January 05, 1992
Schools redistrict: After weighing five options and listening to lengthy public debate, the school board chooses Option D to alleviate overcrowding at Manchester and Hampstead elementaries and to balance enrollment between those schools.Under the plan, 176 students will be transferred from Manchester to Hampstead Elementary, despite the protests of a dozen parents who showed up at the board meeting.
No school again: For the third time in a week, snow closes area schools. Friday's storm dumped an additional three inches of snow on the county, which was busy digging out from the seven inches that fell on Monday and the coating of ice on Wednesday that compounded the weather woes.
Budget ax falls: Because of stagnant revenues, Carroll will spend less money on roads, bridges,buildings and schools during fiscal 1991 than it has in two years. The Management and Budget Office trims nearly $48 million from the $93.4 million that agencies wanted to spend on capital projects. Some 18road construction projects are cut, along with $9.9 million worth ofeducation construction and plans for athletic fields at Carroll Community College.
Master of the farm universe: Ralph L. Robertson Jr., a dairy farmer who owns a farm just outside of Westminster, receives a "Master Farmer" award sponsored by a Pennsylvania magazine and colleges in five states, including the University of Maryland. He was one of six winners out of 200 nominees, and the only Maryland farmer to win this year. Master farmers must show financial progress and innovation in agricultural practices and must be involved in community and agriculture organizations, says John R. Vogel, editor of Pennsylvania Farmer magazine.
Firefighters divided: The 14 volunteer fire companies are divided on a proposal to merge the governing structures of fire and emergency medical services. Six agree with the plan, whichis part of the Emergency Services Planning Board's attempt to develop a master plan for county emergency services. Three would agree to some changes, and five companies oppose the measure, fearing it will burden volunteers with still more meetings.
Westminster wavering: Westminster Mayor W. Benjamin Brown announces at a news conference that it is time to rethink the plan for reconstruction of the city's East Main Street. Residents have actively opposed the plan, which calls for widening portions of the road to 40 feet, for months.
Klan marches: About 25 robed members of the Ku Klux Klan march through Taneytown after a rally in Rocky Ridge, Frederick County, state police report. Police said the Klansmen were accompanied by a group of younger people dressed in camouflage and carrying billy clubs. The march was uneventful and the Klansmen dispersed after state police 1st Lt. Kenneth L. Tregonning talked with one of them.
Residents resent carbon:Union Bridge residents turn out in force on two nights to protest a plan by Lehigh Portland Cement Co. to burn carbon waste in its kilns.Lehigh wants the state to permit burning lumps of carbon waste mixedwith coal as an alternative fuel.
February
Counting heads: Thecounty's Planning Office, which monitors building permits, occupancyrecords and utility hookups, counted 127,559 Carroll residents on April 1. But the U.S. Census said the number for that date should have been 123,372. County officials say they won't challenge census figures since they can live with that 3 percent discrepancy.
Intersection irks drivers: Some 275 South Carroll residents cram the Liberty High School cafeteria to complain about the dangerous intersection at Mineral Hill Road and Conan Doyle Way. The recently redesigned intersection changed Mineral Hill Road from a two-lane, two-way street into aone-way street for a portion of the intersection. Southbound travelers on Mineral Hill must veer right onto Conan Doyle, stop, then re-enter Mineral Hill. Residents say motorist routinely go the wrong way down Mineral Hill to avoid the stop and additional turn; after hearingtestimony and being presented with a petition with 313 signatures, county commissioners agree the road needs changing.
Chief promises to stay: For the fifth time in as many years, Manchester's three- manpolice force has a new chief. And Donald M. Myers, 51, a former Taneytown police chief, says he plans to stay in the $23,500-a-year job until it's time to retire.
Marine is in battle: U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Michael Earl Somers, 19, of Westminster is among the first Marines to see action in Operation Desert Storm. Somers, a 1989 graduate ofWestminster High, operates the radio on an infantry fighting vehiclein the battle for Khafji on the Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian border.
