Van Rossum

Dianne Van Rossum put the hand-held, box-like X-ray device against the dingy, brown hallway wall. The gamma rays penetrated into the paint, found lead and bounced back to the X-RF lead paint analyzer.The machine read: .8 milligrams per square centimeter. Ms. Van Rossum took two more readings. She pushed down on the handle of the box and waited for the beep. "One point zero," she said aloud.The paint in this house will probably have to be removed, or covered, before anyone can move in.Ms. Van Rossum is a health inspector with the Baltimore County Bureau of Regional Community Services.

The state prosecutor's office and state board of elections are investigating political advertisements sponsored by a local Republican club that is not registered with the state as an official political action committee. The ads ran in several Carroll County publications the week before the primary election. Scott Hollenbeck, president of the unregistered Carroll County Republican Club and a former member of the Carroll GOP Central Committee, is listed as the sponsor of the full-page ads that ran in the Westminster Eagle, the Eldersburg Eagle and on a local conservative Web site that published its first print edition on Sept.

Sykesville and Eldersburg have been friendly neighbors in southern Carroll County for years. And now two Eldersburg residents disgusted with congested roads, crowded schools and overburdened services want Sykesville to take their community from the county. The longtime Eldersburg residents have asked the Sykesville Town Council to consider annexing the 28-square-mile area and its nearly 30,000 residents -- more than 10 times the size and population of the town. Their union would create one of Maryland's largest municipalities, in area and population.

BaseballAthletics: Signed P Buddy Groom to one-year contract.Giants: Sent P Troy Brohawn and OF Chris Van Rossum to Diamondbacks to complete earlier trade.Mariners: Sent P Ivan Montane and C Raul Chavez outright to Triple-A Tacoma.Mets: Signed P Pat Mahomes and P Jody Treadwell to minor-league contracts.Padres: Signed IF Dave Magadan to one-year contract.Phillies: Agreed to terms with P Ken Ryan on one-year contract.Rangers: Signed OF Tom Goodwin to one-year contract and OF Mike Sims to two-year contract.

New positions* Baltimore Goodwill Industries has named Marge Thomas as president and chief executive officer.* United Artists Cable of Baltimore named Jerome Butler plant manager.* Essex Community College has selected Samuel D. Tress to be its chief of protective services.* Account Source Temps has added Honey Royer to the Baltimore office staff as a placement specialist.* Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson announced that Michelle J. Floam has joined the firm as a landscape architect/environmental specialist.

The county commissioners have appointed a 15-member committee to work with the State Highway Administration on a road improvement study of Route 26 in Eldersburg, the community's main thoroughfare. The state and Carroll each have committed $200,000 to the initial phase of the work, which will look at a segment of the highway from Route 32 to the Baltimore County line at Liberty Reservoir. The 1-mile stretch is South Carroll's most congested road and one of the county's busiest routes. More than 32,000 vehicles a day travel through Eldersburg on the highway, also known as Liberty Road.

When Carroll County Board of Education President C. Scott Stone tapped someone to lead the school system's effort to straighten out its troubled construction department, he wanted an employee with no connection to problems that propelled school officials into multimillion-dollar lawsuits and a grand jury investigation. His choice of elementary education supervisor Margaret Pfaff, he said at the time, was a direct response to public requests that the construction department staff and upper-level administrators criticized in an internal investigative report not be involved in correcting the problems.

The Carroll County school board got its first look last night at a staff plan to correct deficiencies in a troubled school construction department that remains mired in lawsuits and a grand jury investigation. Before the board heard the presentation, a county resident announced his intention to seek a court injunction against the school system to stop construction of the new Westminster High School. Margaret Pfaff, Carroll's elementary education supervisor and a team of five salaried school system employees spent "countless hours" -- including nights and weekends -- reviewing and checking for accuracy in the internal investigative report of the troubled school construction department.

Coach: Jim Peters, 10th year Assistant coaches: John O'Meally, Bob LuersLast year's record: 6-6 overall, 4-2 and second in the countyTop returnees: Seniors -- attackers Jeff Doolan, David Hogue, Dave Spear, Andy Vogel, midfielders Scott Luers, Jason Warehime, Rob Newton, Brian Minnich, defenders Shane Liddick, Andy Ingalls, Mike PaulsonTop newcomers: Senior -- defender Charlie Crum, juniors -- midfielders Marshall Brown, Bryan Stewart, Wayne Lockwood, defender...

The county Board of Education reaffirmed its commitment yesterday to honor Superintendent William H. Hyde's four-year contract despite calls for his resignation from some residents and school board candidates. The 4-1 vote - board member Susan W. Krebs dissented - occurred a week after the board first discussed an internal investigation into bungled school construction projects that have cost the school system millions of dollars in overruns, lawsuit settlements and legal fees. In calling for the vote, board member Gary W. Bauer said he was concerned about employees of the school system.