Two local candidates have joined four others from a national search to choose the 14th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.
The. Rev. Mark Gatza, 52, and the Rev. Lura M. Kaval, 45, were added at the end of the petition period, during which church members can nominate candidates.
Gatza works for the Maryland diocese as canon missioner for clergy deployment, congregational development and evangelism. Kaval is rector of St. Christopher's Episcopal Church in Linthicum. In early March, all of the candidates are scheduled to meet with church members. The successor to Bishop Robert W. Ihloff, who retired last year, will be elected March 29.
They join the four candidates chosen by a diocesan search committee a month ago -- the Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, 54, canon pastor of Washington's National Cathedral; the Rev. Jane Soyster Gould, 51, rector of St. Stephen's Memorial Church in Lynn, Mass.; the Rev. Peter D. Eaton, 49, dean of St. John's Cathedral in Denver, and the Rev. John C. N. Hall, 49, rector of St. Matthew's Church in Chandler, Ariz.
Baltimore
: District Court
Man guilty of selling growth hormone
A Texas man pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to selling human grown hormone from a Chinese company to customers in Maryland without approval from the Food and Drug Administration, prosecutors said.
Bradley C. Blum, 36, identified himself as an agent for Gene- Science China, which does not have approval to import into the United States, prosecutors said. In a statement, prosecutors said that several parcels of the hormone seized by immigration officials between 2004 and 2006 were addressed to Blum.
Prosecutors said that customers, including 15 in Maryland, contacted Blum over the Internet to make the sale. They said 50 deliveries were made to the Maryland customers, and more than 600 were made to others across the nation. Prosecutors said Blum obtained $1.5 million from sales through Gene- Science.
Blum faces a maximum five years in federal prison when he is sentenced Oct. 10. A federal grand jury in Rhode Island has charged GeneScience Pharmaceutical Co. with international trafficking "in which millions of dollars worth of human grown hormone was smuggled into the United States and other countries," prosecutors said.
Circuit Court
Man admits killing, gets 30 years
A 21-year-old North Baltimore man was sentenced to 30 years in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a 2006 gang-related slaying.
The city state's attorneys office said jury selection in the case of Davon Gardner of the 2500 block of Loyola Northway was about to begin yesterday when Gardner entered his plea before Circuit Judge John Carroll Byrnes.
Byrnes sentenced Gardner to life in prison but suspended all but 30 years. He will also serve five years of probation.
Tax assistance
Low-income earners can get help filing
Low-income taxpayers can get free tax help from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays through March 1. Volunteers are also available Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday during the day and early evening through Feb. 29. Free electronic filing is available, and other free services include filing of back taxes and representation in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service.
Appointments, which are required, are available at Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service's office, 1 N. Charles St., Suite 222. Call 410-547-6537 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday.