Closings

For the second straight day, Urbana Middle School closed at 12:30 p.m. due to a nonworking air conditioning system, Frederick County Public Schools announced in an email Thursday morning.

The last video-rental store in Boonsboro is closing its doors. Boonsboro Video, which has been at 7 Potomac St. since 1989, is closing and selling all of its videos and games at discounted prices, store owner Kathryn Hartle said recently. “There's too many resources with DISH Network, the Internet, cable television and DirecTV,” as well as Redbox, she said. “It just got to where I couldn't do it anymore.” Hartle said the way people watch movies now has been causing video-rental stores to go out of business for a while.

Without a staffed air traffic control tower, “there is going to be an incident” involving aircraft at or near Hagerstown Regional Airport, one concerned business owner said Thursday. “I feel very strongly that we are going to have an incident, and it's going to impact people on the ground as well as the crew in the aircraft when that happens,” said Austin Heffernan, owner of Royal Aircraft Services LLC on Airpark Road. Heffernan was one of five airport business officials who spoke Thursday during a news conference at the airport terminal, highlighting the local impact of proposed FAA cuts that would eliminate federal funding to 149 air control towers due to across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.

Rocky's Pizza & Cafe Napoli, a longtime business in downtown Hagerstown, will close its doors by Sunday, a city official confirmed Thursday. Hagerstown spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said the city, which owns the building that houses the pizza shop at 40 N. Potomac St., recently had a meeting with officials of the business to discuss its “financial relationship” with the city. The business officials told the city that they would be willing to vacate the premises, Wolfe said, although she refused to elaborate on the financial situation that exists between the two parties.

The left lane of North Potomac Street is closed between Franklin Street and Washington Street while the sidewalk on that side is closed between Franklin Street and the M&T Bank property at 32-34 N. Potomac St. so work crews can install a new water service at 36-40 N. Potomac St., the City of Hagerstown said in a traffic advisory. The sidewalk and the street require excavation for the project, according to the city. Closure is expected to remain in effect until 4 p.m. Friday, according to the city.

Sunday's Easter crowd will be the last big holiday the Mountain Gate Family Restaurant staff will serve before closing its doors on April 7. After serving its country-style meals for 16 years at 10530 Buchanan Trail East in Waynesboro, the Mountain Gate Family Restaurant is closing. “It's time that we condense down and get a little more focused, and see if we can do a better job at our other location (in Thurmont, Md.),” said Keith McCleaf, of the McCleaf family who owns the Mountain Gate Family Restaurants in Waynesboro and Thurmont.

The following are government closings for the Easter holiday: • City of Hagerstown offices are closed Friday. Offices will reopen with regular hours Monday, city spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said. Trash, recycling and yard waste collection will not be affected by the holiday, she said. • Washington County government offices will be closed Friday. Offices will reopen with regular hours Monday, county spokesman James Jenkins said. County Commuter Transit services will operate as usual, and the Hagerstown Regional Airport terminal will operate with regular hours, Jenkins said.

Norfolk Southern has announced the scheduled reopening next week of two roads in Washington County at railroad crossings, according to a county spokesperson. Village Mill Drive will reopen Tuesday at 7 p.m., and Reiff Church Road will reopen Wednesday at 7 p.m., Public Relations and Community Affairs Manager James Jenkins wrote in a news release.

After hearing public testimony Tuesday afternoon, the Washington County Board of Commissioners voted to amend the county's excise tax ordinance, reducing the costs on new construction of residential and nonresidential retail properties. The amendment, approved by a unanimous 5-0 vote, authorizes the excise tax on residential construction to be lowered from $3 per square feet of habitable gross square footage to $1. Costs on new nonresidential retail construction also will be lowered from $3 per square foot to $1 per square foot on the first 15,000 square feet, and $3 per square foot thereafter.

The following Tri-State area schools and school systems are closed or will be opening on a delayed basis Monday due to snow: Maryland Washington County Public Schools - Closed Broadfording Christian Academy - Closed Emmanuel Christian School - Closed Gateway Christian Academy - Closed Grace Academy - Closed St. Mary Catholic School - Closed St. Maria Goretti High School - Closed Truth Christian Academy -...