Hampstead Man

The Carroll County sheriff's office charged a 33-year-old Hampstead man with possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia Saturday.The sheriff's strike force, acting on an anonymous tip, followed a man to Park Heights Avenue in Baltimore, where deputies observed an apparent drug purchase.Deputies followed the man back to Carroll County and stopped him at Route 26 and Oakland Mill Road in Eldersburg. A police dog unit detected a controlled substance in the vehicle and on the driver.William A. Chenowith III was also charged with possession with intent to distribute an eighth of an ounce of crack cocaine and common nuisance.

The popularity of MOPAR muscle cars has been on the increase. Every year, more MOPAR events are being conducted throughout the country, including dragways like 75-80 in Monrovia and Mason-Dixon in Hagerstown.One person who has been a MOPAR fan all of his life is Jeff Doster of Hampstead. Doster has owned Plymouth muscle cars since he was able to drive.The 35-year-old Doster has been racing since he was 18 and it has always been with a Plymouth Roadrunner, a MOPAR product that was a popular muscle car of the '60s.

Dennis Meadowcroft of Hampstead enjoys racing for a hobby, and looks forward to turning professional.But he doesn't want to become a professional driver -- he wants to be a professional musician.The 26-year-old started driving midway through the 1990 season and competes in the four-cylinder class at the Trial-Way Speedway near Hanover, Pa., on Friday nights -- but only when it does not interfere with his music. He never had any racing experience until this year; the closest he had come was riding his dirt bike.

The double-murder trial of Smith Harper Dean III, postponed by his attempted suicide June 10 in an isolation cell at the Carroll County jail, was rescheduled yesterday for Sept. 21 in Howard County.Jail officials said Dean, 39, a Hampstead pit-beef entrepreneur, apparently hoarded an unknown number of antidepressant pills and swallowed them shortly before he was found unconscious on the floor of his cell.Dean was treated for about a week at Carroll County General Hospital before being transferred to Clifton T. Perkins Hospital DTC Center in Jessup for evaluation.

HAMPSTEAD -- Claiming that the Hampstead sewage-treatment plant can't handle more sludge, a town resident has asked the state environment department to deny Carroll County's request to increase the volume of sewage handled at the plant.Wayne Thomas, president of the Fields Homeowners Association, said the plant can barely process and dry the sludge it must handle now but that state and local agencies have approved the building of 375 more homes in the town.Mr. Thomas has consistently questioned the rate at which homes are built in this growing bedroom community.

William P. "Skip" Gibson was trying on names."Senator Gibson? President Gibson?" The names brought a smile to his youthful face.The 20-year-old son of William B. and Patricia A. Gibson of Hampstead is in his junior year at Washington College in Chestertown. He really hasn't made up his mind yet what he wants to do with his major in international studies.He hopes the next nine months will help him decide.Next week, Mr. Gibson leaves for London, where he will spend 12 weeks studying at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, as part of the Hansard Scholars Programme.

For Mark Bilger, deputy chief state fire marshal, fire service is a natural extension of family life. His parents are life members of the volunteer fire company in Hereford, where Bilger was reared on company fund-raisers and became a volunteer firefighter at 16. Bilger, a Hampstead resident, recently took command of the Western Region office of the state fire marshal, and the 37-year-old can't imagine a job with more diversity and challenge. "It's all I really ever wanted to do," Bilger said recently in Westminster before commuting to his Hagerstown office, which serves as a base for Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties.

The double-murder trial of Smith Harper Dean III, a Hampstead pit-beef entrepreneur who attempted suicide last week, was postponed again yesterday, and officials will decide in two weeks when, or if, the trial can be rescheduled.Dean, 39, remained under guard at Carroll County General Hospital yesterday with heart-related problems attributed to an overdose of anti-depressant medication he apparently hoarded, authorities said.Dean was found semiconscious in an isolation cell at the county detention center at 11: 20 p.m. Wednesday, jail officials said, and was taken to the Westminster hospital, where he was in critical condition for about two days.

The double-murder trial of Smith Harper Dean III, a Hampstead pit-beef entrepreneur who attempted suicide last week, was postponed again yesterday, and officials will decide in two weeks when, or if, the trial can be rescheduled.Dean, 39, remained under guard at Carroll County General Hospital yesterday with heart-related problems attributed to an overdose of anti-depressant medication he apparently hoarded, authorities said.Dean was found semiconscious in an isolation cell at the county Detention Center at 11: 20 p.m. Wednesday, jail officials said, and was taken to the Westminster hospital, where he was in critical condition for about two days.