Youth Service Bureau

A bull roast Jan. 20, the Drug Summit March 6 and a Drug Awareness Sunday April 28 make up the calendar of activities put on by the Prevention Planning Committee of students, educators and other adults.At the committee's last meeting yesterday, George W. Giese, director of the Youth Service Bureau, said he is working with ministers in the county to discuss drugs and alcohol during their services April 28.The bull roast at Martin's Westminster will raise money for the second annual Youth Drug and Alcohol Summit on March 6. The summit brings together secondary-school students to raise their awareness of the dangers of substance abuse.

Carroll's county commissioners said yesterday they would consider creating a few new jobs next year even though the budget director recommended against it.Budget Director Steven D. Powell said the county should not create any new jobs in fiscal 1995.Mr. Powell made his recommendation during a work session to discuss next year's county budget. Department and agency heads have asked for 28 new positions, which are expected to cost almost $1 million.The county needs the money in other areas, including a $2.5 million contingency fund for emergencies, Mr. Powell said.

Carroll County officials hope to get a better idea of the cost to renovate two vacant buildings on East Baltimore Street in Taneytown today when they tour the structures with a contractor.If the county simply repairs water-damaged walls and replaces the heating and cooling system, renovations could cost about $15,000, Citizen Services Director Jolene G. Sullivan said yesterday. If the adjacent buildings are made handicapped-accessible, renovations could cost at least $100,000, she said.City, county and state groups would like to convert the buildings -- one a former bank, the other a former drug store -- into a community center.

Name: Mike RodgersHonored by The Carroll County Sun for: Leading the county in rushing with 725 yards for the Westminster Owls football teamAge: 17Residence; hometown: Hanover, Pa.; SykesvilleEducation: senior at Westminster High School; graduate of West Middle School in Westminster; Mechanicsville Elementary School in GamberFamily: Mother: Donna, homemaker; father: Garfield, works in the business department at Armco Steel in Baltimore County; sister: Tina,...

Recently, volunteerism has become an issue within our public school system in Carroll County. While we all know the value of giving of ourselves to help a cause or another human being, we should not forget how good it feels when we make the choice to initiate the thoughtful gesture.Somehow, the idea of being told to volunteer changes the meaning of the word.*Looking for a good deed to do? Check the First United Presbyterian Church at 65 Washington Road in Westminster.Thursday from 1:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., the American Red Cross will be accepting blood from donors in the Old Fellowship Hall at the church.

Hundreds of troubled youths could end up back on the streets if state aid for counseling and recreation programs is cut, the directors of Anne Arundel's two Youth Service Bureaus warned yesterday.Both centers would be forced to close after more than 20 years if a new plan by the state Department of Juvenile Services is implemented. To help reduce the burgeoning $400 million state deficit, the agency announced Tuesday that it would stop supporting Maryland's 21 Youth Service Bureaus starting Feb. 1.Since the teen counseling and recreation centers usually rely on state aid for 75 percent of their operating budgets, nearly all expect to close when the money runs out."

A restored 19th-century building will be dedicated today as the Taneytown Job Center, where needy residents can go for counseling, food stamps, Medicaid or job assistance.The multiagency facility is intended to make it easier for northwest Carroll residents to obtain social services without having to travel to Westminster, where most of the county's agencies are located."The concept is to be where we're needed," said Peggie J. Roland, coordinator of the center and an employee service adviser for the Carroll County Department of Social Services.

With a month to go before moving its headquarters to th historic Orchard Street Church, the Baltimore Urban League yesterday came much closer to raising the $3.7 million needed to pay for the restoration.Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. presented a $600,000 check, representing an agreement to invest in the project. In return, the Baltimore investment banking firm hopes to benefit by syndicating federal tax credits available for restoration of historic buildings.The investment brings to $3.1 million the amount raised from public and private sources.

The Baltimore Urban League earlier this month announced its choice of an architect for the restoration of the Orchard Street Church at 521 Orchard St., near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Druid Hill Avenue, thus taking another step in its plan to move from Mondawmin Mall into new offices in the church next year.When the move to the new quarters eventually takes place, one of the city's oldest service and advocacy organizations for black people will be housed in a stop on the famous underground railroad of Civil War days, and the oldest black church in Maryland.

The House passed a bill, 128-4, that would enable youth services bureaus statewide to charge fees for counseling based on the income of aclient's family.George Giese, director of Carroll's Youth Service Bureau, testified earlier this month in favor of the legislation intended to help the financially strapped agencies. The state has cut its contributions to youth services bureaus twice in the last year.Youth service bureaus counsel youths and their families to prevent and reduce delinquent acts and substance-abuse problems, and to help dysfunctional families develop new modes of behavior.