The Star-Democrat from Easton, Maryland • Page 5

November 25, 1990 The Sunday Star Page 5 A maryOand state review Guard arrested for assisting two escapees may be pregnant I l3ri 1 8 fiv f- Sew JH or five years ago at in Westernport, near Cumberland. She said Kerns asked her out several times, but she declined because she was involved with someone else. "It was a strange situation because he thought I was in love with somebody else and I thought he was in love with somebody else." she said. "We didn't say anything to each other for quite a while. Then when we did, it just, you know, took off." She said the two fled to Canada after the escape because Kerns believed he could not be extradited from there.

The two allegedly used her car to drive from the jail. Three hours later they crashed it into a guardrail. She broke her arm in the accident, but did not seek treatment for fear of being arrested. "The night of the accident, he wanted to take me to the hospital. I couldn't hardly do anything for myself," she said.

"I couldn't get up out of bed by myself. He helped me through all that. He dressed me as if I were a child. He took care of me. He helped me wash." She said they sold her car and traveled on foot and by The couple stayed at campsites and motels.

They later acquired a second vehicle, which they sold in Canada, she said. Beeman, who is divorced, said her only regret ras the bad feelings the incident created between her and her children. At the time she left with Kerns, her son no longer lived at home and her daughter planned to graduate from college in December and get married in February. "I'm sorry that anyone was hurt or can't understand," Beeman said. "All my life.

I've taken care and done for others and I thought now was the time to have what I wanted for a change." Beeman has been charged with two counts of aiding and assisting an escape. If convicted, she could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison. "Well, I'm hoping I don't get 30 years. But if I have to get 30 years. I'll do 30 years," she said.

CUMBERLAND (AP) Sandra Kay Beeman guarded inmates at the Allegany County Jail for 10 years before she traded her profession in August for a life on the lam with a prisoner she loves. The couple was arrested last month in Canada, but the ex guard says she still plans to marry and bear the child of Edgar Eugene Kerns, one of two jail inmates she is accused of setting free. "No marriage license has been obtained but we are working on it," Beeman said in an interview with The Cumberland Times-News. "We want to have children. I want to give him a son." Beeman, 46, is being held on $500,000 at the Garrett County Jail.

An officer at the jail in Oakland recently told Beeman that she was pregnant, but Beeman said she would not know for sure until she saw a doctor. "I every letter I get from Edgar he keeps asking if I've found out about Junior yet," Beeman said. "That would really give me a great amount of pleasure to give him a son or a daughter whichever, as long as it's healthy." Beeman allegedly helped Kerns, 30, and inmate James Vernon Barnes escape from the jail Aug. 29. Barnes was arrested four days later in West Virginia.

Kerns and Beeman fled to Ontario, Canada where they were apprehended Oct. 19 after the escape was featured on the television show "Unsolved Mysteries." Beeman's involvement with Kerns was not the first time her heart became entangled with a man behind bars. She told the paper that she previously dated two county jail inmates after their release. She also was scheduled to marry a state prison inmate just days after she ran off with Kerns. She said she never had relations inside the Allegany County Jail with Kerns or the two ex-prisoners she dated.

"I never had sex in the jail with anybody. Never. Never," she said. "I have never done that in the jail." She said went along with plans to marry Thomas Edward Bowman, iK Minimal damage done to Potomac ST. MARY'S CITY (AP) Damage is expected to be minimal from last weekend's spill of more than 80,000 gallons of thick oil into a tributary of the Potomac River.

The spill occurred not far from this historic town in southern St. Mary's County when a pipeline ruptured at Steuart Petroleum distributors. Coast Guard officials said the oil was used to manufacture asphalt roofing shingles. The gooey substance fouled about 400 yards of shoreline along Piney Point Creek. The material was solidified by the water's cool temperature and officials said environmental damage will be minimal.

John Goheen, spokesman for the Maryland Department of the Environment, said an investigation is proceeding but it's unlikely the company will be fined. He explained the spill appeared to be accidental and the company responded quickly. The cleanup is expected to be completed in three weeks. Baltimore Bancorp suits dropped BALTIMORE (AP) Baltimore Bancorp stockholders have dropped four lawsuits that sought to force the company to consider a takeover offer by First Maryland Bancorp. In April, First Maryland offered $17 a share for Baltimore Bancorp stock.

Baltimore Bancorp officials rejected the bid out of hand, prompting the suits by its shareholders. Three weeks ago, First Maryland withdrew the offer, saying Baltimore Bancorp stock wasn't worth $17. Not affected by Friday's action was a separate lawsuit alleging that Baltimore Bancorp violated federal securities law in connection with the takeover attempt. That suit, brought Nov. 8, alleged the company misrepresented its true financial condition, which in turn "artificially inflated" Baltimore Bancorp stock prices.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of all shareholders who bought stock between May 16, the date of Baltimore Bancorp's initial rejection, and Nov. 1, the day the offer was withdrawn. Baltimore Bancorp, which traded slightly above $10 a share before the offer and $15 a share immediately afterward, closed Friday at $4,875 a share. BCBS asks for rate increase BALTIMORE (AP) Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland has asked for rate increases of between 10.9 percent and 20.3 percent for its four Medicare supplemental policies, the company announced Friday. The increases will affect 105,000 state residents enrolled in the Standard, Choice, Basic and Premium programs offered by the company's Individual Market Division, the company said.

"The rate adjustments are necessary to maintain benefit levels currently available through our four Medicare Supplemental policies," said Linda Benedict, vice president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland's Individual Market Division. "The increase in utilization of Medicare services and escalating health care costs are also factors for the rate changes." The requests must be approved by the State Insurance Division, which will hold a public hearing Dec. 11. The rate hikes will go into effect Jan. 1 if approval is given, the company said.

Two sides resume talks Saturday BALTIMORE (AP) Negotiators for dockworkers and steamship lines that call on the Port of Baltimore began Saturday a final push to reach agreement on a new labor contract. Representatives for waterfront management and the International Longshoremen's Association are poised for marathon negotiating sessions this weekend. The effort is toward a contract to replace a pact that expires on Friday. "This is going to be a long weekend," said David L. Bindler, regional director for Maersk Line in Baltimore.

He voiced optimism that the remaining issues can be resolved. "I think we can get things ironed out," he said. ILA Vice President Horace Alston, the highest-ranking union official in the port, said he also was confident an accord can be reached in the next few days. "We're making progress," he said. The two sides resumed their talks Saturday with substantial pressures to reach an understanding well before the strike deadline.

The union has told management it wants its members to have three days to consider any proposal before they actually vote on a new contract. APLaserphoto Sandra Kay Beeman, left, and Edgar Eugene Kerns leave the Allegany County Sheriff's office in Cumberland in this October file photo. Beeman, a former guard at the jail plans to marry and bear the child of Kerns. come see him. And I thought if I could help him, I would help him," Beeman said.

"Edgar knew it and finally, he talked some sense into me and said it would be foolish for me to marry him (Bowman) because Edgar knew I didn't love him." Beeman said she met Kerns four 33, who is incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Institution, because she had sympathy for him. Beeman met Bowman while he was being held in the Allegany County Jail on a breaking and entering charge. "I felt sorry for him because he never had family. No one would Hobby train buffs toot in the season Sjtt fife, Kit $jV 1 but his interest started when his father built a train garden in 1939 that is still used each Christmas. Gough, a Baltimore County public works engineer who is the display coordinator, drew the blueprint for the layout.

"We're going to try to make it different and better from last year so people will come back more than once," he said. department" of the old Montgomery Ward building on Monroe Street in Baltimore. "For $10 1 got boxes of trains that were not sold or slightly damaged. I could get a whole train for 35 cents," he said. Now, at 69, he has most of those early trains and hundreds more.

William Gough, 47, of Perry Hall became a serious collector in 1982, TOWSON (AP) When Christmas rolls around, Gilbert "Si" Benson makes tracks into a man-made miniature world. For the second year, Benson and three other hobby train enthusiasts have crafted a train garden at the Kenilworth Park Mall in Towson. The exhibit is one of the largest public train displays in the area. Tiny passenger, freight and commuter cars weave through business, residential, rural and Christmas settings accented with animated figures. "The kids called us 'bad guys' when we came to take it down after New Year's," said Benson, a civil engineer and landscape architect who retired in 1986 as chief of Baltimore County's Bureau of Public Services.

The four men are fulfilling a love nurtured from boyhood. As a youngster, Benson couldn't wait for Christmas to end. He and his father would go to the "bargain mill rip IS-' MUSIC CENTERS THANKSGIVING WEEKEND SALE! All Tapes 7.99 All LPs $4.99 All CDs $12.99 All Cassingles $2.59 Plus More Savings Storewide 3 DAYS ONLY Friday thru Sunday Easton Location Only CLOSED TRED AVON SQUARE OPEN HAST BAYl SAVE AN ADDITIONAL f.ri SUNDAY 822-2756 mscz i jus THANKSGIVING 20 off Men's Sweaters Men's Rugby Shirts Men's Sportshirts Ladies' Suits Ladies' Slacks 10 off Men's Sportcoats Men's Pants Men's Turtlenecks Ladles' Boild Wool Jackets Ladies' Nightgowns Ladies' Turtlenecks 15 off Men's Suits Men's Raincoats Men's Outerwear Men's Sleepwear Ladles' Skirts Ladles' Sweaters Ladies' Blouses Ladies' Dresses More Dec. 22nd at 6 p.m. Drawing To Be Held 1 Diamond Tennis Bracelets 25 off Men's Overcoats Ladies' Overcoats Ladies' Blazers SALE ENDS 1 1-25-90 Because Christmas is a time forgiving Colonial Jewelers is giving away a 1.00 cts.

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