If someone right now were to call the national mental health and suicide prevention phone number — the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — there’s a chance they’d be sent to a call center thousands of miles away. Where a caller is sent depends on the area code of their telephone number. That means someone who originally got their phone number in Maryland or some other distant state would be routed to that state even if they were currently in Sacramento. This can be a huge problem for the counselors...

Dealing with a growth spurt and a position change, Red Land’s Elijah Espinosa was a relatively late bloomer, and his college basketball recruitment followed a similar pattern. But that journey ended on a high note on Monday, as the 6-foot-9 senior big man announced his commitment to Division I program Mount St. Mary’s. “Mount St. Mary’s is close to home,” Espinosa said. “Which made it an easy choice and I’m very glad my mom will still be able to travel for games.” The big man led the Mid-Penn in blocks...

The cause and manner of Gentry’s death are currently pending autopsy results. Man who lived with mother charged with her murder after police find body in bathtub A man who lived with his mother allegedly murdered her and left her body in the bathtub inside their shared home, police say. Jeremy Gentry, a 48-year-old man from Fruitland, Maryland, has been charged with first and second degree murder, first and second degree assault and reckless endangerment after Beatrice Kay Gentry, 68, was found dead inside their home on the 200 block...

Marylanders will be faced with untenable choices when they cast their votes during the primary election to select their representatives and leaders. We have lots of good candidates, but we have an election system incapable of discerning whom most voters support. Crowded fields of candidates are contesting each other for the nominations to the open seats in the U.S. House. In Maryland’s 3rd District, Democrats have 22 candidates to choose from, and Republicans have nine choices. Other races have anywhere from 3 to 16 candidates, including Baltimore City’s race for...

Dr. Werner Spitz, a pathologist whose accounts of the traumatic last moments in some of the most sensational American deaths of the past 60 years figured in cases involving President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., O.J. Simpson, JonBenét Ramsey, Mary Jo Kopechne and many others, died April 14 in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. He was 97. He died in hospice care after a brief illness, his son Dr. Daniel Spitz said. Werner Spitz’s career of more than 60 years traced to the early days...

A Maryland man was arrested Monday after allegedly murdering his mother and leaving her body inside a bathroom of the home the two of them shared. Jeremy Gentry, 48, was charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment in connection with the death of Beatrice Kay Gentry, 68, according to Maryland State Police. The Fruitland Police Department and emergency medical service personnel responded to a report of an unconscious woman at a home on Sand Castle Boulevard at about 9 p.m. Sunday. After first responders...

The State Department is failing to recruit a Foreign Service that fully represents the American people, as required by the Foreign Service Act of 1980. One of State’s most glaring recruitment shortcomings is its inability to hire new Foreign Service officers (FSOs) who come from all geographic regions of America. This ongoing failure helps to perpetuate the mindset of the current Foreign Service and shape its policy attitudes. Fielding a U.S. diplomatic and consular corps that truly reflects the geographic diversity and values of the American people, and not just...

Monumental Sports & Entertainment to expand operations in partnership with District of Columbia By D. Kevin McNeir Special to the AFRO A collective sigh of relief could be heard throughout the DMV (District, Maryland and Virginia) after the news broke on March 27, announcing that a deal had been made with Ted Leonis, owner of the Wizards and Capitals, and Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser that will keep the teams in downtown D.C. until 2050. The agreement becomes official once approved by the District Council. However, that appears to be...

Corinne Bednarik made sure Jenika Cuocco’s effort did not go wasted. Cuocco made a game-high 16 saves — including two in overtime — and Bednarik scored the game-winning goal with 22.6 seconds left in the extra session to propel visiting Drexel to a 9-8 victory over Towson in a key Coastal Athletic Association matchup Friday before an announced 247 at Tiger Field in Towson. Bednarik’s tally was her fourth goal and fifth point of the game and — just as importantly — cemented what Cuocco and the defense had done...

Neighbors of a gay couple in Maryland were shocked to find out they were arrested for possession of child pornography after getting flagged by IKEA. 41-year-old Robert Sherer and 54-year-old Robert Books were arrested Wednesday after police were tipped off about Sherer allegedly downloading child pornography on his work computer. He worked as a senior resolutions generalist at IKEA in White Marsh. The company, which is based in Sweden, notified Swedish police about the alarming discovery after confirming the accusation.