Bad News

Here's my prediction for how the whole barf-egg scandal will play out. Oh sure, it looks bad for the factory egg producers now, the ones that, according to the New York Times, house eight chickens in a cage the size of a spread-out newspaper and then shear their beaks in half so they don't peck each other to death. But you wait. After the offending corporation employs 400 new lobbyists and spends $10 billion in campaign contributions, the Democrats will pass a law outlawing Mennonites from selling brown eggs by the side of the road, while the Republicans will reward the factory egg farms with huge tax breaks to get them through this tough time.

SMITHSBURG -- Del. Andrew A. Serafini delivered "bad news" to Smithsburg Town Council members Tuesday night, including how the economy continues to suffer and that more funding cuts from the state are coming. Serafini, R-Washington, spoke to the council and Mayor Mildred "Mickey" Myers before the upcoming session of the General Assembly. Despite some positive signs in the stock market, the economy is not robust, and there is "nothing to be excited about," Serafini said. Among the problems are real estate values that continue to struggle because of an oversupply in houses, Serafini said.

One of the great things about being the city editor at The Herald-Mail is that I never know who is on the other end of a phone call. Of course, that also is one of the worst things about being the city editor. We've gotten some great calls from readers who made suggestions on stories or told us about something that was going on that we had not heard about. Many of my calls lead to stories. But as I've said in previous columns, not all of my phone calls are enjoyable. Many are frustrating - for me and for the caller.

The bad news is that the stock market was off 300 points in a single day, but the good news is that we can clone mice. Or, depending on your perspective, the good news is that the stock market was off 300 points in a single day and the bad news is we can clone mice. I consider myself to be firmly in the latter category. I can think of nothing more pleasing than the sight of a Wall Street cellular-phone-squawking calculator head pulling out what insignificant strands are left of his hair over something that to most of us isn't going to matter for another 30 years.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Construction spending fell more than expected in May, a sign the problems facing the nation's builders are far from over. The Commerce Department says construction spending dropped 0.9 percent in May, nearly double the 0.5 percent drop that economists expected. Adding to the signs of weakness, activity in the past two months was revised lower. Construction rose 0.6 percent in April, lower than the 0.8 percent originally reported. A March increase of 0.4 percent was replaced with a decline of the same amount.

It's an American tradition. Shoppers flock to festivals and fairs, perusing vendor booths. Merchants peddle hand-crafted wooden crafts to adorn the fireplace, baked goods for dessert, even water-filled yo-yos for shoppers with children in tow. In a season when many markets have seen sales nose-dive, area vendors report good news and bad news. But even the bad news isn't all that bad. Lisa Rowe of Martinsburg, W.Va., owns and operates Make Mine Country, an independent soy candle and country decor enterprise, and has been in business for more than five years.

If you follow news reports about the City of Hagerstown, you probably know some of the bad news about housing. Too many city families - about 60 percent - live in rental housing, and many of those have to settle for sub-standard dwellings because renovation costs would push rents beyond the ability of many to pay. As if that weren't enough, now the president of a group described by a city inspector as Hagerstown's best landlords says...

WARFORDSBURG, Pa. - It was a simple case of the bad news and the really bad news for Turkeyfoot coach Sam Collins and his Rams in the opening round of the PIAA District 5 Class A playoffs with Southern Fulton. The bad news was Collins knew his Rams could not keep up with the Indians' sleek offensive attack, so he decided to keep the Rams packed in a tight 2-3 zone defense in the first half. And that, as it turned out, was really bad news. Southern Fulton, District 5's top seed, hit an uncanny 80 percent of its shots from the perimeter in the first half Thursday to easily coast to a 79-29 victory.

WARFORDSBURG, Pa. - It was a simple case of the bad news and the really bad news for Turkeyfoot coach Sam Collins and his Rams in the opening round of the PIAA District 5 Class A playoffs with Southern Fulton. The bad news was Collins knew his Rams could not keep up with the Indians' sleek offensive attack, so he decided to keep the Rams packed in a tight 2-3 zone defense in the first half. And that, as it turned out, was really bad news. Southern Fulton, District 5's top seed, hit an uncanny 80 percent of its shots from the perimeter in the first half Thursday to easily coast to a 79-29 victory.

Wear green today for St. Patrick's Day Happy St. Patrick's Day! Are you wearing green? With all the talk of green, I can't help but look outside and appreciate that Mother Nature has started to don a bit of green lately and I could not be more pleased. Serve up a healthy portion of corned beef today and let's all bring out a bit of Irish in us. Good news, bad news about town happenings OK, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Personally, I would prefer the bad news and then the good news.

The emails from Kim Reno, the chief financial officer at The Herald-Mail Co., contained good news and bad news. The good news: the hideously old carpet in our building is being replaced. The bad news: all employees need to pack the contents of their desk drawers into boxes so our desks can be moved while the carpet is being placed. I share a desk with Herald-Mail columnist Tim Rowland. We typically work opposite shifts - hence the reason we can share a desk - so I sent him an email asking how he wanted to handle the packing.

Hello readers, my last two columns have been about the desired character traits of those new leaders who are taking over important positions within our community. To date, I’ve touched on “moving the community forward” and “doing your duty.” Both are very positive traits. Before I leave the topic of leadership, let me dwell for a moment on one trait that could be deemed “negative.” Sometimes, you just have to tell folks, and that includes the public as a whole, things they don’t want to hear.

Here's my prediction for how the whole barf-egg scandal will play out. Oh sure, it looks bad for the factory egg producers now, the ones that, according to the New York Times, house eight chickens in a cage the size of a spread-out newspaper and then shear their beaks in half so they don't peck each other to death. But you wait. After the offending corporation employs 400 new lobbyists and spends $10 billion in campaign contributions, the Democrats will pass a law outlawing Mennonites from selling brown eggs by the side of the road, while the Republicans will reward the factory egg farms with huge tax breaks to get them through this tough time.

SMITHSBURG -- Del. Andrew A. Serafini delivered "bad news" to Smithsburg Town Council members Tuesday night, including how the economy continues to suffer and that more funding cuts from the state are coming. Serafini, R-Washington, spoke to the council and Mayor Mildred "Mickey" Myers before the upcoming session of the General Assembly. Despite some positive signs in the stock market, the economy is not robust, and there is "nothing to be excited about," Serafini said. Among the problems are real estate values that continue to struggle because of an oversupply in houses, Serafini said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Suddenly, David Walker's bad news was good news. "You got practice on Monday," the Martinsburg football coach yelled to his players in their post-game huddle. "Get some rest. You have a lot of football left to play. " It might have been the first time a full practice got a cheer. But for Martinsburg, it was still playing. The defense provided turnovers and field position after tightening up in the second half on Friday as the seventh-seeded Bulldogs scored a 19-13 victory over No. 10-seed Morgantown in the first round of the West Virginia Class AAA playoffs.

HAGERSTOWN -- The Hagerstown Community College women's basketball team nearly gave away a big lead Wednesday night, but the Hawks hung on to win a 61-58 nailbiter over Frederick in a Maryland JuCo Conference game at the HCC athletic complex. "It was a typical Hagerstown-Frederick game," HCC coach Marlys Palmer said. "It went down to the wire. We didn't make a lot of free throws, but we made just enough to get the win. " Hagerstown (3-1, 1-0) led by 10 at halftime and by as many as 13 in the second half, but Frederick's Kylie Late buried a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left to narrow the gap to 60-58.

o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say More bad news for Hagerstown men: We've been selected as the second-ugliest city in America by the Total Beauty Web site. More unattractive than Huntington, W.Va. More hideous than Mobile, Ala. Uglier than, well, everyone except El Paso, Texas. Ugliest? Oh come on, haven't they seen Jim Kercheval? Hunka, hunka. My inbox was flooded with links to the Total Beauty site the second this came out. I don't know what people want me to do about it. I've done a lot for this community, but I draw the line at Botox.

It's an American tradition. Shoppers flock to festivals and fairs, perusing vendor booths. Merchants peddle hand-crafted wooden crafts to adorn the fireplace, baked goods for dessert, even water-filled yo-yos for shoppers with children in tow. In a season when many markets have seen sales nose-dive, area vendors report good news and bad news. But even the bad news isn't all that bad. Lisa Rowe of Martinsburg, W.Va., owns and operates Make Mine Country, an independent soy candle and country decor enterprise, and has been in business for more than five years.

o If you like reading Tim Rowland, you'll love watching him. See what else Tim has to say Whether it's global warming or a shortage of Mallo Cups, scientists are always worried about something, and now this -- robots might take over the world. Well, if you're going to worry about something, worry big, I always say. At a recent conference, specialists in artificial intelligence and robotics said there's good news and bad news. Well, bad news and bad news, to hear them tell it. Since robots are capable of doing more and more, there will be less work for actual humans.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Construction spending fell more than expected in May, a sign the problems facing the nation's builders are far from over. The Commerce Department says construction spending dropped 0.9 percent in May, nearly double the 0.5 percent drop that economists expected. Adding to the signs of weakness, activity in the past two months was revised lower. Construction rose 0.6 percent in April, lower than the 0.8 percent originally reported. A March increase of 0.4 percent was replaced with a decline of the same amount.