Thursday, Nov. 23, 2000 --

• By a 3-2 vote, Salisbury’s City Council has gone against Mayor Barrie Parsons Tilghman’s proposal to open the Downtown Plaza to limited car traffic for the holiday season. The Plaza has been closed to all but pedestrians and city service vehicles for 32 years. A committee of residents and merchants backed the opening, as did the mayor. Councilman William Stacey cast the deciding vote, saying that allowing traffic to use the plaza was certain to cause damage to the planters and curbs.
• Jim Biggs, General Manager of the Centre at Salisbury mall, said about 500 seasonal employees have been added since October to ensure a smooth holiday season. The north Salisbury shopping complex has 120 stores. Kay-Bee Toy Store will open at 5 a.m. Friday, three hours ahead of the other mall stores.
• Dave Johnson, a member of the Wild Turkey Advisory Committee for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, estimated the Lower Shore’s wild turkey population at “a good 3,000 or 4,000.” Once hunted to virtual extinction locally, the holiday symbols have made a strong comeback in recent years as DNR officials trapped birds in Western Maryland and turned them loose in Worcester, Somerset and Wicomico counties. Statewide, the spring hunting yield was 2,705 birds, with 184 birds bagged in Wicomico.
• At city Police Headquarters, Chief Alan Webster announced that anyone arrested by force will be photographed and their bodies will be carefully examined for any injuries. The policy is being implemented, Webster said, in response to public concerns that recent arrestees have been injured by police officers. In other police news, the chief also announced that Officer Brian Beaver had been promoted to the rank of corporal.
• The Wicomico County Council has suspended talks about implementing a county-wide building moratorium. County Planning & Zoning Director David Nutter recently suggested a moratorium was needed so his office could conduct a three-month evaluation of “uncontrolled growth.” Nutter said the review was timely because it would mesh with expected zoning revisions. He said the county has an extensive backlog of unapproved building permits.
• Wicomico County Free Library Director Kathleen Reif said the library’s 53,000 card holders will fail to return about 2,000 books, tapes and music CDs this year, costing the library about $30,000. Reif said a new computer system installed to improve inventory records has made the number of missing books easy to calculate. The library’s annual budget is $2.2 million, including money it receives from the state.
• The Rev. Wayne Nicholson, pastor of Our Brothers Keeper, hosted the ministry’s 21st annual Thanksgiving dinner, held at the Leonard Apartments on Booth Street and Delaware Avenue. Between 300 and 400 people attended.