Common Sense

TRI-STATE - Tri-State area police and emergency crews reported a number of fender-benders Saturday but it was nothing like the number of accidents reported during Friday's snowstorm, according to area police and emergency services dispatchers. Police expressed concern about motorists taking to the streets for St. Patrick's Day festivities Saturday night, but said if partygoers used common sense and didn't drink and drive, they should have been fine on the roads, which - in most parts of the Tri-State area - were passable by Saturday afternoon.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Despite citizen opposition to proposed road name changes, the president of the Berkeley County Commission said the county will most likely proceed with its enhanced 911 plan. "At this point, we would be changing in midstream," said D. Wayne Dunham. "That would open the whole process right back up and that would cost a lot of money. " The County Commission listened Thursday night as members of Common Sense 911 outlined what they believe are the problems with the county's plan.

Christmas tree to be placed on corner of Center Square WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Waynesboro's Christmas tree will be placed on the corner of Center Square by Susquehanna Bank this year. The plan for the tree's placement received approval from the Waynesboro Borough Council on Wednesday. The request had been submitted by the Greater Waynesboro Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Waynesboro Inc. The tree's placement has generated controversy in recent years. After one tree snapped at the top, the organizations stopped placing the tree in the middle of traffic and instead decorated four trees on the corners of the square.

Some rules, noted the late comedian George Carlin, shouldn't be necessary. “No running with the scissors,” for example, was one that he said made eminent sense, even to a little kid. Texting while driving would seem to fit in this category, yet many still do type away with their thumbs on the keyboard and their foot on the gas. Most recently, Pennsylvania has made texting behind the wheel illegal, soon to be joined by West Virginia (where...

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Washington County Commissioner candidate John "Jack" Miller, described in a campaign press release as a "longtime Hagerstown resident and community volunteer," said he wants to promote sustainable economic growth in Washington County. "I want to be the voice of the people and bring a common sense approach to running the county government," he said. Miller, 67, is Corporate National Accounts manager for U.S. Silica, an industrial minerals company in Berkeley Springs, W.Va.

By JENNYLYNN BROWN Staff Writer BOONSBORO - It's dark. It's cold. You have no food or water. Nobody knows where you are. You don't know where you are. You have just stepped into the cave explorer's nightmare. Art Hanson, a member of the Tristate Grotto - a branch of the National Speleological Society - said that cave explorers can prevent that situation from arising by taking basic precautions. "Before you go into a cave, let someone know where you are going and when you will return," said Hanson, who lives in Boonsboro.

HAGERSTOWN The Hagerstown Fire Department is concerned that rising heating costs might force people to use alternative heat sources that could increase the risk of house fires. "We see a potentially dangerous year," said Mike Weller, fire prevention officer for the Hagerstown Fire Department. "I hope people will use common sense ... I've been in one home that had 25 candles lit (to generate heat). " Weller said improperly used space heaters are a particular threat. He said residents should understand that space heaters are designed as a supplementary, rather than a primary, source of heat.

By DAVE McMILLION Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Banner Cornell Catlett, who is charged with murder but is being tried this week on arson in an unrelated case, exhibited "inexplicable behavior" such as staying in the woods naked and talking about satellites he was trying to communicate with, his attorney said in court Tuesday. Catlett, 21, was indicted on a charge of first-degree arson following a September 1995 fire at a house on Sawmill Road near Hedgesville where he was living, according to officials and court records.

Apparently, the term "common sense" is an oxymoron these days. There's nothing common about it anymore. On Tuesday, ESPN.com ran a poll asking who was at fault for the ugly brawl at Oakland Coliseum on Monday night: Rangers reliever Frank Francisco, who threw a chair into the stands - apparently at one or more hecklers - and broke the nose of an innocent woman; the hecklers; or ballpark security. Uhmm ... oh, I dunno ... maybe, just maybe, it was the guy who threw the chair?

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Looking at flu season, which arrives each year on the cusp of winter, one can take a numerical or common sense approach. Numerically speaking, 18 percent to 25 percent of the population will get the flu. More than 90 million flu vaccines have been made. And around 20 slightly different strains of the virus are circling the globe, waiting to infect people with a dose of misery, officials say. On the common sense side, Richard McGarvey, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, offered this piece of advice: Get a flu shot.