Union Street

A Gospel Extravaganza has generated good news for Union Street Methodist Church. The $1,700 proceeds from the Oct. 28 concert will buy a new piano for the Westminster church."

CENTRAL Night Out event is Tuesday Westminster City Police will sponsor a National Night Out event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday. National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness and encourage community/police relations. Westminster neighborhoods will sponsor block parties, cookouts, sidewalk parades, visits from police, flashlight walks and youth activities. Westminster police officers will visit communities. Participating communities are: Eagleview at the tot lot on Burning Tree; West Main Street at Westminster Union Bank parking lot; George Street at Madison Avenue; Union Street at Union Street Church parking lot; Carroll Lutheran Village at Luther Drive (Mission Square)

PoliceWestminster: A U.S. Postal Service employee told police Wednesday that a cluster box was damaged on Union Street. Damage was estimated at $390.Pub Date: 8/15/97

A chilly drizzle forced the audience to huddle under umbrellas, but the weather could not dampen enthusiasm for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Union Street Community Center. Before turning gilded shovels into the earth Friday at a vacant lot on Westminster's west side, church leaders and area officials praised the $1.2 million project that will offer children a place to study and play, and the extended community, particularly seniors, an opportunity to socialize. "The weather does not matter," said Debra Sims, president of the Westminster Community of Shalom, a nonprofit, faith-based organization that is building the center.

Police Westminster: A resident of Union Street told police Feb. 23 that someone tampered with his vehicle and took property while it was parked on Union Street. Loss was estimated at $177. Fire Reese: Firefighters from Reese and Gamber responded at 7: 15 p.m. Tuesday to a house fire in the first block of Amy Bernett Way, Baltimore County. Units were out 16 minutes.

The Rev. Joan Carter-Rimbach says leaving her position as pastor of Union Street United Methodist Church in Westminster fills her with "sweet sorrow.""It's hard to leave," Mrs. Carter-Rimbach said. "There have been some tears shed around here."She is leaving to become chaplain at the Board of Child Care, a United Methodist church residential group home in Baltimore County. She will preach her last sermon at Union Street on June 19 and step down as pastor on June 30.In her new job, Mrs. Carter-Rimbach will be responsible for religious activities and morality issues at the residential home.

POLICE* Westminster: An employee of a video store on Bond Street told city police someone rented several movies and failed to return them on Tuesday. The loss is estimated at about $160.An employee of Domino's Pizza told city police someone fled with a pizza without paying on Sunday. The loss was $15.80.A resident of Union Street told city police someone damaged the door of her house on March 4. She estimated the damage at $75.

A five-month-old Westminster girl remained in satisfactory condition at Carroll County General Hospital last night with multiple fractures of the skull, ribs and arm after her her 19-year-old father was charged with child abuse, Westminster police reported.Ronald E. Ashby of the 100 block of S. Center St. was arrested yesterday and charged with child abuse and battery. He was being held in the Carroll County Detention Center last night on lieu of $10,000 bond.Police said the infant, who was injured Nov. 15, also was suffering from malnutrition when she arrived at the hospital.

A chilly drizzle forced the audience to huddle under umbrellas, but the weather could not dampen enthusiasm for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Union Street Community Center. Before turning gilded shovels into the earth Friday at a vacant lot on Westminster's west side, church leaders and area officials praised the $1.2 million project that will offer children a place to study and play, and the extended community, particularly seniors, an opportunity to socialize. "The weather does not matter," said Debra Sims, president of the Westminster Community of Shalom, a nonprofit, faith-based organization that is building the center.

A plan to make West Main Street and Uniontown Road the "main" street at a three-way intersection near Western Maryland College will be introduced to Westminster area residents tomorrow.The plan includes making Union Street one way north from West Main Street to Pennsylvania Avenue and making Old New Windsor Road one way from the West Main-Uniontown Road intersection to West Green Street.Residents can hear an explanation, look at a design and make comments at a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Westminster Fire Company social hall, 66 E. Main St.The three-way stop at the Uniontown Road intersection is "a very awkward situation," said Westminster planner Katrina L. Tucker.

With help from a church and the city, a group of volunteers will turn a vacant lot in one of Westminster's poorer neighborhoods into a community center offering youths a place to study, play and socialize. The Westminster Community of Shalom, a nonprofit, faith-based organization, expects to break ground on the $1.02 million Union Street Community Center on the city's west side next month. "We voted to go ahead and are moving on faith," said Phyllis Hammond, a Shalom board member. "There are challenges, but we will get this center up and running."

The board of directors for the Westminster Community of Shalom will have to take a leap of faith if construction of a community center at the western end of the city is to begin this year. The group meets Tuesday to decide whether to move forward with the $1 million project on Union Street, even if not all of the money is in hand. The group has raised $775,000, a sum that includes a $450,000 state grant, which could be lost if ground is not broken soon. "Everything is a leap of faith.

Westminster officials have voted to buy two houses as a part of a homeownership program for low-income families and to revitalize one of the city's more troubled neighborhoods. The Common Council unanimously approved this week the use of nearly $127,000 to buy two one-bedroom, one-bathroom townhouses that participantsin the city's homeownership program can purchase. The sales are expected to close within a month. The city's housing director hopes the purchases will bring long-term stability to a neighborhood where its families can usually afford only rentals.

Police Westminster: A resident of Union Street told police Feb. 23 that someone tampered with his vehicle and took property while it was parked on Union Street. Loss was estimated at $177. Fire Reese: Firefighters from Reese and Gamber responded at 7: 15 p.m. Tuesday to a house fire in the first block of Amy Bernett Way, Baltimore County. Units were out 16 minutes.

PoliceWestminster: A U.S. Postal Service employee told police Wednesday that a cluster box was damaged on Union Street. Damage was estimated at $390.Pub Date: 8/15/97

Gospel singers from Carroll County were blessed by amazing grace on a five-day trip to Austria. The group had Viennese audience members more accustomed to the classics on their feet, clapping and swaying to music born in America.The 22-voice choir, a mix of ages and races from Union Street United Methodist Church and Western Maryland College in Westminster, participated in the 14th Vienna Advent Concert the weekend before Christmas."The choir really moved the audiences," said Eric B. Byrd, choir director.