January 05, 1992
Teen drowns in reservoir: Paul Marcum of Mount Airy, who had just graduated from South Carroll High School, drowns near the Route 32 bridge over Liberty Reservoir between Gamber and Eldersburg. State police said the accident occurred at 11:48 p.m. while Marcum andfive friends were swimming at the reservoir. Police reports said thegroup was swimming under the bridge when the 18-year-old slipped under the water. His friends noticed he was missing when they reached the shore, and some of them went for help in the car and flagged down astate trooper. The youths were drinking alcohol, state police said.
Yes to site plan: The Planning and Zoning Commission approves a site plan for a new industrial park off Route 30 in Hampstead while raising concerns about a "natural" buffer to hide the park from view of residents of the nearby Robert's Field development. The developer, Charles C. Harwood of Owings Mills, Baltimore County, must present a more detailed plan before the project can go forward. The 36-acre industrial park would be called Trenton Business Center; no businesses have bought lots yet. As each buyer comes along, the Planning and ZoningCommission must approve the type of businesses that goes in, along with site plan and other details.
Vo-tech students win 3: Three Carroll County Career and Technology students garnered medals, includingone gold, in the National Vocational Industrial Clubs of America Leadership Conference and Skill Olympics in Louisville, Ky. In addition,the school's five-member health occupation bowl team placed second in a quiz involving health-related issues and current events. Jesse Wyatt of Hampstead won a gold medal in residential wiring, Nikki Hahn of Manchester won a silver medal after demonstrating how to make a corsage in a job skills contest, and Robert Clark of Westminster won a bronze medal in electronic product servicing.
Money for roads: About the only surprise to come out of the General Assembly's special session is the news that up to $3 million for highways could make its way to the county before summer's end. In passing higher Motor Vehicle Administration fees Wednesday, the House of Delegates and Senate guaranteed at least $300 million statewide in federal highway grants, a move that gives the green light to numerous stalled road projects. A $2 million resurfacing of Route 194 near Taneytown, the $750,000 repair of the Little Pipe Creek Bridge along Route 75 in Union Bridge, anda $100,000 improvement to the intersection of routes 97 and 32 are expected to get the go-ahead.
July
Access is lacking: The Maryland Commission on Human Relations finds that Western Maryland College,Westminster High School and Leisure Health Spa of Westminster discriminate against wheelchair-users. The findings are issued after complaints were filed by Marilynn J. Phillips, a 47-year-old Hampstead resident who is a professor of English at Morgan State University. Phillips, who uses a wheelchair as a result of a childhood bout with polio,said she files complaints with the commission any time she finds barriers to access. WMC and the others can appeal the finding, work withMCHR to eradicate the problems or ask to have the matter put before a public hearing.
Alcohol not a factor: The state Medical Examiner's Office rules out alcohol as a factor in the drowning of 18-year-old South Carroll High graduate Paul Marcum. Dr. Margarita Korell, an assistant medical examiner, said Marcum had "a very, very small amount. . . a trace" of alcohol in his body. The youth, who drowned while swimming with friends late at night in Liberty Reservoir, may have been hampered by a knee injury, according to his father.
Mining industry sues: The Maryland Aggregates Association Inc., a state mining group, files suit in Baltimore County Circuit Court challenging a new law that protects residents from mining damage to their property. Thesuit, filed the day the law took effect, prompted the bill's sponsors to question the industry's integrity. "It's a clear sign to people they lack integrity and lack concern for citizens who live near mining facilities," said Delegate Richard N. Dixon, D-Carroll. Said MAA President Samuel W. Christine III, "We don't want to have to comply with the law because we think it's unconstitutional."
Murder sentenceupheld: A Maryland Court of Appeals upholds Brian Richard Jordan's convictions in the 1987 murder of South Carroll High School student Richard Purman. Jordan was 17 when he was convicted in 1988 of felony murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, and conspiracy to commitrobbery and sentenced to two life and two 10-year terms to be servedconsecutively. The state's highest court did agree to reduce Jordan's sentence slightly, saying that the facts in the case "did not support the determination that two conspiracies existed." The judges unanimously ruled one of the 10-year sentences for conspiracy illegal and threw it out.
