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www.carrollcountytimes.com 75¢
100TH ANNIVERSARY
1911-2011 Thursday, October 14, 2010

Police
look into
man hit
by train
Reason victim was
on tracks is unknown
BY RYAN MARSHALL
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Police are continuing to investigate the
death of a Sykesville man killed by a train in
the town.
Marvin Dale Carter, 51, of the 7400 block
of Norwood Avenue in Sykesville, was killed
Tuesday night after he was struck by a west-
bound CSX train, according to Maryland
State Police.
Troopers responded around 9:30 p.m.
DYLAN SLAGLE/STAFF PHOTO Tuesday to a section of railroad tracks east
Rosina Greensfelder, of Westminster, gets a smooch from Meeko, a Chihuahua, at the Brightview Westminster Ridge of Gaither Road near the boundary between
booth at the sixth annual Seniors on the Go Expo at the Carroll County Agriculture Center in Westminster Wednesday. Carroll and Howard counties, according to a
state police release.

Loyal companions
Train personnel told police Carter
appeared to be lying on the tracks as the
train approached. It wasn’t clear Wednesday
why Carter was on the tracks.
No contact information could be located

Please see Train, A7

Therapy dogs bring smiles to visitors at the Seniors on the Go Expo
BY BRANDON OLAND
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Most weeks, Brightview Westminster
Ridge senior residents receive two spe-
cial visitors.
The visitors are covered with fur, walk
on four legs, crave attention and adore
treats.
Gully, a Shih Tzu, and Raisin, a border
collie, regularly delight the seniors at the
Westminster senior- care facility. The
dogs are part of Keystone Pet Enhanced
Therapy Services, one of the exhibitors
at the Seniors on the Go Expo at the
Carroll County Agriculture Center’s
Shipley Arena in Westminster Wednes-
day.
KPETS dogs frequent assisted living fa-
cilities throughout Southern Pennsylvania
and Central Maryland.
Many of those canines were on hand
“There are so many benefits.
A dog loves you unconditionally.”
Wendi Mitzel
Owner of Meeko, a Chihuahua
to greet visitors to the expo Wednesday.
Even in a loud, raucous setting with
belly dancers and cloggers taking the
stage, Gully and Raisin remained calm
and stayed focused on the smiling seniors
who stopped to rub their heads.
Their easygoing temperaments make
them ideal for retirement home visits,
said Carol Murray, Gully’s owner.
“As you can see, noises don’t bother
them,” she said while Gully greeted visi-
tors alongside the other KPETS dogs on
hand.
Nancy Morris, of Upperco, is Raisin’s
Woman
sentenced
for ID theft
owner. She brings her 6-year- old border
collie to retirement homes throughout
the area.
Occasionally, Gully and Raisin will
team up and dance together. Both dogs
have gone through extensive agility Westminster resident to
training.
Murray said Gully, an active dog who spend 18 months in jail
does not usually relish being held, al-
lowed a wheelchair- bound senior at BY RYAN MARSHALL
Westminster Ridge to hold him for TIMES STAFF WRITER
20 minutes Wednesday. A Westminster woman will spend time in
jail for helping her husband steal their chil-
Please see Dogs, A7 dren’s identities, but a judge will allow her to
seek drug treatment while
she’s incarcerated.
Emily Campbell, 27, was
sentenced Monday to 18

Schools pull half-credit band class months in the Carroll County

Superintendent: Option caused confusion
BY MEGAN MCKEEVER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
After confusion emerged re-
garding the addition of a half-
credit band course to the list of
2011-12 public school classes,
the Carroll County Superin-
tendent has pulled the option
altogether.
“It wasn’t clearly explained,
so I’m pulling it back,” Super-
intendent Steve Guthrie said at
Wednesday night’s Board of
Education meeting.
In August, the school system
sent out a letter asking parents
for feedback or suggestions to
the course of studies, which
outlines all available courses
for county high school stu-
dents.
The letter also asked for
feedback about the addition of
a half- credit band course.
Instead of increasing op-
tions, many parents thought
that the school system was in-
stead limiting options by only
providing the half- credit
course in Band I Concert Band,
Honors Symphonic Band,
Honors Wind Ensemble, Hon-
ors Jazz Ensemble, Orchestra
and Honors Orchestra, Guthrie
said.
“It was meant for students
who couldn’t fit [a full credit]
in the schedule. If I intended it
to be a budget cut, it would
have been on my budget cut
list,” he said, adding that the
school board has no plans on
cutting music classes.
Currently, students can take
a half- credit band class by
using their independent study
period.
But Guthrie said he had
Please see Band, A7
Detention Center at a hearing
in Carroll County Circuit
Court.
Judge Thomas F. Stansfield
sentenced Campbell in three
cases Monday. CAMPBELL
She received five years, with
all but 18 months suspended, on a charge of
theft of more than $500 for an incident in
which she was caught trying to steal items
from the Kohl’s store in Westminster.
She received a sentence of 18 months for
one count of identity theft, to be served
simultaneously with the sentence in
the shoplifting case.
Please see Theft, A7

TODAY IN Council: More info needed on raising chickens

THE TIMES Sykesville considers making property setback smaller
BY CHRISTIAN ALEXANDERSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
Sykesville Town Councilman
Ian Shaw is planning to study
the feasibility of allowing resi-
dents to raise livestock with a
smaller property setback than
Reason to rejoice what the town currently allows.
The issue came up after
Last miner in Chile reaches Sykesville resident Kim Pickett
the surface safely. A5 requested a change to the town’s
ordinance that requires a mini-
mum 200- foot setback from the
resident’s property to raise live-
stock.
Pickett and her family have
been raising five chickens on
their one- third acre property,
which does not comply with the
town’s ordinance.
In a 4- 3 decision, the
Sykesville Planning Commis-
sion recommended to the coun-
cil that the town’s ordinance not
be changed.
The commission did recom-
mend the council consider
changing property setback re-
quirements to educational insti-
tutions.
The recommendation to allow
educational institutions came
after representatives from the
Ava Wanas Montessori School,
located in the 7500 block of Col-
lege Avenue, expressed interest
in raising chickens.
Shaw, the council’s planning
commission liaison, said he
would gather more information
about raising chickens.
During Tuesday night’s meet-
ing, the rest of the council de-
termined the issue needs to be
studied further before it would
consider any changes to the or-
dinance.
Town Manager Matt Candland
Please see Chickens, A8

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