By Greg Bassett

Thursday, March 11, 1999 --

• The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has ruled the Salisbury Zoo Commission improperly held a closed-door meeting to select an ice cream vendor who would offer food and concessions on zoo property. Zoo Commission members had maintained they were permitted to act like a business, and could therefore meet behind closed doors. The state judges, however, ruled the Zoo Commission is a city entity and must follow Open Meetings rules. The Zoo Commision had selected Flannery’s Ice Cream over another possible vendor, Andy’s Ice Cream.
• Assistant Wicomico schools Superintendent Bob Evans will continue filling in for Superintendent William Middleton, who suffered a second heart attack on Monday. Evans has filled in as Acting Superintendent whenever Middleton has been away at conferences or on vacation. Middleton is scheduled to undergo heart bypass surgery today.
• Wicomico County Social Services Director Cynthia Jackson has been officially cleared of allegations that she mistreated employees and could soon be eligible to return to work. A Department of Human Resources investigation lasted four months and involved interviews with some 20 of Jackson’s employees.
• The Wicomico County Board of Education has approved a controversial plan to drastically alter the county’s school districts. High school students will be allowed to stay in their current schools, as will students who live in the district serviced by Delmar Elementary. All changes to the middle and elementary schools will take effect in September.
• A performing arts center and the creation of a new redevelopment authority are among the ideas to be presented when Salisbury Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman holds a meeting this weekend to discuss Downtown Salisbury. City officials will rank ideas presented by planners in a January meeting that attracted more than 100 participants and 300 ideas.
• Peninsula Regional Medical Center has agreed to partner with Salisbury Center: Genesis ElderCare to jointly manage the 370-bed nursing home on Civic Avenue in Salisbury. PRMC President and CEO Alan Newberry said the venture will reduce costs and ensure local control of the facility. Genesis already offers a 68-bed unit that accommodates patients who have been released from the medical center but are not ready to return home. 
• State Delegate Bennett Bozman, who is challenging Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest’s re-election, said the incumbent U.S. House member is wrong on the matter of reimbursement rates for Medicare recipients. Seniors are having to pay higher costs for supplemental insurance because reimbursement rates have been reduced. Bozman contends the problem is federal issue that Gilchrest must fix, while Gilchrest has countered that state officials are using an incorrect formula to calculate rates.