The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page A2

2 THE BALTIMORE NEWS Alawyer who joined the U.S. Army Reserve says the Baltimore office declined to rehire him after he finished his which he alleges is a violation of federal law. Capt. Andrew Gross, 28, of Columbia filed suit Monday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore against the city and the office, claiming the office discriminated against him because of his military service.

The suit seeks unspecified damages, back pay and other costs. really blows my mind that they did said Baltimore-based attorney Steven D. Silverman, who represents Gross. just perplexing to me that the office of all people to follow the Silverman says the U.S. Employment and Reemployment Rights Act gives Gross the right to reclaim his employment after being absent for service.

Gross was training in Charlottesville, and Fort Sill, for six months. Mark Cheshire, the spokesman for the Baltimore office, noted situation was handled by the previous attorney, Patricia Jessamy. issue originated more than one year before the current administration took he said. we have been working with Mr. Gross and his counsel to resolve the Ryan a spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, referred questions to the office.

frankly, not sure why the mayor is named in the suit at he said. the policy to follow state and federal employment law and confident that the city is doing Gross, a graduate of Wilde Lake High School and St. College of Maryland, was hired as a law clerk with the office in 2007 while he was attending law school at the University of Baltimore. Two years later, the office promoted him to prosecutor on the drug court. Around that time, Gross signed up for the U.S.

Army Reserve. He was called upon for a six-month training, only three months after he began his work as a prosecutor, according to his suit. Upon returning to Baltimore, the office informed Gross his position was no longer waiting for him and he would have to reapply after the latest crop of law clerks received positions within the agency, Gross said. was he said. said, hire you Gross said he spent five months looking for work.

He applied for jobs at private law firms and at federal and state agencies. But he was unable to find a job, he said. Despite that, Gross said he has no regrets about his decision to join the reserves. 30 years, had I not joined the military, Iwould have regretted he said. His attorney, Silverman, said his client had been willing to settle the suit for $30,000 to make up for missed pay, but instead, the city hired a private firm to handle the case.

Timothy F. McCormack, a partner at Ballard Spahr, the private firm assigned to the suit, declined to comment. John Raughter, a spokesman for the American Legion, said members of the military should have their jobs protected. a recurring issue of military members returning from deployments and finding their jobs not waiting for them or that their careers have suffered irreparable Raughter said. happens all the Gross said.

law can be kind of nuanced, but clear I should have been given a job luke.broadwater@baltsun.com twitter.com/lukebroadwater Reservist files discrimination suit Army captain says city office refused to rehire him after serving By Luke Broadwater The Baltimore Sun WAS HEARTBREAKING. THEY SAID, HIRE YOU CAPT. ANDREW GROSS, FORMER CITY PROSECUTOR WHO JOINED THE ARMY RESERVE property. But, because the county previously provided about $2.6 million to the school to help it purchase Belmont, Howard will now only pay the difference of $89,000, said Kevin Enright, a county spokesman. Officials must wait for a 90-day study period to look at title and property matters, such as maintenance costs and environmental studies, Enright said, then another 30 days for settlement.

He said the county has made no final decisions on what the property will be used for, but county officials are considering public purposes, such as an environ- mental education center and renting the site for private events. The college, which paid $5.2 million for the property in 2004, had hoped to renovate the estate and rent it out for events while training students in hospitality and culinary skills but decided the project was too expensive. Belmont has been up for sale since last September. The county had announced in June that it intended to buy Belmont. The site includes a house built in 1738 on 68 acres and a separate house on 13 acres.

Howard County officials have agreed to purchase Belmont, the historic 18th-cen- tury estate in Elkridge, for just over half the cost paid by owner Howard Community College. The county reached an agreement Sept. 7with Howard Community College at a price of nearly $2.7 million for the 81-acre Howard to buy historic Belmont estate $89,000 of $2.7 million price is owed to HCC By Jessica Anderson The Baltimore Sun The primary election is over, but in one district, the bickering between candidates continues. Belinda Conaway, the only City Council member to lose a seat, has asked the U.S. attorney for Maryland to prosecute her challenger, alleging that her opponent unlawfully used an IRS logo in campaign literature.

Conaway failed by 648 votes in her bid for a third term representing the northwest side in the Democratic primary last week. She lays much of the blame for that loss on the campaign tactics of her opponent, Nick Mosby. campaign issued two mass mailers that Conaway said falsely accused her of lying on her federal tax returns, including one that appeared to have an IRS logo. The effect of the fliers was devastating, personally and politically, she said. combined message of the two mailers was to tell voters that I had violated federal tax laws and that I was subject to enforcement Conaway wrote in a Sept.

19 letter to Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. casual reader would think that I was on the verge of imprisonment for tax letter cites a section of U.S. code that she believes makes flier illegal.

staff confirmed receipt of letter Monday but declined to comment until they have reviewed the issue. Mosby, an electrical engineer, said he was unaware that the use of government agency logos might be prohibited. He said he has not seen letter to Rosenstein, and that he is not alarmed. is consistent with everything she has done in the he said. sues One of fliers replicated the official IRS logo and alleged that Conaway lied about her legal residence.

The other depicted a hands clutching prison bars. Both mailers include a candid photo of Conaway with her arms raised. is egregious to imply that I have lied to the Conaway said Tuesday. has not asked my permission to see my tax On Tuesday, Conaway also accused Mosby of mishandling his estate. Mosby said the accusations stem from her disappointment in the election outcome.

campaign and did nothing to he said. basically ran on her own mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com Belinda Conaway was the only Baltimore City Council member to lose her seat. KARL M. BALTIMORE SUN PHOTO Conaway asks U.S. to probe challenger She says Mosby illegally used IRS logo on literature By Mary Gail Hare The Baltimore Sun AHalloween without pumpkins? Good grief! But before you race to the grocery store for canned pumpkin to mold into favorite orange orb, consider this: While the soggy residents of Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont are facing a shortage of jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treat- ers will be spared the trauma.

definitely lost some, but pumpkins will be said Dwight Baugher, who has started harvesting more than 70 acres of oversized squash at Orchard and Farm in Westminster. be Already his workers are stacking the fruits of the fields in wooden bins for sale at his market off Route 140. Other pumpkin patches will be left for the pick-it-yourself crowd that will come on October weekends. The heavy rains that accompanied Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee played havoc with the pumpkin crop north of Maryland, washing unripened fruit right off the vines and leaving a calling card of mold and rot on the survivors. Wholesale prices in that region have doubled and farmers with produce stands or who supply other markets are trying to buy pumpkins from regions that were spared.

While Maryland had more than its share of moisture, the pumpkins took it in stride, farmers said. Well- draining fields away from streams and farms on the fringe of the heaviest weather fared well. Crops in low-lying areas or closer to the Susquehanna River basin, where fury was concentrated, sustained the most damage. bad weather means bad pumpkins, but we had a healthy said Brooke Rodgers, who cultivates about 13 acres of pumpkins at North Run Farm in Stevenson. probably a combination of geography and Despite their hardy appearance, pumpkins can be shrinking violets when it comes to weather.

For example, a cold, rainy spring and a dry August conspired to make 2009 a terrible year. Last year, when the weather was more to their liking, pumpkins rebounded, raising hopes for another bumper crop this year. In early August, before the rains came, a good portion of the state experienced moderate drought conditions pumpkins like that, either. But good irrigation systems kept things on track in many areas, said Mike Newell, crop manager at the University of research center at Wye River on the Eastern Shore. Still, the pounding rains and high winds that came later took their toll, reducing acre-sized test crop of 20 pumpkin varieties by 50 percent.

However nearby, Paul Jackson, owner of Produce in Cambridge, said he has started picking his 10 acres and will leave some on the vine for the do-it-yourself folks. always plant more than I need, but I would say buy early. wait until Oct. 15 or he said of his supply. Western Maryland fared better this growing season, if the test crop in Keedysville is an indicator.

always hard to said Bryan Butler, the Carroll County extension agent for the University of Maryland. green pumpkins and green foliage, you really know what got until you get out in the And what did he find on the first day of picking on Monday? good. Good quality. Good color. every bit as good if not better than Butler said.

In the event demand exceeds supply, Maryland growers said, always the well-established agriculture infrastructure to fall back on. Big pumpkin-producing states such as Ohio, Illinois and Michigan regularly truck their bounty to supermarkets and farm stands in this region. Besides, selling all you have is good business, said manager Cheryl Vural. supposed to be done at the she said. Nov.

1, pumpkins kind of lose their candy.thomson@baltsun.com Crop not squashed Dwight Baugher says his pumpkin crop at Orchard and Farm did not suffer from the heavy rains of Irene and Lee. KIM SUN PHOTO pumpkins mostly unaffected by rain; nearby states face shortage By Candus Thomson The Baltimore Sun Pumpkin-picking advice Select a pumpkin that is orange all over and check to make sure the stem is strong. Avoid pumpkins with soft spots or cracks and check for bugs. If the pumpkin is to become a jack-o-lantern, make sure it has a flat bottom. Medium pumpkins are best for carving; smaller ones are best for cooking.

University of Maryland Extension has a list of markets and pick-your-own locations at marylandagriculture.info. Video online Go to baltimoresun.com to see video of the pumpkins at Orchard and Farm..