The Star-Democrat from Easton, Maryland • Page 6

FREDERICK (AP) A drunk driver who killed his best friend and the 8-year-old son avoided prison time after the widow testified that locking him up would only cause more pain. Debbie Coffelt, of Round Hill, said Friday that she and her 13-year-old daughter remain close to neighbor James W. Loveless Jr. and his wife and three children despite role in the deaths of Chris Coffelt, 44, and son Matthew. good Mrs.

Coffelt said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. things do happen to good people but that make them bad people. It just means they are involved in a Loveless, 41, pleaded guilty Thursday in Frederick County Circuit Court to two counts of vehicular homicide while impaired by alcohol. He acknowledged having drunken four or five beers during a fathers-and-sons trip to a Baltimore Orioles baseball game before flipping Chris Ford F-250 pickup truck by crashing into a guard rail along Interstate 70 on the stormy night of July 7, 2005. Loveless and his 8-year-old son survived.

In court, Mrs. Coffelt described the tight bonds. The husbands, who both worked in construction trades, met when their sons were enrolled in a Northern Virginia child-care center. Over the years, the families vacationed together and became next-door neighbors. looked after each Coffelt, 44, told Circuit Judge G.

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Some residents were critical of the hike but Olson said the extra funds will protect and enhance the community. He says it would raise property values and keep the town safe. $105 of the $150 increase are allocated to the replacement reserve fund and $39 will go into general operation funding. The budget anticipates $18.4 million in revenues, a new community center and an increase in marina slip rental fees. Baltimorean convicted in road rage case HAGERSTOWN (AP) A Baltimore man was convicted of shooting at another driver who move out of the passing lane.

A Washington County jury convicted Jimmie Lee Johnson, 36, of attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, reckless endangerment, marijuana possession and weapons violations stemming from an incident June 19 on Interstate 70. Police said three bullets from 9 mm handgun hit a PT Cruiser driven by Kyle Hitchcock, then 19, of Derwood. Neither Hitchcock nor his passenger, Terri Easterlin, of Orange, were hurt. Johnson, who is black, testified he acted in self-defense after Hitchcock made an obscene gesture and yelled a racial slur at him. Assistant Attorney Robert Veil said the claim of self-defense was Johnson is being held without bond pending sentencing, which scheduled.

Fort Ritchie museum proposed inside house CASCADE (AP) A museum dedicated to the history of Fort Ritchie and the surrounding area would be installed in the house at the former Army post as part of the redevelopment, according to a consultant who is working on the plan. The Army closed Fort Ritchie in 1998, ending 70 years of military uses that included World War II intelligence training and Cold War-era communications work. Columbia, based developer Corporate Office Properties Trust bought the 591-acre mountaintop property last year and is building homes and offices. Maryland National Guard relieves officer in charge of recruiting BALTIMORE (AP) The officer in charge of recruiting for the Maryland Army National Guard has been relieved of his command, and a recruiter is being kicked out of the Guard after an investigation revealed the Guard said Friday. In all, 11 soldiers were disciplined as a result of the probe, which uncovered at least two cases where recruiters enlisted people despite knowing they were not qualified for Guard service.

Maj. Travis Rambert, the officer in charge, confirmed when reached on his cell phone that he was relieved of his command Thursday. He declined to discuss it further, saying he did not want to risk further disciplinary measures by speaking publicly. Rambert was put in charge of the battalion last fall, said First Lt. Wayde Minami, a Guard spokesman.

The Guard will also change its policies as a result of the investigation, putting an end to extended assignments in the recruiting battalion, Minami said. people could literally spend almost their entire careers in the recruiting and retention battalion if they were successful Minami said. the tours are going to be limited in Minami said he was unsure exactly what those limits would be, but he said recruiting assignments could still potentially last several years because recruiters need time to learn their territory and build relationships. Along with the two cases of fraudulent enlistment, the investigation also found two cases of fraternization between officers and enlisted soldiers. And it found that several soldiers in the recruiting battalion misused government resources by goofing off when they were supposed to be getting training away from their usual posts.

were apparently out Minami said. government paid for The Guard did not reveal the names of anyone who was disciplined because the actions were administrative. No one was charged with a crime. The disciplinary action against the soldiers included reduction in rank, reassignment out of the recruiting field and letters of reprimand. Four of those disciplined were commissioned officers, including two with a rank of major or above.

Of the enlisted soldiers, five were senior noncommissioned officers, meaning they held the rank of sergeant major, master sergeant or sergeant first class. The one who will be discharged from the Guard is a lower-ranking noncommissioned officer, Minami said. take our relationship with the community extremely seriously and feel strongly that the actions of a few do not reflect the hard work and professionalism of the thousands of men and women that make up the Maryland Army National Col. Grant Hayden, acting assistant adjutant general for the Guard, said in a statement. The investigation began in early December after an article in the Baltimore City Paper detailed alleged misconduct.

U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview that he would urge the committee to investigate recruitment irregularities throughout the military. He pointed to a report last fall from the Government Accountability Office that indicated a sharp increase in misconduct by recruiters. think a lot of it comes from this pressure to make sure that they meet their recruitment goals at a time when the war is becoming less Cummings said.

is not just a question of apparent misconduct on the part of some of our recruiters. It is also a question of credibility of the recruitment Cummings, whose district includes the Maryland Guard headquarters, also questioned why it took so long for Guard leadership to recognize improper behavior by recruiters. begin to wonder about what kind of oversight there is, and you have to wonder, if it were not for local media, whether this kind of information ever would have come to he said. National Guard unit mourns rare casualties By STEPHEN MANNING Associated Press Writer Diane Murphy always warns families of soldiers who are about to deploy overseas from the Army National Readiness Center to prepare for the worst, just in case. But even she never believed anything would ever happen.

would say the event said Murphy, who heads a family support group for the Arlington-based center that handles logistics and other services for National Guard units. never anticipated that we would have the That was the death of three soldiers who were among 10 members of the Guard to die when the helicopter they rode in was shot down Jan. 20 northeast of Baghdad. Two other soldiers also were killed. The incident was the largest single loss of life for the Guard since the war began, and included the top-ranking Guard officer to die in Iraq, 45-year- old Col.

Paul Kelly of Stafford, Va. It also marked rare causalities for the Readiness Center, which operates out of a fortified building near Arlington National Cemetery. Many of the roughly 800 members of the Guard who work there have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, but mostly in support roles, not combat assignments. So while more than 430 members of the Guard have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, the deaths of Kelly, Sgt. Maj.

Roger Haller, 49, who most recently had lived in Davidsonville, but was a longtime Cambridge resident, and Sgt. Floyd Lake, 43, of the Virgin Islands, were the first for the unit. And it made a war that was once somewhat remote much more real, Col. Terry Larkin, a Guard chaplain, said Friday at a memorial service for the three men. that chopper went down, for each of us, there was not only the loss of a colleague but of part of Larkin told the crowd.

last few weeks it has become very While most members of the Guard hold civilian jobs when not called up, those who work at the Readiness Center are on full-time duty. They handle issues such as training, logistics, supplies and support for Guard units. The soldiers killed in the crash were flying back to camp after a visit to a base. About 350 soldiers, most in gray camouflage uniforms, filled an auditorium at the Readiness Center headquarters for the memorial. In the front of the room were three M-16 rifles standing upside down, with helmets perched on the stocks of each gun.

Three pairs of tan boots sat before the guns, along with large photos of each man. Two of young children sat with his widow, Linda, in the front row as former colleagues described him as a soft-spoken, dutiful soldier who enjoyed exercise. They said Lake, a native of the tropics, never fully acclimated to the cold weather of the Washington area. Lt. Gen.

Clyde Vaughn, director of the Army National Guard, described style of leadership as two young sons squirmed in the arms of his wife, Maria. sometimes gruff approach that he sprinkled with salty quotes was tempered by a sincere care for the soldiers he helped as a liaison officer. He liked a dry martini, and had a life-sized inflatable Harley Davidson motorcycle in Iraq to remind him of the new bike waiting back home. A 26-year veteran of the Guard, Haller had the chance to see his son one last time at Thanksgiving when the younger man was able to come home early from his own deployment in Iraq. His family said Haller assured them that he at risk because he was largely away from any fighting.

his e-mail messages told us not to said his sister-in-law, Mary Haller. COMMAND SGT. MAJ. ROGER W. HALLER Ehrlich appointee exits, new PSC chair gets pay hike ANNAPOLIS (AP) A second Public Service Commission member appointed by former Republican Gov.

Robert Ehrlich has resigned. Charles Boutin, a Republican from Harford County, sent a one-sentence resignation Friday, according to the office of current Gov. Martin resignation is effective March 7. Also Friday, office announced that the new chairman of the utility-regulating PSC will get a 58 percent pay hike, from $117,000 a year to $185,000 a year. The former chairman of the PSC, Republican Kenneth Schisler, of Bozman, stepped down last month amid pressure to leave the job.

defeated Ehrlich last fall and frequently criticized the five- member PSC during his campaign. To replace Schisler, has nominated former Maryland Insurance Commissioner Steven Larsen. Larsen, and replacement, will have to be confirmed by the state Senate. In a letter given to reporters Friday, chief of staff Michael Enright told the state budget secretary to review the salaries of other commissioners, too. Right now paid $99,000 a year.

keep in mind the complexity of the work involved and the enormous literally multi-billion dollar impact of the Enright wrote. Boutin gave no explanation for his resignation and did not immediately respond to a call from The Associated Press seeking comment. He told The (Baltimore) Sun that the work was but that he was not pressured to leave. Drunk driver who killed 2 avoids prison time in Maryland court Investigators conclude gunman chose not to escape liquor store FREDERICK (AP) A gunman who perished in a strip-mall fire after shooting at police started the blaze with a lighter or match in a liquor back room, investigators concluded Thursday. James C.

Douglas, 29, could have escaped the fire but chose not to, and died from smoke inhalation, Lt. Thomas Chase said. The reports by the Frederick Police Department and the Maryland State Fire Marshal ended their investigation into the fire Monday that destroyed the two-story Antietam Village Center and 11 businesses, including the liquor store where the incident began. Chase said authorities know why Douglas locked himself in the store after ordering the owner to leave, why he set the fire and why he flee the flames. remains were found Tuesday..