Frederick County

A driver and passenger were killed in Frederick County yesterday when their car hit a telephone pole, flipped and caught fire at about 4 p.m., authorities said.The car, a 1994 Acura, was southbound on Harney Road near Bullfrog Road, the Frederick County Sheriff's office reported.The two bodies, which had not been identified last night, were taken to the state medical examiner's office in Baltimore, the sheriff's office said.

JEFFERSON -- Tom Patrick helps people create wildlife habitats in their backyards by phone, fax and mail from his office in a rustic barn just a few dozen steps from home.Georgia Patrick runs a home-based business -- consulting for professional and trade associations -- from an adjacent office, which, like her husband's, affords sweeping views of the rolling hills of southwestern Frederick County."This is what a lot of people would like to be doing," said Mrs. Patrick. "You don't expect problems.

FREDERICK -- A man awaiting trial on two murder charges scaled a 22-foot-high fence topped with razor wire at the Frederick County Adult Detention Center yesterday, escaping for three hours before he was captured near Interstate 270, authorities said.Darren E. Witmer, 24, of Frederick surrendered to authorities about 1 p.m. in a wooded part of Monocacy National Battlefield near the southbound lanes of I-270 about a mile southeast of the Frederick County Adult Detention Center, according to the county sheriff's office.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of a blaze that destroyed a two-story house near New Midway in Frederick County late Monday.The blaze was brought under control in 45 minutes by 75 firefighters from eight volunteer companies, including Union Bridge in Carroll County. Firefighters estimated the loss at $150,000.The house in the 12500 block of Legore Road is owned by a Silver Spring doctor. The occupants, Lewis F. Peters, 46, who discovered the fire at 9: 15 p.m., and George R. Grape, 72, were not injured, fire marshals said.

Two homemade pipe bombs were found in a sophomore's backpack at Middletown High School in Frederick County, prompting school officials to evacuate nearly 1,300 students and dismiss them for the day, authorities said. School officials were tipped off by another student, who said the 14-year-old boy had the devices. They searched his bag, evacuated the school and called in law enforcement authorities, including the county sheriff's office and the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. Investigators also went to the boy's home and found two other pipe bombs in his bedroom, said W. Faron Taylor, deputy state fire marshal.

David Thomas Mellstrom arrived later than most New Year's babies, but the Mount Airy infant still managed to be the first birth in Frederick County in 1993.Baby Mellstrom was born at 11:55 a.m. New Year's Day at Frederick Memorial Hospital to Greg and Elizabeth Mellstrom. He was one of four babies born at the Frederick hospital on Jan. 1."Everybody must have had late babies that day," said Elly Jack, a registered nurse in the hospital's maternity ward. "A lot of times the babies are born closer to midnight, but they were later this year."

A man and woman from Frederick County have been charged with sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl while they were living in Taneytown about two years ago, police said. Donald Fritz Sr., 39, of the 11400 block of Creagerstown Road in Woodsboro was charged with two counts of child abuse and one count each of third-degree sex offense and contributing to the condition of a child, according to Maryland State Police. Rebecca Canipe, 35, of the same address was charged with the same offenses and with five more counts of contributing to the condition of a child, which involve allegations that children were allowed to watch pornography, police said.

Two Frederick County men were being held in the Carroll County Detention Center yesterday evening on a total of $125,000 bond after being charged with several drug-related counts Monday.The men, who investigators say have been under investigation by the county drug task force for about six months, were arrested at a fast-food restaurant's parking lot in Mount Airy about 10 p.m. Monday.Investigators said they received information that the men were in the Mount Airy area and found a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro, driven by one of the suspects, at the restaurant.

The Frederick County commissioners gave preliminary approval yesterday to the first local hog farm regulations in Maryland and ordered a public hearing on them. The proposal, which would establish strict requirements keeping large feedlot operations well away from residential areas, is likely to be approved by the end of July and take effect Sept. 25, the date a moratorium on new hog farms expires. Environmentalists say runoff from hog farms has polluted waterways with waste and that factory farming methods have driven small family farms out of business.

FREDERICK -- Frederick County voters rejected overwhelmingly yesterday a proposed home rule charter that would have abolished the existing commission form of government and replaced it with an executive-county council system.With 44 percent of returns tallied last night, voters were coming down against the charter by a 3-to-1 margin, with 76 percent opposing the change and 24 percent supporting it.Turnout was close to 30 percent in city precincts, election officials said, slightly higher than the anticipated 20 percent to 25 percent of the county's 63,000 registered voters.