...The systems are provided free of charge by a vendor called Bus Patrol which will keep a share of the ticket fees...
Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Prince George's County school buses now equipped with cameras that can issue tickets #BusPatrol #ForceMultiplierSolutions #MoCoIGReport
...The systems are provided free of charge by a vendor called Bus Patrol which will keep a share of the ticket fees...
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
MONTGOMERY COUNTY 5G, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT INFORMATION SESSION WITH THEODORA SCARATO
Register for An Expert Webinar “Montgomery County 5G Small Cell Information Session”
What are the Health and Environmental Effects of 5G Deployment in Montgomery County Maryland and How Will the County Council Proposed Zoning Affect Our Neighborhoods?
- Speaker: Theodora Scarato, Director of the Environmental Health Trust
- Date: Tuesday, Mar 30, 2021
- Time: 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1ul-d_c0R3-E4pYpR-yafw
What You Need to Know About Montgomery County, 5G and the New Zoning ZTA 19-07
The Montgomery County Council has proposed a new zoning ordinance named ZTA 19-07 which allows 4G and 5G so called “small” cell towers to be deployed just 30 feet from your home. The street lights and utility poles in front of your home will be able to be replaced with 5G cell towers without any notice sent to you, nor public hearing required so long as the pole is at least 30 feet from your home.
A Montgomery County Maryland group MoCoSafeG has invited Theodora Scarato to speak about the health and environmental issues related to 5G and 4G antenna densification...
Monday, March 29, 2021
@WBALPhil The state has updated how many teachers are vaccinated
The state has updated how many teachers are vaccinated - numbers for #BaltimoreCounty ‘not available’ - many near or at 100% @wbalradio pic.twitter.com/3p3D21nEuX
— Phil Yacuboski (@WBALPhil) March 29, 2021
Sunday, March 28, 2021
Friday, March 26, 2021
Cautionary tale from Alberta of what happens when you don't obey post-travel quarantine. One case of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 imported to the province January 1 led to 42 cases; there have now been 1,886 cases
Cautionary tale from Alberta of what happens when you don't obey post-travel quarantine. One case of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.7 imported to the province January 1 led to 42 cases; there have now been 1,886 cases https://t.co/kYhDAuNP2y pic.twitter.com/RD5cBHTmYa
— Ilan Schwartz MD PhD (@GermHunterMD) March 24, 2021
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Supt. Jack Smith thinks parents are too stupid to understand an air quality report
On a frequently asked questions page about school ventilation, MCPS wrote that people can’t get an air quality report about a classroom because facility information “is technical in nature and long considered to be confidential as it provides details of our school buildings.”
Incredibly, parents weren't too stupid to understand the radon reports several years ago.
https://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/search?q=radon
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
COVID-19 Cases: Greencastle Elementary School (Groups Closed, Whitman HS (2 Notices), Gaithersburg HS, Lake Seneca ES, East SS ES, BCC HS, Drew ES, Glen Haven ES
Announcements from MCPS about COVID-19 cases since March 2021 reopening of schools at this link.
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Gaithersburg High School
(March 22, 2021)
Dear Gaithersburg High School families, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Gaithersburg High School on Friday, March 19, 2021, has tested positive for the ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Cases at Walt Whitman High School
(March 22, 2021)
Dear Walt Whitman High School Community, This letter is to inform you that two members of the Walt Whitman High School (WWHS) community have tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). One indi ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Lake Seneca Elementary School
(March 22, 2021)
Dear Lake Seneca Parents and Families, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Lake Seneca on Friday, March 19, 2021, has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID- ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Greencastle Elementary School
(March 22, 2021)
Hi Greencastle Families, Unfortunately, a staff member from our 4th and 5th grade group has tested positive for COVID. We will be closing this group until further notice. The families of children i ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at East Silver Spring Elementary School
(March 19, 2021)
Dear East Silver Spring Parents and Families, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at East Silver Spring between March 15-March 18, 2021, has tested positive for th ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School
(March 19, 2021)
Dear Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Community, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, has tested po ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Dr. Charles Drew Elementary School
(March 18, 2021)
Dear Drew School Community, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present at Drew Elementary School on March 16, 2021, has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19). Fol ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Walt Whitman High School
(March 18, 2021)
This letter is to inform you that a member of the Walt Whitman High School (WWHS) community has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19), however no other WWHS staff or community members are det ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Glen Haven Elementary School
(March 18, 2021)
Dear Glen Haven Elementary School Community, This letter is to inform you that a member of Glen Haven Elementary School (GHES) has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19), however ...(more)
Monday, March 22, 2021
US Supreme Court declines convicted MCPS child molester’s appeal - Cloverly Elementary School - John Vigna
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a former [Montgomery County Public School] Silver Spring elementary school teacher’s argument that his conviction for having sexually abused students should be overturned because the trial judge refused to allow testimony regarding his appropriate behavior toward pupils to be introduced at trial.
In a single-line order, the justices without comment let stand a Maryland high court decision that John Vigna’s constitutional right to due process was not violated when the judge denied his request to present laudatory testimony of his interactions with students while prosecutors were allowed to introduce evidence of his bad acts...
https://thedailyrecord.com/2021/03/22/supreme-court-declines-convicted-md-child-molesters-appeal/
Remember How a Silver Spring MCPS Teacher Faked His Own Death to Avoid Civil or Criminal Penalties for Sexual Abuse of a Student. Tell MD State Senator Will Smith to Give Victims Justice TODAY! VOTE the Hidden Predator Act out of Committee SB 134 @Willcsmithjr
How a Silver Spring MCPS Teacher Faked His Own Death to Avoid Civil or Criminal Penalties for Sexual Abuse of a Student: Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland
HouseBill 687
Civil Actions – Child Sexual Abuse – Statute of Limitations
Janis Zink Sartucci
On Behalf of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland
February 28, 2019
SUPPORT
As a member of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland, I have been tracking cases involving the sexual abuse of students by Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) staff for over 5 years. As part of this work, I attend court hearings involving these cases and listen to the audio transcripts of sentencing hearing. Many times I have been the only member of the public in the courtroom during sentencing proceedings.
Today I am going to tell you about what one of the victims of sexual abuse by a MCPS teacher said at that perpetrator’s sentencing hearing. I am bringing her words to this committee so that you can understand why it may take a child an indeterminate amount of time to report childhood sexual abuse. There is no set timeline when a child that has been abused is able to come forward and for that reason the statute of limitations in these cases should be eliminated.
Former MCPS music teacher Lawrence Joynes was arrested by Homeland Security in February of 2013 for sending child pornography videos to a man in South Carolina. Initially, MCPS and the press reported that the charges did not involve MCPS students. However, when investigators looked at the pornographic images that Joynes was transmitting, they saw that they were pictures of children in a classroom. When the news broke that Joynes had been arrested on child abuse and pornography charges his mugshot was on the news. A person who was now an adult in her mid 30’s saw the news and recognized Joynes as the MCPS teacher who had sexually abused and raped her 20 years earlier.
At the sentencing hearing of Lawrence Joynes that adult victim spoke to the court.
The adult had been sexually abused and raped by Lawrence Joynes when she was 12, 13 and 14 years old in 1991, 1992 and 1993. The victim described the pain, humiliation and suffering that she had endured after being victimized by Joynes. She had years of trauma, night sweats, and insomnia. In 2005 and now in her mid 20’s, she finally decided to confront Joynes about the abuse, she found he had a website. She attempted to contact Joynes through an e-mail account listed on his website. The day after she sent an e-mail to the website, Joynes’ website announced that Lawrence Joynes had been found dead. He had left a suicide note stating that “today was a good day to die.” The victim blamed herself for his death.
Then in 2009 the victim discovered a teacher named Lawrence Joynes at a MCPS school. She contacted this person and he responded that he was Lawrence Joynes’ nephew and that Joynes had killed himself years earlier. The nephew exchanged e-mails with the victim. In fact, Lawrence Joynes was pretending to be the nephew.
The victim believed that Lawrence Joynes was dead until 2013 when she saw the news story about his arrest on child pornography charges. The victim said her “world collapsed” that day. Not only did she realize that Lawrence Joynes was still alive 20 years after he had abused her, but also that he had gone on to sexually abuse over a dozen more children. She summoned the courage to call the police and for the first time in 20 years, said out loud the crimes against her that Lawrence Joynes had committed. The police made her give detailed accounts of each sexual encounter and made her go back to the locations where Joynes had assaulted and raped her. She had to go back to Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring and other locations where Joynes had taken her. She said the trauma all came back to her.
The victim did not want to go forward with pressing charges. She did not want to retell the abuse over and over. She did not want to see details of the crime against her in the news. But, all she could do was think about the 14 elementary school children that Joynes’ had sexually abused and photographed in the intervening years. She had an overwhelming feeling of guilt that Joynes had been able to convince her he was dead, had faked another identity and had gone on to sexually abuse over a dozen more children. She wanted to end her own life.
She said Joynes ruined her life. She will never be whole. She said she never had the chance to become the person she was meant to be. She said he stole this from her, he stole her childhood, he stole her teenage years. She said he raped the good in her and raped her soul.
MCPS teacher Lawrence Joynes had successfully faked his own death and put off a victim from pursuing legal action against him for over a decade.
Civil Actions – Child Sexual Abuse – Statute of Limitations
Janis Zink Sartucci
On Behalf of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland
February 28, 2019
SUPPORT
As a member of the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland, I have been tracking cases involving the sexual abuse of students by Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) staff for over 5 years. As part of this work, I attend court hearings involving these cases and listen to the audio transcripts of sentencing hearing. Many times I have been the only member of the public in the courtroom during sentencing proceedings.
Today I am going to tell you about what one of the victims of sexual abuse by a MCPS teacher said at that perpetrator’s sentencing hearing. I am bringing her words to this committee so that you can understand why it may take a child an indeterminate amount of time to report childhood sexual abuse. There is no set timeline when a child that has been abused is able to come forward and for that reason the statute of limitations in these cases should be eliminated.
Former MCPS music teacher Lawrence Joynes was arrested by Homeland Security in February of 2013 for sending child pornography videos to a man in South Carolina. Initially, MCPS and the press reported that the charges did not involve MCPS students. However, when investigators looked at the pornographic images that Joynes was transmitting, they saw that they were pictures of children in a classroom. When the news broke that Joynes had been arrested on child abuse and pornography charges his mugshot was on the news. A person who was now an adult in her mid 30’s saw the news and recognized Joynes as the MCPS teacher who had sexually abused and raped her 20 years earlier.
At the sentencing hearing of Lawrence Joynes that adult victim spoke to the court.
The adult had been sexually abused and raped by Lawrence Joynes when she was 12, 13 and 14 years old in 1991, 1992 and 1993. The victim described the pain, humiliation and suffering that she had endured after being victimized by Joynes. She had years of trauma, night sweats, and insomnia. In 2005 and now in her mid 20’s, she finally decided to confront Joynes about the abuse, she found he had a website. She attempted to contact Joynes through an e-mail account listed on his website. The day after she sent an e-mail to the website, Joynes’ website announced that Lawrence Joynes had been found dead. He had left a suicide note stating that “today was a good day to die.” The victim blamed herself for his death.
Then in 2009 the victim discovered a teacher named Lawrence Joynes at a MCPS school. She contacted this person and he responded that he was Lawrence Joynes’ nephew and that Joynes had killed himself years earlier. The nephew exchanged e-mails with the victim. In fact, Lawrence Joynes was pretending to be the nephew.
The victim believed that Lawrence Joynes was dead until 2013 when she saw the news story about his arrest on child pornography charges. The victim said her “world collapsed” that day. Not only did she realize that Lawrence Joynes was still alive 20 years after he had abused her, but also that he had gone on to sexually abuse over a dozen more children. She summoned the courage to call the police and for the first time in 20 years, said out loud the crimes against her that Lawrence Joynes had committed. The police made her give detailed accounts of each sexual encounter and made her go back to the locations where Joynes had assaulted and raped her. She had to go back to Eastern Middle School in Silver Spring and other locations where Joynes had taken her. She said the trauma all came back to her.
The victim did not want to go forward with pressing charges. She did not want to retell the abuse over and over. She did not want to see details of the crime against her in the news. But, all she could do was think about the 14 elementary school children that Joynes’ had sexually abused and photographed in the intervening years. She had an overwhelming feeling of guilt that Joynes had been able to convince her he was dead, had faked another identity and had gone on to sexually abuse over a dozen more children. She wanted to end her own life.
She said Joynes ruined her life. She will never be whole. She said she never had the chance to become the person she was meant to be. She said he stole this from her, he stole her childhood, he stole her teenage years. She said he raped the good in her and raped her soul.
MCPS teacher Lawrence Joynes had successfully faked his own death and put off a victim from pursuing legal action against him for over a decade.
NAACP Supports Hidden Predator Act SB134: Pass this bill out of Committee. Institutions perpetuate the Cover Up, Obstruction of Justice, Intimidation of Witnesses. We have to Give Vulnerable Tools to Stop those that have Victimized Them.
February 2, 2021: NAACP's Rev. Kobi Little speaks in support of Maryland Senate Bill 134. Rev. Little asks that the bill be voted out of the Judicial Proceedings Committee so that it can be voted on by the full Maryland Senate.
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Time to Act. Vote Now on Hidden Predator Act SB134! Send a message to Maryland Legislators Today
It’s been over a month since the Maryland Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB134, The Hidden Predator Act of 2021, and has yet to call it to a vote. We must urge Senate leadership to give this legislation a fair chance and call it to a vote.
who will receive your email?
Ferguson President
Smith Chairman
why sign?
- Removing the so called “statute of repose” to make it clear to the courts, the public and survivors that the Maryland General Assembly was unaware of the constitutional implications of a “statute of repose” (language offered behind the scenes by the Maryland Catholic Conference) and did not intend to vest constitutionally protected property rights in child sexual predators nor the individuals and organizations that hid predators from discovery and prosecution, allowing them to continue to victimize children.
- Creating a lookback window for those victims who have been previously barred by the statute of limitations, allowing them to file suit for a period of two years (any such claims must be filed by October 1, 2023).
- Eliminating the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse claims going forward (for claims arising October 1, 2021 or later)
Silver Spring is home to "St Luke Institute for paedophile Catholic clergy." Is this why MD Senate Won't Vote on the Hidden Predator Act? @Willcsmithjr @SenBillFerg @jwaldstreicher @SenatorSusanLee
Silver Spring, Maryland is the home of the St. Luke Institute.
Below are some news articles mentioning the programs run at the St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland.
...Soon after he was sent to Maryland in the United States for counselling at the St Luke Institute for paedophile Catholic clergy...
...But much of the damage that Pennsylvania's abusive priests inflicted didn't leave bruises. And when those priests were discovered, bishops and other priests who were called on to investigate the allegations didn't treat them as crimes and rarely told law enforcement.
Instead, St. Luke Institute in the Washington suburb of Adelphi, Maryland, keeps appearing in the 900-page grand jury report released Tuesday. In total, at least 30 priests were sent there...
The red brick building in Silver Spring is set amid acres of wooded land. A sign near the front door with its name -- St. Luke Institute -- is inconspicuous to passersby on the street. Keeping a low profile is important, because most of the 70 residents are troubled Roman Catholic priests, a quarter of them accused of molesting children...
...Rossetti makes a distinction between pedophiles, who molest prepubescent children, and ephebophiles, who are sexually attracted to teenagers. In general, he said, ephebophiles are more likely to be treated successfully and less likely to re-offend. Sipe, the California psychologist, said he also has found that to be true...
...Rossetti, who is a consultant to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the issue of child sex abuse, contends that a "one strike and you're out" rule would unfairly punish priests who successfully change their behavior through treatment and who accept supervision while working in jobs that do not involve children.
As many as 10 Catholic priests are being treated for pedophilia at a church-run psychiatric facility in Prince George's County.
The priests sent to St. Luke Institute are admitted or known sex offenders. The majority of the priests do not have to report their names and addresses to Maryland's new online sex offender registry because they have not been prosecuted. Sex offenders with even one conviction are required to report to the state's registry.
The institute treats troubled priests and nuns from across the nation. John Geoghan, a defrocked priest convicted of molesting a 10-year-old boy and accused of assaulting more than 130 other children in Massachusetts, was a patient of St. Luke at one time...
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2002/apr/29/20020429-042331-6321r/
Friday, March 19, 2021
@Willcsmithjr @jwaldstreicher Public Testimony From Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub of the Emmy Nominated Netflix Documentary "The Keepers" - Not Allowed at Virtual Hearing @SenatorSusanLee
Below is one of the public statements that Maryland State Senator Will Smith, Chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee, did not allow to be delivered in person at the February 2, 2021, public hearing on Senate Bill 134.
Testimony in Support of SB0134
Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition and Statute of
Limitations
** Support**
To: Hon. Chairman William Smith Jr., Vice Chair Jeff Waldstreicher and
members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee
From: Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub, with Baltimore’s Archbishop Keough High
School “The Keepers” Netflix documentary storytellers
Date: January 6, 2021
In 2013 I began a private effort doing historical research into the
the unsolved 1969 Baltimore murder of my high school English teacher,
Sister Catherine Cesnik. This evolved into the tragic story of sexual abuse
of minor aged students at Archbishop Keough High School. The Emmy
nominated Netflix documentary “The Keepers” tells our story. I had no
understanding of the lifelong damage done by this intimate betrayal of
trust. I thought it was like getting spanked - was something bad that you
got over. I was very wrong about that. This betrayal of trust and intimate
physical invasion creates permanent collateral damage that affects people
their entire lives, and rolls over into harming relationships for generations
within a family. Sexual abuse of a minor causes not just physical and
mental difficulties but also takes a financial toll on those harmed. Under
current Maryland SOL law, the people harmed have to bear those costs.
Civil Actions - Child Sexual Abuse - Definition and Statute of
Limitations
** Support**
To: Hon. Chairman William Smith Jr., Vice Chair Jeff Waldstreicher and
members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee
From: Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub, with Baltimore’s Archbishop Keough High
School “The Keepers” Netflix documentary storytellers
Date: January 6, 2021
In 2013 I began a private effort doing historical research into the
the unsolved 1969 Baltimore murder of my high school English teacher,
Sister Catherine Cesnik. This evolved into the tragic story of sexual abuse
of minor aged students at Archbishop Keough High School. The Emmy
nominated Netflix documentary “The Keepers” tells our story. I had no
understanding of the lifelong damage done by this intimate betrayal of
trust. I thought it was like getting spanked - was something bad that you
got over. I was very wrong about that. This betrayal of trust and intimate
physical invasion creates permanent collateral damage that affects people
their entire lives, and rolls over into harming relationships for generations
within a family. Sexual abuse of a minor causes not just physical and
mental difficulties but also takes a financial toll on those harmed. Under
current Maryland SOL law, the people harmed have to bear those costs.
Trying to make sense of our Keepers story, I looked further into the
institutional systems that are supposed to protect Maryland children. It
was clear that our Keepers’ Father A Joseph Maskell sexually abused at
least scores of children over his life, likely hundreds, both boys and girls.
He was sexually abusing young adolescent boys while in the seminary at
St. Mary’s in the early 1960s and continued to abuse both boys and girls
for over three decades in Baltimore. We have multiple anecdotal reports
that his abuse was reported to Keough school administrators and to the
Archdiocese of Baltimore [AOB], though the AOB says they have no
documents in their files to confirm this. Maryland allows criminal
prosecution of felony sex offenses as long as the defendant is alive - but Baltimore City Assistant State’s Attorney Sharon May declined to charge
Father Maskell in 1995, despite scores of criminal complaints and dozens
of people willing to testify. Maskell fled from the US to Ireland to avoid that
Baltimore civil motions hearing. The 1995 hearing ended with the civil case
dismissed because of SOL age limits, allowing him to be free to abuse
more youngsters in Ireland before returning to Baltimore.
There are other local hidden predators who are known but never criminally
charged. There are also multiple clergy abusers from other states sent to
Maryland to live, for example at a Jesuit retirement home in Baltimore and
an Oblate retirement home in Childs, Maryland. Hundreds, perhaps
thousands of abusers from around the US and around the world have lived at a facility in Montgomery County (St. Luke Institute) while being evaluated/treated with no notice to anyone. The abusers live protected, not on any registries, no notification of law enforcement or the community,
with no legal restrictions on their contact with Maryland children.
The problem is not just with religious organizations, though that is what I
am most familiar with from our story. Abuse of minors within religious
settings is the minority statistically; far more children are harmed by family
members, acquaintances, teachers, sport coaches, even strangers.
SB0134 is not targeted at churches - rather it is a global child safety bill,
aimed to protect Maryland children from hidden predators in all settings.
I most often hear objections to removing SOL age caps based on the idea
that those who were harmed should come forward promptly to report the
crime. This makes sense to those of us not harmed. Those who were
harmed do not want to speak of it; they are embarrassed, ashamed, blame
themselves and think others will blame them if they speak. Many were
threatened to be silent, as our Keough survivors were. They fear retribution
by the one who harmed them, and do not want their parents or families to
know. A 2014 German study showed that one third of those sexually
assaulted as children will never speak of it. One third do speak around the
time of injury - but are often told to keep it secret or are not believed. The
final third do speak later in their adult lives, with the average age of
disclosure at 52 years old. People are ready to speak as older adults,
some waiting until their parents have died - but the criminal judicial system
will not press charges, and Maryland abuse survivors are age barred from
using the civil judiciary system. The hidden predators remain in communities - passing screening to work with children. Maryland’s SOL
time restrictions protect sexual abusers, allowing them to do more harm.
The Maryland Constitution’s Declaration of Rights, Article 19, promises
that “That every man, for any injury done to him in his person or property,
ought to have remedy by the course of the Law of the Land, and ought to
have justice and right, freely without sale, fully without any denial, and
speedily without delay, according to the Law of the Land“. I believe
statute of limitation laws deny those sexually abused as children
from having that promised remedy for the injury. They are promised
remedy “fully without any denial” - yet now in Maryland, purely because
of their age, they are denied access to the civil court system.
SB0134, the Hidden Predator Act, addresses these issues:
1) Removes the term “statute of repose” that was inserted quietly into the
2017 law without required explanation or discussion. This is a
construction based term that capped the time limit for civil lawsuits for
construction defects at 20 years. They added 20 years to age of
majority 18 to arrive at current cap of age 38. Building a house is
entirely different than raping a child. This term has to be removed to
make other SOL age cap revisions.
2) Abolishes SOL time caps going forward for sexual abuse of minors;
that means those who are 38 or younger no longer will have age caps
to file civil suits. Those 39 and older are still time barred.
3) Opens a defined two year window of time during which those older
than 38 with allegations of sexual abuse in Maryland as a minor can file
civil lawsuits. This will allow them to obtain documents that may help
prove their case which they now are barred from seeing. Sixteen states
and DC have passed look back windows or revival laws.
4) A severability amendment was added to the bill in 2020. If a portion is
ruled illegal, the remainder of the bill can still become law.
I respectfully urge the Committee to issue a favorable report on SB0134
without any other amendments. Let lessons from our painful legacy allow
other Maryland children to be better protected from sexual predators.
-Abbie Fitzgerald Schaub, resident of Maryland District 13.
Montgomery County State Senator Will Smith Says Video Testimony Prevents Full Hearings. Why? .@Willcsmithjr #SB134 #HiddenPredatorAct @jwaldstreicher @SenatorSusanLee
At a February 2, 2021 public hearing on Senate Bill 134, The Hidden Predator Act, Montgomery County State Senator Will Smith limited the number of members of the public who could speak in support of this bill. Senator Smith said this format limited public testimony. Listen to his words in the clip below.
How does a video platform LIMIT the ability of the public to participate in a public hearing? If anything the video platforms allow more people to participate from various locations instead of everyone having to be in the same room.
In fact, there were over 17 victims of sexual abuse that wanted to speak to the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in support of Senate Bill 134 The Hidden Predator Act.
But Montgomery County State Senator Will Smith would only allow 4 speakers to support the bill and only one person to speak for victims.
The Maryland Catholic Conference is opposed to this bill. Limiting the number of victims of sexual abuse who could speak obviously worked in their favor.
2019: When Maryland gave abuse victims more time to sue, it may have also protected institutions, including the Catholic Church @Willcsmithjr
...Judicial Proceedings Chairman Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) said he disagrees with Rowe’s analysis, as well as one written for the Maryland Catholic Conference by Kurt J. Fischer, a partner at the prominent Venable law firm.
“I’m moving that bill,” Zirkin said, promising a committee vote.
Zirkin, a lawyer, introduced the amendments in 2017 that included the repose statute. He said “it wasn’t anyone’s intent” to grant permanent immunity.
In interviews, several other lawmakers who negotiated the compromise recalled the two church lobbyists who shopped the repose provision, saying they did not want to repeatedly revisit extending the statute of limitations. The lawmakers said they now believe they unwittingly agreed to language that could permanently prevent anyone born before the early 1980s from suing the church...
Bobby Zirkin Returns as Representative of Maryland Catholic Conference to Old Committee to Testify Against Delegate CT Wilson’s Child Sex Abuse Bill
Former Senate Judicial Proceedings chairman Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) returned to his former committee this week to testify against a high-profile bill that’s a follow-up to a measure he once championed.
The woman who replaced Zirkin in the Senate last year, Sen. Shelly L. Hettleman (D-Baltimore County), has joined Del. CT Wilson (D-Charles) in his fight to eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex abuse survivors to launch civil suits. The bill was up in the Judicial Proceedings Committee, where Hettleman serves, on Tuesday.
But in lieu of a packed room full of survivors comforting each other and crying as they waited to testify, almost 200 pages of testimony were submitted to the panel, detailing heartbreaking stories of childhood shame, abuse, molestation and rape...
...Zirkin appeared before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee representing the Maryland Catholic Conference, arguing that the bill has “problems on its policy, not in its focus on trying to get justice for victims.”..
...For example, if an individual were to sue a local public school under this bill’s two-year lookback window for an incident alleged to have happened before 1971, they wouldn’t be eligible to receive any damages because sovereign immunity protected those institutions from lawsuits completely during that time.
Should someone sue the same school for something that happened between 1971 and 2016, they would be eligible to receive up to $100,000 in damages. If they were to sue for alleged crimes that occurred between 2016 and the present, the current sovereign immunity cap rests at $400,000...
Elementary school teachers filing 3 times as many COVID-19 infection claims as secondary teachers: union
Teachers in B.C. elementary schools are filing more than three times the number of COVID-19 infection claims than those working in secondary schools, the B.C. Teachers' Federation says.
In a news release Tuesday, the BCTF cited data from WorkSafeBC, which the union says shows 80 occupational COVID-19 infection claims were approved by the agency for kindergarten to Grade 7 teachers.
That's compared to 25 reports from teachers of students in Grades 8 to 12, the BCTF says. Those figures were collected as of March 11 of this year...
The CDC said 6 feet should still be maintained in common areas, such as school lobbies, and when masks can’t be worn, such as when eating.
NEW YORK (AP) — Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its COVID-19 guidelines...
...— Says spacing can also be 3 feet in middle and high schools, so long as there is not a high level of spread in the community. If there is, spacing should be at least 6 feet.
The CDC said 6 feet should still be maintained in common areas, such as school lobbies, and when masks can’t be worn, such as when eating.
Also, students should be kept 6 feet apart in situations where there are a lot of people talking, cheering or singing, all of which can expel droplets containing the coronavirus. That includes chorus practice, assemblies and sports events.
Teachers and other adults should continue to stay 6 feet from one another and from students, the CDC said...
Forgotten children living with long Covid
A year ago Isabel Walton competed in dance and gymnastics competitions and was learning martial arts. Now the ten-year-old from Doncaster has to be carried to bed each night as she is too weak to take the stairs.
She is one of more than 80,000 children in England thought to be suffering from debilitating symptoms related to long Covid. Parents are urging the government to set up specialist clinics to treat the “forgotten children” whose lives have been stalled by the virus...
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/forgotten-children-living-long-covid-s0c6z0f20
Northern Va. kids found to have ‘unexpectedly’ higher rates of COVID-19 antibodies
Serology tests on children in Northern Virginia to determine whether they’ve ever been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, show positivity rates twice that of adults...
CDC Study Finds Teachers ‘Central’ To COVID Transmission When Distancing, Masks Not Enforced
When schools don’t consistently enforce precautions such as social distancing and mask wearing, teachers can play a “central” role in COVID-19 transmission, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released this week.
Over an eight-week period that included 24 in-person school days, educator-to-educator and educator-to-student transmission in one district contributed to half of the 31 cases of the virus linked to schools, researchers found. Of 69 additional family members of the teachers and students, 18 tested positive. The study was conducted in six elementary sites in the Marietta City Schools, outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
While schools employed plastic dividers between desks, students were less than 3 feet apart in the classroom. And even though the district mandated mask use, students ate lunch in their classrooms, which might have contributed to the spread, according to the study. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said earlier this month that “breaches in mask wearing” can increase spread...
...Teachers are now discouraged from eating together and hold more of their meetings virtually. Staff members relocated large equipment like copiers and moved furniture that took up space in workrooms and classrooms and prevented physical distancing.
Thursday, March 18, 2021
WMAR: Senator William Smith [Montgomery County] is the chairman for the Judicial proceeding committee. The bill has died or failed in that committee since 2017. We asked the senator for an interview before the session started, left our number with his staff member and never heard back. .@Willcsmithjr
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Several people gathered on Lawyer's Mall to get the attention of law makers to end the statue of limitations for civil trials for lawsuits of sexual abuse...
The current law only allows a person to file a suit up to the age of 38 and they must do it before October of 2023. Robb says that stacks the deck against victims because the trauma may be suppressed for decades.
...Senator William Smith is the chairman for the Judicial proceeding committee. The bill has died or failed in that committee since 2017. We asked the senator for an interview before the session started, left our number with his staff member and never heard back.
"Maskell was a known abuser since the time he was in the seminary"
You may remember Teresa Lancaster. In the documentary The Keepers, Lancaster claimed Father Joseph Maskell abused her and hundreds of others over decades at Archbishop Kehough. Lancaster also has a book coming out recounting her times at Archbishop Kehough called "Safe in Socks"...
...The bill has been stuck in Smith's committee since February 2nd...
More COVID-19 Positive Individuals at Roscoe Nix ES and Quince Orchard HS. (No eating indoors with others??)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Roscoe Nix Elementary School
(March 17, 2021)
Dear Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School Community, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present outside at Roscoe R. Nix Elementary School on Monday, March 15, 2021, has tested ...(more)
Community Notification: COVID-19 Case at Quince Orchard High School
(March 17, 2021)
Dear Quince Orchard Community, This letter is to inform you that an individual who was last present outside at Quince Orchard High School between 3/15/21 and 3/16/21 has tested positive for the cor ...(more)
Person at Glen Haven Elementary School, but No Close Contact (No eating in room with others??)
March 18, 2021
Dear Glen Haven Elementary School Community,
This letter is to inform you that a member of Glen Haven Elementary School (GHES) has tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19), however no other GHES staff or community members are determined to have been in close contact with this individual. Because this individual tested positive on March 17, 2021 but was last onsite on March 9, 2021, in following guidance from the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) it has been determined there has been no risk of exposure to other students or staff on-site...
Baltimore City Public Schools: Former Augusta Fells Principal on Payroll 17 Months After Investigation, Earns Six Figures
BALTIMORE (WBFF) - Baltimore City Schools launched an investigation into irregularities at Augusta Fells high school in 2019 and replaced the principal. Now, Project Baltimore has learned, those same school leaders, who were being investigated, remained on the payroll, continuing to earn six-figure salaries.
For weeks, Project Baltimore has been trying to find Tracy Hicks. She’s the former principal of Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, a west Baltimore high school where Project Baltimore found hundreds of students are failing...
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
COVID-19 OUTBREAKS: @MCPS - Walt Whitman High School, Winston Churchill High School. Private: Bullis Back on the Outbreak List
Previous weekly reports at this link.
School - COVID-19 Cases - Date of Report
The Bryn Mawr School Baltimore City 2 03/17/21
Francis Scott Key Elementary School Baltimore City 3 03/17/21
KIPP Harmony Academy Baltimore City 2 03/17/21
Leith Walk Elementary/Middle School Baltimore City 2 03/17/21
Mount Saint Joseph High School Baltimore City 9 03/17/21
Bais Yaakov Eva Winer High School Baltimore County 5 03/17/21
Ner Israel Rabbinical College Baltimore County 4 03/17/21
Rosedale Baptist School Baltimore County 5 03/17/21
Sparrows Point High School Baltimore County 6 03/17/21
St. Michael- St. Clement School Baltimore County 3 03/17/21
St. Ursula School Baltimore County 2 03/17/21
Manchester Valley High School Carroll County 3 03/17/21
Mechanicsville Elementary Carroll County 5 03/17/21
Westminster High School Carroll County 7 03/17/21
Winter's Mill High School Carroll County 2 03/17/21
Sabillasville Elementary School Frederick County 2 03/17/21
St. John Regional Catholic School Frederick County 2 03/17/21
Saint John's Catholic Preparatory School Frederick County 10 03/17/21
St. Thomas More Academy Frederick County 15 03/17/21
The John Carroll School Harford County 3 03/17/21
Hammond High School Howard County 2 03/17/21
Bullis School Montgomery County 4 03/17/21
Walt Whitman High School Montgomery County 4 03/17/21
Winston Churchill High School Montgomery County 2 03/17/21
White Marsh Elementary School St. Mary's County 2 03/17/21
The Country School Talbot County 8 03/17/21
Boonsboro High School Washington County 7 03/17/21
Clear Spring High School Washington County 3 03/17/21
Lincolnshire Elementary Washington County 3 03/17/21
Mt. Aetna Adventist School Washington County 4 03/17/21
St. Maria Goretti High School Washington County 4 03/17/21
Stepping Stones Learning Academy Wicomico County 6 03/17/21
As a reminder, the Maryland Dashboard uses the following criteria for reporting COVID-19 cases. Not all cases are reported, only those that satisfy the following criteria.
Note: This dataset reflects public and non-public K-12 schools in Maryland that have COVID-19 outbreaks. Data are based on local health department reports to MDH, which may be revised if additional information becomes available. This list does not include child care facilities or institutes of higher education.Schools listed meet 1 or more of the following criteria:
1) At least two confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/teachers/staff within a 14-day period and who are epidemiologically linked, but not household contacts; or
2) Three or more classrooms or cohorts with cases from separate households that meet the classroom/cohort outbreak definition that occurs within 14 days; or
3) Five percent or more unrelated students/teachers/staff have confirmed COVID-19 within a 14 day period (minimum of 10 unrelated students/teachers/staff).
Cases reported reflect the current total number of cases. Schools are removed from the list when health officials determine 14 days have passed with no new cases and no tests pending. Archival data is available through the COVID-19 open data catalogue.
These data are updated weekly on Wednesdays during the 10 a.m. hour. MDH is continuously evaluating its data and reporting systems and will make updates as more data becomes available.