Monday, April 9, 1973 --

• State Sen. Mary L. Nock of Salisbury, President Pro Tem of the Maryland Senate, suffered a cracked pelvis when she was assaulted in a purse-snatching attempt Saturday night within a half-block of the State House in Annapolis. The Senate’s second-ranking member, Nock was rushed to Anne Arundel General, where doctors said she will remain for about a week. Police said Nock was pushed to the pavement during the assault just outside the Governor’s Mansion. Nock was rescued by an aide to Gov. Marvin Mandel, who was working in his second-floor State House office, when he heard Nock crying for help on the sidewalk below.

• Mary H. Frits, Ralph L. Davis, Minos L. Shockley, Berlin B. Cummings, all of Newton Street, joined Jeffrey P. Meyers of Pinehurst Avenue in helping clean up about 20,000 pounds of glass and 7,500 pounds of metal containers in a Saturday cleanup held along the banks of the Wicomico River. Richard F. Hazel, chairman of the Wicomico Cleanup Campaign, said all of the metal and glass will be recycled at the Pepsi-Cola Bottling Plant on Race Street. Despite pouring rain, hundreds of people participated in the cleanup all across the county.

• Wicomico officials are mulling whether to start the fiscal year with a rare surplus or pass a property tax cut. Despite proposed spending increases of $3.38 million is the $15.85 million budget, finance officials are still projecting a surplus of $99,357. The surplus, if returned to taxpayers, would allow a 3.8 cents reduction in the county’s $2.15 tax rate.

• The Delmarva Gymnastics Academy has opened for business in a barn at Crooked Oak Lane and Quantico Road. Robert F. Morris, 25, said he has spent $2,000 to renovate the barn and purchased gymnastic equipment costing $10,000. Morris said the facility will be the only one of its kind on the Eastern Shore and his hope is to train local gymnasts who might one day appear in the Olympic Games.

• Salisbury Public Works Director Philip C. “Pete” Cooper is the recipient of the  Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Civic Award for 1973. The award was made to Cooper for “his high degree of enthusiasm, his good common sense, plain talk and determination to see projects through.” Cooper was also praised for his engineering work to convert Salisbury’s West Main Street to a retail-intensive outdoor shopping plaza.

• A measure that would permit beer sales on Sundays in Wicomico County appears to be headed for passage in the Maryland General Assembly. Somerset County has asked for similar permission. Meanwhile, state Delegate Russell O. Hickman said a measure that would crack down on adult bookstores has passed the House but faces a more difficult course in the Senate.

• For the second consecutive year, Bill Robertson of Shore Appliances and Furniture was the winner of the “Best Booth Award” at last weekend’s Salisbury Optimist Club Spring Festival held at the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center Optimist President Donal E. Ewalt called the annual event “an unqualified success” and said the event’s attendance reached a new record.

• In the local entertainment scene, Pat Suzuki was scheduled to appear that Mark V Inn in Delmar, David Warner was playing at the Continental Cafe in Downtown Salisbury, Genesis was at the Northwood Night Club and Eastern Shore Grit was expected to perform their hit song “Heart Like A Wheel” at Little Jimmy’s in Delmar.