New commissioners return fate of former school to Hampstead
The county commissioners voted unanimously yesterday to halt the auction of the former Hampstead Elementary School, saying the town should decide the future of a building considered key to its downtown redevelopment.
"We want the town to be in charge," said Commissioner Dean L. Minnich. "We are suspending the auction pending further discussion with the town. We want to resolve this as soon as possible."
Hampstead sued the county to stop the auction after former Commissioners Donald I. Dell and Robin Bartlett Frazier opted to proceed with the sale. The town plans to restore the building, at the heart of its downtown, into senior housing.
N. Carroll High teachers decide to end job action
A majority of North Carroll High School's teachers voted yesterday to end a work-to-rule job action, three months after the faculty decided to work more closely to the terms of their contracts and boycott after-school activities for which they are not paid.
About 87 percent of the school's teachers supported ending the job protest, which began to draw attention to what many county public school teachers say is low pay for an ever-increasing workload, said Tony Roman, a social studies teacher and the school's union representative.
A majority of the faculty at a dozen Carroll schools have voted to work to rule and at least some teachers at nearly all of the county's 37 schools decided on their own to join the protest, union officials say. North Carroll High is the first school to vote to end the job action.
Fire in Westminster home causes $150,000 damage
A fire caused $150,000 damage to a home near Westminster yesterday, officials said.
The 2 1/2 -story, single-family split-level in the 600 block of Geneva Drive had flames shooting through the roof when Westminster Fire Engine & Hose Co. No. 1 arrived slightly after 8 a.m., a company spokesman said.
No one was injured but the home suffered $100,000 in structural damage and $50,000 in lost contents, according to the state fire marshal. The fire began on the first floor near a chimney.