TANEYTOWN -- Nursing students at Catonsville Community College may be able to getsome financial help from a scholarship being established for a Taneytown nurse killed in an automobile accident last month.
The parents of Lora Lee McKinney Harver, who died Nov. 12 in an accident on Route 140 near Frizzellburg, are attempting to set up the scholarship intheir daughter's name at the Baltimore County college.
Harver's mother, Linda L. Devilbiss, said she wanted the scholarship established to make sure her daughter would be remembered and to help others who need financial assistance.
Devilbiss and Harver's father, James McKinney, are discussing the specifics of the scholarship, such as the amount and qualifications, with college officials.
The amount of money raised for the scholarship will determine whether it is offered every year, said college officials. If more than $5,000 is raised, the scholarship fund will become a permanent award, paid from interest the fund earns in a local bank.
Tax-deductible donations may be sent to: The Lora Harver Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/oEdwin L. Koons, vice president, Taneytown Bank and Trust Co., 212 E.Baltimore St., Taneytown, Md. 21787.
Flu vaccine concerns
TANEYTOWN -- Dr. Janet Neslen, county health officer, told thecommissioners at Thursday's Board of Health meeting about concern throughout the country regarding blood donors who have received a flu vaccination this year.
Neslen said that in some Red Cross centers, blood screenings on some vaccinated donors showed rather disturbing results.
"The blood has been found to have failed on the first screening, looking like the donor has hepatitis or AIDS," Neslen explained. "This became an issue because it was misunderstood."
Experts and Red Cross officials attributed the false positive results to the flu vaccination and are trying to determine how long the vaccine will have this effect on the blood. Neslen said some Red Cross centers havehad to dispose of blood from vaccinated donors.
She said she favors the flu vaccination because it will "prevent the flu or keep people from getting as sick as they would if they didn't have the vaccination."
So far, Carroll and Baltimore counties have been hit hard bythe flu, with schools and doctors' offices reporting many cases.
"This Beijing flu is really tough," said Neslen. "Along with the painfrom muscle aches, there can be fever and respiratory problems."
In other business, the commissioners approved a request for the Sykesville American Legion to explore options regarding the installation of a new sewage disposal system which would accommodate existing and new usage.
The legion is looking to expand its 5,000-square-foot facility to 12,000 square feet by next spring.
PROJECT AGENDA IS SET
WESTMINSTER -- The Maryland Interagency Committee on School Construction has recommended that Carroll pursue the following projects in its fiscal 1993 capital requests to the state:
* A New Windsor Middle School replacement. The IAC denied the project planning recognitionlast year because of a state budget crunch and a slew of proposed projects from across the state. School officials said planning recognition would enable the district to proceed with planning and obtaining construction dollars in the future.
* A $200,000 roofing project at Westminster High.
* A $1.9 million renovation of Mechanicsville Elementary.
The capital request will go to the state Board of Public Works for consideration in late January or early February, said Lester P. Surber, Carroll's supervisor of school facilities and planning. Surber presented the IAC's recommendations to the Board of Education Construction Project Coordinating Committee at a meeting last week.
"We believe it to be a very favorable package," Surber said.
School staff also updated county officials on Friendship Valley Elementary in Westminster, slated to open in the fall. Friendship Valley is expected to be completed in late spring or early summer.
County is gaining clout
WESTMINSTER -- Some last-minute changes to the state's political map gave Carroll legislators an early Christmas present -- a General Assembly district all to themselves.
After some maneuvering to satisfy Howard County lawmakers enraged by a plan earlier this month that ripped the county into five different pieces, the Governor's Redistricting Advisory Committee last week placed all of District 5 into Carroll.
Lawmakers here -- currently spread throughout two districts in four counties -- had been pushing for an all-Carroll district since the redistricting process began earlierthis year. Most of Carroll County -- about 99,000 people -- will be included in District 5, which will be represented by three delegates and one senator.
The rest of Carroll -- District 4B -- will have about 35,150 residents and will be represented by a Frederick County-dominated senator and one delegate.
The new plan also made some adjustments to districts in Baltimore and Baltimore County, but made fewchanges in representation for metropolitan Washington.
The plan marks the first time Carroll has been politically separated from the metro area; for years, it shared districts with Baltimore and Howard counties.
As a result, Delegate Lawrence A. LaMotte, D-Carroll, Baltimore, will no longer represent Carroll County after the 1994 election.
Sen. Larry E. Haines, R-Carroll, Baltimore, will solidify support in Carroll as he loses the part of his district previously in Baltimore County. The first-term senator said he may run in 1996's SixthDistrict congressional election.
COUNCIL TO VOTE ON PLAN
WESTMINSTER -- The revised plan for the East Main Street reconstruction is expected to receive formal City Council approval at the council's regular meeting tomorrow.
The council, which meets at 7 p.m. at the Volunteer Fire Co. at 66 E. Main St., conducted a public hearing on the plan earlier this month. The project, which underwent a 10-month redesign after the original prompted public outcry, includes street, sidewalk and utilities improvements on Main Street between Longwell and Quintal avenues.
The project, expected to cost about $2.8 million, will be paid for mostly with state and federal money.
Tomorrow's meeting will begin with a public hearing on a request from Western Maryland College that the city assist with the school's effort to land low-interest, long-term financing for the recently dedicated Hoover Library.
WMC is seeking a tax-exempt industrial-development bond for$6.25 million.
Forest law drafted
WESTMINSTER -- The Environmental Affairs Advisory Board voted Wednesday to submit its draft of a county forest conservation ordinance to the state Department of Natural Resources.
A public hearing will be scheduled, possibly in January, to discuss the draft. The ordinance is intended to conserve trees and requires developers to replace forests they clear. It is patterned after state law and would take effect in 1993.
The board decided not to add provisions requiring developers to afforest,or create new forests, on land that was previously barren. The statelaw includes those provisions.