The proposal would carve a 70-mile-long path through Carroll, Frederick and Baltimore counties. The $424 million project has a proposed date of operation of June 2027. Jason Kalwa, who manages the energy project for the Public Service Enterprise Group, said in July that the project will provide a much-needed upgrade to the energy grid, which will benefit Carroll residents and others.

The project has drawn criticism due to its potential to invoke eminent domain, harm the environment, hamper the economic productivity of Carroll farms, reduce property values, pass on costs to energy consumers, and detract from the beauty of nature. Ready stands with other Carroll lawmakers in opposing the plan.

“There have been a number of property owners who’ve been contacted by individuals who are attempting to buy up their land,” Commissioner Joe Vigliotti said at a county meeting on Thursday. “I’m not quite sure whether this is some kind of a scare tactic or a scam, or somebody looking to exploit the situation, but if somebody does try to pressure you into selling your property, say no.”

Ready said he would not tell someone what to do with their property, but he urges residents to not panic or act in fear when evaluating an offer.

“It’s not really illegal for somebody to send you an offer or to say they want to make an offer on your house,” Ready said, “but obviously there can be predatory practices, and we want to keep an eye on that for sure.”

The state senator advises residents to consult real estate or land experts before even entertaining an offer.

Joanne Frederick, director of Stop MPRP, a community advocacy group with hundreds of members and thousands of email recipients that was formed to oppose the project, said last month that agricultural land can be hard to accurately value. She discourages anyone from signing anything that would sell or grant access to their land.

“The first thing that everyone needs to know is do not sign anything,” Frederick said. “If someone knocks on your door and says, ‘We want to talk to you about using your land for power,’ just politely but firmly tell them you’re not interested in and send them on their way.”

Vigliotti asked anyone contacted to reach out to and share details with commissioners, Ready or Stop MPRP.

“All this information, as it comes to light, is incredibly important,” Vigliotti said, “because we all have to be aware of what it is we’re facing. This attempt to buy a property seems to be the latest in a series of interesting incidents.”

Ready said there are many unknown elements regarding the proposed transmission line, and it is unclear what recent property acquisition offers mean for the project, if anything.

The facility, in Keymar, formerly housed a rehabilitation academy for boys involved in the state’s justice system from 2009 to May 2022.

Rite of Passage, a Nevada-based organization that had managed Silver Oak Academy before and would operate the new facility, is in the process of ratifying a contract with Maryland’s Department of Human Services, to host up to 24 foster boys, ages 14 to 18, Rexrode said.

“We’ll still be looking at teenaged males,” Rexrode said, “but it’s a very different type of population. We are looking to serve students who need mental health support and behavior health support, as opposed to adjudicated youth in need of rehabilitation.”

“Due to concerns about staff supervision issues, youth safety, and problems within the education department at Silver Oak, all residential youth placed through DJS were removed from the program in May of 2022 and new admissions to the program through DJS were indefinitely halted,” a 2023 report from Maryland’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, an independent arm of the attorney general’s office, states.

Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit Director Nick Moroney said in an email that Maryland Juvenile Services has not been involved in the facility since its closure.

The new model for Silver Oak will be a treatment program aimed at transitioning participants to placements with a lower level of care, such as foster families or their parents, after about nine months. Participants may stay as long as it is determined that is what’s best for them, Rexrode said, and each resident will have an individualized plan. Youths may be involved in the community if their individual plan supports that decision.

Accordingly, students may attend local public schools if it is determined to be their best option for education. Rexrode said Rite of Passage representatives meet with school system staff weekly.

Rite of Passage also hopes to open a new Type II nontraditional academy on the site, to meet the educational needs of residential and nonresidential students, Rexrode said, although a timeline for the school is uncertain. A Type II school typically uses the curriculum and resources of the local school system while providing specialized care and education, according to Sheppard Pratt.

“This is an opportunity to serve foster youth who have experienced challenges maintaining safety in in other environments,” Rexrode said. “They might need a little extra support, so they might need a little more intensive mental health counseling, a little more intensive supervision, those kinds of things, more than they might get in like a typical foster family.”

The facility will be a type of group home that Maryland requires to have a strict child-staff ratio of at least 1:3. Rexrode said any opportunity to grow the program will be based on staffing.

Rite of Passage has maintained a license to operate from Maryland’s Department of Juvenile Services since the academy closed. Rexrode said the company has evaluated need and determined that the facility could be best put to use as a residential facility for foster children.

Before Rite of Passage took over as manager of the facility in 2009, another private contractor operated Bowling Brook Preparatory School there. Rite of Passage purchased the 78-acre property for $8 million from Bowling Brook in 2009, took on $2 million of the former owner’s debts to the state, and spent another $250,000 to renovate a 20,000-square-foot vocational training center and six dormitories on the site.

“We feel like a this new population is the best type of student to live in this campus, in this location,” Rexrode said. “What hasn’t changed is our commitment to youth.”

Rite of Passage’s license is specific to serving boys, but Rexrode said there is room for growth. Girls could be housed in a separate building, and additional space could be used to expand to serve younger foster children, out-of-state youth, those with autism, or others in need of specialized education.

The organization emphasizes the importance of experiential programs, Rexrode said, including music and art therapy, and hopes to find a partner to offer equine therapy. Vocational facilities are likely to play a continued role in Silver Oak’s future, she added.

Bowling Brook Preparatory School closed in 2007 after a 17-year-old Baltimore teenager, Isaiah Simmons, died after being restrained by staff.

The state’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit noted problems with restraints and with classroom learning during Silver Oak’s first several years. In 2019, Silver Oak Academy drew criticism from residential neighbors, amid safety concerns regarding an increased number of student walk-offs. At the time, the academy housed 53 young men, with room for 96. Rite of Passage was licensed by Maryland DJS for about 30 of those residents, with others coming from out of state.

The property will not be fenced in, as locals once requested of Silver Oak Academy. Rexrode said there are protocols for contacting neighbors, “if the need arises, but it is our goal that that need will not arise due to strong support for the students, the students feeling like this is an opportunity to make their home in this location. These are not going to be students who feel like they are forced to come here, these are foster youth coming here for treatment, so that’s a very different philosophy.”

All staff will be trained in safe crisis management and de-escalation, Rexrode said, and the goal is to use restraint as rarely as possible. She said the practice will only be used when a student is deemed a danger to himself or others.

“It is our intent that our restraint numbers will be as low as is feasible for this population,” Rexrode said.

Silver Oak has yet to schedule a community forum, but plans to host one in the near future, Rexrode said.

“Our goal is to be a strong community partner and work with Maryland to best use this facility to meet community needs,” Rexrode said.

The two schools are located about a mile apart, just outside the town of Sykesville in southern Carroll County.

Water fountains at both schools have been turned off and alternative water sources, including bottled and filtered water, are being provided until “a permanent solution is implemented,” according to a notice sent home with students at those schools. A notice will also be posted online, according to Gaddis.

PFAS — short for per- and polyfluo​​roalkyl substances — are human-made chemicals that have been used since the 1940s in a range of products including stain- ​and water-resistant fabrics and carpeting, cleaning products, paints, cookware, food packaging and fire-fighting foams. Known as “forever chemicals,” they do not break down.

Current research from the Maryland Department of the Environment suggests that high levels of PFAS may lead to high cholesterol; changes in liver enzymes; decreased infant birth weight; decreased vaccine effectiveness in children; increased risk of high blood pressure in pregnant women and increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer. Most Americans have likely already been exposed to some level of PFAS.

PFAS tests were conducted on July 29 at each county school whose water is sourced from a well, according to Gaddis. Runnymede, Sandymount and Mechanicsville elementary schools use well water, but water at each of those schools was deemed safe, she said.

Every other public school in Carroll County receives public water service, which makes it the responsibility of the local government to test the water and address elevated PFAS levels.

The Maryland Department of the Environment enforces federal regulations such as the National Drinking Water Regulation, which mandates that public water systems must implement solutions to reduce PFAS to meet the regulation standards by 2029. Public water systems are also required to monitor and provide the public information about PFAS levels by 2027.

“Although the (Environmental Protection Agency’s) regulations do not require any actions from our water system until 2027, we feel it is necessary to act now,” the notice states.

The regulation issued in April sets a maximum contamination level for six PFAS chemicals commonly found in drinking water. The levels are:

• PFOA: 4 parts per trillion
• PFOS: 4 parts per trillion
• PFHxS: 10 parts per trillion
• PFNA: 10 parts per trillion
• HFPO-DA: 10 parts per trillion
• Mixtures containing two or more PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA and PFBS: Hazard index

South Carroll was found to have 15.6 parts per trillion of PFOA and 12.7 parts per trillion of PFOS while Winfield was found to have 11.5 parts per trillion of PFOA and 5.42 parts per trillion of PFOS, notices state. Another Winfield sample found 4.59 parts per trillion of PFOS.

In Howard County, tests found PFAS at seven schools and water use was discontinued at one, Lisbon Elementary, according to communications from the system. Each of the schools tested is in the northwestern region of the county and receives water from a well.

Five Harford County schools are also prohibiting students from consuming water at school after tests revealed excessive levels of PFAS. Harford County Public Schools’ upcoming capital budget request to the county will include money for remediation of PFAS-contaminated school wells, according to Manager of Communications Jillian Lader.

Maryland environmental officials in December began testing for PFAS in drinking water as schools and daycare centers served by wells. Of 200 schools and daycares tested, officials have identified at least 36 with levels of PFAS that exceed federal limits, spurring distributions of bottled water as students return to the classroom for a new school year.

Additionally, state officials recommend that anyone receiving drinking water from a well at home should test their water at least annually.

Baltimore Sun reporters Matt Hubbard and Christine Condon contributed to this article.

Rite of Passage, a Nevada-based organization that had managed Silver Oak Academy before it closed in May 2022, would operate the new facility, according to the news release. Representatives of Rite of Passage did not immediately return requests for comment.

The new Silver Oak facility aims to be operational by Sept. 12, Taneytown Council member Diana Foster said during an Aug. 12 city council meeting.

“It’s going to be more private,” Foster said at a city council meeting on May 13. “They’re going to take students that, more than likely, will not be allowed to leave the facility. So, that severs our relationship with them, but they’re still in the process of transitioning.”

Silver Oak Academy has been in the process of hiring staff and meeting with officials from the Department of Health and Juvenile Services, Foster said last month.

Silver Oak Academy originally opened in 2009 at 999 Crouse Mill Road in Keymar as a private residential facility contracted by the state’s Department of Juvenile Services to rehabilitate and educate young men who had committed crimes. In 2016, the academy was touted as a model for success in juvenile justice. The facility began by housing nine boys but expanded to several dozen before it was closed.

“Due to concerns about staff supervision issues, youth safety, and problems within the education department at Silver Oak, all residential youth placed through DJS were removed from the program in May of 2022 and new admissions to the program through DJS were indefinitely halted,” a 2023 report from Maryland’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, an independent arm of the attorney general’s office, states.

Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit Director Nick Moroney said in an email that Maryland Juvenile Services has not been involved in the facility since its closure.

Before Rite of Passage took over as manager of the facility, another private contractor operated Bowling Brook Preparatory School there. Rite of Passage purchased the 78-acre property for $8 million from Bowling Brook in 2009, took on $2 million of the former owner’s debts to the state, and spent another $250,000 to renovate a 20,000-square-foot vocational training center and six dormitories on the site.

Bowling Brook Preparatory School closed in 2007 after a 17-year-old Baltimore teenager, Isaiah Simmons, died after being restrained by staff.

The state’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit noted problems with restraints and with classroom learning during Silver Oak’s first several years. In 2019, Silver Oak Academy drew criticism from residential neighbors, amid safety concerns regarding an increased number of student walk-offs. At the time, the academy housed 53 young men but room for 96. Rite of Passage was licensed by Maryland DJS for about 30 of those residents, with others coming from out of state.

New facility plans are worth keeping an eye on, Taneytown Mayor Chris Miller said, in light of the academy’s partnership with the city on past volunteer projects, though the site has always been outside of Taneytown’s jurisdiction.

“We don’t have much say or influence,” Miller said.

More information about the proposal will become available as details emerge, according to the county’s news release.

The new school building opened last fall with a temporary traffic pattern, but completion of the school’s bus loop was delayed about a year after a large obstructive rock mass was discovered. In December, the board approved up to $600,000 in additional funds to remove the rock.

Tuesday marked the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year for Carroll County Public Schools.

The school system’s 22 elementary, eight middle and seven high schools, as well as the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, Carroll Springs School and several alternative schools, are back in session with about 26,100 students settling in for the new year.

Enrollment is projected to climb to around 28,941 students by the 2032-2033 school year, according to school system documents.

Approximately 240 regular route buses will travel more than 5.2 million miles to provide school transportation this year. Nearly 25,400 students ride the bus, according to the school system.

Carroll County school buses were involved in 55 traffic accidents last school year, according to Michael Hardesty, the school system’s transportation director, which averages about 1.5 incidents during a typical full week of school.

Last school year, the sheriff’s office issued 5,084 citations to motorists caught on camera passing a school bus when it had its stop arm extended while picking up or dropping off students, which is illegal. Cameras captured 8,933 motorists failing to stop for a school bus during last school year, according to Hardesty, but not every violation results in a citation.

Carroll County Career and Technology Center students will benefit from a newly renovated building this year. A four-year, $74 million construction project added 108,205 square feet to the facility, which opened in 1971. The center was designed for 380 students in 19 programs and currently educates about 800 students in 24 programs per semester. Carroll schools Superintendent Cynthia McCabe said in February that the renovation will improve the quality of existing programs but will do little to raise the school’s capacity.

The school system has an operating budget of $416.3 million for fiscal 2025, which began July 1 and will encompass the 2024-2025 school year. The largest increase in the budget compared to last year’s budget is $19.2 million for boosting employee salaries. The fiscal 2025 budget also includes an increase of $6.9 million due to inflation, $4.6 million for technology, $2 million for special education, $700,000 in state Blueprint requirements and $400,000 for transportation.

County commissioners provided the school system with $6 million more than legally required for fiscal 2025. The bulk of Carroll County’s operating budget (42.06%) goes to public schools.

Teachers in Carroll County now earn a starting salary of $60,000, which will be legally required statewide by fiscal 2027.

Hiring and funding initiatives to develop staff were among the county’s biggest challenges outlined in a June plan to implement the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. In the wake of the salary increase, Carroll has had far fewer teacher vacancies than in previous years before the start of classes.

The Blueprint, a multibillion-dollar state law passed in 2021, is designed to make Maryland’s schools among the highest performing in the country by providing more time for teachers to plan lessons and develop skills outside the classroom, allowing high school students to enroll in unlimited community college classes at no charge to them or their family, and offering universal prekindergarten for 3-year-olds, among other initiatives.

PJM, the Regional Transmission Organization responsible for operating power systems that provide energy for all of Maryland, has contracted with the Public Service Enterprise Group to complete the $424 million Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a 500,000-volt transmission line, by June 2027. Baltimore Gas & Electric is among PJM’s member companies. The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project has been controversial since the proposal was unveiled in July.

West has proposed replacing conductor cables on existing power lines in a process called reconductoring.

“The best thing I can do is to try to achieve a win-win solution,” West said, “where everybody walks away, maybe with not everything they want, but something they can live with. If we could do a reconducting project instead of building it new line, I consider that a huge win-win for everybody.”

West’s five-page report on reconductoring was distributed to 200 people who attended a listening session on Aug. 22, during which stakeholders were allowed to voice their frustrations with the project to Carroll lawmakers. More than 750 people attended the meeting, according to Lt. Phill Lawrence of the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.

“PSEG might argue that the reconductoring process would mean that the existing electrical transmission line would need to be taken out of service during the reconductoring process and that the grid could not survive such a loss of transmission capacity,” West said in the report.

A reconductoring project could be completed in small sections or on a line-by-line basis, West said, and his report notes that “the devil of course would be in the details,” for how the project would be completed.

Reconductoring would be cheaper and quicker than the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, West said, and has been proven successful in other states and countries.

“It’s not like this is some brand new idea that hasn’t been tested yet,” West said. “It has been tested and it works.”

The U.S. Department of Energy in April updated regulations for power grid projects, aiming to allow for reconductoring projects to be fast-tracked. Transmission line upgrade projects above 20 miles previously could trigger a detailed environmental review.

“Most reconductoring projects now qualify for the simplest form of environmental review,” according to the White House website, “which can take years off of project development time and allow the benefits of the transmission expansion to be realized even sooner.”

“Reconductoring an existing line is a little like fixing a leaky pipe in your house,” West said. “It’s like maintenance, it’s not installing new infrastructure.”

Another alternative to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project would be to require companies that operate data centers to fund the construction of energy facilities closer to where the power is needed, West said.

“Why are we going to make the people of Maryland suffer in order to serve some for-profit entities down in Northern Virginia,” West said, “when they could just as easily locate their facilities close by an electrical generating plant?”

Several speakers at the listening session suggested that the lines be built underground, if they are indeed necessary. West said he is unsure if that is doable, though it could be another solution if it is viable.

West is trying to organize a meeting among PJM, BG&E, PSEG, and lawmakers representing Carroll, Frederick and Baltimore Counties. He said PJM has been unresponsive about their decision to contract PSEG to build the reliability project, and PSEG has been understandably in support of the proposal.

“The best thing to do is to engage them in a respectful, responsible, collegial conversation about various approaches,” West said, “and try to sort through the various approaches and find out which one would be the best for everybody concerned.”

Jason Kalwa, who manages the energy project for the Public Service Enterprise Group, said in July that the project will provide a much-needed upgrade to the energy grid, which will benefit Carroll residents and others.

“My whole thesis in my alternate idea is, why do we have to build a new line? Why can’t we just reconduct the existing line, and double the electrical transmission capacity? That decision really is not a decision for PSEG, because, based on the contract to build a new line, that’s a decision for PJM to say, maybe we should rethink this,” West said.

The college signed a memorandum of understanding Aug. 15 with eight county agencies to create a “Justice System to Careers Initiative” pilot program. The program aims to reduce the rate of crime, by supporting individuals to re-enter the workforce, said Angelica Carter, the college’s director of community engagement.

“The fundamental undertone of the program is to give folks hope,” Carter said, “to see more in themselves, so that they can achieve more and contribute more to our local economy.”

The Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office and Carroll County Circuit Court both signed onto the memorandum, and may make participation in the program a condition of sentencing. Other agencies who signed include the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office, Carroll County Health Department, Carroll County Workforce Development, Justice Jobs of Maryland, Inc., The Carroll County Public Defender’s Office, and Carroll Community College Workforce, Business and Community Education.

“This partnership is invaluable and will provide individuals with the resources that will reduce recidivism in Carroll County,” Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker said in an Aug. 21 news release.

The initiative represents agencies coming together with a shared vision of better outcomes for formerly incarcerated people, Carter said.

Each participating entity was enthusiastic about the prospect of the program and its potential to improve the community. Carter said the most challenging part of finalizing the memorandum was coordinating with so many busy entities to schedule a time to meet.

“This initiative underscores our commitment to providing justice and supporting rehabilitation and reintegration efforts,” Sheriff Jim DeWees said in the release. “By working with the college and other key stakeholders, we reinforce our dedication to creating opportunities that enable individuals to turn their lives around and contribute positively to society.”

Carter said she is not aware of any other Maryland county with a similar program.

“The number of partners is unique,” Carter said. “It’s a landmark initiative where we’re eight agencies across the county who are partnering for this one initiative.”

Community college programs selected for the pilot program were chosen because they were deemed a good fit for formerly incarcerated individuals, Carter said, which means they generally have higher levels of physical engagement and shorter durations.

“When someone’s coming home from being incarcerated for a while, they need to earn money right away,” Carter said. “A short-term credential is alluring in that regard, because they’re getting paid a small stipend during their participation of the program, a short program duration facilitates the ability to turn right around and get connected with employers.”

According to Carroll Community College spokesperson Lisa Slappy, participants may enroll in:

• A three-month, 90-hour dental assistant course for $1,870, with graduates expected to earn $20 per hour;
• A three-month, 84-hour home inspector course for $1,058 that prepares graduates to own a business;
• A weeklong, 40-hour electronic assembler course for $1,780, with graduates are expected to earn $24.13 per hour;
• An eight-week, 280-hour truck driver (CDL-A) course for $5,500, with graduates expected to earn $16 to $22 per hour; or
• A 10-week, 80-hour pathways to entrepreneurship course, which is fully funded, that prepares graduates to own a business.

A high school diploma is required for the dental assistant or electronic assembler programs. Prospective truck drivers must have a valid Maryland driver’s license and pass a drug test, and dental assistant applicants must pass a safety exam, according to Slappy. The cost of drug and permit testing is included in the cost of the truck driver program, and the cost of a certification exam is included in the electronic assembler program.

“A shift in framework makes all the difference,” Carter said, “because if you feel like you have to settle for any job that you can take, you become part of this cycle where you never get ahead, and that’s conducive to making poor choices. That’s conducive to being a victim of circumstance. What we’re trying to do is change that paradigm and really empower people to lean into who they are, and if they’re not there yet, we’re going to help them get there.”

The truck driver, home inspector and dental assistant programs are restricted to those 18 and older. Participants are supported with weekly counseling, stipends, and additional resources aimed at ensuring they complete the program and successfully transition into the workforce, according to the release.

The college is also building a portfolio of employers who will guarantee at least an interview, Carter said.

“Instead of sending them to jail, perhaps we can course-correct and send them to a specialty training and education program,” Carter said, “and we can give them a stipend while they’re enrolled into the program, and set their course correction that way.”

The pilot program is ripe for growth opportunities, Carter said, including featuring new and longer programs, and garnering additional state partners.

“The Justice System to Careers Initiative agreement represents more than a document,” Carroll Community College President Rose Mince said in the release. “It signifies a unified vision and a shared dedication to making a meaningful impact on individuals navigating the criminal justice system.”

The program is also likely to create better outcomes for family members of those involved, Carter added.

“The families of the justice-involved citizens are going to be critically impacted,” she said. “Imagine an individual who has struggled their entire life and has made mistakes and has found themselves incarcerated. They come out, they don’t have any new skills, they don’t have any new connections, so they’re even worse off than when they went in. That is the driver of recidivism. The differentiating intervention that we are applying here is the ability to change their circumstances, and if we can change someone’s circumstances, while at the same time letting them see that they are empowered to do that themselves, we’re going to change their lives.”

Anyone seeking more information may reach out to Carter at acarter6@carrollcc.edu.

The men, Xiang Liu, 31, Hongdong Liu, 29, were convicted of attempted theft $1,500 to $25,000, and participating in a criminal organization, during a jury trial. The jury found them not guilty of a theft scheme $25,000 to $100,000.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 15. Participating in a criminal organization is a felony that carries a maximum penalty of incarceration up to 15 years and/or fines up to $1 million. Attempted theft is a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of incarceration up to five years and/or fines up to $10,000.

Both men are citizens of the People’s Republic of China who had been living separately in New York at the time of their arrests. A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer has been lodged for both.

They were charged with targeting a 62-year-old Finksburg woman in a scam, and were arrested in a sting operation after they showed up at the victim’s house in November. The woman began receiving fraudulent emails, texts and calls from a person claiming to represent PayPal in October, and was convinced to withdraw cash several times to cover an error with her account. The scammer then arranged for a courier to pick up the cash, which she was instructed to place in a wrapped and taped cardboard box, according to charging documents.

After the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office got involved, deputies asked the victim to set up another transfer at her Finksburg home, where deputies from Patrol Operations and Investigative Services were waiting. The two suspects arrived in a car and parked in the victim’s driveway, according to the sheriff’s office, and were arrested after attempting to collect the money.

Xiang Liu had been living with his aunt in Brooklyn, New York for five years, according to his responses to an initial appearance questionnaire. He is unemployed, single, and the father of two dependent children. He previously worked at a restaurant for two years and was born in China, according to the document.

Hongdong Liu lived in China for 28 years and in Flushing, New York for two months before his arrest, according to his responses to an initial court appearance questionnaire. He is married, though had been living in a boarding house in Flushing. He was born in China and is not a Maryland resident, according to the court document.

The case was prosecuted by Melissa Hockensmith, deputy state’s attorney with Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office. Jennifer Kafes, with the Law Offices of James Crawford, defended Hongdong Liu, while Bradley Bauhof served as defense attorney for Xiang Liu.

According to the sheriff’s office, people should be skeptical of any unexpected email, text or call asking for money. Anyone who receives such a message can contact the company through other means to confirm the legitimacy of the request before withdrawing money, even if the message seems to be legitimate. Additional fraud prevention tips can be found at: consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam.

“Far too many Carroll Countians fall victim to scammers,” Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker said in a news release announcing the convictions.

A temporary traffic pattern was in place during the last school year.

The new school building opened last fall in Westminster, but completion of the school’s bus loop was delayed about one year after a large obstructive rock mass was discovered. In December, the board approved up to $600,000 in additional funds to address the rock removal.

Paving is finished, including pavement markings, landscaping will soon be complete as grading is being finalized in some areas, and sign walls have been installed. According to the report, signage and an electronic message board will be going up before school begins on Tuesday.

The school system’s construction supervisor Jim Marks reported last month that curbs, gutters, and a paving base were installed along along Tuc Road and Longwell Avenue; a coil cement sub-base was installed for the bus loop before paving was finalized.

Once completed, the project will increase the number of parking spaces from 70 to about 100, Marks said. Parking at a nearby county government parking lot was used in the interim.

The school board first approved the construction of the new middle school campus on Longwell Avenue in December 2019; the project had a $60 million budget at that time. Costs increased to $65.9 million by the time the new building was completed.

The school system began construction on the East Middle School replacement project in November 2021.

The new building features sculpted wall art from the old building treated with an anti-graffiti coating, a stage between the gymnasium and cafeteria that is split to accommodate an audience on either side, an ADA-compliant elevator, and a B.E.S.T. (Behavioral Educational Support Team) special education suite inside the building to better integrate the program previously housed in a structure just outside the school.

The former school building was 120,400 square feet and was constructed in 1936. It served for 35 years as Westminster High School, then nearly 50 years as a middle school, until it was closed last year. Additions were built in 1941, 1950 and 1964, and it was last renovated in 1976. It was replaced by a new three-level 126,000 square-foot building that opened for students in September.

East Middle School has a capacity of about 750 students, including 40 students in the Behavioral Educational Support Team program according to the report.

Daniel Moss, 59, pleaded guilty in June, according to a news release from the Carroll County State’s Attorney, and has “a lengthy criminal record involving several crimes related to fraud, theft, impaired driving, sexual abuse of a minor and fleeing and eluding police. His sentence in this case was made consecutive to other sentences he is serving in other jurisdictions within Maryland.

Moss is also accused of attempting to evade Baltimore police the day after the Westminster armed robbery, which ended in a crash that killed Linda Moss, 74, a passenger in his car. Daniel and Linda Moss are not legally married, though he claimed they had been married for five years, according to the news release.

Charges from Baltimore City are pending.

Body-worn camera footage showed that a Baltimore Police vehicle pursued Moss for about 10 minutes after a license plate reader alerted officers to the vehicle’s presence in the city. The roughly 6-mile chase from Reservoir Hill to Roland Park in Baltimore ended when Moss struck a parked car and tree, just after officers in the pursuing vehicle were instructed to, “ease off,” according to the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. Moss was hospitalized for non-life-threatening injuries after the crash; no officers were injured.

Baltimore Police policies prohibit officers from chasing fleeing vehicles in cases where the initial violation is considered a crime against property, but officers can pursue if a suspected felon’s vehicle is deemed to be posing an immediate threat. The high-speed pursuit was lawful, according to a report released by the state attorney’s office. Officer Bradley Roberson who operated the pursuing vehicle has worked for the department for a year and a half, while his passenger Officer Menachem Rosenbloom has worked for the department for two and a half years. Both officers have been assigned to administrative duties, police said.

Paul Yackanicz, the son of Linda Moss, told The Baltimore Sun last year that his mother was a bubbly and flamboyant woman who excelled as a grandmother. Linda Moss grew up in Laurel and spent the majority of her life in Maryland. After her third husband died, Linda Moss “fell off the deep end,” Yackanicz said.

His relationship with his mother fractured, he said when she started dating and then apparently married Daniel Moss, who was a registered sex offender and 15 years younger. Yackanicz said he believes that Daniel Moss took advantage of his mother.

Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker said it became apparent that Daniel and Linda Moss were not legally married when Daniel Moss sought to inherit her property.

Shoemaker said in a statement that the sentence, “[takes] a dangerous career criminal off the streets and puts him where he will not be able to harm anyone else.”

Baltimore Sun reporters Lilly Price, Dillon Mullan, Alex Mann and Dan Belson contributed to this article.