Westminster High School

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.

POLICE* Westminster: A Webster Street resident reported that someone scratched her car while it was parked at Fairground Village on Wednesday. She estimated the damage at $200.A Baltimore man told police that someone broke a window of his car while it was parked at Cranberry Square on Monday. He estimated the damage at $250.A Hampstead-Mexico Road resident reported that someone stole two hubcaps from her car while it was parked at Cranberry Mall on Monday. She estimated the loss at $70.An official of the Carroll County Board of Education told city police that someone broke several windows at East Middle School on Longwell Avenue with baseballs July 11. The damage was estimated at $165.

JONATHAN GIBSON, 15, son of Bill and Nini Gibson of Old Taneytown Road, Westminster.School: Sophomore at Westminster High School.Honored for: Taking top honors when he showed his 3-year-old Dalmatian, Amber, in the senior novice obedience class at the 4-H Dog Show at the Maryland State Fair in Timonium Aug. 28.He also has been active in 4-H showing chickens and pigs, and also in art, photography and woodworking.Jonathan, who lives on a horse farm, also recently began volunteering with the Therapeutic Recreation Council, helping handicapped youths ride horses.

Westminster High School senior Connie Tromble has been awarded this year's Principal Award sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.Students who possess outstanding leadership qualities and are in the top 20 percent of their senior class are potential candidates.Other areas looked at are participation in service organization clubs, athletics, honors, scholarships and academic record. Winners are selected by a School Awards Committee and the principal.Connie is eligible to apply for a $1,000 scholarship for college if she winsthe national award.

KAREN DeBUS, 17, daughter of Patricia and Edward DeBus %% of Neudecker Road in Westminster. %%%% School: Senior at Westminster High School.Honored for: Being among three winners of a centenary scholarship from Notre Dame College. The four-year scholarship, honor of the college's 100th anniversary in 1996, is worth more than $32,000. It will require Karen and her family to pay no more than $1,996 per year, regardless of tuition increases.Goals: To major in music performance and political science.

School board members are willing to take a second look at the former Telemecanique building on Route 140 in Reese for school offices and want to learn more about the pollution problems there.Superintendent R. Edward Shilling said the county will not put school offices into portable buildings donated by Martin Marietta Corp.Given that, he said, and the amount of space available at Telemecanique, the board should reconsider before rejecting the former factory."This is the first time we've ever been in a position to talk about one facility that could hold" all school offices in one place, Mr. Shilling said.

On March 21, 1923, twenty prominent Westminster citizens gathered at the Westminster Fire Department on Main Street to receive the charter of the newly formed Westminster Rotary Club. This month, about 70 folks gathered at McDaniel College for a special club dinner meeting to pay tribute to the 90 years of service that members of the Rotary Club of Westminster have given to our community. Undoubtedly, one of the key and critical pieces of the puzzle that comes together to give us a high quality of life in Carroll County is our sense of volunteerism.

The death Tuesday of a Westminster teen-ager, apparently from inhaling air freshener, has left educators, substance abuse counselors, police and parents wondering what can be done to prevent a similar tragedy.Thomas W. McDonald, 16, was found slumped over the steering wheel of a car behind a Westminster shopping center. The engine was running and city police found two nearly empty cans of air freshener -- one on his lap, the other beside him -- which have led investigators to suspect death by huffing.

Bryan Harman will have a quiet spring this year. But he's a busy man this winter. Last weekend, he was honored as the 2011 Maryland High School Coach of the Year by the Maryland Oldtimers Baseball Association at the Del Capri Restaurant, in Dundalk. And on Feb. 18, the former Westminster High baseball coach will be inducted into the Maryland State Association of Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame at a Camden Yards ceremony. At that same event, Harman will also receive the MSABC District One Coach of the Year award.

The cars start arriving on Don Boore's street at 7:15 a.m. on school days, their stereo speakers thudding with music, their interiors filled to capacity with students from Westminster High School. The drivers park in front of the several dozen tidy homes on Marydell Drive and Foxcroft Court, blocking driveways and mailboxes for eight hours or so, until school ends and their occupants drive away, leaving a trail of fast-food wrappers, soda cans and cigarette butts in their wake. "This is a terrible problem, and we have been to the school several times to get relief," said Boore, a retired Army sergeant major who is the past president of the Washington Square Homeowners Association.