Army

PenMar Development Corporation officials on Tuesday announced the U.S. Army had awarded a grant of almost $2 million to help with the conversion of Fort Ritchie to Lakeside Corporation Center. A cooperative agreement between PenMar and the Army also includes options that would increase to $5.8 million the amount the corporation could receive over the next three years, said Robert P. Sweeney, executive director of PenMar Development Corporation. --cont. from front page -- PenMar is a private/public company that is heading the effort to redevelop the base, which closed on Oct. 1. The goal is to attract businesses and create jobs, Sweeney said.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - The U.S. Army Band, under the director of Col. Gary F. Lamb, will present a free program of music at Greencastle-Antrim High School auditorium on May 2 at 7:30 p.m. Sgt. Maj. Fred Gleason, a resident of Talhelm Road in Chambersburg, is the band's trombone section leader and will be the featured soloist at the concert. Former U.S. Army Chief of Staff John J. "Black Jack" Pershing founded the band in 1922. Free tickets are available at the office of the Greencastle-Antrim Middle School.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Army will buy its electricity from the Letterkenny Industrial Development Authority under an agreement in principle reached with Allegheny Power Co. The authority announced the agreement Monday following an executive session with an Allegheny Power representative. Authority Chairman Robert Zullinger said details of the agreement will be announced later. John Van Horn, the authority's program manager, said it will own the electric distribution system at the depot, and Allegheny Power will operate and maintain it. The authority would buy electricity from the power company, but customers, including the Army, will be billed by Allegheny Power at rates set by the authority.

CASCADE - Plans to transform Fort Ritchie into a technology park could be abandoned due to complications caused by unexploded ordnance on the property. Three Washington County Commissioners said last week they are ready to pull the plug on the state-created PenMar Development Corp. if problems and complications with the Army over the issue aren't resolved within six months. "We will not accept that property with the conditions that have been put on it," Commissioners President Gregory I. Snook said.

photos: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer By BRENDAN KIRBY / Staff Writer FORT RITCHIE - If a fire breaks out anywhere on this base's 638 acres, the Army puts it out. If someone commits a crime here, the military police investigate it. In a little more than two months, the Army will be gone. --cont from news -- The resulting void has Washington County officials scrambling to figure out who will provide those basic public safety services.

NOV. 30, 1933-SEPT. 6, 2009 FREDERICK, Md. - Mr. Harold W. Swanson Jr., SGM, U.S. Army retired, 75, of Frederick, Md., died Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009, at Washington Hospital Center. He was the husband of Ethel "Nute" Swanson of Frederick. Born Nov. 30, 1933, in Rutland, Vt., he was the son of Lucile Swanson of Springfield, Vt., and the late Harold W. Swanson Sr. Harold enlisted in the Vermont National Guard at the age of 17 and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1950. He served for 26 years on active duty.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com Robert Priest said he's never been struck by lightning, he's not telepathic and he's not the son of a Gypsy. Yet Priest can read minds. He's been doing it for a living since 1991. He says he's a performer. His show is called "Theater of the Mind," and he says its entertainment. "Everything I do starts with the power of the mind," he said. "I show what can be done in an entertaining way. I call what I do mind scripting. "Through my words, actions and thoughts, I'm able to place a thought in another person's mind that then becomes information back to me. " What Priest does seems a bit more serious than mere entertainment.

Antietam Chapter 312 of the Korean War Veterans Association is seeking the public's help to identify Washington County residents who died in the Korean War. The organization wants the names so they can be engraved on a Korean War Memorial that is to be built over the course of the next year at Mealey Parkway in Hagerstown, said Charles Mobley, chairman of Antietam 312's monument committee. Ground was broken June 26 for the project. Mobley said the veterans know of 31 Washington County residents who were killed or listed as missing during the Korean War, but they want to ensure that no one is left out. “Since these names will be engraved on a tablet in front of the main monument, we want to be sure that we have the correct names, including spelling, their rank and branch of service correct,” Mobley said in an email.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Army will continue to operate the Rocky Springs Golf Course through the end of the year, giving the Letterkenny Industrial Development Authority an extra three months to decide what to do with the links. The 10-hole course was scheduled to close Sept. 30, but the Army will keep it open the final three months of this year, Authority Executive Director John Van Horn announced Monday. The land on which the course is laid out will eventually be turned over to the authority, which must decide whether it will maintain the course, lease it to a concessionaire or sell the property.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Washington County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday agreed to enter into a contract with PenMar Development Corporation to operate the water system on the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base when ownership of part of the base transfers from the Army to PenMar. Under the contract, PenMar would pay the county $65,000 for the first year of operation, Water and Sewer Director Greg Murray said. About $12,000 of that amount would be for equipment replacement.

One Mountain Foundation will hold the inaugural Gathering of the Arts at Lake Royer show at Lakeside Hall on the former Fort Ritchie Army base in Cascade. The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 8, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The show will feature two- and three-dimensional art. The Saturday event will be an opening of the two-day show with a reception for the artists. Saturday's admission costs $20, and will include wine, coffee, tea and light fare.

The plan to transform a former U.S. Army Reserve building in Hagerstown into the permanent home of a Washington County senior activities center took a big step forward Tuesday. The Washington County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to award to the lowest responsive bidder, Murphy & Dittenhafer Inc., of Baltimore, a $209,430 contract to oversee the eight phases of architecture and engineering of the project at 21 Willard St. The $4.3 million project, which includes an estimated $4.1 million in construction, is expected to be completed in January 2015, county Purchasing Director Karen R. Luther told the five commissioners.

At The Salvation Army of Washington County's annual appreciation dinner Thursday night, keynote speaker  Lt. Colonel Jack T. Waters called the nonprofit an organization of “second chances.” But Hagerstown resident Peggy Huff had her first chance to accept the volunteer of the year award after 36 years of service. “I didn't know I was getting this, I thought he was talking about somebody else. It kind of brought tears to my eyes,” said Huff, who started volunteering at the age of 23 and is now 60, after receiving her award.

Letterkenny Army Depot on Thursday celebrated receiving its ninth Shingo medallion for excellence in manufacturing at a time when federal budget cuts are forcing operational changes. “Letterkenny will continue to raise the bar for itself, proving that no matter what obstacles we face, there will be absolutely no depreciation to the value of Letterkenny,” said Col. Victor S. Hagan, the depot's commander. As military spending continues to be reduced, the work at Letterkenny Army Depot will remain exceptional, Hagan said at a ceremony for the prize.

A local professor at Hagerstown Community College put together an Easter dinner with his students at the Salvation Army on Friday. Daniel Madron, who teaches sociology at HCC, said that he and his classes have been providing a Thanksgiving meal and an Easter meal for local residents for the last three years. “We just kind of want to create some sort of normalcy for people,” he said. “Even though people might not be religious and celebrate Easter, they still know that Easter's going on and still might have a big Sunday dinner, and for people who can't afford that we want to be able to provide something similar to that.” Madron, 29, also did work for the homeless while he was a professor at Howard Community College and as a student at Eastern University in Philadelphia He said that the students' outreach was different at Howard Community College.

Letterkenny Army Depot this week is completing layoffs of 244 contracted employees as announced in January, a depot spokeswoman said. The layoffs occurring this week are not associated with the federal budget cuts known as the sequester, according to depot spokeswoman Lindsay Bryant. Instead, demand decreased for an Army Humvee program, Bryant said. “The workforce was resized to meet the workload,” she said. The depot, which employs up to 4,000 people, is anticipating additional layoffs and furloughs related to the sequester.

Hagerstown Regional Airport and the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base both have a place in Washington County's history, and officials at each facility want them to play a part in the county's economic future. Along with those facilities, Woodmont Lodge, which has hosted presidents, was identified in the report as a potential for upscale lodging. The 665-acre airport is identified as a “primary opportunity area” in the economic development strategic plan developed for the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission and County Industrial Foundation, or CHIEF.

Franklin County's largest employer braced itself for the fallout from the federal budget cuts set to go into effect Friday. Letterkenny Army Depot Commander Col. Victor S. Hagan Sr. made a statement to the depot work force that a work furlough of up to 22 nonconsecutive days would begin the week of April 22 and could continue through September if an agreement is not reached. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Feb. 20 that if automatic government spending cuts - called a “sequester” - kick in on March 1, he might have to shorten the workweek for the “vast majority” of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilian workers.

Letterkenny Army Depot stands to be one of the biggest losers if the federal sequestration cuts take place as scheduled in one week. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the depot would absorb spending reductions of more than $449 million. This would mean a massive loss of jobs and a ripple effect on the economy. “We've got real families here that are very nervous and anxious about what's going to happen,” said L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County (Pa.)

Saying that the mass casualties at Sandy Hook Elementary School are “just the beginning,” an authority on violent crimes told police and school officials Monday that they need to act with urgency. “Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country,” said Dave Grossman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel. The Franklin County (Pa.) District Attorney's office hosted Grossman for a seminar about violence in schools. Held in the Waynesboro Area Senior High School auditorium, the event drew a couple hundred police officers, sheriff's deputies, school board members, principals, superintendents and fire officials.