil County News. The video shows the events leading to what the court determined today was mostly inappropriate police conduct, when the judge decided to drop four of the six charges.

The footage shows that on February 9^th, 2022, Brooke Somers attempted to gain access to a School Board meeting. Before she could enter the room where the meeting was being held, she was stopped by an individual on behalf of the school board, who informed her that she could not enter the meeting because she was not wearing a mask. She presented a note from her doctor stating that for Brooke, wearing a mask presents a medical difficulty, as prolonged restricted breathing triggers a series of adverse reactions.

During his interaction with Brooke Somers, the administration official was accompanied by Officer Devine. The body camera footage shows Somers presenting the note from her doctor to the official, who decided that without an ID he could not let her in. While she was retrieving her ID from her car, Officer Devine is heard telling the administration official that he did not believe the note was sufficient to warrant an exception. However, Officer Devine in his testimony stated that he did not read the mask mandate he was attempting to enforce. His input was unsolicited, and outside the scope of his authority. Devine was there to enforce the law, not to counsel the School Board on how he felt their mask policy should be applied.

Once Somers presented her ID to the administration official, he again reviewed the letter. He told Somers that she would not be allowed to enter the meeting without a mask. When Somers asked if he felt she would be a public health risk if she were to attend the meeting unmasked, the official responded, “No.”

The interaction was tense, but not hostile. The administration official clearly didn’t have clear guidance on how to handle medical exceptions to the mask requirement, and Somers clearly wanted to attend the meeting in person to participate, while not wearing a mask. The administration official also stated in his testimony that he did not read the mask mandate. not wearing a mask.

Her willingness to stay and observe the meeting from the lobby, as well as her demeanor in the interaction to the administration official runs counter to what Devine later put in his report that stated:

“It became evident that she had come to the meeting with the intent of making a demonstration out of not wearing a mask and was therefore advised she could not enter the meeting,”

Had her intention been to make some type of demonstration in the meeting, she would not have stayed after being denied access to the meeting. Without the video this speculation on the part of the officer would not have been shown to be clearly unfounded.

Despite there being a mask requirement for the entire building, individuals were allowed to watch a livestream of the meeting in the lobby about a dozen feet away from the main doors. While this option allowed Somers and the others to view the meeting, it meant they could not participate in the meeting or address the board as every parent should be able to do. It is worth noting that not only were the chairs in the lobby grouped closer together than the main meeting, but the number in attendance of the main meeting was so sparse that social distancing guidelines could have been observed without the need for masks.

The footage continues without audio and the meeting appears to be continuing without disruption. Then, without prompting from anyone in the meeting, Devine goes out into the lobby, turns the audio on his body cam footage on and tells the three individuals in the lobby to stop talking. Somers, at a conversational level, says “No” and Devine responds with, “Get out!”

This portion of the footage further illuminates another aspect of Devine’s report, where it states:

“She was then instructed to leave the property as it was evident her intent was to disrupt the meeting and cause a disturbance.”

After reviewing the footage this statement does not seem to adequately represent the facts. Furthermore, this is the second time Devine states her actions are ‘evident’ of something that appear to anything but evident of what Devine is claiming, calling into question his judgement in the situation.

Somers refuses to move from her chair and informs the officer that she does not intend to leave. Devine then proceeds to place Somers under arrest. In the course of the arrest Devine yanks Somers from her seat, and throws her on the ground. While she is on the ground she tells Devine that he is hurting her, and Devine responds with “Good. You are resisting.”

Two other officers are called in to remove Somers, and Devine remains behind at the building. Once Somers is removed, one witness who was in the lobby tells Devine that he was “in awe” of how he responded. The witness told Devine that he was pro-cop, but “could not believe” Devine’s behavior.

The body camera footage provides greater context to parts of the statement released by Cecil County Public Schools after the event, which states in part:

“The officer on duty asked the individuals in the lobby to lower their volume as it was disruptive to the meeting. Upon one individual’s refusal to do so, the officer asked her to leave the building, which she refused, leading to her arrest.”

Once arrested, Somers is placed in a holding cell at the Elkton police station where she waits until approximately 11:30 PM, when she is then transported to the District Courthouse for a bond hearing. Devine escorts Somers inside, once the locked entry door is opened for them by an overnight employee. When they enter, Devine authoritatively redirects a handcuffed Somers to walk through the metal detector, which obviously sounds on account of the handcuffs that Devine put on her.

Devine, Somers, and the overnight courthouse employee are the only ones in the lobby. Before going to see the commissioner Devine tells Somers that a mask is required in the courthouse building too. Somers looks at the courthouse employee, who is also not wearing a mask, and asks whether Devine will make the courthouse employee put on a mask as well. He tells Somers that either she can put on the mask, or Devine will put it on for her. She declines, again citing her medical reservation, and Devine forces the mask over her face.

After the mask is on, Somers lowers it below her mouth and nose, which prompts Devine to physically engage Somers. This interaction, once again, results in Somers being thrown to the ground, where she remains for quite some time. It is on the ground where she meets Commissioner after being summoned by Devine. The commissioner then literally and figuratively talks down to Somers and tells her that she can either put on the mask or spend the night in Cecil County Detention Center. When faced with the threat of imprisonment, Somers dons the mask.

It is unfortunate for Somers, the town, and the police department that the situation evolved the way it did. Law enforcement has an important responsibility, and allowing emotional responses to triumph over rational ones can lead to devastating outcomes. When the authority placed in our law enforcement is vested in the wrong individual, it is not uncommon for that power to be abused. Cecil County News deals only in facts, so it is not our place to make determinations. It is up to the reader, having been presented with the facts, to decide whether or not Officer Devine’s actions are an example of such an abuse. What we can say, is that today the court decided that the charges against Brooke Somers were largely without merit, and four of the six charges have been dropped. The two remaining charges; Disorderly Conduct, and Failure to Obey a Lawful Order, will be heard in jury trial.

She was acquitted of: school disruption, school trespassing/reusing to leave the building, resisting arrest, and trespassing on private property.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/GFx3CEuwQxw

The post Devine Injustice appeared first on Cecil County News.

Rising Sun, Maryland – Mary Beyer Halsey, 59, of Rising Sun, Maryland was sentenced today to two years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur announced. Halsey previously pleads guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, receipt of a bribe by a bank official, and false statement in bank records, in connection with the straw purchase of a home in Rising Sun, Maryland, upon which Cecil Bank had foreclosed. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow also ordered Halsey to forfeit interest in the Rising Sun property and to pay $300 in special assessments and restitution to the bank in the amount of $145,000. “Mary Beyer Halsey will now serve time in federal prison after she used her position as President and CEO of Cecil Bank for her personal benefit, causing a loss to the bank, which had already received federal taxpayer funds as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur. “Corrupt bank officials undermine the public’s trust in our financial system.” According to court documents, Halsey conspired with Daniel Whitehurst, an employee of a real estate development company that did business in Maryland, to defraud Cecil Bank and another bank to purchase a home through false pretenses, representations, and promises. Halsey agreed to help Whitehurst to obtain a line of credit from Cecil Bank, in exchange for Whitehurst agreeing to serve as the straw purchaser of 127 Ebenezer on behalf of Halsey. Halsey later participated in a loan committee meeting at Cecil Bank that considered and approved a $650,000 line for credit for Whitehurst and a $500,000 line of credit for his business partner.
Halsey admitted that at her request, Whitehurst visited 127 Ebenezer and provided Halsey with an estimate of the costs to update the house. Whitehurst determined that beyond replacing the kitchen subflooring at a cost of about $1,000, there were no significant repairs needed. A full appraisal on September 10, 2012, reflected a market value of $295,000. To support the below-market price that Halsey wanted to pay, Whitehurst included in the letter of intent a list of lower-priced home sales in the same area that was not comparable to 127 Ebenezer and therefore was not reflective of the property’s actual market value.
On the same day, Whitehurst e-mailed Cecil Bank his offer to purchase 127 Ebenezer for $145,000, during a meeting of the Cecil Bank Board of Directors, Halsey advised the Board that Whitehurst had made a purchase offer of $140,000 for the property, $5,000 less the actual offer. To support the below-market price of $140,000, Halsey falsely characterized the property as having “structural deficiencies [that] will require significant repairs.” Halsey did not disclose her personal interest in the property, nor Whitehurst’s role as her nominee to acquire the property on her behalf. The Board authorized Halsey to “negotiate the best price.” Thereafter, Whitehurst submitted a contract for him to purchase 127 Ebenezer from Cecil Bank for $150,000, which Halsey signed on August 17, 2012 on behalf of Cecil Bank.
On November 21, 2012, the settlement of 127 Ebenezer was held with Halsey representing Cecil Bank as the seller, and Whitehurst as the purported purchaser, selling the property to Whitehurst for $150,000. Both signed the HUD-1 form which falsely represented that Whitehurst had paid approximately $52,566 at settlement, when in fact, the down payment and all related closing costs were paid from the $75,000 Halsey had wired to Whitehurst’s bank account beforehand. From October 31, 2012 through March 29, 2013, Halsey transferred an additional $60,000 to Whitehurst to cover the cost of the upgrades to the house that they had previously discussed, as well as to reimburse Whitehurst for mortgage payments he made on the property.
In December 2012, in response to a question from a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond inquiring about the sale of the property to Whitehurst, Halsey falsely stated that she was “not totally familiar with [that] property” and that the bank had difficulty marketing the property and had not listed it with a realtor because of “issues with the county over the bonds outstanding.”
In April 2013, federal agents began interviewing employees and other borrowers about banking irregularities at Cecil Bank. Halsey never told the bank that she was the true purchaser of 127 Ebenezer, nor did the bank know that Halsey and Whitehurst had orchestrated the sale of the foreclosed property at the fraudulent price of $150,000, instead of the appraised pre-renovation price of $295,000.
As a result of Halsey’s misrepresentations and omissions, the bank lost approximately $145,000. This case was the product of a joint investigation by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG), the Mid-Atlantic Region; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General (FDIC/OIG), New York Region; and the Small Business Administration, Office of Inspector General (SBA/OIG).

The post FORMER CECIL BANK PRESIDENT SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR BANK FRAUD appeared first on Cecil County News.

RISING SUN, MD. — Cecil County Animal Services Animal Welfare Division, in conjunction with the Rising Sun Police Department and State’s Attorney James Dellmyer, seized 45 animals found living in neglectful conditions from a Rising Sun residence on Monday. These animals included 17 cats, 3 dogs, 3 snakes, 1 guinea pig, 2 turtles, 1 tarantula, 2 birds, 13 goldfish, and 3 beta fish. There were also two deceased animals recovered from the scene.

The animals were found to be kept in deplorable conditions, including limited access to fresh food and water. This is currently an ongoing investigation, however charges of animal neglect are pending against Crystal Romine, formerly of Eden Rehab and Rescue. The seized animals were brought to Cecil County Animal Services where they are actively receiving appropriate care including medical, behavioral, and enrichment therapy. 

“Our hearts are absolutely broken for the agony these animals endured. They are innocent victims in this tragedy,” said Abigail Bingham, Director for Cecil County Animal Services. “We will do everything in our power to speak on their behalf to ensure their story is heard and they are protected from any future suffering.”

The post Cecil County Animal Services Seizes 45 Animals from Rising Sun Residence appeared first on Cecil County News.

To some, it might seem like no big deal when a post or comment on Social Media gets deleted for any reason. Others might fly in the other direction and claim that their free speech is being suppressed.

But in the case of elected officials, censorship of constituents is illegal to do, be it an official forum or the internet.

In 2018, the ACLU settled a lawsuit against Governor Larry Hogan for $65,000 for deleting comments of constituents on Facebook, meanwhile a federal court ruled that President Donald Trump could not block negative commentators on his Twitter account.

In 2019, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Davison v Randall that the comments section of a public official’s social media account is a public forum and discrimination against contrary opinions is not allowed.

Source: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/fourth-circuit-court-decision-davison-v-randall

Alan McCarthy, the Executive of Cecil County has adopted the same habit of deleting and blocking accounts from being able to comment on his page, particularly when they comment on his ethics abuses and illegal activities.

Ernie Beck, a citizen recently went viral on Facebook for exposing an anti-Trump message posted on McCarthy’s personal Facebook account that runs counter to his claims of being a Trump Republican. Beck today reported with evidence that McCarthy deleted the same comment he made twice before blocking him entirely.

McCarthy has also blocked Republican Central Committee chairman Vincent Sammons and many other residents of Cecil County for calling out his ties to corrupt business leaders and left-wing special interest groups.

The post Alan McCarthy’s Illegal Censorship of Constituents appeared first on Cecil County News.

Stay tuned for our upcoming video documentary series: A Travesty of Justice.

You will learn the heartbreaking story of a family from Cecil County whose property was stolen out from under them and the long legal battle they have fought.

You will hear how the States Attorney and other government offices have refused to prosecute the blatant criminal fraud perpetrated against this man and his family.

We have the evidence. You will be given all of the facts, the documents, and the testimony, so that you can see what they have lost in the pursuit of justice.

The post The War One Man is Fighting for Cecil County’s Residents appeared first on Cecil County News.

In the last few weeks, there have been more than a dozen ethics complaints have been filed against County Executive Alan J. McCarthy, focusing on his proven violation of the county charter laws that pertain to outside business/income. One of the accusers, whose identity shall remain anonymous, shared a copy of his personal complaint with Cecil County News, as well as the reply that it was disregarded.

As we previously reported, Alan McCarthy runs a real estate business on the side of his political career. The county charter, article 4 section 405 (b) states that the Executive shall devote full time to the duties of the office and may not participate in any private occupation for compensation.

Renting out houses certainly qualifies as a private occupation for compensation, doesn’t it? Even if you ignore the more damning elements such as fraudulently suing former business partners to recoup losses under an LLC you created specifically to mask your identity, it still is pretty cut and dry.

More than a few attempts have been made to bring this issue to public attention. Councilman Bill Coutz was handed evidence at the County Fair and refused to pass it to the rest of the Council. The Ethics Commission dismissed every single complaint made by county residents as not their jurisdiction.

But if it’s not the County Ethics Commission’s job to handle violations of county laws by county officials, then why do we have these laws if there is no one to enforce them? Why are the same people pounding Jackie Gregory over her day job as a substitute teacher, ostensibly on the same grounds, but giving a pass to another official?

Remember: All seats on the Ethics Commission are filled by the Executive.

Impartiality seems to be difficult for them.

What is perhaps the most insidious part of this whole thing is that not only did the County Ethics commission ignore the dozen complaints against Executive McCarthy, they also provided copies of the complaints to him containing the names and information of the people who issued them, effectively marking them with a bullseye for retaliation.

This itself is a violation of the County Code as it pertains to confidentiality. Cecil County Code Chapter 39 section 10 (H) states: “After a complaint is filed and until a final finding of a violation by the Commission, all actions regarding a complaint are confidential. Notwithstanding any other provision of the law to the contrary, upon the filing of a complaint, and unless and until a finding of violation has been made, the proceedings, meetings, and activities of the Commission and its employees in connection with the complaint shall be conducted in a confidential manner. The Commission, its staff, counsel, the complainant and the respondent shall not disclose any information relating to the complaint, including the identity of the complainant and the respondent, except that the Commission may release any information at any time if the respondent has, in writing, agreed to said release.”

The commission cannot argue that it had any validity to leak the information to the accused person when it never even began to investigate when they rightly should have.

The double standard is glaring. The self-perceived ruling class has their own set of rules to abide by, meanwhile anyone who isn’t part of the club gets scrutinized for anything that could be interpreted as a violation of the most obscure rule.

The post Ethics Commission Ignores +12 Complaints Against McCarthy, and Violates County Code by Sharing Identities appeared first on Cecil County News.

The residents of Cecil County should remember the embarassing tale, when States Attorney Edward Dorsey Ellis Rollins III was convicted of indecent exposure for engaging in a sexcapade with his wife that included nude erotic dancing and masturbation inside of an Ocean City hotel room in clear view of four other women.

After a trial in which witnesses expressed their trauma in testimony, Mr. Rollins was found guilty on all counts and was sentenced to 90 days in jail along with a $1000 fine.

But the consequences for his disreputable behavior do not end there. It has come to the attention of Cecil County News that the Maryland Bar Association has now suspended Mr. Rollins from practicing law for sixty days, following a petition of the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland.

The petition came because the respondent, Mr. Rollins, violated Rule 8.4(d) of the Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct.

In addition, it was also ordered that the Clerk of Court strike Rollins’ name from the registry of attorneys in the Court.

It may have taken time, but it is good to see justice being served and the former States Attorney being held accountable by his peers.

ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DOCUMENT

The post Former States Attorney Suspended from Practicing Law appeared first on Cecil County News.

Meet the Maggiores

Imagine after working hard finally being able to purchase your dream home. You sign the papers, write a check, put your name on the deed and start moving in. It’s heavenly, right? This is one of the single greatest joys a person can have in their life, to stand on land and sleep in a house that is theirs alone.

But for Charles and Amber Maggiore of Perryville, MD, that dream became a nightmare. The couple, for the sum of $275,000.00, bought a parcel of land to put down their roots and raise their five children from the estate of Mabel S. Williams-Whack, who passed away in 2014 at the age of 90. It’s a beautiful range of 51.62 acres located on Jackson Station Rd home to wetlands and waterways.

After signing the dotted line in May 2016, their problems began. One day, the Maggiores caught a suspicious man hunting near the old Mill Creek Reservoir, which stands on their property. This poacher claimed to have been given permission by the town to hunt on the land. Reasonably, Mr. Maggiore consulted Denise Breder, Perryville’s Town Administrator.

“Poacher said the town gave him permission to hunt by the reservoir,” Charles Maggiore told us, “I went into town to see Denise and she said to call the cops.”

Mr. Maggiore said that the next time it happened, the Department of Natural Resources got involved and advised him to put up No Trespassing signs. According to their maps, the reservoir was on his property and by the opinion of the state, belongs to him.

A 2013 Cecil Whig article by Jane Bellmyer claimed that the reservoir built by the Cole family in the 1930s was sold to Perryville for the use of the reservoir. The land it sat on was purportedly being leased to the town. More on that later.

 The Maggiore’s situation only worsened after this.

The Action to Quiet Title

 In March of 2016, the Town of Perryville had filed a quiet title action and the following July a judge ruled in their favor, allowing Perryville to effectively seize the 17.85-acre parcel of land where the reservoir stands as town property.

From Wikipedia: “An action to quiet title is a lawsuit brought in a court having jurisdiction over property disputes, in order to establish a party’s title to real property, or personal property having a title, of against anyone and everyone, and thus ‘quiet’ any challenges or claims to the title.”

In previous cases involving a quiet title, people using lands that are not theirs have made adverse possession claims followed by quiet title actions and been able to take ownership of that land by court authority. Various news websites have described this as a means to legally steal real estate.

In order for the action to work, the squatter for an amount of time that varies state-to-state has to be openly living on or using the property without permission and paying taxes or other expenses associated with maintaining the property before they can make the case. It’s similar to a common law marriage, where after cohabitating for an established period of time an unmarried man and woman are considered legally married.

A municipality (the Town of Perryville) arguably cannot squat on private property, nor can they pay taxes and fees to themselves for it. Even if they argue that they own the Mill Creek Reservoir which has been on the land since the 1930s, that is a very flimsy predicate, as for decades the reservoir and land have not been in use by the town.

It’s also worth noting that the defendant listed in the court records for the quiet title action is Gertrude C. Cole of South Carolina, not Mabel S. Williams-Whack or the representatives of her estate, Dwight James and Thomas Short III, or even Charles and Amber Maggiore who were sold the property and all its contents before the ruling was made. According to the deed for the property, William Cole Jr. and his wife Sarah sold the parcel of land to Collins Williams in 1926.

Maryland Code Real Property Title 14 – Miscellaneous Rules subtitle 6 – Actions to Quiet Title states in subsection 14-610: “Notification of personal representative. – If a person required to be named as a defendant is dead and the plaintiff knows of a personal representative, the plaintiff shall join the personal representative as a defendant.”

In a similar case, Estate of Zimmerman vs Blatter, the additions to Subtitle 6 signed in by Governor Larry Hogan in 2016 applied retroactively and following an appeal, the judgment in the Zimmerman case was vacated and the case was dismissed. This sets a legal precedent for any future cases with the same circumstances.

As we pointed out before, in the action to quiet title and settle ownership of the 17.85-acres, Perryville town attorney Fred Sussman did not name Thomas Short III or Dwight James, the representatives of Mabel S. Williams-Whack as defendants in his action to quiet title. Which, by the precedent we’ve explained, means the court’s ruling that the 17.85-acre parcel belongs to Perryville should too be vacated. But to this day, they still claim the town owns the land around the reservoir.

In our investigations, we have found that there are no records in the Cecil County circuit court of that land ever being allocated to the town of Perryville prior to the quiet title action, either ownership or lease. The County Clerk was unable to locate any relative information.

Not only that, the Town of Perryville submitted the wrong deed for their case. The document given belongs to a property at Old Post Road in Perry Point that was owned by John Stump in the 1800s. This location is miles away from the disputed land.

And that would be checkmate, I think. It is hard to believe that this farce ever held up in a court of law. The Court should review their ruling and with the evidence in mind, vacate it and dismiss the case according to legal precedent.

The quiet title action is not the only suspicious misfortune the family has suffered since moving in.

The Fire, the Liens and the Land Developers

In November 2016, the Maggiore’s home caught fire. Investigators suspected arson and according to Mr. Maggiore, inspectors came out twice while he wasn’t home and logged it without notifying him. Evidence pointed to the fire being started from outside the house and Maggiore believes the case is still open and unsolved.

No one was hurt, thank God, but for a time the house was unlivable, and the family had to be away from the property, and Mr. Maggiore says they never received anything in the mail from the town about any matter, except for warnings Ms. Breder and town attorney Fred Sussman issued for them to stay off the property and not to hang signs or paint the trees.

Tax liens were then placed on their property, ostensibly to satisfy unpaid taxes and charges due the county in the amount of $919.12. The property was sold at an auction for $170,000.00 to Thornton Mellon LLC, who would foreclose the property after six months if the Maggiores did not pay the money.

After fighting the sale and highlighting errors made by the town, the Maggiores successfully reclaimed their property. But the Town of Perryville still claims ownership of that 17.85-acre parcel of land around Mill Creek Reservoir via their shady quiet title action.

The question you’re likely pondering is: why does Perryville care so much about an 80-year-old defunct reservoir and the land surrounding it?  

In March 2016 (the same month the Quiet Title action was filed,) Jane Bellmyer reported in the Cecil Whig that the Town of Perryville was given a draft plan for a stream restoration project that would fix flooding issues around the reservoir and help the town. The specifics are unclear as the representatives of TLBT, LLC whose organizations devised the draft plan were under a DNR, as was Lisa Webb, the director of Cecil County’s Department of Economic Development.

That fall, Bellmyer reported in her Whig news column that the town of Perryville wanted to scrap the reservoir and sell the property. She also mentioned that the stream restoration project was being carried out by Lidl, which recently opened its new distribution center in the county. Following this information, it would be safe to conclude that Lidl would be the purchaser, or perhaps another company working in tandem with them.

The area around it has a lot going on recently. Contrary to the Whig’s claim of stream restoration, the logging and digging taking place adjacent to the Maggiore’s property have been damaging the wetlands and waterways. The MDTA notified the family of this effect along with their intention of applying to the Maryland Department of the Environment to obtain authorization.

There are also improvements to the I-95 exit sought by the Maryland Transportation Authority, likely due to the Great Wolf Lodge going up next to Hollywood Casino. Being nestled between I-95 and Route 40, the land is also in the path of the County’s Master Water and Sewer Plan. York Builders (Stewart Properties) is involved with many of these enterprises.

In another letter, MDTA requested permission to enter the Maggiore’s property to perform a field survey. Mr. Maggiore has expressed contempt for the damage these projects are doing to his property and its value.

It would seem that the only crime Charles and Amber Maggiore committed was choosing a home for their family that lay in the path of the town and developers looking to turn the area around the I-95 exit into a tourist hub. The lack of concern for the local nature and the value of Maggiore’s property is sad.

• The Maggiore Deed 2016 with Map (Current Owner of 655 Jackson Station)
• The Cole Deed 1926 (Previous owner of 655 Jackson Station)
• Town of Perryville Quiet Title 2016
• The Stump Deed 1893 Town claims was Deed to 655 Jackson Station (Reservoir) Page 1 at bottom , Page 2
• 1858 Survey map of Cecil County showing the Deed 2 different deed’s references.

The post Perryville’s Not-So-Quiet Title Farce appeared first on Cecil County News.

“The Executive shall devote full-time to the duties of the office. The Executive shall not participate in any private occupation for compensation. During the term of office, the Executive shall not hold any other office of profit.”

County Charter; Article 4, Section 405 (b) – Qualifications for the County Executive.

The rules of the Cecil County Charter are very clear in the matter of outside employment for the position of County Executive. After taking the role upon democratic election, an individual must end any employment in the private sector and step away from any business enterprises they may run.

In the case of retired veterinarian Dr. Alan McCarthy, the rules of his office need not apply apparently. His role in land development and real estate continued into his term as Executive.

Baker’s Hill LLC (McCarthy, plus Kenneth Simmons, Jay C. Emery III, and Stephen Baker) acquired a swath of land from Willard E. Megonigal Jr. of New Castle, DE, and developed the land into a townhouse community.

Initially, this was nothing out of the ordinary, just a group of investors looking to make a profit. But when the housing market tanked and sparked the Great Recession in 2008, the investors of Baker’s Hill fell on hard times and were unable to meet their financial obligations.

One by one, Baker, Simmons, and Emery withdrew from the LLC in 2013 and assigned all their interests to Dr. McCarthy (who as of 2012 was sitting on the Cecil County Council), leaving him the last remaining member of Baker’s Hill. In effect, McCarthy had bought out their stakes in Baker’s Hill and indemnified them from any future financial obligations.

Rather than pay the debt to Megonigal when it was due in July of 2016, Councilman McCarthy let it go into default while selling homes and collecting rent from more than thirty tenants; and making his bid for the position of County Executive.

On December 20^th, 2016, County Executive Alan McCarthy (newly sworn in and bound to Article 4, Section 405 (b) of the County Charter) received a certified letter from the attorneys of Willard Megonigal stating that if the debt and interest were not paid, legal action would be taken against McCarthy and the other three investors.

On January 26^th, 2017 the debt of $250,000.00 and interest of $6472.25 referred to as the Megonigal Note was paid off by Baker’s Hill LLC.

However, a one-member LLC called Ulysses claimed to have paid off the debt soon after and proceeded to sue Kenneth Simmons, Jay C. Emery III, and Stephen Baker to pay debts they were indemnified of when they assigned their interests to McCarthy. Any liability that may still exist vanished the moment the Note was paid off.

Ulysses LLC, which is owned by Dr. Alan McCarthy, and is therefore his proxy, appears on none of the checks written. McCarthy wrote checks from his personal PNC Bank checking account to Baker’s Hill and wrote checks from Baker’s Hill’s Harford Bank account to Willard Megonigal. His other LLC, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, has no role in any transaction.

The entire lawsuit was without merit and amounted little more than a scam by McCarthy to recoup his money.

In his efforts to save political face and commit fraud to shirk his debts, County Executive Alan McCarthy has broken charter laws and violated the Clean Hands doctrine. During his term as County Executive, he continues to collect rent as a landlord.

In February 2019, the lawsuit against Baker, Simmons and Emery by Ulysses LLC was dismissed by Judge Colleen Cavanaugh after proof was established that Ulysses had no role in paying the Megonigal Note.

*Copy of court documents can be found here: cecilcounty.news/downloads/McCarthy-Baker.pdf

The post McCarthy Violates Charter Laws appeared first on Cecil County News.

Drugs are something that have touched everyone’s life in some manner. A prescription may be what keeps you alive and healthy. Your brother may have broken a bone at work and wound up with an addiction to painkillers before graduating to heroin because it’s cheaper. A friend or co-worker might live with depression or bipolar disorder and opt to “self-medicate” with marijuana and other hallucinogens because therapy is an ugly word. And maybe you enjoy a drink at the end of the day but someone else observes that you can never go without it.

Whatever the circumstance, it is a thing that can have the most profound negative impact on our lives and on society as a whole. Many suffer as addiction ravages their bodies and minds, or as they watch it happen to someone they love. Some choose to defend addicts as victims of disease while others condemn their choices, their refusal to get help, and their willfulness to introduce it to others and drag them down.

Regardless, it isn’t pretty.

It is a highly profitable enterprise for those willing to exploit it. The market for alcohol reaps billions of dollars in sales worldwide. So too does the pharmaceutical industry and the black markets that sell narcotics illegally.

Historically drugs have also made a powerful political weapon. China’s economy once thrived on the sale of silk and tea to the west until Great Britain used the East India Company to smuggle and sell opium to their people. This move bled China dry and sparked the first Opium War in their attempt to stop the problem.

The British were victorious. Through the Treaty of Nanking, they established control of Hong Kong as a colony (which lasted until 1997) and other ports. They placed a poll tax on Chinese who traveled to New South Wales (Australia), as well as tariffs on trade at the ports. China was also forced to pay reparations for opium that was seized, as well as the costs of the war.

The Second Opium War that followed it led to the legalization of Opium and the further withering of the Chinese people and their culture. Their foreign trade was strictly regulated, tariffs increased, and they were barred from using a character in their own language which referred to foreigners as barbarians.

The Chinese referred to this as the Unequal Treaties. Their consequences were the root of a nationalist uprising against western colonialism known as the Boxer Rebellion, and to a greater inequality of class that ripened the Chinese nation for the Communist Revolution. The revolution and the forced economic shift from agricultural to industrial by the Communist Party resulted in the deaths of more than 50 million people through famine and failure to provide relief.

Those same drums beat today in the United States as foreign cartels smuggle drugs like marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl across the Mexican border in an era where unfair trade is bleeding our economy, and the increasing financial inequality is driving the promotion of socialism.

Without the smuggling of drugs, China would have become a completely different country than it is today. More than likely it would be a healthier and more fruitful land that does not have to profit on abusing trade with the USA. We tread down the same path they once walked. Every sad story becomes a small part of a bigger and more tragic picture by cause and effect.

While many don’t consider it so, alcohol is legally recognized as a drug; a depressant. And while many criticize prohibition and tout stories of bootleggers and continued use, the facts of the matter are that drinking alcohol was never criminalized, but banning the commercial manufacture and sale of alcohol reduced overall consumption by 70% according to a study by Boston University and M.I.T.

According to a 1989 New York Times article by Mark H. Moore, a professor for criminal justice at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, during prohibition there was a decrease in cirrhosis related deaths and admissions to mental institutions for alcoholic psychosis, as well as arrests for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.

Plenty hold a bias because they like a drink, but the positive numbers cannot be disputed. The prohibition laws forced drinkers out of the public eye where they hurt the most people, and when prohibition ended, many third parties suffered the consequences.

Moore applied the philosophy to drug use, and adamantly stood that the liberalization of drugs (in 1989, the hot topic was cocaine and heroin) would not solve the problem. In today’s world where it’s now a political stance to legalize Marijuana, to provide clean needles and safe spaces to addicts, and revive overdoses with Narcan without arresting the users while we’re in the throes of an opioid epidemic, can anyone actually say he was wrong about that?

It will take more than lip service “Drugs are bad” comments by our state leaders, and apologists who claim addicts are a victim of disease (many argue that drug addiction cannot truly be a disease because it is self-afflicted) to actually solve this problem.

One could argue that with the government’s role in drug trade (practices such as the FBI and CIA giving certain criminals and organizations a pass to get evidence on others, or actions such as the Obama Administration allowing the Hezbollah terrorist group to smuggle drugs into the United States to make the Iran Nuclear Deal) they have even helped to create it.

So many people today claim to want a better world for the next generation. They use it to justify climate change alarmist behavior and enforce green policies. They use it to promote gun control and confiscation to stop gun-related crimes and mass shootings. But how can they honestly criticize the sale of a weapon someone could buy to kill others and ignore or support the sale of substances people will kill themselves with, either intentionally or accidentally?

Drugs and the culture surrounding their use are a cancer that has only wrought unhappiness and destruction on mankind. But as many people as there are who understand this and have a sad story to share, society as a whole has yet to wake up. Someone always sees getting high as cool, a valid escape, or as someone else’s choice that they don’t care to judge.

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