Westminster

When Westminster boys lacrosse coach Steve DeFeo was talking about the qualities that has helped keep his Owls undefeated this season, he made sure to mention how much they enjoy playing together. It certainly showed Thursday night at cross-town rival Winters Mill. The No. 12 Owls shared the ball on attack and put up a strong collective front on defense - dominating the defending Carroll County champion Falcons in every facet to come away with an 18-5 win. Senior attackman Ryan Drenner was the offensive catalyst, finishing with six goals and four assists.

It's a sunny morning in Westminster, and the pulleys are squeaking, the weights clinking as a half-dozen members of a small gym give the equipment a workout. Bouncy music comes though a stereo's speakers. A trainer encourages a client on a treadmill. A large banner on the wall reads, "Believe In Miracles!" Gina Gilligan-Della said she has seen more than her share of those. Gilligan-Della, 48, is the founding president of TheraFit Gym, a fitness center designed to serve individuals with severe physical disabilities from spinal-cord injury to the after-effects of stroke.

When the Major League Baseball season starts March 31, Brett Harman won't be on a pitcher's mound. Instead, the 23-year-old Westminster resident will be preparing for a career as a physician assistant. But Harman, who had a standout career at Westminster High and the University of Maryland, isn't ready to give up baseball completely. Later this spring, Harman will leave Carroll County for St. Louis, where the right-hander will pitch for the River City Rascals, on the outskirts of St. Louis.

Mount St. Joseph lacrosse coach Dave Slafkosky wasn't looking for cupcakes for his team's Easter Lax Day. Tough challenges, he thought, could only help his young squad heading into the core of its Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference schedule. The No. 13 Gaels found more than they could handle in their opener Saturday against Westminster. The Owls, who lost to South River in the Class 4A-3A state final last season, took 14 of the game's first 15 shots, getting four goals each from midfielder C.J. Nichols and attackman Ryan Drenner in a 15-7 win. "Westminster ran by us and played tougher than us in every aspect," Slafkosky said.

From many little yellow peeps, one artistic family saw a giant yellow bird. At the sixth annual "Peep Show" in downtown Westminster, the massive 3,810-marshmallow-strong Big Bird drew the biggest oohs and ahhs among the young kids and older fans who filled the Carroll County Arts Council building on Main Street Saturday, all there to take in a host of candy-inspired creations. The "Long Live Sesame Peep" display, complete with a trash-canned Oscar the Grouch, was created by Robert Mondor and his family - wife Ann, son Sean, 10, and daughter Lauren, 8, all of Westminster - and was just one of many pop-culture-inspired displays at the Easter event, which has become a major fundraiser for the council each year.

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.

Police said a Hanover, Md., man died Saturday after being shot while lying on the couch at a home he was visiting in Westminster. Westminster police said Vygants Tomas Campe, 46, died after being struck by a bullet from a gun that may have discharged accidentally. Police said on March 16 at about 11:45 a.m., officers and emergency medical personnel responded to a residence in the 400 block of South Hills Court in Westminster for the report of a shooting. When they arrived they found a man, later identified as Campe, on the first floor of the home suffering from a single gunshot wound.

Carroll Values Education, a nonpartisan community group created by parents to advocate on behalf of Carroll County's children and public education system, will host its first meeting Monday, March 25, at Winters Mill High School, 560 Gorsuch Road in Westminster. The 7 p.m. meeting is free and open to the public. Contact group founder Bob Lord at 410-861-0131 or email CarrollValuesEducation@gmail.com . For information about the group, go to http://www.facebook.com/CarrollValuesEducation or http://www.carrollvalueseducation.wordpress.com.

Vehement opposition was all but universal at a public hearing in Westminster on Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed gun control legislation. When the three members of Carroll County's delegation to the Maryland State Senate scheduled a Feb. 26 hearing to get input on the governor's legislation, the senators got a sample of the furor that O'Malley's proposals have ignited with at least some county residents. The conference room at the Best Western Motel, in Westminster, was already filled to capacity 20 minutes before the scheduled 7 p.m. start to the hearing, with the doors guarded by Maryland State Police and Carroll County Sheriff's deputies.

A math teacher at Manchester Valley High School in Carroll County died Monday in a car accident that also involved a private school bus. Devin Michael Spence, 24, of Westminster, was killed in the crash when his 2001 Ford Focus collided with the bus, according to the Carroll County Sheriff's Office. Five students and a driver were on the bus, which was transporting students to Delone Catholic High School in Pennsylvania. No one on the bus was injured. According to the Sheriff's Office, the accident occurred just before 7 a.m. on Sullivan Road near its intersection with Route 27, between Westminster and Manchester.