Worcester County

A foreclosure auction of the Carousel Hotel & Resort in Ocean City, one of the seaside resort's best-known landmarks, was forestalled yesterday when the owner filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.Joel I. Sher, an attorney with Shapiro & Olander who is representing the building's owners, said the partnership sought bankruptcy court protection in part to prevent the auction, which had been set for Monday."The precipitating event was Monday's foreclosure, but there also appears some debt that could be restructured," said Sher.

Worcester County authorities say a 21-year-old Ocean Pines woman has acknowledged buying alcohol that was served to underage drinkers at a post-graduation party in June. A 20-year-old charter boat mate was killed after leaving the party and driving his pickup truck into a tree.Police say that Kristie Abate told investigators last week that she accompanied a 17-year-old youth to a Fenwick Island, Del., liquor store June 1 and bought alcohol that was served at a party at a waterfront farm near Ocean City.

COLLEGE PARK -- LaMont Jordan is out to become the first Maryland player in 17 years to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.Three young quarterbacks, Randall Jones, Calvin McCall and Latrez Harrison, each want to prove they are No. 1.Coach Ron Vanderlinden believes he has assembled enough talent at the skill positions to make enough big plays to sustain long scoring drives.And all the Maryland coaches and players want to win more games than they lose.However, none of this will happen unless an often-maligned offensive line breaks through.

For three days in April, Worcester County will be a place for the birds -- warblers, shorebirds, waterfowl, nesting birds and raptors -- during the sixth annual Delmarva Birding Weekend.Held in conjunction with the Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition in Ocean City April 23 through 25, the birding weekend will include birding trips into the varied habitat of the lower Eastern Shore.Organizers plan guided canoe trips in the back bays at Assateague Island, the Pocomoke River and Nassawango Creek, a woodland hike through Pocomoke State Park and a night trip to the marsh at E.A. Vaughn Wildlife Management Area.

Ocean City's famed Carousel Hotel & Resort is scheduled to be auctioned Monday, the result of a showdown between the Pennsylvania heart surgeon who owns the hotel and a court-appointed receiver who contends that the 21-story building needs millions of dollars in repairs.The foreclosure sale is linked to a legal tug-of-war between Dr. Siamak Hamzavi of Scranton, Pa., the owner of the Carousel's 264-room hotel, and the owners of the property's 190 condominium units.The condominium owners, who succeeded in persuading a Worcester County judge to name a receiver to sort out the Carousel's financial problems, contend that Hamzavi has failed to maintain the property, even to the point of not paying necessary services such as electricity.

State Del. Bennett Bozman, a conservative Democrat from the Eastern Shore, said yesterday that he plans to run for Congress next year against Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest.Bozman, a third-term delegate from Worcester County, could give Gilchrest his most serious challenge in eight years. Bozman said he is "about 99 percent" certain he will run for the 1st District congressional seat.The 1st District includes all the Eastern Shore, parts of Anne Arundel County and a sliver of southern Baltimore.

OCEAN CITY -- Many of those celebrating high school graduation last week at the farm of a prominent Worcester County businessman say that beer and grain alcohol flowed plentifully for 50 or more underage drinkers there.But Hale Harrison -- who allowed his 17-year-old son, George Hale Harrison, to hold the party June 1 -- says the opposite: He saw no alcohol there and even stood by the farm's front gate monitoring partygoers for two hours to make sure.This much is not in dispute: The party ended in the early hours of June 2 when Robert E. Krieger Jr., 20, originally from Baltimore and a mate on an Ocean City charter boat, drove through the farm's ornate wooden gate, sped north on Route 611 toward Ocean City, lost control of his truck, crashed into trees about four miles away and died.

BERLIN -- Worcester County environmentalists say the latest turn in the 10-year saga of the Riddle Farm is like deja vu all over again. The former horse farm, which covers nearly 1,000 acres, includes the largest swath of undisturbed forest remaining in the densely developed outskirts of Ocean City.The sale this month of the ecologically sensitive peninsula has rekindled opposition to long-standing plans for a 650-home community, with its own water and sewage treatment plants, an 18-hole golf course and an inland marina.

When Tom and Deborah Carven suspected four years ago that their dream house in Worcester County was built on an old graveyard, they sued the estate of the developer for $1.5 million and felt confident the courts would rule in their favor. After all, they figured, everyone knows it's wrong to disturb or build on a burial site. There are laws against that.But the Bishopville couple received a major blow in Worcester County Circuit Court last week when Judge Thomas C. Groton III ruled in favor of the defendants, Vivian Hickman and the estate of her late husband, Louis J. Hickman.

OCEAN CITY -- The Maryland Coastal Bays Program unveiled a 120-page proposal yesterday that supporters say is a blueprint for conservation in the next century but that contains a proposal for a no-build shoreline buffer similar to restrictions on Chesapeake Bay waterfront property.Supporters and detractors agree that the plan could affect watermen, developers, recreational boaters, sport fishermen, farmers and the tourist industry.The management plan covers Assawoman, Isle of Wight, Sinepuxent and Chincoteague bays and smaller tributaries that make up a marshy, 175-square-mile watershed that is the incubator for a wide range of marine life -- and a significant part of Worcester County's $2-billion-a-year tourist industry.

Fire that displaced 30 people in Essex caused by candle A two-alarm fire late Wednesday in the Hartland Village neighborhood of Essex that extensively damaged at least seven apartment-style town houses and displaced 30 residents was caused by a burning candle, according to a Baltimore County fire spokeswoman. No injuries were reported, but several of the 16 affected homes were deemed uninhabitable because of loss of power. A resident in a second-story bedroom lit a candle, which fell from a nightstand and ignited combustible materials, according to county fire spokeswoman Elise Armacost.

The Baltimore mayor's chief of staff and two other government officials sued an Ocean City Domino's pizza and related businesses for $30 million after employees at the beachfront pizzeria refused to serve them and allegedly imprisoned them in the restaurant for five to 10 minutes about 1:30 a.m. Aug. 15. The owner of the Ocean City restaurant, John S. Basil, said service was refused because the three were "uncooperative," "belligerent" and "intoxicated," and...

When are layoffs a genuine effort to streamline government and when are they an excuse to change policy in a backdoor manner? In Worcester County, home to Ocean City and some of Maryland's most valuable (and sensitive) waterfront land, it appears the latter is at work. Layoffs are uncommon in Worcester County government, but last month, a majority of county commissioners agreed to send 11 employees packing as part of a consolidation effort. All who lost their jobs in Snow Hill were employed in departments where important land use and development decisions are made.

EASTON - Frances Kostkowski cried when Boater's World decided to close the Denton distribution center where she spent 14 years filling orders for boating accessories. The 57-year-old widow cried again while sitting inside a Panera Bread on Route 50 in Easton and contemplating an uncertain future in the face of an unstable job market. "I can't live on minimum wage," Kostkowski said. "I can't pay the rent, the electric bill, the car payments, the car insurance on minimum wage." That distress is gripping residents across the state as the recession's unabated sweep leaves an accumulation of closings and layoffs in its wake.

SNOW HILL - If a tree grows in the forest but no one is around to measure it, can it be a champion? This is not one of those chin-stroking metaphysical riddles. There's an easy answer: Nope. Which is why Salisbury University ecologist Joan Maloof ventured recently into a wooded Eastern Shore swamp. Armed with a tape measure, the 52-year-old scientist was on a mission to gauge the size of a soaring black gum tree she had spotted last year. The dimensions would tell whether this tree was mighty enough to dethrone the reigning state champ black gum in Montgomery County.

Mark Fidrych, an eccentric All-Star pitcher nicknamed "The Bird" whose career was shortened by injuries, was found dead Monday in an apparent accident at his farm in Northborough, Mass. He was 54. Worcester County (Mass.) District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said a family friend found Fidrych about 2:30 p.m. Monday beneath a dump truck at his farm. He appeared to be working on the truck, Early said. The curly haired right-hander was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1976, when he went 19-9 with a 2.34 ERA. He spent all five of his major league seasons with the Detroit Tigers, compiling a 29-19 record and a 3.10 ERA. After a series of injuries, he didn't pitch in the majors after 1980 and retired after attempting a comeback with the Boston Red Sox in 1983.

State officials agreed yesterday to buy one of the largest privately owned forests left on the Eastern Shore for $14.4 million, though not without questions about whether taxpayers are paying too much to preserve land in the depressed real estate market. The Board of Public Works unanimously approved purchase of the 4,800-acre tract in Worcester County, pointing to its ecological value as a habitat for rare plants, birds and other animals. It is one of two major land preservation deals announced last month by Gov. Martin O'Malley.

An investigation into the beating death of a young Eastern Shore man early yesterday in Berlin continues, with authorities interviewing people of interest in the killing, a spokesman for the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation said. Sgt. Timothy Keen, the spokesman, said no charges have been placed in the death of Michael Mitchell, 19, of Berlin. Mitchell was beaten with an unknown object about 4:30 a.m. at President Circle and Dueling Road, in the Decatur Farms community of the town, during a fight that erupted while several young people celebrated graduating from high school, Keen said.

Ranked No. 3 in the state at 215 pounds by the Maryland State Wrestling Association, Severna Park junior Billy Nichols was a state runner-up at 171 pounds and had a 21-4 record last season on the Falcons' regional championship team. Only Georgetown Prep's Chance Gaffney is ahead of Nichols in the state rankings. Also a starting defensive end on the Falcons' football team, Nichols is strong, athletic and focused. Nichols has a 3.2 grade point average and is undecided on a college. How was the transition from 171 pounds to 215 this season?

When it comes to property taxes, Ocean City property owners must feel like they've been taken to the cleaners. A recent study confirms they're correct. The problem is familiar: Ocean City residents get taxed by Worcester County but get a lot of their services from the municipal government, which taxes them too. The county provides no police, fire marshal or many other services that the town provides. Altogether, property taxes would have to take a 22-cent swing (6 cents less in the city and 16 cents more in the rest of the county)