Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1969 --

• The Greater Salisbury Committee, Delmarva Hospitality and the Delmarva Advisory Council told a gathering of the region’s top business and government leaders that Wicomico needs to concentrate on four major initiatives: enlarging the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center, improving the Salisbury-Wicomico Airport, attracting “the right kind of industry,” and developing a local pool of skilled labor. Speakers at the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce annual economic luncheon agreed Wicomico will have a population of 100,000 people by 1980, which Salisbury retailer Lewis Hess predicted “would be a real mess” if officials don’t engage in better planning.
• Salisbury wood carver Dan Brown won five major awards at the Midwest Decoy Championship conducted in East Rockwood, Mich. His winning carvings included depictions of a bufflehead drake, a pintail drake, a preening pintail, and a shorebird snipe. Brown will next compete in the annual Atlantic Flyway Carving & Arts Exhibition scheduled later this month in Salisbury.
• Joseph James Bartholemy was convicted today and now faces the death penalty for murdering Wicomico Sheriff Samuel Graham and turnkey Albert Kelly last December in an escape from the County Jail. In a trial moved to La Plata, Md., a Charles County Circuit Court jury deliberated for five hours before handing down the guilty verdict. Bartholemy’s attorneys had argued their client was insane when he committed the shooting murders, but Judge J. Dudley Digges rejected that defense.
• The state Department of Motor Vehicles has agreed to rent space in the Salisbury Shopping Center on Cypress Street for a new automobile registration, drivers licensing and testing center. DMV will pay Pas Realty of Salisbury $7,000 per month for 5,000-square-feet of office space on the north side of the center.
• Liaison representatives of Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel’s office, former Wicomico resident George E. Burnett Jr. and his colleague, Joseph Anastasi, appeared before the County Council to promise improved communication between the county government and governor’s office. Council President Richard S. Wootten said the county is too often ignored when it asks questions and seeks help. He cited the state’s continued inability to keep the county informed on how much income tax revenue he might expect. Councilman George E. Burnett Sr. told his son and Anastasi that the county has communication problems with the State Roads Commission.
• A group of Park Avenue youngsters have raised $51.97 for the United Fund. Mike Seidel, 13, Mack McKinney, 13, and Barbara Payne, 14, held a neighborhood carnival on Sept. 26 to raise money for the nonprofit. The youngsters sold hot dogs and drinks, and organized games to generate the cash.