State panel approves $333,000 to preserve Union Bridge farm

Union Bridge's chances of staying green improved yesterday, when state officials approved a $333,000 grant to permanently preserve a 124-acre farm along Route 75.

The farm, which dates to 1770, cannot be developed for homes or businesses. It adds to the nearly 1,000 preserved acres that form a greenbelt around Carroll's smallest town.

Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge, who pushed for the money at yesterday's state Board of Public Works meeting, also made a pitch for state funding in a second local preservation effort: Francis Scott Key's birthplace in western Carroll. The county is working with the owners of Terra Rubra, the Key homestead, but cannot complete the transaction without state help, she said.

State officials seemed receptive but have not committed money to that effort, Gouge said.

The state also awarded Carroll $311,942 in Open Space funds for lighting at Sandymount Park and for parkland in Detour.

Bail increased for woman accused of trying to sell son

A 19-year-old woman accused of trying to sell her toddler for $250 so she could get out of jail to await trial on drug charges was ordered held on higher bail yesterday.

Judith Ann Garland of Baltimore was ordered held in lieu of $10,000 bail in the Carroll County Detention Center on charges of offering to sell her 2-year-old son to a cousin who has temporary custody of him. Garland was being held in lieu of $5,000 bail on charges of possessing crack cocaine and smoking pipes.

Yesterday, Garland spoke softly on the video screen to District Judge JoAnn Ellinghaus-Jones.

"Me and my mom have been talking a lot. She said I could stay there under the condition that I seek help," Garland told the judge, saying she wants to get into a drug-treatment program. "I would just like to ask if I could have a chance."

Her lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Robert Frank, said Garland is a heroin addict who has been abusing drugs since she was 11 and has been homeless since age 12.

Fire station construction gets formal OK from panel

New Windsor Fire Department is a step closer to building a fire station on 3 acres it acquired from the county behind a vacant school on Green Valley Road.

The state Board of Public Works approved the land transfer yesterday - a formality for any property, such as a school, that originally was acquired with state money.

The site, which the county gave to the Fire Department for free, will be accessible by an extension of High Street or by a widened Atlee Road.