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of JEFFERSON
AND FARMER'S ADVOCATE
Find us on Wednesday, August 22, 2012 .:. 75 (plustax) www.spiritofjefferson.com
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BRYAN CLARK
Spirit Staff
KABLETOWN - A Pennsylvania-
based firrn that ins federal halfway
houses on a for-profit basis said they are
withdrawing their applications to build
a facility on Kabletown Road that could
have housed up to 75 inmates after their
release from federal prisons.
Nonetheless, a RequestFor Proposals,
or RFP, issued by the Bureau of Pris-
ons in June - which calls for the con-
struction of such a "Residential Re-en-
try Center" in one of 25 counties in the
northern half of the state - remains ac-
tive, leaving open the possibility that an-
other contractor could propose a similar
facility in the regionr
Bureau of Prisons officials had not re-
sponded to requests for an interview as
of press time.
Officials with MinSec, the Pennsyl-
vania contractor, say their company has
entirely withdrawn from the RFP, mean-
ing that an alternative site in Berkeley
County is also off the table.
MinSec officials announced their in-
tention to withdraw'from the RFP in an
interview Friday, only one day after res-
idents expressed opposition to the pro-
posal and the County Commission vot-
ed to send a letter outlining its opposi-
tion to the plan to MinSec, the Bureau of
Prisons and West Virginia's legislators.
Eleven residents, many of whom live
in the Kabletown area, made their feel-
ings known at Thursday's commission
See PROPOSAL Page A2
ii;i:ii'
i'):
ROBERT SNYDER
Kris MacNichols, of Shepherdstown, looks at the center logo of the Shepherdstown anniversary quilt as it hangs Tuesday in the fellowship hall at Trinity Episcopal Church. More than 27
yards of embroidery floss was used to stitch the tree's foliage in the center panel, MacNichols said. The quilt includes the signatures of 528 of the town's residents.
Quilt project's focus: fabric of life in Shepherdstown
CHRISTINE MILLER FORD than 500 signatures of town residents. The quilt is being stitched together by
Spirit Staff The 5-by-6 feet quilt features the 250 members of the Tuesday Craft Group
logo front-and-center as well as depic- that meets each week in the Fellow-
SHEPHERDSTOWN - Another tions of Shepherdstown landmarks such ship Hall at Trinity Episcopal Church in
element in the 250th anniversary of as the grand Rumsey Monument and Shepherdstown.
the town's founding is coming to- McMurranHall, named for the man who Peter Smith, one of the organizers of
gether as crafters here finish a corn- served as the first president of what to-
memorative quilt shoWcasing more day is Shepherd University. See STITCHED Page A10
i
One of the panels in the Shepherdstown sig-
nature quilt features the Little House at Shep-
herd University.
ADAM HOLSTON
Homecoming
Just back from his deployment in Afghanistan, Sgt. Jeffrey Quinn greets his 2-year-old son Gabriel for the first time in months
Tuesday evening at the Jefferson County Fair. Victoria Quinn (right), his wife of six years, arranged for him to surprise Gabriel and
the couple's other children, 5-year-old Damian and 4-year-old ZaAra, at the fair. The kids already had been looking forward to the
fair, said their mother, a Kearneysville native, and getting to spend the rest of the evening with their dad had them all smiling.
Four Charles Town city police officers named in lawsuit
BRYAN CLARK
Spirit Staff unknown Charles Town police officers. An amended
CHARLES TOWN - A pair of lawsuits filed bycomplaint filed in March names James Knott, Ronald
two Haitian citizens - one of them a former Loudoun Kerns, Jonathan Desarno and Jason Newlin.
County, Va. Sheriff's deputy-alleging racial profiling A scheduling order entered by N rthern District
and false arrest by four Charles Town Police officers Court Judge John Preston Bailey on Aug. 8 sets the
are set to go to trial early next year. trial date for Jan. 22, 2013, if the case is not resolved
The lawsuit also argues that the city of Charles before that time.
Town's "customs and practices regarding arrest pro- The Baptistes, who are both black, allege that they
cedures" and its failure to train and supervise its offi- were handcuffed and transported to the police de-
cers in "basic arrest procedures and the laws and pro- partment by Knott, Desamo and Newlin on March
cedures governing search and seizure" contributed to 30, 2011 from the Old Charles Town Library follow-
the alleged incident, ing the arrest of Thomas Jones, also a black man, for
The police department argues that the charges are check fraud committed at the Bank of Charles Town.
baseless and that police officers acted appropriately. !ndony Jean Baptiste was handcuffed to a chair and
When they were filed a year ago by brothers Drix
and Indony Jean Baptiste, the two lawsuits named five See LAWSUIT Page A6
I
Mark Osbourn feels 'blessed' to serve
on Jefferson County's school board
CHRISTINE MILLER FORD
Spirit Staff
CHARLES TOWN - Today, for the first
time in decades, Mark Osbourn won't spend
the first day of school in the trenches.
But the 60-year-Did, who retired at the end
of the 2011-12 school year after 23 years as
principal at C.W. Shipley Elementary in Harp-
ers Ferry, said he's still likely to find time to
visit with students today.
"I love kids so I'll probably go see some -
it's the first day of school and of course that's
where I want to be," Osbourn said. "I've spent
my life surrounded by edu?ation - and most
of the time, it's been the education system of
Jefferson County."
Before his stint at Ship!ey, he taught for
five years at Ranson Elementary and an-
other five years ai Page Jackson Elemen-
tary schools as well as in school systems in
Virginia and Maryland. And before that, the
Shepherdstown native went through Jefferson
County Schools as a student. He earned his
bachelor's degree from then-Shepherd Col-
lege and completed a West Virginia Univer-
sity master's program on the Shepherd cam-
pus.
But he said that even as he is enjoying a
less restricted daily schedule thanks to his re-
tirement, he's grateful to still play a part in the
Jefferson County school system.
"I feel very blessed that Jefferson Coun-
ty residents have put their trust in me," said
Osbourn, who was the top vote-getter in the
May election and was formally sworn in to
the five-member board in July.
In addition to his school board duties, Os-
bourn, who lives in Shepherdstown with his
wife, Sharon, a nurse with the Veteran Affairs
Medical Center in Martinsburg, also plans to
volunteer in the school system, perhaps with
CLAIRE FORD
When Jefferson County students head back
to school today, it'll be the first time in more
than a half-century that Mark Osbourn won't
be there either as a principal, teacher or stu-
dent. The Shepherdstown native retired as
principal at C.W. Shipley Elementary in June,
a month after he was elected to the county
school board.
the PASS program or as a classroom
reader.
School has been a big part of life for
Osboum for as long as he can remember.
Thanks to an older sister and brother
find the careers pursued by his mother
(a cook at the school just steps from the
family home) and father (Charles Os-
See BLESSED Page A8
i"
Registered to
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Why you need to
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INDEX
Editorial A4
Obituaries A7
Life B1
Classifieds B4
Legals B5-7
Sports BS-10
N oml
Rc hrer
of Kearneysville
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@2012 The Jefferson Publishing Co. Inc.
Published weekly in Charles Town, W.Va.
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