Parents in a rural Maryland community are calling for a longtime school bus driver to be reinstated after she was removed from her route for allowing a student to leave the bus and rescue an injured kitten, reported WBNG News.
Cynthia Morgan, 67, had driven students in the Harford County Public Schools system for 11 years. Morgan said losing her position devastated her.
Video recorded along Heaps School Road shows the school bus stopped as a North Harford Elementary School student retrieved the kitten. Parents acknowledged that allowing the child to exit created a safety concern but argued that removing Morgan was excessive.
Carolyn Kalambihis, whose children have ridden Morgan’s bus for five years, told local news reporters that the area has little traffic and Morgan would not have made the same decision on a busier road. She said Morgan used her own money to buy students’ school supplies, holiday gifts and birthday cards.
“She is an angel. She’s the most caring person,” Kalambihis said.
Kalambihis and other parents are circulating an online petition asking that Morgan be returned to her route. She said Morgan’s 11 years of service should be considered. Calls for her restatement have circulated across social media.
Meanwhile, Kalambihis added that she believes Morgan recognizes that allowing the student to leave the bus was a mistake. “It shouldn’t have happened,” she said. “I believe she knows that and understands and, looking back, knows she made a mistake and should not have done what she did.”
Harford County Public Schools reportedly said Morgan was employed by an independent contractor rather than a district employee. However, the district is responsible for certifying drivers who transport its students.
“Certification and decertification are not always based on a single factor but often involves consideration of multiple circumstances and requirements,” the district said via the news report. “Student safety remains our top priority, and all certification decisions are made with that responsibility in mind.”
The district declined to discuss Morgan’s case specifically. The name of her employer and whether she was terminated by the contractor or only removed from the district route were not immediately clear.
A 19-year-old woman faces multiple felony charges after she allegedly blocked a school bus carrying 37 children, forced open its loading door, and waved a loaded handgun during an apparent road rage confrontation, reported FOX 59.
According to the news report, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded Sept. 16 to reported vehicle collision. They found Jamiya Sutton’s Kia K4 parked sideways in front of the school bus, blocking the roadway, according to court documents.
Police determined the vehicles had not collided. Sutton allegedly told officers that she struck a construction sign after the school bus pulled out in front of her. Believing the bus driver was responsible, Sutton followed the bus, drove around it and deliberately parked at an angle to prevent it from leaving, court documents state.
According to the article, the bus driver told officers she did not notice Sutton’s Kia until it pulled in front of the bus. Sutton then allegedly exited her vehicle holding a black handgun, walked around the bus and yelled for the driver to come outside.
When the driver refused, Sutton allegedly forced open the bus door, boarded with the gun and waved it while yelling at the driver. She then returned to her vehicle. No injuries were reported.
Sutton reportedly acknowledged being armed but told officers she “did not do anything with” the gun. An officer later found a Glock 17 Gen 4 beneath the driver’s seat of Sutton’s vehicle. Police said its magazine contained 21 live rounds.
Sutton was arrested without further incident and charged with Level 3 felony criminal confinement with a deadly weapon, Level 5 felony criminal confinement with a vehicle, Level 6 felony pointing a firearm at another person, and misdemeanor unauthorized entry of a motor vehicle.
She was being held without bond pending an initial hearing scheduled for Thursday before Judge Ross Anderson.
Court records reportedly indicate Sutton had been arrested Sept. 11 in a separate alleged road rage incident. In that case, she is accused of displaying the same handgun during a confrontation with a driver she believed had cut her off in traffic.
Taylor sits down for a special extended conversation with STN’s 2025 Transportation Director of the Year Keba Baldwin, director of transportation and fleet services at Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland. He talks school startup operations, parent and media communication, AI and autonomous technology, leading STN EXPO sessions, alternative transportation and more.
A Montgomery County Public Schools bus driver cited in connection with crash last fall that killed an 11-year-old bicyclist has paid a fine rather than proceed to trial, reported WUSA 9.
According to the news report, Ivan Rivas, 55, accepted a negligent driving charge Thursday and agreed to pay a $390 fine. The disposition also adds three points to his driver’s license. Rivas had been scheduled for a nonjury trial.
The charge reportedly accused Rivas of driving in a careless and imprudent manner that endangered property, life and people. It was filed in February following the death of Summer Lim, a student at Earle B. Wood Middle School.
Summer was reportedly riding her bicycle on a sidewalk shortly before 3:15 p.m. on Oct. 9. As she attempted to cross the road, the school bus driven by Rivas was already turning through the intersection.
Investigators determined that both Rivas and Summer each contributed to the circumstances that led to the crash. Officials said Summer entered the crosswalk after the bus had begun moving through it.
Rivas reportedly stopped after the collision but then traveled nearly 30 additional feet before bringing the bus to a complete stop. Summer was found near the rear of the bus.
Police said Rivas had driven the same school bus route for more than 15 years before the fatal crash. Information about his current employment status with Montgomery County Public Schools was not provided. No additional charges against Rivas were reported.
Three people including a student were hospitalized with minor injuries after a school bus was involved in a multivehicle crash and struck a commercial building in Parkville, Maryland, reported WBAL News.
According to the news report, Baltimore County emergency crews were called shortly before 2:30 p.m. Tuesday to the 8700 block of Harford Road, where a school bus had crashed through the front of the building.
Baltimore County police said a 2017 Ford Focus traveling south crossed into the northbound lane and entered the path of the school bus. The bus subsequently struck the building. The Ford also collided with a 2014 Nissan Altima.
Two adults and three students from the Maryland School for the Blind were reportedly aboard the bus when it crashed. One student and the bus driver were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. Another adult involved in the crash was also hospitalized with minor injuries.
Eight additional people were reportedly evaluated at the scene but declined transportation to hospitals. No one was trapped inside the bus or building following the collision. Video from the scene showed the front of the bus lodged inside the structure. A nearby business owner reportedly said the impact shook her building and sounded like an earthquake. She called 911 after determining that a crash had occurred.
According to the article, bystanders opened the bus door and helped the students exit. They then stayed with the children and attempted to keep them calm while emergency responders arrived.
A passenger in the Nissan told local news reporters that the car appeared to have been struck several times. Harford Road was temporarily affected as police officers, firefighters and other emergency personnel investigated and cleared the crash scene.
Authorities did not immediately release the identities of the drivers, passengers, or injured students. Police also did not announce whether any citations or charges were anticipated. The circumstances that caused the Ford to cross into oncoming traffic remained under investigation.
A Maryland man was arrested after he allegedly stole a privately owned school bus and drove it through a red light before striking a curb, reported Yahoo news.
According to the news report, officers first noticed the school bus at approximately 10:30 a.m. July 19 after the driver allegedly failed to stop at a red light at an intersection in Waldorf, Maryland.
Officers reportedly initiated a traffic stop. As the driver pulled the school bus over, he struck a curb and caused damage to the front of the vehicle. The extent of the damage was not immediately disclosed.
When officers approached the school bus, they reportedly found the driver alone inside. No passengers or students were on board the bus at the time of the incident, and no injuries were reported. The driver was identified as 34-year-old Joseph Andrew Townsend of Waldorf.
Investigators accuse Townsend of entering a privately owned school bus lot, locating the keys to one of the buses and driving away with the vehicle. Officials did not identify the company that owns the bus or disclose where the lot was located.
It was also unclear how long the bus had been missing before officers spotted it or whether the vehicle had been reported stolen before the traffic stop. Townsend was reportedly arrested and charged with theft of property valued at more than $25,000. He was held without bond following his arrest. The investigation remained ongoing.
In early December, a new website appeared online urging Sussex County residents to contact their councilmembers and tell them to deny a permit required for a proposed offshore wind farm.
The website – StopOffshoreWind.com – materialized days before the Sussex County Council would vote on the permit, which would allow for construction of an electrical substation needed by US Wind Inc. to build its massive ocean-based power plant.
StopOffshoreWind.com included the names and contact information for Sussex County Council members, as well as an online message form that sat underneath the phrase, “Write a Letter to your Sussex County Councilmembers.”
“Tell the Sussex County Council to DENY this permit,” the website stated.
What it did not show were the names of the people or companies that had created and funded it.
Spotlight Delaware has since learned that the website was the creation of a coalition of Maryland wind farm opponents, funded and led by the government of Worcester County, Md.
Sitting just south of Sussex County along the Atlantic coastline and within Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Worcester County is home to Ocean City, Md., a summer beach hotspot that is the primary driver of the county’s tourism-centered economy.
And, many of the local business owners there believe the sight of wind turbines 15 miles offshore would make the beaches less attractive to tourists.
Zach Bankert, executive director of the Ocean City Development Corporation, said his group had led local opposition to offshore wind development in past years. But, with a staff of just two employees, he said the operation was too small to be effective, which is why the county’s Office of Tourism and Economic Development recently took it over.
“When the county came in and said, ‘Hey, you know, we might have some funds for this, we’d like to kind of take this over’ … It was a no-brainer for us,” he said.
US Wind Inc.’s proposal is to build a wind farm with more than 100 turbines off the Delmarva coastline – just south of the Delaware, Maryland state line. It would send electricity ashore in Delaware with cables buried near the mouth of the Indian River.
When announcing a federal approval in September, the Biden Administration said the wind farm could produce up to 2 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power about 700,000 homes.
But coastal opponents say that electricity comes at too high a price, claiming wind turbines will drive tourists away, damage coastal environments and devastate fisheries.
StopOffshoreWind.com also claims that the windfarm will allow “foreign investors” to collect federal subsidies – references to U.S. government incentives provided to wind energy projects, and to US Wind’s ownership.
In emailed responses to questions from Spotlight Delaware, Worcester County Tourism Director Melanie Pursel said the local government authorized up to $100,000 in public money to fund what she called a coalition of local offshore wind opponents.
According to county records, the money specifically is for a contract with a Washington, D.C.-area public relations firm called Bedrock Advocacy Communications.
Pursel also noted in her early January email that Ocean City’s municipal government intended to match the county’s contribution. Last week, the Ocean City Council approved during a regular meeting a measure to distribute up to $100,000 to an “offshore wind opposition public relations campaign.”
During the meeting, City Manager Terry McGean said the campaign would target state lawmakers in Maryland and “other issues” that may arise in Delaware.
Ocean City Mayor Richard “Rick” Meehan said Bedrock Advocacy had already done a “really good job,” noting his belief that the group “played a significant role” in the Delaware county’s denial of US Wind’s substation permit.
“We’re all in,” Meehan said about the $100,000 appropriation. “And I’d hate to miss an opportunity to really capitalize, which might be the right timing to really get our messaging out.”
Winding up the opposition
US Wind is a subsidiary of Renexia SpA, an Italian energy infrastructure company. The American investment giant, Apollo Global Management, also owns a stake in the company.
In response to critics, US Wind spokeswoman Nancy Sopko said in an emailed statement that the opposition’s campaign is filled with “blatant misinformation designed to frighten people.”
Asked for details to support the claims, Sopko pointed to what she called doctored photos from a website called SaveOceanCity.org, which is run by Bankert’s Ocean City Development Corporation.
“The complete disregard for facts, accuracy, and settled science is irresponsible and dangerous,” Sopko said.
She also asserted that state leaders in Maryland and Delaware have been “full-throated” in their support for the wind project in a region that “needs more electricity to keep the lights on, grow the economy, and support local jobs.”
The opposition to the US Wind project is nominally being led by a political nonprofit, called Stop Offshore Wind Inc.
It was formed in Delaware on Dec. 5, around the time that StopOffshoreWind.com appeared. State business records show that Florida attorney Andrew L. Asher created the company.
Asher, a solo practitioner, previously served as general counsel for the BGR Group, a powerful lobbying firm in Washington, D.C. Its biggest clients in recent years include Qualcomm Inc. and the governments of Bahrain and India.
He continues to work for BGR Group in an “of counsel” capacity, according to his website. Asher did not respond to requests for comment. Pursel said Asher’s role in Stop Offshore Wind was limited to the creation of the entity, describing it as strictly administrative.
She further said that while “several county staff members” are working with the nonprofit, the entity “is not controlled” by Worcester County.
“Stop Offshore Wind Inc. is a 501(c)4 organization formed by a coalition of concerned citizens, community-based organizations, business organizations and local governments to raise awareness about the potential negative impacts of the US Wind proposed project,” said Pursel, who also calls herself a spokeswoman for the Stop Offshore Wind Coalition.
As a 501(c)4, Stop Offshore Wind Inc. is not required to disclose its donors.
Pursel said it had raised $11,000 from private donors as of late December, with much of the money donated during a Dec. 4 fundraiser.
A flyer for the fundraiser, which charged $150 a head, said the money raised would pay for “a bold, multi-channel media blitz” opposing industrial wind farms in Ocean City.
Prior to the Sussex County vote, Stop Offshore Wind did not list any governmental funding ties. Following inquiries from Spotlight Delaware, the website now has an “about us” page that lists its affiliation with Ocean City and Worcester County.
What led to all of this?
On Dec. 17, days after StopOffshoreWind.com appeared, the Sussex County Council voted to reject the windfarm’s substation building permit application.
The 4-to-1 vote in opposition came after the Sussex County Planning and Zoning Commission recommended that the county approve the permit. Three of the voting council members are leaving office in early 2025. Of those, two voted against the permit.
It is not clear if the StopOffshoreWind.com website influenced the council’s vote. Members of the county council would not comment on this story due to a pending appeal against the decision.
Still, the vote followed mounting public opposition in Sussex County to offshore wind. On the day of the vote, dozens of residents appeared at the county council meeting, with many asking to speak in opposition to the project.
The council did not allow comments, stating the public record had closed following a July meeting when they discussed, then tabled, the permit application.
Following the vote, US Wind CEO Jeff Grybowski said his company’s plan to build the offshore wind farm is “unchanged.”
“We know that the law is on our side and are confident that today’s decision will not stand,” Grybowski said.
On Dec. 26, US Wind’s subsidiary Renewable Development LLC appealed Sussex County’s permit denial through a petition asking a Delaware Superior Court judge to review the matter.
In the petition, the company’s attorneys called the council’s decision “irregular, arbitrary, capricious,” and “not supported by substantial evidence.”
On the heels of Sussex County’s rejection, Worcester County announced its own move to hinder US Wind’s plans: it would use eminent domain to buy two West Ocean City properties targeted as US Wind’s operations and maintenance facilities.
“If there ever was a worthy use of eminent domain, this is it,” Worcester County Chief Administrative Officer Weston Young said in a press release.
Also in the press release, Worcester County linked to two websites that it said provided more information “about efforts to protect Maryland’s Coast from ocean industrialization.” Those sites are StopOffshoreWind.com and SaveOceanCity.org. The latter represents the Ocean City Development Corporation’s opposition to offshore wind farms.
What’s on the horizon?
With a pending appeal and a Trump administration that opposes offshore wind, uncertainty looms over the US Wind project – as well as other wind farms proposed for the Delmarva peninsula.
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Danish wind farm developer Ørsted intends to build up to 72 wind turbines 16 miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach.
In early June, the company submitted its plans to the federal government, and they currently are under review.
This month, then-Delaware Gov. John Carney and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced a 25-year agreement with US Wind. As part of the agreement, US Wind must give Delaware utilities $76 million worth of renewable energy credits throughout the life of the project to help the state meet its renewable energy goals.
Through the agreement, US Wind also commits to investing $200 million to upgrade Delaware’s electricity wires and other transmission infrastructure.
In a press statement touting the agreement, state officials claim that energy from the US Wind offshore site will produce enough power to lower electric rates in Delaware by $253 million over 20 years.
“We are ready to reap the environmental, health, workforce, energy cost and community benefits from this needed transition to renewable energy,” Carney said in the statement.
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