Spring Grove task force members announced
Community activists, business workers, college officials and others will make up a task force formed to look at the future of state-owned property occupied by Spring Grove Hospital Center in Catonsville.
Though a spokesman for the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has said there are no plans to close the facility or develop any of the 200 acres on which it sits, the land is among properties being considered as potential sites for juvenile detention centers. County Executive James T. Smith Jr., a Democrat, who commissioned the task force, said he wants residents to have an opportunity to share their ideas for Spring Grove before the state makes any decisions.
Built in 1797, Spring Grove is the second-oldest continuously operating psychiatric hospital in the United States, according to its Web site. Smith said he would support a police station or a district court facility being moved to the property should land become available.
The "Spring Grove 2010: Community, Collaboration, Consensus" task force is to hold several community meetings and send a report to Smith by June 1. Smith said he would then send recommendations on possible future uses of the property to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
The task force will be chaired by Scott Graham, former chief executive officer and executive director of the former ReVisions health clinic. Other task force members are: community activists Evelyn Revels, Steve McKew and Charlotte Wood; University of Maryland, Baltimore County officials Joan Kennedy Cody and Lynn Schaefer; lawyer Lou Weinkam Jr.; retired state police Maj. Robert Scruggs; Mike Carey, a Community College of Baltimore County dean; Lynn Barranger of the Space Telescope Institute; Betty Okonski of Southwest Emergency Services; Ken Burch, former principal of the Western School of Technology and Environmental Science; and retired Baltimore businessman Henry Stansbury.
Josh Mitchell
Trash collection
Pickup of recyclables may be delayed
Workers will pick up trash and recyclables where passable today, according to the county Department of Public Works.
If pickup does not occur, the county urges residents to leave out their trash but to hold onto recyclables until Feb. 28.
The county's three major drop-off centers, in White Marsh, Cockeysville and Halethorpe, will be open regular hours.
Catonsville
Police seek man in child sex abuse
Baltimore County police asked for the public's help yesterday in finding a man who they say fondled a child in the restroom of a fast-food restaurant on Baltimore National Pike in early January.
Police said the man sexually assaulted the 6-year-old boy in the restroom of a Chick-Fil-A in the 5600 block of Baltimore National Pike about 7:30 p.m. Jan. 10.
The suspect is described as white, 35 to 40 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 145 pounds, with fair complexion, a goatee and blond hair. He has a distinctive tattoo of a red-and-blue dragon on his forearm and was driving a yellow Hummer on the day of the incident, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 410-307-2020 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-756-2587.
Laura Barnhardt
Parkville
Community meeting moved to Feb. 27
The Parkville Community Plan meeting, canceled because of snow, has been rescheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 27.
The meeting will be held at the Parkville Recreation and Senior Center, 8601 Harford Road.
Towson
Genealogy seminar set at Hampton site
A presentation on how to research a family history by local author and researcher Agnes Callum has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. March 5 at the Hampton National Historic Site, Hampton Lane, Towson.
Callum will provide tips on how to use federal census records, military records and death certificates in researching ancestry.
The lecture, initially set for this month, was postponed because of snow. The program, funded by the Maryland Humanities Council, will be held at the farmhouse on a first-come, first-served basis. Information: 410-823-1309 or nps.gov/hamp.
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