Home prices increase
The new year greets young couples with an average county home price of $130,000. That's a 72 percent increase in the last four years; in 1986 a median-priced home cost just $75,582. For young families hoping to own their own home, Carroll proves a tough place to start on the American dream. Developers and real estate agents predict prices will continue to rise.
Patrols end
State police end saturation patrols along Route 30 in northern Carroll County. Police began the patrols after an alcohol-related accident claimed six lives there on Sept. 30, 1989. As a result of the patrols, which concentrated on weekends and peak traffic hours, 184 drivers were ticketed for speeding and other moving violations, and six motorists were charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
Boyer motions filed
Lawyers for Mount Airy Mayor Linda R. Boyer file several motions following a Frederick County Circuit Court jury's decision last month that she slandered an area developer. The jury awarded the developer, James M. Frey, $775,000. The motions ask that the judge grant a judgment in Mayor Boyer's favor, that a new trial be granted and that damages be reduced.
Griffith criticizes government
Commissioner Jeff Griffith -- citing a Carroll Chamber of Commerce survey in which 66 percent of the respondents wanted a change from the part-time three-commissioner government -- tells a chamber gathering that a new system is "long overdue." The current system is overwhelmed by rapid development and an expanding population, say some officials, residents and activist groups. Griffith says Carroll "badly" needs code home rule government, which would allow the county to enact its own laws instead of passing them through the General Assembly.
More schools
The Maryland Interagency Committee on School construction grants the county $2.6 million to offset the cost of building a fourth elementary school in Westminster. IAC officials also give the public school system the green light to design a new Taneytown/Uniontown elementary school.
Homeless shelter?
A county task force on the homeless studies whether the Salvation Army should operate an emergency shelter for homeless alcoholics and drug addicts. Task force members say finding a place for the shelter won't be easy. "Everybody's all for it except when you want to put it right next to them," says Sylvia V. Canon, manager of emergency services for the county Department of Social Services.
'No' to women in combat
Rep. Beverly B. Byron, D-6th, is opposed to women serving in fighting positions although she praised the fighting done by female soldiers in Panama. "I think women are perfectly capable of handling many roles. I'm just not ready to see us send them into combat units," she says. Congress will be evaluating women's expanding roles in the armed forces during March congressional hearings, which were scheduled before the invasion.
Snowy accident kills man
An unpredicted storm blankets the county with up to 7 inches of snow and contributes to the year's first traffic fatality. Gregory W. Newman, 21, of New Windsor is killed on Route 140 when his car slides across the median into the path of a tractor trailer. Nearly 50 other accidents also are linked to the weather.
Criticism irks Hobbs
Saying he's tired of all the hounding by a citizens coalition, Mount Airy council President R. Delaine Hobbs announces he will not run for re-election in May. He has served continually since first being elected in 1966. He says the recent criticism by the Mount Airy Citizens Coalition is the prime factor in his decision. The self-described watchdog group was formed last year after several citizens opposed the manner in which the town adopted its budget.
Protection isn't cheap
A public safety commission, appointed by the County Commissioners to study problems associated with the county's rapid growth, tells the commissioners the county might need to form its own police department in the 1990s. That will cost taxpayers more than the current system, which relies on the state Resident Trooper Program. Currently the county has about 155 law enforcement officers, including 48 resident troopers, 43 state troopers and municipal police; based on population predictions, the county could need 31 more officers by the year 2000.
Leggett turns 25
Since Leggett department store opened in Westminster 25 years ago, it has been at three locations and has almost doubled its number of employees.
And 74-year-old Norma C. Schlerf of Westminster has been behind one counter or another for the last quarter-century. She's the only employee still working who was there for the store's original grand opening.
Good fences
