Family Day Care

Counterfeit $100 bill used to pay county taxSomeone used a fake $100 bill to make a tax payment last month, but the ruse wasn't discovered until the bill was deposited at Carroll County Bank and Trust Co., the county comptroller said yesterday.County officials probably will not be able to find out who used the counterfeit bill, Comptroller Eugene C. Curfman said.The fake was deposited at the bank on July 25, he said.Carroll Human Services sponsors food programThe Human Services Programs of Carroll County Inc. announces the sponsorship of the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

LIGHTEN UP . . . call if you're running late . . . have a backup system in place before you need it . . . spend 10 minutes a day talking with each child . . . remember there's a kid inside you, too . . . talk to your child . . . talk to your care-giver . . . know what kind of child care you're looking for . . . keep your sense of humor . . . .This is what child-care providers around the state are saying, but only when asked, to parents who work outside the...

In Tuesday's Evening Sun, the phone number for Marilyn Spence, child-care coordinator for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, was listed incorrectly. The correct number is 396-4271. The Evening Sun regrets the error.THERE ARE brand new books, unplayed games and shiny trucks filled with bright blocks in the Children's Book, Toy and Game Lending Library at the Somerset Child Care Center in East Baltimore.Soon the 62 children who attend that center and several hundred others who live in the neighborhood will be reading those books and sharing those playthings.

Developers who make campaign contributions to Zoning Board members would have to note those gifts in board records under a bill before the county's Annapolis delegation.The delegation will have a joint hearing on this and 12 other bills next Wednesday night in the countyoffice building.Also being considered are a 5 percent county hotel tax, a building excise tax deemed an essential part of the county's adequate facilities legislation, a family day-care exemption in residential neighborhoods, several state grants, changes in the county's liquor laws, anda prohibition against "obscene live performances."

When Mary Zaleski had trouble finding day care for her four children about three years ago, she quit her job managing a toy store and went into the day-care business full time.These days, she watches five children in her Rosedale town house. As word got around the neighborhood that she was offering the service, she found herself more and more in demand.Two families are on her waiting list. A third mother says she is not likely to give birth until a space opens up in Mrs. Zaleski's home, which is licensed by the state and inspected annually by a county fire official.

Anne Arundel County Department of Aging is holding its annual Law Day for Older Adults from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 15 at Anne Arundel Community College.Law Day focuses on issues of interest to older adults, their caregivers and relatives, with workshops on probate and alternatives, financial powers of attorney, Medicare changes, Medicaid eligibility for long-term care, and wills and trusts. Lynne A. Battaglia, U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, will speak on "Older Adults: A Healthy Look at the Laws Affecting Us."

New regulations for day-careFAMILY DAY-care providers throughout the state are encouraged to educate themselves about the new regulations and licensing procedures during a series of training sessions being held through Nov. 4. The next sessions are Saturday at the Harford Institute, 2555 Harford Road, and at the Community College of Baltimore. All sessions will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information and a schedule of subsequent sessions, phone the regional office of Child Care Licensing and Regulation, 333-5644.

HONG KONG - Health officials announced here last night the death of a 2-year-old boy from anthrax but said the case did not appear to involve biological terrorism. The anthrax appears to have entered the boy orally, first affecting the back of his throat, and does not appear to have been inhaled, said Dr. Tse Lai-yin of the Hong Kong Health Department's disease prevention and control division. Terrorists would be more likely to disperse anthrax in such a way that victims would inhale it, not ingest it, she said.

A Westminster man was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in state prison for sexually abusing one of the children who attended his wife's family day care center.Carroll Circuit Judge Raymond E. Beck Sr. sentenced Robert Oliver Braman Jr., 38, to 20 years in prison, but suspended 10 years of the sentence.Braman, of the 100 block of Leisters Church Road, was convicted by the judge at a bench trial in October of a second-degree sex offense and three related charges.Judge Beck imposed concurrent sentences for Braman's convictions on another count of second-degree sex offense, one count of third-degree sex offense and one count of child abuse.

'Monster' ThisEditor: If a restaurant ad said, "Bring your gluttonous self to ravage our food," would you think they respected you as a customer?" What if a theater advertised, "Come with your silly friends to see our flicks"? Would you be enticed into going there?The Maryland Science Center's dinosaur exhibit is advertising with a campaign that says, "bring your little monster to see ours." My 5-year-old has seen this ad during cartoon programs and thinks it means to take his toy dinosaurs with him to the Science Center.