Washington County

Etta R. Ousborne, 92, died Wednesday at the Manor Care Nursing here.She was the wife of the late Louis S. Ousborne. A homemaker, she wasa member of First Lutheran Church, Ellicott City. Surviving are daughters Edna Grauel of Woodbine and Virginia Brothers of Lutherville; abrother, John Tyler of Laurel; sisters Annie Cochran and Alma Mirible, both of Hyattsville; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.FREDERICKWilliam E. Young, 90, died Tuesday at Frederick Memorial Hospital. He was the husband of Josephine Rice Young.

Some editions yesterday carried incorrect results in the Republican race for state comptroller. Timothy R. Mayberry, a banking consultant from Washington County, upset Richard P. Taylor for the GOP nomination.The Sun regrets the errors.

An article in yesterday's Maryland section about disposal of construction debris incorrectly listed a landfill in Washington County among six that have no liners to prevent toxics from entering the ground water. The Washington County Rubble Landfill has a liner and a leachate collection system so that any toxics can be removed during water treatment.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 12/24/96

HAGERSTOWN -- Four and a half years ago, a father walked shakily out of the courthouse here, heartbroken. He had just failed to get custody of his 5-year-old boy, even though his ex-wife was engaged to a convicted child molester. "I honestly feel from the depths of my heart that my son will be in grave danger," the father wrote Washington County Circuit Judge Fred C. Wright III, imploring him to reconsider. "What if you are wrong?" he went on in an emotional, 11-page letter in the court file.

CHEWSVILLE -- A Washington County judge has sentenced a Chewsville man to a year in jail and fined him $500 for making a fraudulent workers' compensation claim.Ralph Leroy Bowen will serve his sentence at the Washington County jail, Maryland State Police said Monday.Mr. Bowen claimed he suffered an occupational injury June 20, 1993, and received nearly $20,000 in disability and medical payments from June 1993 to December 1993.Erie Insurance Co., which processed the claim, received information that Mr. Bowen had not been injured at work and determined that he was injured after falling from a horse.

Callas Construction Co. has been awarded a $2.3 million contract to expand the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown to include a 70-bed minimum-security addition for prisoners with addictions.Gary Rohrer, chief of planning and codes administration for Washington County, said work should begin early next month and be completed late next year.The addition will house work-release inmates, weekend prisoners and substance abusers.Counseling and rehabilitation programs also will be based in the wing.

Maryland State Police say a Washington County mother and her son have been indicted on murder-for-hire charges. State police say the indictments were issued by a Washington County grand jury against 67-year-old Grace Marie Fink and her 39-year-old son, Clarence F. Meyers, both of Hancock. Police say that Meyers was conspiring with Fink to murder his former girlfriend, who is the mother of two girls he was convicted of killing. Meyers is in prison following his August conviction for those deaths in a February fire.

Western Maryland officials, many of whom believe that Smart Growth has hurt rural counties by directing growth to developed areas, are saying that Smart Growth II legislation being drafted looks even worse to them.David Bliden, executive director of the Maryland Association of Counties, briefed Western Maryland county officials on the proposed legislation, which he said the General Assembly will tackle in 2000."If you don't like Smart Growth, wait until you see Smart Growth II," Bliden told the Western Maryland Commission during its quarterly meeting in Westminster on Friday.

A 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy were killed and seven other people were injured yesterday when their car struck a bridge on Interstate 70 in Washington County, state police said.The 1991 Toyota 4-Runner was eastbound on I-70 when it hit the bridge over Licking Creek shortly after 3 p.m.The sport utility vehicle careened into the median strip before crossing back onto eastbound I-70 and overturned several times. Eight of the nine occupants were thrown from the vehicle, state police said.

One of Washington County's largest employers is shutting down a manufacturing operation that employs nearly 160, its union said yesterday. GST AutoLeather Inc., based in Hagerstown, told Unite Here union officials that it will begin laying off workers at its retanning division near Williamsport within six months as it moves the work to Mexico. The decision comes a little more than a year after the company announced that it would send its local cutting work south of the border, laying off about 160 people in Washington County.