Friday, Dec. 10, 1976

• Judge Lloyd Simpkins found 24-year-old Timothy Lee Sweeney guilty of first-degree murder in the August shooting death of Berlin filling station owner Roy Calvin Bataille Jr. Sweeney, of Washington State, entered Bataille’s Airport Road home and shot him in the head with a .303-caliber British Army rifle at close range. According to the prosecution, Sweeney then stole $1,000 in cash that Bataille had in a pouch in his kitchen. Linda Kay Short of Airport Road was named as co-defendant in the murder-robbery.
• Salvation Army Salisbury Capt. Thomas Louie issued an appeal for greater public support for the agency’s annual Christmas projects, saying that receipts were running about $3,000 behind last year’s pace. He said more help was needed to provide aid to the 600 families the Salvation Army had on its list this season.
• Some 1,050 farmers attended a conference held at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center to share ideas on growing corn and learn more about field irrigation and bird controls. According to one University of Delaware agricultural engineering specialist, farmers could double their yields per acre by deploying irrigation.
• Less than a dozen people attended a hearing on Wicomico County’s capital spending plans for the next five years. Officials want to spend $1.6 million on projects for next year and $5.5 million over the next half-decade. Councilman Lewis R. Riley said the county should give priority to to school board projects and that Pittsville Elementary School should not have to wait until 1980 for $1 million in needed renovations.
• Some 5,500 visits were reported to Wicomico public schools during American Education Week. Parents, relatives and other turned out in huge numbers at most of the county’s 26 schools, according to reports provided by principals. Those who visited were able to observe classroom activities, as well as special programs held during the week.
• Repeat shoplifting offender Diane L. Walker, 25, of Keene Avenue, was given the maximum sentence by Judge George B. Rasin Jr. -- 18 months in a state prison. The judge said Walker was to turn over her two young daughters to Social Services, and would be eligible for parole after she served four months.
• Icy roads across the area triggered several traffic accidents. A large accident on Snow Hill Road involved three cars and drivers from Snow Hill, Salisbury and Mardela Springs.
• Paynter Dukes, owner of the Ol’ Country Inn in Pittsville and president of the Wicomico Democratic Club, said Delegate Roy P. Dyson, a presumed candidate for U.S. Congress, would be speaking at his restaurant on Dec. 15 at 7:30. Club members were encouraged to come hear the young politician.
• Mike Hal’s Ltd. Cut Above hair salon touted its team of modern stylists. Serving customers in the salon above Mike Hal’s clothing store on the Downtown PLaza are: Edie Ward, Pat Beauchamp, Judy Vickers, Doug Rayfield, Don Schanfelter, Judy McIntyre, Vannie Beatty and Theresa Figgs.