Carroll County

Going from zero to 60 mph in one second will make people stop and stare, but Rod Saboury need not drive his 2,400-horsepower, twin-turbo-charged Corvette that fast to grab attention. Sometimes, the Millers resident and National Hot Rod Association driver cruises along Carroll County's streets or pulls up into a McDonald's drive-through, and then heads turn - fixated on the Corvette's dragster-engine sound, fire-red exterior and hot-rod designs. "It's like driving a UFO on the highway," says Saboury, 58, whose 1963-model Corvette is widely regarded as the fastest street-legal car on the planet.

Our Howard County news bureau begins the new year in a new location: 10750 Little Patuxent Parkway Columbia, Md. 21044. Telephone: 410-730-3990. Fax: 410-992-5339. Editor: Bureau chief: Daniel P. Clemens Jr., 410-730-3990, ext. 1160; dan.clemens@baltsun.com Reporters: County government: Larry Carson, 410-730-3990, ext. 1204; larry.carson@baltsun.com Education: John-John Williams IV, 410-730-3990, ext. 1395; john-john.williams@baltsun.com Police/fire/courts: Don Markus, 410-730-3990, ext. 1202; don.markus@baltsun.

Teen dies defending friends Michael Simms, 18, a reservist fresh out of Marine boot camp, was fatally stabbed in East Baltimore when he came to the aid of two friends. Student-loan code pushed Maryland's attorney general asked colleges in Maryland to adopt within two weeks a student-loan code of conduct. Council president joins the race Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the Baltimore Council president, announced her intention to run for a full term. A pain in the leg for O'Malley Gov. Martin O'Malley decided to exercise on a treadmill, but the painful result was a stress fracture in his left tibia.

Offices to close for King holiday Carroll County Government offices will be closed tomorrow for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Carroll County public libraries, public schools and senior centers also will be closed tomorrow. Northern Landfill and the Recycling Center will be open tomorrow. Trash pickup schedule changed The Westminster Department of Public Works has announced a change in trash and other pick-up for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Brush and metal for the entire city will be picked up on Tuesday.

Horticulturists display giant basil plants and other potted herbs in the parking lot behind Mount Airy's old train station every Wednesday afternoon. Other local farmers offer a smattering of greenhouse-grown tomatoes, peas, green beans and beets. Beekeepers peddling wildflower honey and an egg lady also set up shop there. The recently resurrected Mount Airy Farmers' Market is part of the town's efforts to encourage more residents to shop and eat downtown. "The old historic Main Street is the heart of the town," said Ellie Bonde, who co-owns Blossom & Basket Boutique, which faces the new market site.

A Westminster infant who died from shaken baby syndrome in October will likely be classified as a homicide victim, the only homicide in Carroll County in 2006, state police said yesterday. The 3-month-old boy, Rylee J. Emge, died two days after sustaining severe injuries Oct. 13, according to court documents. After an investigation, the baby's father, Ryan J. Emge, 19, was indicted Dec. 8 on six counts of child abuse and assault in connection with the death. Emge is accused of assaulting his son in their Westminster apartment in the 500 block of Lacosta Circle.

Volunteer Carroll to set up fundraiser Volunteer Carroll will hold a meeting to establish a new fundraiser at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Nonprofit Center, 255 Clifton Blvd., Westminster. The fundraiser will feature a karaoke/American Idol approach, with auditions over three evenings and a final event showcasing Carroll residents' talents at the Westminster Fallfest. Anyone interested in supporting Volunteer Carroll by serving on a committee for this fundraiser is asked to send an e-mail to volunteercarroll@ aol.com.

Meeting set on master plan A public meeting on the proposed 2007-2016 educational facilities master plan will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Cranberry Station Elementary School, 505 N. Center St., Westminster. The superintendent's staff will present the report and take public comment. The facilities master plan will be presented to the Board of Education for approval at 5 p.m. June 13. Information: 410-751-3177. School board to meet Wednesday The Carroll County Board of Education will meet at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the boardroom at 125 N. Court St., Westminster, to approve the fiscal year 2008 operating budget categorical totals.

The Carroll County commissioners have voted to create a county police department with an appointed chief to replace a resident trooper program that has been based at the state police barracks in Westminster for 33 years. Carroll County is the last jurisdiction in Maryland to rely on the state police as its primary law enforcement agency. Yesterday's decision came after years of discussion among county and police officials about dissolving the state program because of the expense and a shortage of available troopers.

The Carroll County Board of Education will meet at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at the board offices, 125 N. Court St., Westminster, to interview 22 candidates for a board seat left vacant by the resignation of Thomas G. Hiltz. The candidates are: Diana L. Bennett, Valerie Murphy Hickey, Maureen Norton, Xiomara Pierre, Finksburg; John Carr, Linwood; Michele Kraus Carroll, Debra L. Cromwell, Marriottsville; Stephanie Dahlquist, Tom Rhoads, Manchester; Barbara A. Gunther, David H. Roush, Timothy Schlauch, Jeff Sheehan, Debra J. Tervala, Westminster; Virginia Harrison, Michele Hughes, Sykesville; Lee Ann Leshko-Lindsay, Mount Airy; George E. Maloney, New Windsor; Jeffrey L. Morse, Taneytown; George Potter, Union Bridge; Stanley Prouser, Eldersburg; C. Scott Stone, Hampstead.

After starting this season with three games they would rather forget, the Century Knights again showed Friday their intent to make this season a memorable one. For the third straight week, they dominated a fellow Carroll County opponent, building an early 19-point lead before rolling to a 26-0 win over visiting Winters Mill. Following losses in each of its first three weeks, Century (3-3 overall, 3-0 Carroll County) now has beaten its past three opponents - Manchester Valley, South Carroll and Winters Mill - by a combined score of 117-6.

After the second fatal car accident in less than three months on the same stretch of Route 32, local and state officials are considering a "short-term" plan to resurface and restripe the three-mile section of roadway near the Howard County-Carroll County line. Dr. Brian Emery was killed late Thursday afternoon when his Acura was rear-ended as he tried to make a left turn from a northbound lane of Route 32 onto Amberwoods Way. Emery's car was sent into the southbound lanes, where it was hit by a pickup truck.

Andrew Rauch walked a mile wearing women's boots Saturday and couldn't wait to yank them off. "They were hurting as soon as I put them on," he said, pulling off a pair of leather boots with 4-inch heels that he had borrowed from a friend. "They were two sizes too small," he said. But as he sat on the ground rubbing his aching feet, Rauch said the walk on the female side of life "was worth it." Rauch, a junior at McDaniel College, was one of an estimated 250 pedestrians, most of them men, who wobbled a mile wearing women's shoes to raise money for the Rape Crisis Intervention Service of Carroll County.

Carroll County schools Superintendent Charles I. Ecker, who has spent 60 years in public service and education, including two terms as Howard County executive, will retire at the end of this school year. Ecker, 80, told the school board Wednesday night that he will leave the system when his second term expires June 30. "I've been at this for a long time," the Westminster High School graduate said later. "I started teaching in 1951. ... I had a wonderful life, a wonderful career." Soon after beginning his teaching career, he became Carroll County's first supervisor of transportation and was assistant superintendent.

Hear a name often enough, and you won't think twice about it. But that doesn't change the fact that Maryland has some oddly named places. Accident, for instance. Or Boring. Or Bivalve. I wonder if a strange name keeps people from moving in. I'd like to think it instead attracts residents who like a little whimsy in their lives, or at least their mailing addresses. Accident, in Western Maryland, does not appear to be named after a disaster. Historian Mary Miller Strauss writes in "Flowery Vale," a history of Accident, that it's impossible to say for sure, but she believes a story about land speculation.

As Maryland's public schools reopen for a new year during a time of economic turmoil, some systems are taking tough measures to stem the fiscal bleeding, such as furloughing employees, denying teacher pay raises and increasing class sizes. In Anne Arundel County, a generally well-regarded school system of 74,000 students, teachers and students returning for the first day of school today will be getting a sort of inadvertent lesson in economics. The recession has translated into teachers being furloughed for three days, larger class sizes in some middle and high schools and the savings of $50,000 by forgoing new textbooks in Anne Arundel's 120 schools.

Fire that displaced 30 people in Essex caused by candle A two-alarm fire late Wednesday in the Hartland Village neighborhood of Essex that extensively damaged at least seven apartment-style town houses and displaced 30 residents was caused by a burning candle, according to a Baltimore County fire spokeswoman. No injuries were reported, but several of the 16 affected homes were deemed uninhabitable because of loss of power. A resident in a second-story bedroom lit a candle, which fell from a nightstand and ignited combustible materials, according to county fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

Teenage suspect arrested in fatal stabbing downtown 1 Baltimore police have arrested a 17-year-old suspect who they said stabbed a man in the chest as two groups fought in the 300 block of N. Paca St. early Saturday. The victim, whose identity was unknown, was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:28 a.m., said Agent Donny Moses, a police spokesman. With the help of CitiWatch cameras, police distributed a description of the attacker and Oscar Skinner, of the 400 block Whitridge Ave. in Charles Village was apprehended moments after the 1:40 a.m. incident.

A Howard County jury took an hour Tuesday to find a 38-year-old Carroll County man guilty of using a high school friend's identity to obtain a Florida driver's license so he could avoid prosecution for driving after his own Maryland license had been revoked. Gerald Titus Jr. of the 2200 block of Gillis Road in Woodbine will be sentenced by Judge Louis A. Becker III in October. Titus, who seemed on the verge of accepting a plea that would have carried an 18-month sentence in county jail, faces up to 3 1/2 years in a state facility.

Ethel M. Yingling, a longtime volunteer whose efforts led to the building of the Carroll Hospital Center and Carroll Lutheran Village, died in her sleep Monday at the Mays Chapel Ridge assisted-living facility in Timonium. She was 96. Ethel M. Abbott was born and raised on her family's farm in Finksburg. She attended Carroll County public schools. She was married in 1933 to David G. Yingling Sr., who was a co-owner of Yingling Bros., a Union Bridge meat-packing firm and purveyor. He died in 1987.