PGCo, Did You Know…

Fairmont Heights installed illegal traffic speed cameras, Repeal of Death Penalty in Maryland may not be a done deal, Prince George’s getting good press on it’s improvements to lure FBI and other businesses to the area, Double Murder in Laurel Maryland leaves severely disabled daughter without a mother

Sheriff Road and Addison Road speed cameras were installed by the Police Department for the Town of Fairmont Heights without compliance to the with proper channels in Prince George’s County.  Never got the memorandum of understanding or proper permits.  Prince George’s County speed cameras are only supposed to be in school zones and only if properly announced.  None of this happened.  See the video below.
A petition drive to have the repeal of the death penalty placed on the ballot as a referendum this November 2013, was started one day after Gov. Martin O’Malley signed the repeal into law.  Lead by Del. Neil Parrott, R-Washington, and Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, they announced the petition drive for a referendum Friday, May 3rd, outside of Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore.  The Capital Gazette reported, “Standing outside of Camden Yards near where Baltimore Marathon runners cross the finish line each year, Parrott said life without parole wasn’t enough. “The question we have today is, what if?,” Parrott said. “What if it was the Baltimore Marathon bombing? What if a bombing occurred right here at Camden Yards? What if a terrorist attack happened here at the Ravens stadium. With the repeal of the death penalty, we would not have an adequate answer to solve the problem of what if.”  One of O’Malley’s top legislative priorities in 2013, the repeal was touted by supporters as a way to save money in the state. They said the death penalty was not a deterrent and cannot be administered without racial bias. O’Malley was joined by NAACP President Ben Jealous at the signing Thursday.

In April, MDPetitions.com said it would not petition O’Malley’s gun control plan to the ballot in 2014.  But the group will put its resources into an effort to get the death penalty repeal measure on the ballot. Parrott said the death penalty repeal was the only statewide measure his group would seek to overturn from the 2013 General Assembly session.  John Erzen, a spokesperson for Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks, did not offer specific comment on the possibility of a referendum, but did say that she would consider seeking the death penalty in future cases if it were available.  “What her position has always been is that she will use whatever resources are at her disposal to prosecute crime and to punish those who have been found guilty of crimes,” Erzen was quoted by The Patch as saying.

Since the networks broadcast the murders in Prince George’s County ad nauseum, I don’t post much about them here except to acknowledge their tragic nature and to offer condolences to the family.  I am particularly disturbed by the beating/stabbing death of 42-year-old James Vell Ferguson and 45-year-old Tina Towler, both of the 9600 block of Muirkirk Road in Laurel.  The daughter of Tina Towler was severely disabled and probably witnessed, in  one way or the other, the death of her mother and her mother’s boyfriend.  Neighbors said they heard arguing but gave no indication that there was ever any trouble with the couple but the police have been called to the apartment 3 times over the last few months, twice as a result of Tina Towler being missing.

Laurel Couple Murdered

Ferguson and Towler were a couple who lived together in an apartment in the 9600 block of Muikirk Road with Towler’s 25-year-old daughter, who is described as a grown child who is paraplegic and can barely communicate, Segraves reported. She was found unharmed and transported to an area hospital out of an abundance of caution, authorities said.  From WJLA.com, “A caregiver for the daughter found the couple’s bodies when she entered the apartment about 8:15 a.m. Neighbors reported hearing loud voices at approximately 5 a.m.  A neighbor who asked not to be idenfiied told News4′s Shomari Stone he’d driven Ferguson to a grocery store and an ATM Wednesday night. When asked if Ferguson had said anything was wrong in his life, the neighbor said, “No, no, not at all.”  “He was loving, caring, fun to be around,” said one of Ferguson’s sisters.

Police said they have been called to the home three times in the past few months — once when the mother was reported missing, again when she returned the next day, and a third time when the 911 caller hung up in March.

Wow.  Prince George’s County is receiving accolades from the Washington Business Journal for how it has handled its business.

As Prince George’s vies for a relocated FBI headquarters at Greenbelt and numerous other projects on its thousands of developable acres, the county, with the assistance of the Maryland General Assembly, has cut development costs and proposed slashing the red tape associated with transit-oriented development.  Toss in County Executive Rushern Baker’s $50 million economic development incentive fund, which specifically promotes projects at Metro sites, and the county is, finally, making itself a place to do business.  Developers are noticing.  Read the entire article HERE.