Windsor

New Windsor will show no more favoritism to its sewer customers. The Town Council voted Wednesday to eliminate the "special rate" charged to four local users.Residents pay the town at a rate of $2 per 1,000 gallons of water used, but the New Windsor Middle School, Scotties Coin Wash Laundromat and the Brethren Service Center's Old Main Building are charged 52 cents per 1,000 gallons. St. Paul's United Methodist Church pays 14 cents."This is a glaring error which won't continue," said Mayor Jack A. Gullo Jr. "Why should all the residents subsidize four?"

Two incumbents and three newcomers to town politics are vying for three council seats in New Windsor today.Terry Petry, running for a third four-year term, and Ronnie Blacksten, seeking a second term, are being challenged by J. Edward Green, Kevin G. Null and Paul G. Garver.Longtime Councilman D. Kenneth Grimes decided against a sixth campaign and announced his retirement last month.The five candidates have campaigned with fliers, phone calls and door-to-door visits to get a sense of what the 395 registered voters in the county's smallest town want.

Wakefield Valley Bible Church will hold a family crusade with the Musical Merrills at 7 p.m. Saturday through Tuesday. Ron and Donna Merrill of Savannah, Ohio, will perform duets, solos and children's songs, playing the Omnichord, trombone and singing crystals. Except for traditional hymns all their music is original. Ron Merrill will preach. Nursery will be provided for services. The church is at Old New Windsor Pike and John Hyde Road near New Windsor. Information: 410-635-2141. Taneytown Chamber to hold Business Expo Taneytown Chamber of Commerce will hold its third annual Taneytown Business Expo from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 18 at Northwest Middle School.

NEW WINDSOR -- Again Wednesday night, the Town Council tabled the question of where to place the water fountain that stood on the corner of Main and High streets for nearly a century.The 12-foot-tall fountain was nearly destroyed about six months ago when a tractor-trailer jumped a curb at the intersection and knocked it down. It has since been repaired and remains in storage, while officials and residents search for a safer site."It will not withstand another accident," said Robert DuVall, the welder who repaired it.At the August meeting, Micki Smith, president of the town's Heritage Committee, gave the results of an informal survey on residents' wishes for its placement.

In response to residents' complaints, the New Windsor Town Council voted Wednesday in favor of a noise ordinance for the town.Mayor Jack A. Gullo said he was told by state troopers who had been called to town for a noise disturbance that the troopers could not do anything about noisemakers unless the town enacted a noise ordinance.The ordinance would make any kind of disturbing noise illegal at any hour. State police would determine when a noise is violating the ordinance.Councilman James C. Carlisle said he was hesitant to accept the proposed ordinance because he was concerned about who would enforce the law. Some residents shared his concern, saying that state police are lax in enforcing existing town laws.

The New Windsor Town Council has approved a resolution to adopt development review procedures that will bring the town in line with a state law that took effect Oct. 1.Steve Horn, the county planner for the town, brought the matter to the council's attention last Wednesday during the monthly meeting. He stressed the importance of complying with the law, which is meant to minimize the harm done to the Chesapeake Bay by growth."To make sure that the town meets the deadline the state required as part of the law, they have to adopt review procedures for construction projects that include the use of state funds in some form," Mr. Horn said.

Union Bridge: A brush fire on Bucher John Road kept engines from Union Bridge occupied for 15 minutes after they were called out at2:57 p.m. Saturday.

A New Windsor-area teen-ager is being held at the Carroll County Detention Center in lieu of $15,000 bail after he was arrested Sunday on charges of raping and assaulting his mother, court records showed.The 17-year-old was charged as an adult with second-degree rape and second-degree assault. He is not being named to protect the privacy of the alleged victim.In charging documents, state police reported responding at 6: 26 p.m. to a 911 hang-up call from a home south of New Windsor. They were met there by a woman who said her son forced his way into the bathroom as she was preparing to bathe and sexually assaulted her, according to charging documents.

Many a school child learned the footnotes of Maryland history from a large map the Pratt Library still keeps in print.It was artist Edwin Tunis who drew this grand plan of the state more than 60 years ago. I should have guessed that someone with his talent would have lived in Baltimore's Windsor Hills neighborhood.To celebrate this remarkable community's 100th anniversary, residents have issued a handsome new book, a people history.The book is called "Windsor Hills: A Century of History." It has an oblong format, is 55 pages long and must be the only community text that devotes four pages to residents' books and scholarly articles.

A 64-year-old New Windsor man was killed Thursday when he collided with a Mack truck towing a trailer on Route 27 in Taylorsville, Maryland State Police said. State troopers said Edmund Riemer Jr. of the 2200 block of Doctor Stitely Road was headed north on Route 27 around 2 p.m. when he lost control of his 1999 Chevrolet Malibu, veering into the southbound lanes. A 1997 Mack truck, driven by 50-year-old Dennis Charles Whittington, was traveling south on Route 27, towing a 2004 Great Dane trailer, according to authorities.