January 12, 2022 - Maryland hospitals need the public’s help. Protecting community health is a responsibility every individual shares.
Get vaccinated and boosted.
Wear a mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands.
Do not visit a hospital emergency room for a COVID-19 test or vaccine or booster.
See your doctor, visit an urgent care center, or use a telehealth visit for minor conditions. Use emergency departments for life- or limb-threatening needs.
January 10, 2022 Westminster Fire Dept. report by Kevin Dayhoff
20220110 K WFD rprt - Notes for the Westminster Fire Department operational report by Kevin Dayhoff – chaplain and PIO, for the January 10, 2022 Westminster Common Council meeting.:
For the month of December, the total call for service were 633. EMS – 523 calls. Fire – 110 calls. 359 of the calls were in the city limits. 195 just outside the city limits. 55% of our calls were overlapping.
Total calls for 2020 were 6025. Total calls for 2021 were 6676 – or 651 more calls than last year.
Staffing COVID-19 Omicron variant challenges:
Locally the recent surge in COVID-19 illness among EMS providers and first responders caused by the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, has caused significant challenges with staffing in the fire service in Carroll County.
In Carroll County 25% of county fire and EMS employees are currently on sick leave.
To make matters worse, our local hospital has recently been frequently on re-route due to more lengthy offloading times – or the hospital has no more capacity for additional patients. This means that medic units must transport patients to hospitals in Hanover, Gettysburg, Howard, Baltimore, or Frederick County. Or the wait time to get a patient in the door at the local hospital can be as long as 4-6-hours. This ties-up the number of medic units available for calls.
The surge in additional calls and the long distances needed to travel to neighboring counties is also causing a significant amount of wear and tear on the equipment.
In Carroll County – and Westminster, we have had to take significant measures to maintain core services during an influx of COVID cases in the community. We have essentially halted all non-emergency activities.
One measure recently adopted is up-staffing – or overstaffing to provide three medic units available at Westminster. Usually, we staff for two medic units. Unfortunately, another measure is ‘holdover’ providers causing responders to work two-24-hour shifts or in some cases three- 24 hour shifts in a row. As you can imagine, this is quite a mental and physical strain on the fire and EMS providers.
Recently county EMS operations showed a 30% increase in EMS responses in the past month during peak demand hours, between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Although, through careful planning, there is currently little impact on the response times of EMS to get to the patient’s side. However, we could use a little help. We need to urge citizens to only call 911 for true, life and death emergencies.
Meanwhile, getting vaccinated against COVID-19 -- and following health and safety protocols like masking -- are the best ways the public can support EMS providers.
+++ Dayhoff Westminster +++
Kevin Dayhoff for Westminster Authority Caroline Babylon, Treasurer.
Dec. 12, 2021 Meet Lynne Griffith the New Executive Director
of the CCAC
The CCAC Board of Directors is thrilled to appoint Lynne
Griffith as our new Executive Director.
Griffith is a Carroll County resident with vast leadership
experience as a nonprofit administrator. An accomplished musician, she has a passion
for the arts, arts education, and community engagement. Griffith recognizes the
importance of team building and collaboration to create dynamic and synergistic
partnerships throughout the county.
“I enthusiastically believe in the power of the Arts to
profoundly impact people and communities, and I relish the opportunity to make
that happen,” says Griffith.
The CCAC Executive Committee accepted the resignation of
Eric Kerchner on December 8. “Lynne was a finalist in our recent search, and we
are fortunate she was available, enthusiastic, and so very qualified to fill
the position. We lucked out.” says Thomas Sterner, CCAC board president.
Dec. 12, 2021 Meet Lynne Griffith the New Executive Director of the CCAC
The CCAC Board of Directors is thrilled to appoint Lynne Griffith as our new Executive Director.
Griffith is a Carroll County resident with vast leadership experience as a nonprofit administrator. An accomplished musician, she has a passion for the arts, arts education, and community engagement. Griffith recognizes the importance of team building and collaboration to create dynamic and synergistic partnerships throughout the county.
“I enthusiastically believe in the power of the Arts to profoundly impact people and communities, and I relish the opportunity to make that happen,” says Griffith.
The CCAC Executive Committee accepted the resignation of Eric Kerchner on December 8. “Lynne was a finalist in our recent search, and we are fortunate she was available, enthusiastic, and so very qualified to fill the position. We lucked out.” says Thomas Sterner, CCAC board president.
FTA: SmartAsset gathered data on three separate regional factors that affect the quality of life for retirees. Westminster ranked number 1 for its better state and local tax rates, and it was determine, residents have a considerably larger amount in disposable income.
[…]
When making retirement plans, looking around for a new place to live within the state of Maryland might be on the ‘to-do’ list. It’s a very common practice for those looking to settle after leaving the workforce. In its 7th annual study, SmartAsset ranks the best places to retire in Maryland. The study measures tax burden, access to medical care and opportunity for recreation and social activity in determining the places best suited for retirees.
+++ Dayhoff Westminster +++
Kevin Dayhoff for Westminster Authority Caroline Babylon, Treasurer.
Covalent Spirits is new distillery,
tasting room, and event venue coming soon to Westminster, MD. We launched an
Indiegogo campaign (https://igg.me/at/covalentspirits) to raise money to help
with the renovation costs. Covalent Spirits is moving into the old City Garage
on Main Street, a historic building built in the 1920s, but it needs a lot of
TLC. With your help, we can restore a piece of history, reinvent this space,
and revitalize a part of downtown Westminster.
Covalent
Spirits is a craft distillery, tasting room, and event venue that is dedicated
to bringing distilling back to Westminster, MD. Located 45 min from Baltimore
and 75 min from DC, Covalent Spirits is nestled in the heart of Carroll County,
surrounded by rich history and beautiful landscapes.
Covalent
Spirits will be taking an experimental approach to creating a variety of
spirits, including vodka, gin, brandy, liqueur, and whiskey. We want to help
our customers better understand their palates and better appreciate what is in
their glass. In chemistry, "covalent" refers to a bond created
through sharing (electrons). We believe that's how you form the strongest and
most memorable bonds -- sharing a drink, sharing a memory, sharing a community.
That is the "covalent spirit,” and that is the essence of our company.
We
officially incorporated in early March 2020, right before the pandemic hit.
Because of the pandemic, we had spare time to focus on business planning, but
we also had to deal with contractor shortages and increased costs of materials.
Since this tasting room is where we want the community to share and connect, we
thought its build-out would be the perfect use of the money raised by this
campaign.
Our Story
Meet Jenn and Drew – the Masterminds of Covalent Spirits!
Jenn is our “Chief Thinker” and a science
geek at heart. A graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and
The Johns Hopkins University, she is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of
management/technology consulting experience. Jenn started her own consulting
company in 2016, and she also operates TasteBuds Events, an event design
company that focuses on themed food/beverage tastings.
Drew is our “Chief Taster” and product
quality control guru. He graduated from Gettysburg College and received a
Doctor of Education (EdD) degree from The Johns Hopkins University. He has been
a public educator for almost 30 years, first as a math and computer science
teacher, then as a principal (many locals might recognize him as the former
principal of Century High School). He currently works as a principal in Howard
County.
Weekly Bingo at the Westminster Fire Department with firefighter Dr. Tim Bangerd serving as the caller for the 2nd half of the games. I called the first half. It's great to see some many folks coming week after week to join us. October 15, 2021
Weekly Bingo at the Westminster Fire Department with firefighter Dr. Tim Bangerd serving as the caller for the 2nd half of the games. I called the first half. It's great to see some many folks coming week after week to join us. October 15, 2021
