Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

March 13^th, 2007 – March 27, 2007

Re: 20070324 More questions than answers persist about Bowling Brook

UPDATE: I’m certainly encouraged by the thoughtful and responsible feedback I have received about Bowling Brook... I have written several other columns on Bowling Brook if folks would like to have more information.

For more information on “Soundtrack” please click here: Bowling Brook

Pictures needed:

I have scoured through my files and unfortunately I have not been able to locate any of my photos showing the young men from Bowling Brook in action.

As often as I was around these young men and saw them on action; for whatever reason, either I failed to take any pictures or I have filed them “in a really good place…”

If you have any photos of these young men at Carroll or Frederick County events, would you please consider e-mailing them to me at kdayhoff@carr.org and giving me permission to post them on www.kevindayhoff.net?

As of March 13^th, 2007, “Community Rallies behind Bowling Brook” is on my blog, “The Winchester Report” on the Westminster Eagle’s web site.

Another post is on www.kevindayhoff.net here: 20070305 Bowling Brook student death ruled a homicide.

On March 14^th, 2007 my column on The Tentacle and in The Westminster Eagle will be on Bowling Brook. (It should be on the front page of the web site – or scroll down the left hand sidebar and click on “Opinion” and then click on my name. Or click here.)

The March 13^th, 2007 Winchester Report blog post – “Community Rallies behind Bowling Brook ” features quotes from Delegates Nancy Stocksdale and Donald Elliott; Tom Welliver, the Carroll County Ag Center’s Larry Collins, Perry Jones, and The Junior Woman’s Club of Westminster.

It begins:

“On March 2, Bowling Brook Preparatory Academy in Keymar announced that after 50 years in operation, it would close on March 9.

“The closing comes in the wake of the death of one of the students on January 23.

“Since the closing was announced, many Carroll Countians have rallied in support of the academy suggesting that it would be better to meaningfully address and correct what precipitated the tragedy than close the academy.”

It ends:

“It is rare that a community rallies to have a juvenile facility in their own back yard. But all of us have a stake in saving young men for a productive future and in those efforts; Bowling Brook is part of the answer.

What is now necessary is for Maryland Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore and Gov. Martin O’Malley to hear from Carroll County citizens who care about Bowling Brook and the future of the young men this facility worked so hard to help. Encourage them to take fresh look at re-opening Bowling Brook.

Please review the letters from the Delegate Nancy Stocksdale and the Junior Woman’s Club of Westminster and then find a moment of your time to write to: Governor Martin O’Malley, Office of the Governor, 100 State Circle, Annapolis, MD 21401-1925, and Maryland Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore, One Center Plaza, 120 W. Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Delegate Stocksdale’s and the Junior Women’s Club of Westminster’s advocacy letters are posted at the end of the Winchester Report blog post.

Letters to editor are very important in addition to letters to Governor O’Malley and Secretary DeVore.

Letters to the editor can be e-mailed to: jjoyner@patuxent.com

Mr. Jim Joyner, Editor

The Westminster Eagle

121 East Main Street

Westminster, MD 21157

jjoyner@patuxent.com

I would love for The Westminster Eagle to have a page or several pages of letters to the editor …

Please pass the word. We need as many thoughtful, respectful, and polite letters as possible to go to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Maryland Juvenile Services Secretary Donald W. DeVore.

I have assured many folks that the letters need not to be long. Push comes to shove, a hand written note with several sentences expressing support is really all that is needed.

On another note, the electronic geek in me loves letters transmitted by e-mail but I gotta tell ya, from my experience as an elected official, nothing beats a stack of polite, well-written and legible – and short, (I can’t stress the short part enough,) letters delivered by mail.

The addresses once again:

The Honorable Governor Martin O’Malley

Office of the Governor

100 State Circle

Annapolis, MD 21401-1925

The Honorable Secretary Donald W. DeVore

Maryland Juvenile Services

One Center Plaza, 120 W. Fayette Street

Baltimore, MD 21201.

Thanks to everyone who was so patient and helpful with me as I was constructing the columns. Thanks in advance for everyone circulating this information.

Kevin Dayhoff

The writer is the former mayor of Westminster 2001-2005.

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

www.kevindayhoff.net and www.kevindayhoff.com

E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr DOT org or kevindayhoff AT gmail DOT com

His columns appear in The Tentacle, www.thetentacle.com; Westminster Eagle Opinion www.thewestminstereagle.com and Winchester Report.

20070326 “Tax Cuts for the poor” by Don Surber

Tax cuts for the poor

http://blogs.dailymail.com/donsurber/2007/03/26/tax-cuts-for-the-poor/

March 26th, 2007 by donsurber

The Tax Foundation has an interesting study that should end all debate on Bush’s tax cuts. I’ll cut to the chase:

Overall, we find that America’s lowest-earning one-fifth of households received roughly $8.21 in government spending for each dollar of taxes paid in 2004. Households with middle-incomes received $1.30 per tax dollar, and America’s highest-earning households received $0.41.

Government spending targeted at the lowest-earning 60 percent of U.S. households is larger than what they paid in federal, state and local taxes. In 2004, between $1.03 trillion and $1.53 trillion was redistributed downward from the two highest income quintiles to the three lowest income quintiles through government taxes and spending policy.

Now for those who may have been educated in DC schools (which spend more per student than any of the 50 states) $8.21 is more than 41 cents.

And $1.5 trillion is a lot of money to be transfered from 120 million people (40%) to 180 million.

That works out to every person in the top two quintiles (40%) shelling out $12,500 to be distributed to the rest — who pocketed on average $8,333 in free government goods and services.

While this is at all levels of government it should be noted that 59% of the federal budget is now tied up in entitlements.

Read the entire post here: Tax cuts for the poor

20070327 Maryland DNR Roadside Trees and Utilities

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Roadside Trees and Utilities

http://dnr.maryland.gov/forests/landplanning/rtandutilities.html

Posted March 27, 2007

Trees in our urban areas, where, according to 2000 Census data, over 85% of Marylanders live, are vital to making those areas livable and vibrant for residents and businesses. Green infrastructure is a necessary part of a vibrant urban center. Grey infrastructure (our built improvements) is also necessary to the safety, efficiency, and economic well being of our cities.

The Maryland Roadside Tree Law and its regulations were developed to protect our roadside trees by ensuring their proper care and protection and to ensure their compatibility with an efficient and dependable public utility system.

Towards that end, we would like to make the following tools available.

1. Utility-compatible tree planting schematic and species listing

Figure 1 - Utility-compatible tree planting schematic

When planting trees around your home, adherence to the schematic shown in Figure 1 will help minimize the chances of utility outages due to storm-related tree failure. Some tree types that are suitable for planting in the Low Zone of Figure 1 can be found in Compatible Tree Factsheets, available from Penn State University @: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/pucfc/publications.html

The information in Item 1 was provided by the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program on the recommendation of the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council through a grant to Virginia Tech, The Street Tree – Utility Easement Conflict.

2. If you are involved with the management of trees in urban areas, MD DNR would like to make the interactive CD-Rom “Urban Tree Risk Management: A Community Guide to Program Design and Implementation” available to you. This CD is intended to assist your community with tools to better incorporate and integrate green and grey infrastructure in urban areas. The manual on the disk is designed to help communities design, adopt, and implement comprehensive community tree risk management programs, and to train field staff to detect, assess, and correct hazardous defects in urban trees. Key steps to planning and designing a tree risk management program are outlined, including a comprehensive guide to customizing a program to address the specific needs of a unique community, establishing the goals of the program, formulating and implementing tree risk management strategies, and evaluating the program’s effectiveness.

In the Maryland Public Service Commission’s (PSC) Order No. 79159 (IN THE MATTER OF THE ELECTRIC SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS DUE TO HURRICANE / TROPICAL STORM ISABEL AND THE THUNDERSTORMS OF AUGUST 26-28, 2003), the PSC’s recommendations included the following: “The utilities are encouraged to adopt a community-integrated restoration approach for large-scale events consistent with the characteristics of their respective service territories and prudent use of their assets. The concepts underlying the Incident Command System (ICS) offer an effective means of integrating utility resources with local and State government resources. The utilities should evaluate ICS methods as a means of providing community-based restoration.” This tool is being provided to advance that recommendation.

The CD is a creation of the USDA-Forest Service’s Northeastern Area. Many other USDA-FS tools for urban tree management can be found on-line @: http://www.umass.edu/urbantree/inventory.shtml and http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/. Our copies of the CD are funded by a grant from the USDA Forest Service’s Mid-Atlantic Center for Urban & Community Forestry at Keystone, which provided for distribution of the CD to all Maryland Municipal League members.

If you would like a copy, please provide your mailing address to:
Michael F. Galvin, Supervisor
Urban & Community Forestry Program
MD DNR
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, MD 21401
mgalvin@dnr.state.md.us

Please refer to the Urban Tree Risk Management CD Rom in your request. Copies will be distributed free of charge until supplies are exhausted.

Posted March 27, 2007

####

Labels: Environmentalism Trees and Forestry Issues - Roadside Trees and Utilities, Agriculture Nursery Stock and Landscaping Plant Selection - Trees

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

20070327 McCain’s MySpace page hacked

McCain’s MySpace page hacked

March 27 2007

John McCain’s MySpace Page “Enhanced”

http://www.myspace.com/johnmccain

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/03/27/john-mccains-myspace-page-hacked/

Could it really be true that Senator McCain has had a change of heart and now believes:

Today I announce that I have reversed my position and come out in full support of gay marriage…particularly marriage between two passionate females.

Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch reports that Senator McCain’s MySpace web site has been hacked – and why and how it happened.

Someone on Presidential hopeful John McCain’s staff is going to be in trouble today. They used a well known template to create his Myspace page. The template was designed by Newsvine Founder and CEO Mike Davidson (original template is here). Davidson gave the template code away to anyone who wanted to use it, but asked that he be given credit when it was used, and told users to host their own image files.

Read the rest here - - it really does get even better…

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20070327 Woman Says Dog Saved Her

Woman Says Dog Saved Her by Performing Heimlich Maneuver

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,261702,00.html

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Toby, a 2-year-old golden retriever, really is man's best friend — or in this case, woman's.

Debbie Parkhurst, a 45-year-old jewelry artist who lives in Calvert, Md., says her dog Toby saved her life last week after she began to choke on a piece of apple by giving her the Heimlich maneuver, the Cecil Whig reported.

Click here to read the Cecil Whig's full report.

Read the rest of the article here.

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20070327 Hiltz Steps Down From Board Seat Effective Immediately

Hiltz Steps Down From Board Seat Effective Immediately

In a press release just received moments ago it was announced that Board member Tom Hiltz is stepping down from his seat on the Carroll County Board of Education effective immediately.

March 27th, 2007

Board member Tom Hiltz has announced that he will be stepping down from his seat on the Board of Education of Carroll County. Hiltz’s decision is effective immediately.

In a letter to Board President Gary Bauer, Hiltz said, “Stepping down at this time was a difficult and personal decision; one that I have reflected on for several months. After consulting with my family, I decided to move forward without delay.”

Hiltz was first elected to the Board of Education of Carroll County in November 2000 and re-elected in 2004. He has twice served as Board Vice President and, in 2006, served as Board President. During his six years on the Board of Education, Mr. Hiltz has served as an ex-officio member on the Career and Technology Advisory Council and the Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee. From 1995 to 1999, Mr. Hiltz served on the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission, including two terms as Chairman.

In announcing his decision Hiltz said, “I am humbled by the trust that the citizens of Carroll County bestowed upon me almost 6 ½ years ago and have been honored to serve them on the Board of Education. I am personally grateful to the school system staff for their continuing support and tolerance over my years of service. I am even more grateful for their support, day-in and day-out, of our children and grandchildren. Carroll County cares about education and we are blessed with tremendous and dedicated support for education in our schools, in our communities, and in our business.”

According to Superintendent of Schools Charles Ecker, the Board will begin the process of filling the vacant seat as soon as they receive word from the Governor. If the process is approved by the Governor, the Board will solicit applications and then screen applicants and conduct public interviews. The Board will then recommend the names of three individuals to the Governor.

# # #

20070325 Townhall Top Ten

Townhall Top Ten - March 18-24

By Jonathan Garthwaite
Sunday, March 25, 2007

Global warming and Ann Coulter have been regular residents of the weekly "Top Ten." So when Ann Coulter writes a column about global warming, what do you get? #1 See what else Townhall.com readers were talking about during the week that was -- March 18-24,2007

#10. Why Fred Thompson Should Run
by Mona Charen
The current Republican field is like a smorgasbord at Denny's -- lots of OK choices, but nothing to get the heart racing. That's why the potential candidacy of former Sen. Fred Thompson is creating a palpable stir.

#9. Turning up the Heat on Gore
by Jonah Goldberg
As fate would have it, the same week Al Gore was testifying before Congress, I was doing a little testifying myself. Admittedly, there were a tad fewer paparazzi in the Madison, Wis., classroom where I was giving a talk on global warming (sponsored by Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, or CFACT). The debate in Washington offered some familiar echoes.

#8. The Witch Hunt Against Gun Owners
by Michelle Malkin
"The Second Amendment," Charlton Heston used to say, "is America's first freedom." The Second secures the rest. It's a message narcissistic journalists need to hear again.

#7. '300' Fact or Fiction?
by Victor Davis Hanson
Crowds are flocking to see the film "300" about the ancient Spartans' last stand at the pass at Thermopylae against an invading Persian army. Yet many critics, in panning "300," have alleged that the film is essentially historically inaccurate. Are they right?

#6. John Edwards' Death by Bangs
by Kathleen Parker
The video, set to the song ``I Feel Pretty,'' has been airing on television, posted on YouTube and circulating on the Internet the past few days with potentially devastating effect for the man unflatteringly referred to as the ``Breck Girl.'' It also illustrates the enormous power of YouTube in politics forevermore.

#5. Will The Seahawk See the Pitfalls of Libel?
by Mike Adams
Yesterday afternoon, I spoke with a writer for the UNCW Seahawk student newspaper. He was interested in doing an article on my recent column, "How to Bomb a Gay Bath House" – a satirical column whose point was that in America political correctness causes people to pay more attention to imaginary threats against minorities than the real threats Muslim extremists pose to all Americans.

#4. Random Thoughts
by Thomas Sowell
One of the many fashionable excuses of our time is that some words or actions were "taken out of context." Those who say this seldom, if ever, bother to say what these words or actions mean when taken in context.

#3. The Essence of Liberalism: Embracing Life's Losers
by Michael Medved
What constitutes the essence of modern liberalism? Conservatives will return to decisive victories only if we come to terms with liberalism’s visceral appeal. The best way to overcome our ideological adversaries is to understand their approach to major issues.

#2. It could never happen in America
by Mike Adams
Karlo Kraljev of the European Human Rights Panel is spitting mad. And it’s not because his spell-checker is still broken. It’s because he thought “My Apology to the European Human Rights Panel” was a satire. He claims that the article was satire because it claims that another article (“How to Bomb a Gay Bath House”) was satire, which is a claim he still refuses to accept.

#1. The coming ass age
by Ann Coulter
No matter how much liberals try to dress up their nutty superstitions about global warming as "science," which only six-fingered lunatics could doubt, scratch a global warming "scientist" and you get a religious fanatic.

Jonathan Garthwaite is the editor-in-chief of Townhall.com.

Monday, March 26, 2007

20070326 Good Monday Morning

Good morning. Please drive safely on your way to work.

March 26, 2007

(Oh how I wish the photo was mine. I got it in an e-mail eons ago...)

20070326 1764 Plat Plan of Westminster

1764 Plat Plan of Westminster

Posted March 26^th, 2007

I have been asked on several occasions if I have a map of Westminster from 1764. To date, to the best of knowledge, I have never posted it. And as I am currently looking at it, it may very well be because I’m not sure I can get it posted on the web site large enough for it to be of any value. Nevertheless, above please find the plat plan for Westminster from 1764.

Westminster is actually the amalgamation of a number of towns (“Hamlets”) put together.

Of note is that Westminster was legally a “city” until the 1838 charter - incorporation was amended by Chapter 335 of the Acts of the Maryland General Assembly of 1856, which re-characterized the municipality as a “city” and changed the titles of the elected officials to Mayor and Common Council of Westminster.

From the initial incorporation passed by the Maryland General Assembly in Chapter 128, Acts of 1818, through a subsequent incorporation in 1830, until 1856, Westminster had a Burgess and Commissioner form of government. The first “Mayor” of the City of Westminster was Francis Shriver, who served from 1856 to 1858.

A portion of Green Street, between Center and Washington Road was the city’s first annexation in 1788. One of five key “boroughs” that initially formed Westminster.

The October 15, 1964 Carroll County Times called them “hamlets:”

“Five hamlets made up the present Westminster. The Westminster of 1764 ran along King’s Street (now Main Street) from Manchester Road to Court Street.

“In 1775, New London was added to the original Westminster. This hamlet included that area along King’s Street from Court Street to Longwell Avenue.

“Another addition to the town was made in 1788 along Green Street from Washington Road to Church Street.

Bedford, along Main Street from Longwell Avenue to near John Street, was added in 1812.

“In 1825, Logsdon’s Tavern land was included along Main Street from Carroll Street to the junction of the Taneytown, New Windsor and Uniontown Roads and along Pennsylvania Avenue to Union Street.”

Many who follow county politics may find it of interest that the Carroll County Public Information Administrator, Vivian Laxton, is a descendent of the “Logsdon” family that helped form the foundation of what we now know as Westminster – and whose roots pre-date before Carroll County was a county. In 1825, what we know from history as “Logsdon’s Tavern” was actually a part of Frederick County.

####

20070326 Westminster Common Council meeting Agenda

Westminster Mayor and Common Council in an undated photograph from the later 1960s.

Westminster Mayor and Common Council 2005 - 2007

CITY OF WESTMINSTER

MAYOR AND COMMON COUNCIL

AGENDA FOR MARCH 26, 2007 MEETING

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER – 7:00 P.M.

2. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MARCH 12, 2007 (OPEN AND CLOSED
SESSIONS)

3. CONSENT CALENDAR:

February 2006 Departmental Operating Reports

4. BIDS:

Enhancement of Fire Alarm System, Longwell Municipal Center

5. REPORTS FROM MAYOR

6. REPORTS FROM STANDING COMMITTEES

7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

a. None as of March 22, 2007

8. NEW BUSINESS:

a. None as of March 22, 2007

9. DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS

10. CITIZEN COMMENTS

11. ADJOURN

20070326 If Men Vacuumed

If men vacuumed…

March 26th, 2007

We’ve all seen both of these (i.e. the photo and the silly story below) … several times. They’ve circulated the cyber-globe several times. However, I’m just so happy that spring might actually come after all that I had to post them.

My wife and I actually had an opportunity to work outside some yesterday.

The hat tip for the piece below belongs to Analog. I’ve seen it before… It was worth repeating… Although I can’t necessary relate – it is funny.

The Broken Mower

When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed.

But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first, the truck, the car, playing golf - always something more important to me.

Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house.

I was gone only a minute, and when I came out again I handed her a toothbrush. I said, "When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway."

The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

Moral to this story: Marriage is a relationship in which one person is
always right, and the other is the husband.

Although I did do some housework yesterday, I did not get around to doing any vacuuming. The lawn mower won't start. But you can be sure I'll look into getting it fixed right away.

####

20070326 Universal Health Care Anyone

Hat tip: The Happy Carpenter

With all appropriate credit to Cox and Forkum... www.coxandforkum.com

On the Cox and Forkum web site, they have posted some addtional insights. Find it by clicking here.

March 26th, 2007

Sunday, March 25, 2007

20070325 This week in The Tentacle

This week in The Tentacle

March 25, 2007

Sunday, March 25, 2007

March Madness

Tom McLaughlin

Humor by Tom McLaughlin - "Our freaks playing your freaks" is the description my Uncle Buddy used to describe a basketball game. During my university days, I used to attend these events and watch as the teams ran back and forth on the court, jumping and booing with the crowd without a clue what was going on.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Glorious "Annie!"

Roy Meachum

Marissa O'Donnell and John Schuck in The Hippodrome's "Annie."

The glorious musical "Annie" returned to Baltimore this week, stopping for only the next few days at the splendid Hippodrome Theatre. That's great news for Maryland pre-schoolers, especially girls.

"Annie's" Other Roy

Roy Meachum

Sandy in The Hippodrome's "Annie."

Going into Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre Tuesday night, I faced separate but major realties. "Annie" launched my son's theatrical career and I had never seen the musical before. It was worth the wait.

Ghost Hunters

Edward Lulie III

Ghosts have come a long way from being served up with S'mores as a staple of campsite storytelling to being a big part of marketing the multimillion dollar travel industry. Gettysburg and Williamsburg now have at least one or more "ghost" tours as one of their visitor attractions as do many other tourist destinations.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

..and they're loading into the gate

Tony Soltero

In a chronological sense, it's way too early to be talking about the 2008 presidential race. But it's easy to get sucked into the discussion. In a practical sense, President George W. Bush's abysmal approval ratings signal that the American public is more than anxious to move on and start fixing up the immense domestic and international damage caused by this sad, failed administration.

Battleground Extraordinaire

Katie Nash

Many local residents refer to Frederick County as the "best kept secret" in Maryland. Perhaps they are right - but not only because of the county's small-town charm or economic development.

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Crossing the River - Together

Kevin E. Dayhoff

At 2 o'clock on March 23, 1642, in "St. Maries," now known as St. Mary's City, Mathius de Sousa took his seat in the Maryland General Assembly along with Leonard Calvert, the first governor of Maryland, and 37 other distinguished gentlemen.

St. Patrick's Day, With a Twist

Patricia A. Kelly

On March 17, instead of setting out wearing my green foam leprechaun hat along with the other Kellys, I found myself at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, the oldest congregation in our nation's capital, watching the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi. Sufi Muslim mystics came from Turkey to perform their deeply spiritual ritual dance, called "Sema."

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Exit the President?

Roy Meachum

Coming almost exactly 40 years ago, Lyndon B. Johnson's Sunday night announcement caught the world by surprise. With sorrow and regret, the gentleman from Texas said he would not run for re-election.

Who's on First?

Maude Franceschina

(Editor's Note: Tentacle Columnist Maude Franceschina sent an email last week to the Board of Education. The chain of responses raises more questions than provides answers. We believe our readers will find this correspondence more interesting in the sequence of emails than in the information provided. The actual email addresses have been deleted.)

Monday, March 19, 2007

General Assembly Journal 2007-9

Richard B. Weldon Jr.

Three weeks to go in this year’s General Assembly session and yet 90% of the work remains to be done.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Windy

Tom McLaughlin

Humor by Tom McLaughlin - Omigod, it was windy! Having spent my first winter on the beach in Ocean City, the wind was relentless for what seemed like all the whole season. Small craft and gale warnings were posted for an eternity.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Democratic Brouhaha

Roy Meachum

Democrats might not think so. From this view, it's rather delightful to consider foolishness that did not come from the GOP, usually out of Commissioner John "Lennie" Thompson's mouth.

Government for the People = Smoke-free Restaurants

George Wenschhof

Our representative form of government and our economic system is the envy of every country in the world. However, developing, implementing and maintaining this system, where government and business work together to meet the needs of the people, is a never-ending process.

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20070321 This week in the Westminster Eagle

This week in the Westminster Eagle

Posted March 25^th, 2007

Local News

Alleged thief nets early retirement
Police say no one really took notice of the woman who walked with a cane when she visited Carroll Lutheran Village in January.

But no one really forgot her, either.

It wasn't until a rash of robberies were reported that people really remembered seeing her.

"When we started interviewing and tal...
[Read full story]

Panel to review Westminster economic goals
Concerned about the state of economic development of Westminster, the Greater Westminster Development Corporation is reaching out to the city, county, McDaniel College and businesses around Westminster to form a new review committee.

Scheduled to begin meeting next week, the GWDC "Blue Ribbon Comm...
[Read full story]

Recreation

For Flynn's sake, seniors take one final shot

Annual exhibition game benefits Flynn family

High school basketball

The final score didn't matter. The chance to play one more basketball game, especially for a good cause, was all the reason seniors from each Carroll County high school needed to get together at Century High School last Thursday...
[Read full story]

Wolf at the Door

No matter the source, hot air keeps this ol' world spinning

Nothing in life is static, there is always change. Sometimes change is obvious, other times so finite it can't be detected.

The hullabaloo about "global warming" falls in both categories.

Subtle because it has been happening for centuries undetected; and promoted now because many liberals have a...
[Read full story]

Doug... A Little Deeper

'Remember the Maps!' ... or maybe, 'Keep 5 Alive!'
Some students of history may recall that the great rallying cry for the Spanish-American War in the late 1890s was "Remember the Maine!"

For those of us who weren't around back then, here's a brief history lesson: The USS Maine was an American battleship in 1898. President William McKinley sent th...
[Read full story]

Kevin E. Dayhoff

History of education, minus beheadings, in our state
In researching the history of education in Carroll County, an historian finds many references to the "first school" or the "first" beginnings of a system of education.

Perhaps the "first" reference to schools in Maryland occurred Thursday April 13, 1671, when the "Upper House" of the Maryland Gene...
[Read full story]

Community Calendar

ARTS

> Artwork by members of the Maryland Printmakers are featured in a non-juried show on display through March 23 in the Great Hall at Carroll Community College, 1601 Washington Road, Westminster. The Great Hall is open Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Fridays, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p...
[Read full story]

Community Rallies behind Bowling Brook
On March 2, Bowling Brook Preparatory Academy in Keymar announced that after 50 years in operation, it would close on March 9.

The closing comes in the wake of the death of one of the students on January 23.

Since the closing was announced, many Carroll Countians have rallied in sup...
[Read full story]

A sordid saga of communists, reservoirs, congressman, and pumpkins
Contrary to what is being circulated; the Union Mills reservoir project in Carroll County will add another layer of protection to the site of the “pumpkin papers,” and this national treasure is not threatened.

Recently the old Whittaker Chambers “pumpkin patch&...
[Read full story]

People Forms

Engagement Announcement

Share the big news! Engagement announcements run free of charge in The Westminster Eagle.

Just print out the following form, or cut and paste it into either a word document or an e-mail. Remember – you are NOT bound to follow this form, it is simply designed to give you an idea of the type of information that might be included. Feel free to include more, or less, information.

When you’re done, you can send this in the mail to The Westminster Eagle, 121 E. Main St., Westminster, MD 21157. Or, you may fax to 410-386-0340, or e-mail to thewestminstereagle@patuxent.com.

[Read full story]

News Briefs
Land preservation on the agenda for FPACC

The Finksburg Planning and Citizens' Council will host a general meeting this Thursday, March 22, at 7 p.m. at Sandymount United Methodist Church.

The focus of the meeting is land preservation, and speakers will include Nick Williams of the Maryland Envi...
[Read full story]

Girl Scouts' drive supports troops
Two Westminster West Middle School eighth-graders are bringing relief efforts for the War in Iraq closer to home by collecting items for wounded soldiers who have returned to the states.

The collection is part of a Girl Scout Silver Award project for Ashlyn Cox and Sarah Patterson. Both say they i...
[Read full story]

Education Notes
North Carroll raises $9,000 in Math-a-Thon

North Carroll Middle School recently completed its annual St. Jude's Math-a-Thon -- an event in which students collect sponsorships for completing a Math-a-Thon Funbook.

This year, the school Mathematics Department, including the fifth-grade teams which...
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Country roads bring local singer Bryna back to familiar territory

Tragedy brought country music into Maryland singer Laura Bryna's life. Bryna, who is the opening act for Emmylou Harris at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall Saturday, March 24, discovered country music as a kid when her brother suffered a brain aneurism that left him in a six-month coma.

During the daily dr...
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[Local news archives]

20070325 So where were the spiders?

So where were the spiders?

March 25^th, 2007

Calling all arachnid –ophiles…

In case ya missed it, Jeremy Bruno of the Voltage Gate left a new comment on my post "20070321 The secret life of baby spiders.”

Mr. Bruno calls our attention to a veritable arachnid-palooza of articles on spiders.

He wrote:

Aha! I have written about spiders on the old blog: here; here; here; here; here; here; and here.

The last one might not be about a spider, taxonomically speaking, but the Harvestman father is particularly devoted to its offspring. Neat little critter.

Happy reading…

Kevin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndZodpknFBc

(Yes - I like Easter Eggs)

http://thevoltagegate.blogspot.com/

20070324 Reporters on the move

Reporters on the move

March 24^th, 2007

Saturday, March 24^th, 2007 was, I think, the first story by Justin Palk as a reporter for the Frederick News-Post.

The article, “Yard waste collection set to begin next month,” was originally published today, March 24, 2007.

Justin Palk is perhaps one of the quickest reporters with the copy, (although, most all of us agree, the reigning record holder for being consistent and prolific, is Tom Stuckey, now retired, who was the AP Bureau Chief in Annapolis for many years. Read: “Go Ask Stuckey,” which I wrote for The Tentacle on December 6^th, 2007.)

In the past I could attend the same event with Mr. Palk and by the time I got home and called Mr. Palk with a question, he will have already traveled to his office and filed his article and be headed back out the door…

Several weeks ago I learned that Mr. Palk was moving on from the Carroll County Times to the Frederick News-Post. His first day with the Frederick paper was March 20^th, 2007.

At the Frederick News-Post, he will be initially covering the City of Frederick.

I was an elected official when Mr. Palk came with the Times in May 2003. I always appreciated his no-nonsense straightforward style. Over recent years he has covered a couple of the local Carroll County municipalities and the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis.

I guess one of the reasons I seemed to consistently understand Mr. Palk was the fact that before he started with the Carroll County Times he used to be a “software developer at Veridian Systems in Ann Arbor, MI.,” according to his Carroll County Times web site bio.

The web site bio also indicates that “He received his master's degree from the University of Maryland in May 2003, and his BS in computer science and English Literature from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in December 1999.”

His articles will be missed at the Carroll County Times. Reporters come and go over at the Times, some ya miss; others – you don’t.

Mr. Palk will be missed – especially his coverage of Annapolis.

Hopefully the Frederick News-Post, which I read online, almost every day, will quickly figure out that he will attract many readers by letting him travel over to Annapolis once a week. He has developed too big a following.

We wish Mr. Palk the best over at the Frederick News-Post. Frederick’s gain is Carroll County’s loss.

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