Media Center

The Community Media Center of Carroll County, Adelphia Cable Channel 19, is scheduled to break ground today on its home at Carroll County Career and Technology Center. The center will develop infrastructure connections for the town and county channels and provide training and access to the public, educational and nonprofit groups that wish to learn how to develop programs. The Adelphia cable station broadcasts local programming produced by volunteers who tape local events and create entertainment and government shows.

The last time the Ravens were in the Super Bowl, Michael Phelps was a 15-year-old boy who had just gone to his first Olympics but had yet to win any of the 22 medals that last year made him the most decorated Olympian of all time. Plus, on the day his beloved Ravens were playing in Tampa -- Jan. 28, 2001 -- Phelps was across the Atlantic Ocean. "I was in Paris for a swim meet," Phelps recalled Friday, when he dropped by the Super Bowl media center. "And we tried to set the alarm to wake up in the night, but we slept through it. " Phelps, who retired from swimming after his fourth Olympics in London last year, cleared his calendar to make sure he could attend this year's game.

The campaign to automate the Liberty High School media center ends tonight with the presentation of a check for nearly $14,000.The $13,904 includes $10,000 remaining from last year's Parent Teacher Student Association fund and falls far short of the $40,000 goal set two months ago at the outset of the campaign."

Nearly 100 people filled the Carroll Arts Center in May to take part in the Community Media Center's 2012 Vollie Awards. Since 1991, the event has recognized the efforts of Carroll County's community television producers as well as counterparts at the Board of Education, Carroll County government, colleges and municipalities. Vollies (for volunteer) were presented to producers of programming that aired between January 2010 and December 2011 on Carroll's public, education and government channels — 18, 19, 21, 23, and 24. The following winners were chosen by a panel of judges.

PARENTS WHO attended Back to School Night at Brooklyn Park Middle School saw new science rooms, the latest educational technology and a redesigned cafeteria. When they walked into the media center, they saw an expansive room with a view of the Baltimore skyline that any developer would die for. And they saw a media center with empty shelves - no books, no magazines, no newspapers. But never fear. The school's media specialist, Kay Campbell, and assistant Kelly Nelson have enlisted a dedicated group of pupils and community volunteers to get the center up and running.

HAMPSTEAD -- Teen sleuths like Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys would have suspected something.But to the casual observer, the recent goings-on behind North Carroll Middle School commenced inconspicuously.Finally, however, the plot was unraveled to reveal work under way on an addition that will become the new home for the school's media center."We're excited. It's been long awaited," Principal N. Richard DeLong said of the 5,260-square-foot addition.On June 1, Craft Construction Co. of Reisterstown, Baltimore County, began work on the $40,000 project, which should be completed about the time school opens Sept.

Carroll County will soon have a state-of-the-art community media center that will allow residents to produce their own television shows and watch live candidate forums - without having to drive to the debates. Scheduled to open next year, the proposed $1.5 million Community Media Center of Carroll County on Washington Road south of Westminster would offer everything needed for residents, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and county and municipal governments to produce programming - including training and equipment.

Carroll County will soon have a state-of-the-art community media center that will allow residents to produce their own television shows and watch live candidate forums - without having to drive to the debates. Scheduled to open next year, the proposed $1.5 million Community Media Center of Carroll County on Washington Road in Westminster would offer everything needed for residents, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations and county and municipal governments to produce their own programming - including training and equipment.

The Community Media Center, which has put life in Carroll County on TV for 13 years, televising everything from town meetings and candidate forums to the 4-H Fair and the Maryland Wine Festival, is about to get a new space with a soundproof studio, sophisticated lighting and advanced broadcast technology. The $1.7 million building under construction in Westminster is a vast improvement on the basement headquarters the community access television station has called home for the past decade.

A "Magic in the Media Campaign" could make Liberty High School the first in Carroll County with an automated media center.The Parent Teacher Student Association hopes the campaign, launched last month, will raise $40,000 from area businesses to complete automation of the center.With donations of $6,500 from the Board of Education and $10,000 from the PTSA already in hand for Phase 1 of the modernization, the 13-year-old school has begun "to provide technology of the future for today's students," said Michael J. DeBoy, PTSA president.

WESTMINSTER — The 145th observance of the Memorial Day parade and ceremony in Westminster will be available for viewing on Carroll County's cable channel 19 and online at the Community Media Center website, http://www.CarrollMediaCenter.org. A CMC television crew will be set up along the parade route on Main Street in downtown Westminster. Another crew will be set up in the Westminster Cemetery to film the ceremony saluting military servicemen and women. CMC volunteers will also be on hand over the weekend, covering the Civil through Revolutionary War reenactor encampments at the Carroll County Farm Museum.

Defense officials cut the ribbon Thursday on a $67 million facility to house the military's news and information operations at Fort Meade. The Defense Media Activity, established in 2008, consolidates the former Soldiers Media Center, Naval Media Center, Marine Corps News, Air Force News Service and American Forces Information Service into a single organization. It also includes the Stars and Stripes newspaper and the Defense Information School. Roughly 600 military and civilian employees and contractors moved into the building during the summer, officials said in a release.

The Howard County public school system is encouraging senior citizens and retirees to bring the skills they once used in the working world to school settings. The system has launched an electronic newsletter called "Golden Opportunities" that lists volunteer positions in schools as well as announcements of school performances and activities. The system also offers free admission to school events and opportunities to advocate for the school system. Seniors such as Dawn Center of Columbia are eager to spread the word about such opportunities, knowing firsthand of the benefits.

The Community Media Center of Carroll County is requesting donations of items and/or sponsorship funds to support its second annual President's Day Live Auction, to be held from noon to 10 p.m. Feb. 19. The auction will be televised on Channel 19. New this year, online bidding will be open for one week before the live event, on the center's Web site, www.cmcmd.tv. Donated items should have a value of $35 or more. Each item will be featured online and on an auction table open during a specified period of bidding.

The Baltimore school system will hold community meetings about the coming transfer of 4,300 students whose schools closed or moved this summer. Officials will be available to address questions from affected students, families and community members. The meetings will be held: Saturday, from 10 a.m. to noon in the media center at the Walbrook High School campus, 2000 Edgewood St., to discuss schools in Northwest, West, Southwest and South Baltimore. Aug. 12 from 10 a.m. to noon in the media center at the Lake Clifton High School campus, 2901 St. Lo Drive, to discuss schools in North and Northeast Baltimore.

Holiday closings for tomorrow Carroll County Government offices will be closed tomorrow for Presidents Day. Carroll County public libraries, schools and senior centers also will be closed tomorrow. Northern Landfill and the Recycling Center will be open. Referendum sought on annexation A group of Mount Airy residents is circulating a petition that calls for a referendum on the annexation of a 152-acre farm by the town. The Mount Airy Town Council approved the annexation of the farm, known as the Zeltman property, on Feb. 6, stirring opposition among residents of the town, which is divided by the Carroll and Frederick county line.

The dedication of the Community Media Center of Carroll County, broadcast live to as many as 34,000 area households, showcased the best of community television. "We are going out live, and that is exciting because of who this is for," said Marion Ware, director of the $1.7 million center built on Washington Road in Westminster. Ware called the 8,000-square- foot building "the dream home for an idea called community television." The community access television station has televised the life of the county for nearly 14 years, sharing with residents everything from parades and concerts to public hearings and candidate forums.

Washington -- Taken together, the stories of the 2,000 American soldiers who have died in Iraq in the past two years tell a poignant tale about who is bearing the largest burden. The victims are disproportionately white, working-class young men, most in their 20s, Pentagon statistics show. They are largely from the South or small towns and cities such as Bedford, Mass., and Gypsum, Colo., distant from the nation's political, cultural, academic and media centers. They were raised in areas where uniformed service is common and respected, often near military bases or where the economy is struggling and prospects are limited, such as in northern Maine.

The county has scheduled several community meetings, called Grassroots Gatherings, for residents to get involved in the Carroll County Comprehensive Plan. All meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. Scheduled meetings include: Manchester: Tomorrow, Manchester Elementary School media center. Gamber/Louisville: Tomorrow, Mechanicsville Elementary School media center. Finksburg/Sandymount: Tuesday, Sandymount Elementary School gymnasium. Union Mills/Silver Run: Tuesday, Charles Carroll Elementary School media center.