Thursday, Sept. 6, 1979 --

• Wicomico County Roads Division Chief Kirk Banks announced that he had authorized the opening of a new stretch of road connecting East College Avenue with Beaglin Park Drive. The curving roadway crosses Schumaker Pond and cuts through a wooded area east of City Park. The road has been the subject of lawsuits concerning the land’s purchase by the county.
• A group of local farmers have been accused by the Army Corps of Engineers of constructing a drainage ditch for nearly a mile through a swamp containing bald cypress trees east of Salisbury. A biologist for the Corps office in Baltimore said a 30-foot-wide ditch built by members of the Horse Bridge Creek Drainage Association has lowered Horse Bridge Creek by about 2 feet and is causing severe environmental damage. The Corps is consulting with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service on what legal proceedings can be followed.
• The Wicomico County Council has approved a plan by State’s Attorney Richard D. Warren to make his office more attractive to young lawyers beginning their law careers. Because of the low pay offered to Assistant State’s Attorneys, Warren is proposing that deputy prosecutors be permitted to engage in private practice, as well as working for the county. Warren’s plan is that new lawyers would have to work for a year or 18 months for the county, and would then be allowed to also engage in private practice.
• By a vote of 219-213, Dresser employees agreed to end their seven-week strike and accept a contract that will increase pay by $1.20 per hour over three years. Members of the UAW Local 354 walked off their jobs July 16, complaining of an inadequate plan on wages. The former Wayne Pump Co., Dresser is one of the area’s largest employers and manufactures gas pumps, automotive hoists and air compressors.   
• The Wicomico County Health Department has notified about 40 residents of the Chesapeake Heights subdivision off Old Ocean City Road that their drinking water contains higher than acceptable concentrations of nitrate nitrogen, which might be a hazard to infants and pregnant women. A state health official said the neighborhood has many wells that are located on small lots and are too shallow.
• The Wicomico County Council has stepped into the debate about whether the new Youth & Civic Center’s bathrooms should be equipped with hand dryers or paper towels. The council used cost as the basis for its decision, saying that because the electric dryers will cost about $6,000 more than planned, paper towels were the way to go. Wiring needs for the dryers would have placed the total cost at more than $18,300, according to Civic Center Manager Frank Buob.
• Salisbury Mayor Elmer F. Ruark was the first customer at Peninsula General Hospital Medical Centers new U.S. Post Office. The mailing center, complete with private Post Office boxes, will be manned by four hospital employees, under the direction of Materials Management Director Brady Roberts.
• Funeral services were scheduled for retire Wicomico educator Edward E. Henry, 70, of Spring Hill Road, who died of an apparent heart attack. Henry’s teaching career spanned 42 years, including 30 years as the Industrial Arts teacher at Salisbury High School and then Bennett Junior High.