Featured Articles from Herald-Mail

Samantha Rae "Sam" Kelly, 17, of Hagerstown, Md., passed away Sunday, May 6, 2012, as a result of injuries sustained in a motor-vehicle accident. She was born June 23, 1994, in Carlsbad, N.M., to Jonna Lynn Reynolds Vinci of Hagerstown and Keith Edward Kelly of Unionville, Va. She was a senior at Williamsport High School. She was captain of the varsity volleyball team and captain of the varsity tennis team. She was also a Link Crew leader and an honor student. She was also involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

A secular humanist, an agnostic and an atheist walk into a church. That wasn't the setup for a joke Wednesday night in Hagerstown, but for an evening of impassioned discussion hosted by the Interfaith Coalition of Washington County to encourage dialogue among people with different beliefs and ideas. About 50 people attended the group's “Dialogue with Non-Theists,” held at Hagerstown Church of the Brethren. Ed Branthaver, a member of Hagerstown Freethinkers, moderated a panel discussion by secular humanist Eldon Winston, agnostic Zsun-nee Matema and atheist Brian Fields, about how their philosophies shape their beliefs about morality, the soul and what happens after death.

Good things from Ohio wind up in Maryland. That is if you're a fan of the Cleveland Browns or Longaberger baskets. On Friday, hundreds of basket lovers and a few Browns fans turned out for the grand opening of a Longaberger Factory Store at Hagerstown Premium Outlets. Longaberger CEO Tami Longaberger was joined at the ribbon-cutting ceremony by former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar, who signed autographs and posed for pictures. Two years after Kosar left the Browns in 1993, then-owner Art Modell announced that he was moving the franchise east.

A Boonsboro engineering firm is pioneering research that uses radio waves to disable improvised explosive devices, or IEDs. Joe Foley, an electrical engineer and president of Emerging Science & Technologies Group Inc., said the basic concept involves disabling IEDs by using radio waves to split or severely damage wires that lead to the blasting cap. “It duds the device,” said Foley, whose company works on the technology at a building in...

As the Battle of South Mountain raged in the distance on Sept. 14, 1862, the Mumma family entertained friends for dinner at their farmhouse north of Sharpsburg. Samuel and Elizabeth Mumma never intended to evacuate with their 13 children, but they had no other choice three days later when the Union and Confederate armies converged on the area to wage the Battle of Antietam. That was the case with many Sharpsburg residents who sought refuge as the warring armies approached.

The Herald-Mail interviewed four Washington County families that raise chickens for food and hobby.     David Gray Sr. and his son, David Gray Jr., keep three chickens on their quarter-acre lot in Boonsboro. Deb IntVeldt keeps nine chickens on her 1.25 acre lot on Beaver Creek Road. Susan Simonson and her family keep about 30 chickens on a 5-acre hobby farm on Beaver Creek Road. Bob and Kristin Garrett keep seven chickens on their 10-acre property near Fairplay.

St. Maria Goretti will have a new head baseball coach when the 2013 spring season rolls around. Athletic director David Blenckstone announced that Duane Myers is no longer the head coach as the Gaels wind down the season. “(Coach Myers) was given the opportunity to resign,” said Blenckstone of the decision made Friday. Myers was just about to complete his fourth year as coach of the Gaels. “I was forced to resign,” said Myers, who will continue to work with the Williamsport Nationals junior team during the summer.

Dave Wallech had his eye on winning the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette Centennial Edition on Saturday at the seventh annual Bonanza Extravaganza at Hagerstown Speedway. “If I don't win one, I'm going to buy one,” said Wallech, of Hagerstown. Either way, Wallech already was a $1,000 prize winner at the two-day fundraiser sponsored by the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1605 Foundation Inc. Wallech and his wife, Deb, were among thousands of people who filled the infield of the dirt track on Saturday.

Rhee Lightner of Williamsport entered this Lemon Ginger Sandwich Cookie recipe in The Herald-Mail's 2011 Cookie Exchange contest. "These cookies are vegan. I'm a baker at the Common Market in Frederick (Md.). I primarily focus on the vegans. I bake muffins, bars, cookies, cakes, quick breads. I'm baking a lot of low-sugar stuff right now. "I'm also a personal chef, specializing in vegan and gluten-free cooking. "For the cookie contest, I was trying different flavor combinations.

A 45-year-old woman pleaded guilty Monday to two felony charges of gross child neglect for her alleged role in the starvation of two young children in 2010. Karen Sue Boback, who now lives in Hagerstown, was placed on probation for five years in lieu of what would have amounted to a two- to 10-year prison sentence, which was suspended by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes. Boback also was fined $1,000 and must register with the child abuse registry for 10 years.

A Hagerstown man and former band director at Boonsboro, Clear Spring and Williamsport high schools has been charged with stalking, disorderly conduct and other counts after he and a woman crashed their vehicles during what police alleged was a domestic dispute last week in Pennsylvania. John Edward Eckstine Jr., 54, of 388 Key Circle, also was charged with reckless endangering other persons, simple assault, false reports to law enforcement, harassment and careless driving, according to a news release issued by the Lower Pottsgrove (Pa.)

Melinda Malott is juggling another busy day. She dispenses hugs and kisses as her children head off to school, makes her weekly grocery list, pays the bills, buys gifts for upcoming birthday parties and baby showers and organizes a fundraiser to send her daughter to Europe for a student leader ambassador program. It's the kind of routine that's all too familiar to most busy moms. But Malott's itinerary is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that she is largely homebound, debilitated by chronic fatigue syndrome.