Frederick News-Post (Newspaper) - April 3, 2004, Frederick, Maryland o MM UC in UMTS Pratt FINAL EDmON Good morning Then is no WHO 09 it M Weather Showers in the morning then cloudy in the afternoon Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph High 57 Jennifer Snook Don't forget to set your dock ahead one hour before going to bed tonight What is that? Find out on Region Market watch 2057.17 Index Arrest Editorial Lotteries Police Real Religion Ethics TV LookAhead SUNDAY On patrol Staff photo by Green Rick Ml owner Rick's Fish Pet Supply watches hit remaining Wiggles hi an aquarium In the store The mate a larger female named Wags was stolen from the tank this week Missing Wags worries Wiggles lonesome owner By KATE LECKIE Staff FREDERICK Rick Bell has felt like a fish out of water ever since someone who visited his pet store walked off with one of his two prized The avowed lover feels so strongly about the missing Wags thai he is casting a financial net in the hope of getting tier back Since the large vanished Wednesday from her tank at his Frederick County Square store Wags companion Wiggles has been very depressed He's the Ricky Ricardo to her Lucy He doesn't come out as often He stays pretty much just outside their nest site and he hasn't even been eating his favorite shrimp Mr Bell said Friday Wednesday night after he realized his dark maroon and gold fish was nowhere to be found Mr Bell owner of Rick's Fish Pet Supply filed a missing fish report with Frederick police His next decision to offer the hefty reward illustrates his desire to get the girl back back to the watery home she's shared with her Wiggles for about four years See MISSING Staff photo by Green Wiggles the atone these days Hooded robber hits Woodsboro Bank By KATE LECHE Staff FREDERICK A city branch of the Woodsboro Bank was robbed Friday by a hooded man who demanded cash by passing a teller a note Frederick police said No one was injured and no immediate arrests were made in the p.m holdup at the bank on Old National Pike said Lt Tom Chase of the Frederick Police ment Business was sparse inside the bank when the lone robber entered One customer and four employees were inside when the man passed the note to the female teller police laid No weapon was displayed and Lt Chase would not discuss the specifics of the note The robber left on loot with an undisclosed amount of cash Police believe he fled the area in a light blue small sedan possibly a or a Saturn Lt Chase said Police throughout the county swarmed to the rounding area after heist for vehicles that fit the description of the robber's vehicle Deputies with the Frederick County Sheriff's Office stopped a vehicle fitting the description on New Market but tin driven quickly wen allowed to OO WWi Tbi robber WM as a white nun about 6 fret Slots in Frederick Some say plan just a political plot By CUFFORD CL CUMBER Staff ANNAPOLIS Slot machines could come to Frederick the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates said Friday noting the city's location is well suited to capture traffic ed to gambling emporiums in Charles Town If you want to stop the money going to Charles Town certainly Frederick would be the appropriate place to said Speaker Michael Busch Arundel elevating a proposal that has been strongly opposed to an apparently more status Frederick County is at the nexus of two major interstate highways I- 270 and Just a couple of miles from that juncture Md 340 arcs south for less than 30 miles to Charles Town Races Slots The venue regularly attracts hundreds of thousands of Maryland customers every year to out-of-state gambling on slot machines On Wednesday the West Virginia Lottery sion approved another slot machines for Charles Town Expanded bling in Maryland is the centerpiece of Republican Gov Robert Ehrlich's solution to a growing financial crisis caused by massive increases in cation funding Delegate Joseph Bartlett erick who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee said he would not be surprised if a location ed up along Md 340 in a few years He does not support slots and has yet to decide how he will vote in tee the first stop for slots legislation in the House It's not that far-out of an Busch Mr Bartlett said From a marketing point of view the idea is let's look at a model where we go to the tion Other local delegates however were more dismissive of the chances of Frederick becoming a major bling center The idea they said isn't as serious as Mr Busch wants them to believe They suspect that Mr Busch is trying to kill the slots by setting Republicans who have strongly backed their governor's plan against each other It's divide and said Delegate Rick Weldon He Mr Busch is in no different a place than he was last year he doesn't want slots and he knows that he can carve off Republicans by having these kind of conversations with them An interim study report by the House Ways and Means Committee published in late January does tion the Frederick region between See SLOTS Staff photo by Green April MIHer searches for Easter gifts at the store on the Golden Mile on Friday afternoon Bunny brings bucks Easter becoming big sales season for retailers By ERIC SUGLE Staff character Charlie Brown was disturbed by a springtime pre-Christmas marketing blitz at his local department store in a scene from the 1974 mated cartoon It's the Easter Beagle Charlie Brown In reality retailers don't put all their sales eggs in a December basket There is plenty of consumer spending to be done in the name of Easter Nationwide holiday spending is expected to exceed the billion mark this year According to a survey by the National Retail Federation 75 percent of Americans plan to celebrate Easter this year and those consumers will spend an average of each on the day That's five dollars more per person this year than last The average Easter con- sumer plans to spend more than on clothes more than on food and more than on gifts according to the retail group Less than of the rest will be spent on candy the goodies most frequently associated with Easter outlays Flowers decorations and greeting cards account for most of the rest of the spending It's generally a holiday that retailers look forward to because it helps them move their spring said Tolley a spokeswoman for the federation We think spending continues to increase every year A lot of kids get really big Easter toys now We even have pools that we sell Us manager and small enough to fit in some sty toy site and toy spending are on the Jennifer a at Toyi V tJs on bunny and Mt of are put Ms Dnwrttufh said the Staff photo by Sam Yu tays aw w at the Beek Center In the Center Easter sales season at the toy store is second only to Christmas and the retailer begins gearing up for Easter with sales promotions and TV advertising about six weeks in advance Parents are turning to more expensive Ms Drawbaugh said as she stood in a front section of the store devoted to seasonal merchandise Mylar hover discs and swimming fish are a few of the Easter items priced under but the store was also marketing more sive seasonal items like sand boxes and inflatable rooms A tot of tids get big Easter said Ms We hive pools that we Mil But Tom who sells video garnet and electronic equipment it the store said parents still aren't as to spend alt the latter season as they 4
