8 ARRESTS RESULT IN ATTEMPT TO CLOSE CAMPGROUND

PORT CLINTON - Local officials said yesterday they will try again this
year to close a local campground where eight people were arrested
Saturday during an annual music festival.

Seven adults and one juvenile were arrested on charges ranging from LSD
trafficking to possession of beer following an undercover operation at
the Golden Eye Campground.

Earl Mack, a Toledo agent with the Ohio Department of Public Safety,
said he will meet with Ottawa County officials about filing possible
criminal charges against the campground's owner, Richard Carpenter.

"We're going to just sit down with the prosecutor and the sheriff there
and discuss this year's [sting] operation," Mr. Mack said. "We're
hoping this particular [venue] and its operators become compliant with
the law. There's just too many kids out there consuming alcohol, and
there's just too many drugs.''

The State Rt. 53 campground could be closed if Mr. Carpenter is
convicted of being the keeper of a place where liquor is given away or
furnished in violation of the law.

Another possible charge against him could be allowing possession or
consumption of alcohol on private property by underage minors. Mr. Mack
said the arrests were made after law-enforcement officers did uncover
surveillance at the annual Harvest Festival, which previously had been
a gathering for members of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws. The event is no longer a NORML-sponsored event, NORML
officials said yesterday.

Last year during the same festival, 19 people were arrested for alcohol
and drug violations. At that time, state officials also said they would
seek charges against Mr. Carpenter.

They never did so, because of a lack of past violations, Ottawa County
Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said. But the prosecutor said the latest drug
bust could serve as additional evidence in court.

"There's more history now," Mr. Mulligan said. "That's something we're
going to look at."

Mr. Carpenter is also facing five disorderly-conduct charges in Ottawa
County Municipal Court for playing loud music on the property this
summer. He is scheduled to appear on one of those misdemeanor charges
Monday.

The campground owner said yesterday that he was appalled by the recent
raid. He said the bust was ironic, because the festival's theme was "to
help legalize freedom in the U.S."

"I don't know what they were trying to do this weekend," Mr. Carpenter
said. "All I know is everyone's rights were violated."

Mr. Carpenter said he will move ahead with plans for a music festival
at the campground late next month. He also said the campground will be
leased next year to a nonprofit group, Gerp, Inc., which will manage
the site and furnish alcohol on the property.

The campground owner said he has pleaded not guilty to disorderly
conduct and will fight any other charges.

Mr. Carpenter has maintained his innocence, saying he's a businessman
who can't be held accountable for other people's actions.

"They're more than welcome to charge me. I'm sure there are plenty of
people who will help me with my defense of freedom. I have done nothing
wrong. All I've done is run a music venue," he said. "I can't go out of
business just because they're trying to scare me. That would be the
same as suicide."