Westminster High School

Brian Drake, an instrumental music teacher and band director at Westminster High School, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the Carroll County Music Educator Award, sponsored by the Music Advocates of Carroll County. The award was scheduled to be presented during the Westminster High School Marching Band Show on Saturday, Oct. 13. Drake has been an instrumental music director at Westminster High School for more than 10 years. During this tenure, the school has been recognized for exceptional ensembles, both outside on the marching field and inside on the concert stage.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, with Christopher Seaman conducting, will perform in concert at 8 p.m. March 14 at Westminster High School, 1225 Washington Road.The program includes Brahms' "Academic Festival Overture," Mendelssohn's "Violin Concerto in E Minor" and Dvorak's "Symphony No. 8 in G Major."Violinist Dong-Suk Kang, an international recitalist and orchestral soloist, will be soloist for Mendelssohn's concerto, one of the most popular of all violin concertos.Tickets for the concert may bepurchased at Stu's Music, Scharon's Black Eagle, Coffey's Music, theCarroll County Arts Council, Hess Music and Laumann's Florist.

Prayer in the Park planned in Westminster The Carroll County Heritage Foundation will hold its annual Prayer in the Park at 6 p.m. Saturday at Westminster City Park. The event will feature Christian music, youth groups, children's choirs, and praise, worship and prayer for the students of Carroll County as they start a new school year. Participants should take a chair or a blanket. In event of rain, the program will be held at Westminster High School. Food will be available. Donations will be taken to help pay for the program.

A 15-year-old Westminster High School student was charged as a juvenile with second-degree assault after punching a fellow student between classes yesterday morning, Maryland State Police and school officials said. The victim, also 15, was taken to Johns Hopkins Children's Center "as a precaution," said Trooper A.J. Hall of the Maryland State Police. "Everything appears to be fine," said Hall, who spoke with the victim's father about her condition. The incident seemed to be part of an ongoing argument, apparently over a boy, Hall said.

A "God Bless America" concert of prayer rally that was canceled this week because of bad weather will be held 7 p.m. Oct. 14 in the Westminster High School auditorium. The event, a show of support for the victims of the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, will feature representatives from 25 Westminster-area churches, a keynote address by Republican state Sen. Larry E. Haines and will include the "Pledge of Allegiance," hymns, patriotic anthems, Scripture and reflection. Information: 410-876-9192.

They're committed, they're focused, and now they've got a name to go with their cause.Westminster parents have officially launched a campaign to keep the planned 2002 opening of a new Westminster high school on track. They're calling themselves Citizens for Schools, and the group is determined to convince the county commissioners that the planning commission's recommendation last month to delay construction of the high school until 2004 is wrong.About 35 parents showed up at the group's organizing meeting last week.

Karen L. DeBus, a senior at Westminster High School, has been awarded the prestigious Centenary Scholarship by the College of Notre Dame of Maryland.Created to celebrate the school's 100th anniversary in 1996, the scholarship focuses on the student's academic performance, service and leadership.The four-year scholarship is worth more than $34,000, with the recipient required to pay only $1,996 each year for tuition. Tuition at the school is $10,550 per year.Karen is the daughter of Edward and Patricia DeBus of Westminster.

The first public hearing on the $159 million budget proposed for Carroll County Schools drew mostly staff members, and few comments or questions Thursday at Northwest Middle School.The budget request is 6.7 percent more than the current year's $149 million.The school board will hold a second hearing at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 at Oklahoma Road Middle School.The board will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Westminster High School to adopt a budget request that will go to the County Commissioners for approval.

In a clear display of their distrust of the Carroll's school system's troubled construction program, the county commissioners delayed yesterday spending $2 million on a new Westminster high school and voted to hire an independent consultant to oversee construction of Century High School in Eldersburg. "I think it would be irresponsible to continue with this construction project," Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier said of plans to build a $35.4 million high school in Westminster. "There are serious questions that need to be answered.

The death of a 20-year-old man, whose body was discovered at his Westminster home Tuesday evening, is being investigated as suspicious, authorities said yesterday.The body of Michael DiPinto of the first block of Westmoreland St. was found by a family member about 7 p.m., said Capt. Dean Brewer, a Westminster police spokesman.The body was taken to Baltimore, where an autopsy will be performed, Brewer said."We might have a preliminary finding from the medical examiner in a day or two, but results from toxicology tests could take much longer," he said.