“If a kid had a chance, go ahead and take it.” he said. “Attack the space and get the ball on the ground in front of the goal.”

Kai Gibson heard his coach’s plea and stepped up, scoring two goals in the opening moments of the second half. The Huskies held on defensively, stalling the Mavericks’ offense to walk away with the 3-1 victory Monday night.

“They’re a solid program and they’ve got a good team,” Rich said. “This was a great win for us.”

After a slow start in the first half, the Huskies came out aggressive and active from the beginning of the second, keeping the ball moving with precise passes and leading one for good looks close to the goal.

“That’s how we’re going to generate chances this year,” Rich said. “Then, we need guys to be confident and fire away when they get a good look.”

Gibson had no issue taking open shots Monday. After Phil Toliver weaved through three defenders, his beautiful cross set up Gibson for a goal. Mere seconds later, the junior found the back of the net once again as the Huskies took control.

“I’m out here to finish,” Gibson said. “If they play the ball through, I’m just there to outrun the other team and score.”

After Benjamin Phillips scored the lone goal for the Mavericks in the first half, the chances became scarce for a young Manchester Valley team looking to find it’s rhythm and stamina. Passes became erratic and easily picked off by the Huskies. Alex Martinez had a good look in the second half, but sailed it over the crossbar as the Mavericks failed to convert.

“We played half a game today,” Mavericks coach John Woodley said. “We have a very young team and we need to come out and learn what it takes to get going for a full game.”

The early season matchup against an out-of-county opponent allowed both teams to learn a lot about themselves. No matter the result, Rich and Woodley each feel there is a lot to build on after Monday.

“We’ve got three new starters on defense, so there’s going to be mistakes.” Rich said. “We’re not going to let one mistake throw off our whole mentality. I think we’ll get better every game with that back four.”

For Woodley, he noted his young team showed promise in the first half. With a roster that boasts only six seniors and a schedule littered with tough battles left and right, he is confident his team will get better fast.

“There’s a lot to build off,” he said. “We just have to put together two solid halves, we do that and we’ll be OK.”

The Huskies will host Rising Sun on Thursday, while the Mavericks will look to bounce back with a road trip to Oakdale to face the Bears.

Patterson Mill 3, Manchester Valley 1

Goals: PM- Kai Gibson (2), Reza Mousavi (1). MV- Benjamin Phillips (1)

Franklin Smith, 34, of Catonsville, received a nine-year sentence, while Davon Dorsey, 30, of Gwynn Oak, was sentenced to 15 years.

The defendants were charged with 12 counts in April 2022, including kidnapping, according to court documents. In July, Smith pleaded guilty to carjacking and using a gun in a violent crime. In March, Dorsey pleaded guilty to carjacking.

In May 2021, Smith, Dorsey and two others posed as police officers with lights on their car, vests and badges and pulled over an employee of Check Cash Depot in Northwest Baltimore on her way home from work, according to court documents. Smith set up a detour to direct the woman down a side street where two other defendants brandishing guns removed her from her car, handcuffed and blindfolded her while demanding access to the cash checking business, according to court documents. The defendants then left the woman in the trunk of her own car and covered it with a tarp. She was able to make her way out and call for help, according to a news release from the district attorney’s office.

Later in May 2021, the defendants again used police lights to pull over a man around midnight in Edgewood, according to court documents. The defendants told the victim he had a warrant and was under arrest before handcuffing, blindfolding and bounding him while demanding $10,000, according to court documents. The defendants eventually released the victim in Baltimore City after 5 a.m.

In August 2021 the defendants carjacked a woman outside an Ace Cash Express in Cockeysville by posing as police officers and blindfolding her in the back of a car, according to the indictment. The defendants demanded access to the check cashing business and safe codes, detaining the victim for nearly six hours before releasing her near Edmonson Village, according to court documents.

In all three cases, the defendants threatened the victims with guns and assaulted them with blow torches while demanding money and keys to the businesses, according to court documents. Court documents do not say that the defendants were ever successful in accessing or robbing one of the check cashing businesses.

The two other defendants in the case did not take plea deals, according to court documents. Dennis Hairston, 34, of Windsor Mill, and Donte Stanley, 33, of Rosedale, were convicted by a jury in June of kidnapping, gun and carjacking charges. They both have sentencing hearings scheduled for November.

“As a mother of seven, I am utterly devastated and heartbroken,” Nikia Evans wrote in a letter to the school system. “This tragedy highlights a critical need for increased safety measures, improved communication and greater transparency.”

Her letter echoed the sentiments of many parents who posted on social media platforms asking for enhanced security measures and transparency since the Friday killing of 15-year-old Warren Grant.

“We must implement additional measures such as metal detectors, expanded school police forces and tighter security protocols,” Evans wrote. “I urge the school district to implement more stringent measures to prevent future acts of violence within our schools.”

Joppatowne High student Jaylen Rushawn Prince, 16, of Edgewood, was charged as an adult in the shooting death of Grant, a fellow student. According to police reports, Prince pulled out a handgun during a fight inside the school and shot Grant in the chest. Prince fled the school and was arrested after allegedly attempting to break into a home, police said.

County Councilmembers Aaron Penman and Dion Guthrie said the county needs to look into ways to improve security within schools.

“I think back to when my kids were at Joppatowne High School and it is sad,” said Guthrie, a Democrat representing District A. “School safety needs to be a priority, and I will be looking into what we can do as a council to protect our students.”

Penman, a Republican representing District B and a sergeant with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, said he also wants to engage in conversations about safety in addition to discussing methods of intervention to prevent problems from spilling into the school building.

“This should have never happened in a school,” Penman said. “There is a good possibility this could have happened outside of the school and we need to diagnose that from a community level and maybe that spills over to school administrators and they need to have the conversation and allow law enforcement to take preventative measures.”

As for prevention inside the school, Penman explained the importance of school resource officers and the potential of metal detectors as being a solution.

Both Guthrie and Penman said implementing deterrents such as metal detectors would be a costly endeavor.

“We need to have these discussions and I look forward to examining all options at the county level and metal detectors at schools would be one,” Penman said. “That does come with a cost but the loss of a life is much more costly than any dollar cost.”

Conversations at the county level regarding school safety are still preliminary stages. As of Monday, county officials said they are working to understand what led to the shooting at Joppatowne High School and what solutions they can enact that further protect students.

In a filing in the foreclosure case of Spacey’s harborfront home in Baltimore’s Federal Hill, the actor asked the court to revoke the sale to a Potomac real estate investor. Trustees mishandled the auction, leading to an inadequate price of $3.24 million, and the buyer should be disqualified because of harassment, the document says.

A representative of buyer Sam Asgari called the claims “frivolous” and without merit.

“This is still the house of cards,” said Sam Sheibani, a Compass real estate agent who is representing Asgari, on Monday, referring to the popular Netflix TV series filmed in Baltimore in which Spacey starred.

Asgari is preparing a response to the latest filings in Baltimore City Circuit Court and plans to pursue eviction, Sheibani said.

Attorneys for Spacey, listed as Kevin Spacey Fowler, principal of home owner Clear Toaster LLC, accused Asgari of acting in bad faith.

“Mr. Asgari has continuously harassed Clear Toaster’s principal, Kevin Spacey Fowler, and has published false and defamatory statements and accusations against Clear Toaster’s principal, Kevin Spacey Fowler, who occupies the property as his home,” said Spacey’s attorney, Edward U. Lee III, in a motion Friday.

Spacey purchased the two-unit condo in the gated The Pier Homes at Harborview for $5.7 million in 2017. His friend and manager Evan Lowenstein owned the home, but the former “House of Cards” star recently laid claim to it, Lowenstein previously told The Sun.

The Oscar-winning Spacey, who has said he was left with millions of dollars of debt from fighting several lawsuits in the U.S. and Britain alleging sexual misconduct, owed back payments for the home.

Last summer, a city Circuit Court judge approved a foreclosure sale.

Spacey’s attorneys are arguing the court should revoke the July sale, which took place outside Baltimore Circuit Court and require trustees to resell the property.

They say trustees failed in their obligations to maximize the home’s price. They advertised it as a dwelling, the filing said, but left out details such as its size, 9,000 square feet on five levels, and amenities, such as seven full baths, a sauna, elevator, home theaters, a rooftop terrace and four-car garage.

The price at auction fell well below both the property’s assessed value of more than $5.4 million in July, and the outstanding principal balance of more than $3.8 million, the court document said.

It says Asgari should be disqualified, in part because he threatened eviction before the auction sale had been ratified and before he had possession of the home, placing a “notice about eviction” on the home Spacey has occupied as his primary residence. The sale is not final, the filing says, until an exception period expires and the court ratifies the sale.

Yet, Spacey’s filing says, the notice placed on the property on the day of the auction gave anyone residing in the home 15 days to notify Asgari, or the property would be considered abandoned and the locks changed, without a court order.

Asgari knew the home was not abandoned and intended only to “harass and coerce [Spacey] to leave his home when he was in no way obligated to do so,” the filing said. “In Mr. Asgari’s wrongful demand to have [Spacey] vacate the property, he threatened to pursue eviction as a result of the property being ‘abandoned.'”

Lee said Asgari contacted him in mid-August, “threatening to proceed with interviews with Inside Edition and CBS News that same day unless an immediate response was provided regarding the vacancy date and further threatening to start eviction proceedings the following Monday.”

Asgari views the chain of events differently, Sheibani said. Spacey simply won’t return something that no longer belongs to him, he said.

He is taking advantage of “my client’s generosity, requesting a large sum of money and a long time to vacate the property,” Sheibani said. “We simply want the property that rightly belongs to my client to be vacated and handed over.”

Lee, Spacey’s attorney, countered in the filing that Spacey has never “refused or threatened to refuse” to leave the home.

The document said Lee spoke with Asgari’s attorney Aug. 6 and proposed that Spacey be allowed to stay until about Feb. 1 in exchange for giving Asgari early entry to the home to begin planning to sell to an investor and agreeing not to file an objection to ratification of the sale.

But then a week later, Asgari offered $50,000 if Spacey would leave by Sept. 15, the filing says.

“Carroll County saw an increase in confirmed lab reports for COVID over the summer, but we have seen a decrease in the last couple of weeks,” Maggie Kunz, health planner with the Carroll County Health Department said. “Carroll County stayed at a low hospital admissions level as well, but we have seen an increase in COVID-related deaths in the last several weeks.”

As of Sept. 4, the most recent numbers available from the state, there have been 536 deaths in Carroll County attributed to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in 2020. That number is up from 526 recorded deaths as of July 16.

COVID cases continue to increase in all parts of the U.S., with KP.3.1.1 being the predominant variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We are promoting the updated COVID vaccines, which match more current strains of the virus,” Kunz said. “It’s important to get the updated vaccine because, like other vaccines, protection from the COVID-19 vaccine decreases with time and the new vaccines offer the best protection from current strains.”

But even those who are vaccinated have contracted the virus.

“The shots aren’t meant to prevent every COVID infection, but to protect against severe illness, hospitalization, and death,” she said. “People who recently had COVID may delay getting [another] vaccine for three months.”

The health department is expected to have a limited number of vaccines available this fall, which will be reserved for adults and children without health insurance.

More information will be available on the department’s website, https://health.maryland.gov/carroll/Pages/Flu-COVID-19-RSV-Vaccines.aspx.

Pharmacies in the county will also be administering vaccines for people 3 years of age and older, Kunz said.

People can search for nearby pharmacy information at https://www.vaccines.gov/en/.

The 33-year-old African penguin, who made a “tremendous contribution” to the survival of his endangered species by fathering 230 chicks, was euthanized for age-related declining health, the Maryland Zoo said. He is survived by his lifelong mate Mrs. Greedy.

“This one bird was incredibly important to the continued existence of African penguins throughout the world,” Maryland Zoo bird curator Jen Kottyan said in a Sept. 5 news release. “It’s tough to lose an animal who has been such a welcome presence at our Zoo for three decades, but all of us are proud that he is survived by five generations of offspring.”

Kottyan added the median life expectancy of African penguins is 18 years, and Mr. Greedy was the oldest penguin in the zoo’s colony. Both Mr. and Mrs. Greedy hatched in 1991 and arrived in Baltimore in 1992.

“They had been paired up from the time they hit reproductive age in 1994,” Kottyan said.

Zookeepers are monitoring Mrs. Greedy, and if she shows interest, will pair her with a single male in the colony as a companion, according to the release.

The couple’s oldest offspring is 28 years old, and several of the pair’s chicks still live at the Maryland Zoo, including a fifth-generation descendant named Olive, according to the release.

Based in Baltimore, Maryland Zoo is home to the largest colony of African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) in North America, according to the release, and has bred more than 1,000 chicks.

The zoo’s Penguin Coast exhibit is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and offers private visits with a zookeeper and photo opportunities.

In a Sept. 4 letter to Gov. Wes Moore, Muñoz said she will resign Jan. 1, 2025, to “spend more time with my young family.”

“I pray that you and the legislature pass laws to keep Marylanders safe and prosperous in the coming years,” she wrote in the letter.

Muñoz, 37, has been a delegate since November 2021. Former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, appointed her to fill the remaining term of former Del. Michael E. Malone, who resigned his District 33 seat in August 2021 to become an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge.

In 2022, Muñoz ran for election to one of three District 31 seats in the House of Delegates and won.

In a text message to Fox45 News, Muñoz, a cancer survivor who is now pregnant, said her decision to resign stemmed in part from health concerns: “We’re expected a health[y] baby boy in November, and I have confidence that my replacement in the legislature will do their best to represent District 31,” she said.

Muñoz was raised in Severna Park and graduated from Severna Park High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland in 2009 and a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She has five children, according to her state biography.

Since 2021, Muñoz has been on the House Judiciary Committee. In 2023, she began sitting on the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.

State law requires the Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee to nominate someone to fill the vacancy and submit their name to the governor for appointment to serve out the remainder of Muñoz’s term, which ends in January 2027.

A representative on the committee did not respond to a request for comment.

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.

Jerome Isaac Hurley, 44, was charged in April with one count of theft of more than $100,000, a felony in Maryland law punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Hurley appeared Friday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in Annapolis. His next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4 with trial set to begin Dec. 10, according to the Maryland Judiciary.

Mark Lechowicz, Hurley’s defense attorney, declined to comment Monday.

On Sept. 5, 2023, Anne Arundel County Police went to the Miracle Temple along Southern Maryland Boulevard after being alerted to a theft, according to charging documents.

Police said church officials had recently discovered $347,000 of a $350,000 insurance check had been transferred from their Bank of America checking account into Hurley’s personal account.

According to charging documents, Hurley filed a successful insurance claim in March 2020 after a residence on the church’s property caught fire. Church officials told investigators that throughout Hurley’s seven years at Miracle Temple, from 2015 to 2022, he handled bank statements and finances.

A year after the fire, when the claim was vetted and a check was issued, Hurley took the vast majority of the insurance money from the temple’s account, police said. Charging documents reference bank account numbers and the dates of several bank transfers, including when the insurance money cleared the church’s account and when it was allegedly transferred to Hurley nine days later.

The church’s attempts to contact Hurley about the money were unsuccessful, police said. In February 2023, the Miracle Temple’s board sent Hurley a certified letter saying they had entrusted him “to act in good faith” when handling the church’s finances and that they had never been notified of the insurance claim or the $350,000 check, according to charging documents.

Police did not indicate what Hurley may have spent the money on once it was in his account.

A representative for Miracle Temple declined to comment Monday on Hurley’s case or time with the church.

A spokesperson with the Anne Arundel County Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the 2020 fire at Miracle Temple.

Since last year, Hurley’s case is at least the second criminal accusation levied against a church official in Anne Arundel County involving church money.

In March 2023, Marie Simeone was charged with embezzlement and two felony theft counts after she was accused of taking nearly $65,000 from the Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in West River.

Simeone, who was the church’s director of operations until about three months before she was charged, allegedly made personal purchases at several businesses, subscribed to magazines and streaming services, went to restaurants and paid her utility bills using church funds, prosecutors said.

In November 2023, Simeone pleaded guilty to a felony theft scheme charge and was granted probation before judgment.

Connerton has worked for Anne Arundel County Public Schools for 15 years and now is the school system’s wellness coordinator.

Connerton, who went to the White House after being named teacher of the year, is one of 48 recipients nationwide. Given by the National Education Association Foundation, the award recognizes exceptional K-12 public school educators for excellence in the classroom, dedication to family and community engagement, a commitment to equity and diversity and advocacy for the teaching profession.

“I am honored and humbled to be one of the 48 educators in the nation to receive the 2025 Travelers Award for Teaching Excellence through the NEA Foundation,” Connerton said in a news release Monday. “I am in awe that this work that I hold so dear to my heart is getting such notice because what drives me every day is simply doing everything I can to create a better world for our youth.”

Previously, Connerton was the wellness coordinator at Annapolis High School, where she created and led the school’s Trauma-Informed Leadership Team. She led monthly counseling groups, such as yoga sessions for specific student needs, and put together professional development for teachers with a focus on the health and wellness of students.