Air Conditioning

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Shepherd University will get a $1.15 million share of a $160 million bond program that West Virginia is floating for renovations and repairs at the state Capitol Complex, parks and higher-education campuses across the state. Alan Purdue, general counsel at Shepherd, said Friday the university's share will be spent on four older buildings on campus, mostly for replacement windows to improve energy efficiency, plus electrical and heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades.

pepperb@herald-mail.com As school officials face decisions about when to heat or cool schools each season, they also face flak. Since temperatures were expected to be low last Friday, school officials last Wednesday decided to start turning on heat, said Dennis McGee, the school system's director of facilities management. Friday's low temperature was recorded at 32 degrees and its high was recorded at 57 degrees, according to weather observer Greg Keefer's Web site.

12-year-old faces DWI charges KEEDYSVILLE - When Deputy Pam Fogle went to investigate a car into a utility pole Sunday evening, she found an intoxicated 12-year-old boy behind the wheel. The 9 p.m. accident occurred at the intersection of Dog Street and Mt. Carmel Road, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Department. The 1983 Chevrolet Camaro had apparently been speeding when it went out of control and hit the pole on Dog Street, deputies said. The boy was charged with driving while intoxicated, negligent driving and underage drinking.

Inmate health-care contract awarded A Harrisburg, Pa., company will continue providing health-care services to inmates at the Washington County Detention Center. The County Commissioners on Tuesday awarded PrimeCare Medical an $866,640 contract for its services. The contract is based on a monthly average inmate population of 425, according to county information. PrimeCare Medical has provided the services at the detention center for eight years. During that time, the detention center has achieved National Commission on Correctional Health Care accreditation in June 1997 and received reaccreditation in 2004.

The high temperatures and humidity of the past few days have given some Washington County students good reason to say school is uncool. Ten of the county's 44 public school buildings have only partial or no air conditioning, according to Director of Facilities Management Dennis McGee. That means 3,760 students are affected when temperatures soar. Because of the heat, students were dismissed two hours early Wednesday for the second time in two days. "I don't do my work very good when it's like this: Hot," said Chris Rowland, a first-grader at Salem Avenue Elementary School.

WAYNESBORO, PA. -- Construction on the media center at Waynesboro Area Senior High School is almost complete. The school's former cafeteria is being converted into a media center as part of an ongoing $46 million renovation and expansion project. A groundbreaking ceremony formally launched the project in January 2007, and it is scheduled to wrap up this fall. Senior Chad Reichard has had five classes this year in new classrooms. He especially enjoys the air conditioning, which provides a welcome change from the exceptionally warm modular classrooms.

When 18-year-old senior Trevor Forsythe walked into the newly renovated James Buchanan High School on his first day of school Tuesday his reaction was very different from his first day as a freshman. "Wow, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I thought I walked into the wrong school at first," Trevor said. "I never pictured it looking this good. " Three years earlier, his reaction was anything but positive. "I thought, 'Man, four years of this!'" said Trevor, remembering his thoughts as an incoming freshman in 2008.

Cascade parents plan protest By TARA REILLY / Staff Writer Parents of Cascade Elementary School students, unhappy with a draft report that raises the possibility of closing that school and sending its students to Smithsburg Elementary, have called for an emergency meeting tonight. The meeting, organized by PTA and Citizen Advisory Council members, is at 6:30 p.m. in the Germantown Bethel Church of God on Raven Rock Road in Cascade. "We're gearing up to fight this move," said parent Karl Weissenbach.

tarar@herald-mail.com The Washington County Board of Education is to decide tonight if it will move forward with plans to save money by closing Conococheague Elementary School and sending its 256 students to three different schools. At the same time, Maugansville Elementary School would be replaced at another site in the area, gaining some of the Conococheague students. The remaining Conococheague students would attend Clear Spring and Williamsport elementary schools. The other scenario proposed by Director of Facilities Management Dennis McGee is to renovate Maugansville beginning in 2004 and wait 15 years to renovate Conococheague, because other schools are ahead of Conococheague on the construction schedule.

On a bank clock Monday afternoon in Hagerstown, the temperature read 95 degrees ? but the official high for the day was a mere 89.7. Still, that made it the hottest October day in Hagerstown for at least 10 years, according to local weather observer Greg Keefer's Web site, which said the high temperature in Hagerstown was reached at 3:29 p.m. And, at 88 degrees, Sunday also was a steamer. It was so hot that "we had a customer in here this morning who said he was in his pool yesterday," said Valerie Divanna, a sales associate at Bair Pool & Supplies off Jefferson Boulevard near Smithsburg.