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Many high-ranking correctional system officials will tell you that the men and women who keep order within Maryland's prisons and detention centers are known as correctional officers - not guards. But a group of 20 new correctional officers also could be called trailblazers. With family members and friends looking on, a total of 17 men and three women received their service badges and certificates Friday afternoon, signifying their graduation from the Correctional Entrance Level Training Program during a ceremony at the Fairplay Volunteer Fire Co. This class is unique because it is the first to come through the recently revamped training program, which is longer than previous academies and more physically and mentally stringent, officials said.

It began with piece of junk mail. Because you were busy, you tossed it on a table, and moved on to other, more important things in your life. But the next day, a magazine and a store catalog landed there, plus several birthday cards from friends and a week's worth of newspapers. Every time you passed by, you considered sorting through the items and discarding what you didn't need. Instead, you continued adding to the pile, telling yourself you'd get around to straightening things up as soon as you had some free time.

Luke Badley was 6 years old riding along with his family when he noticed the long fenced bridge spanning across I-70 and asked his dad what it was. It was the Appalachian Trail overpass that hikers use to cross the busy highway. Badley's father told him about the roughly 2,200-mile trail from Georgia to Maine and how some people known as thru-hikers attempt to hike it end-to-end. It was then that Badley, now 23, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., decided that one day, he would do that. “I was like, oh, Georgia to Maine.

The death of a Maryland man who participated in Tough Mudder in Berkeley County joins a growing number of fatalities linked to similar obstacle course challenge events held across the nation. Avishek Sengupta, 28, was pronounced dead at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., on Sunday after participating in Tough Mudder's Mid-Atlantic Spring event on Saturday at Peacemaker National Training Center. Police have said Sengupta, of Ellicott City, Md., was submerged in a pool at one of the event's obstacles for too long.

Statements Merle Unger made to police almost four decades ago about the killing of Hagerstown Police Officer Donald Kline can be used in a new trial set for June, although the state will not be allowed to introduce evidence of two escapes he made after the shooting, according to a ruling by a Talbot County (Md.) Circuit judge. Unger, now in his early 60s, was convicted in 1976 of felony murder in the Dec. 13, 1975, shooting death of Kline, who was off duty when he came upon an armed robbery of a store on Mulberry Street in Hagerstown.

A 15-year-old boy was charged with possession of a small amount of marijuana and possession of a weapon on school property for an incident at Waynesboro Area Senior High School, Waynesboro police said in a news release. Police said they were called to the school on the morning of April 24.

MONT ALTO, Pa. -- The Mont Alto Fire Co. will host its first truck and tractor pull Saturday night at the carnival grounds off Pa. 997. Company President Charlie Baker said organizers are hoping for a big crowd to generate income for the department. Planning has been under way for eight months. Classes are 1850 Mini Rod, 4000 Small Block 4x4 Trucks, 8000 Street Diesel 4x4, 13000 Farm Stock and 8500 Mod Turbo. The event starts at 6 p.m. Admission costs $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 8 to 12. Some bleacher seating will be available, but Baker said spectators might want to bring lawn chairs.

The Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said it was investigating a fire that caused $200,000 in damages to a house early Wednesday at 21201 Reno Monument Road near Boonsboro. The fire, which was reported by a passer-by shortly after 3 a.m., destroyed the house, according to a Fire Marshal's Office news release. Damages to the structure were estimated at $150,000. The fire caused $50,000 in damages to the contents. Authorities said 65 firefighters from Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Middletown, Myersville, Wolfsville and Potomac Valley took 15 minutes to control the blaze.

With a smooth, even stride, Robert McKenzie easily completed a 1 1/2-mile run last week on the track at North Hagerstown High School. But the 44-year-old Hagerstown police officer wasn't running for fun. He was completing part of a physical fitness test that new officers have been required to take since 2006. “It helps if you stay in some kind of shape,” McKenzie, who joined the force three years ago, said after the run. “It helps to know that if I'm (in trouble) up on a third floor, another officer will be able to get to me fairly quickly.” Kevin DeHaven, safety and loss control coordinator for the City of Hagerstown, said the physical training program nets a huge discount for the city in workers' compensation premiums.

Cousin of accused testifies in murder trial By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI kimy@herald-mail.com A West Virginia man serving a 20-year sentence for his plea to second-degree murder in the death of William Leonard Messersmith testified Wednesday that he and Saul Joseph Stanley did not intend to rob and kill the 76-year-old man when they went to his Clear Spring home. Liger Grady, 19, testified Wednesday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court during Stanley's first-degree murder trial.

When Heidi Coble taught at Clear Spring High School, she took the students in her life skills class to Fairview Outdoor School to clear trails and clean the pond. After working, the kids would beg for these cookies as they walked back to the school. The kids were getting a treat that was really very good for them. Coble adapted this recipe from one on the Quaker Oats box for "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. " She adjusted the recipe to make cookies more healthful, using less fat, less sugar and whole grain in place of white flour.

Low-maintenance hairstyles are in this season By TERI JOHNSON Staff Writer Last fall Rose Yontz decided to let her hair down. She told her stylist, Drue Steerman of Tangles Hair Salon in Martinsburg, W.Va., to cut off her shoulder-length tresses. "I just told Drue to take it off, as short as she could get it," says Yontz, 48, of Martinsburg. "I was tired of it being long. " With each salon visit, her hair gets a little shorter. "It's much easier to take care of; it pretty much falls in place," she says.

Four men were charged with soliciting for prostitution last week in an undercover operation conducted by the Berkeley County Sheriff's Office. Gary W. Tugwell, 46, of Hagerstown; Richard L. Clites, 47, of Hyndman, Pa.; Alton K. Lloyd, 52, of Hedgesville, W.Va.; and Michael J. De Paw, 37, of Martinsburg, were charged in the operation, which took place Tuesday and Wednesday at local motel, according to a sheriff's office news release. A "cooperating individual" working with investigators posted an advertisement on Backpage.com as an escort, the release said.