Completion

Requests for proposals for engineering and architectural services to convert a former U.S. Army Reserve Center to a senior center were to be sent out this week, Washington County Administrator Gregory B. Murray said Tuesday. The 19,000-square-foot building on Willard Street is being purchased from Hagerstown for $625,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds. County spokeswoman Sarah Lankford Sprecher said settlement on the property will take place later this month. Murray told the Board of County Commissioners that bids on the work could be back in about a month.

The owner of the former Municipal Electric Light Plant wants to tear down the blighted building in Hagerstown's East End just as badly as city officials do, he said last week. David Harshman, the property's owner since 1996, said on Dec. 26 that he and his demolition contractor, Bud Williams of Lycoming Supply based in Williamsport, Pa., have put in “hundreds of hours” in the past few years trying to make the project work. “We're not here to make controversy at all,” Williams said.

A new interactive exhibit and education center in Martinsburg, “for the kids, by George,” is 90 percent to 95 percent complete and nearly ready for visitors, according to project director Jim Castleman. The dedication and grand opening of the social studies and history-focused museum at the Caperton Train Station at 229 E. Martin St. is being planned for May, Castleman said last week. Between now and then, groups of children are expected to be introduced to the center on a limited basis to gauge their reactions to the exhibits and to assess where they are spending time and for how long, Castleman said.

Signs are still in place on Garis Shop Road and Wagaman Road informing motorists that Poffenberger Road would close to through traffic Sept. 4 between Garis Shop Road and Sharpsburg Pike (Md. 65) for about 60 days. Ninety-nine days later, the road is still closed at Garis Shop Road. “They should've been finished with this,” said Brenda McCray, who lives on Garis Shop Road. “I don't know what the problem is, but nothing is getting done. The traffic comes up and down this road really fast now.” Stephan Gibbs, 24, who drives McCray to the doctor Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, said that he hopes the work is finished soon because turning from Poffenberger Road onto U.S. 40 Alternate can be dangerous.

North Hagerstown's volleyball team completed a Washington County trifecta on Wednesday night. Following up on the success of Smithsburg and Williamsport, the Hubs played fantastic volleyball in blowing out previously unbeaten Bel Air 25-19, 25-10, 25-11 in the Class 3A state semifinals at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum. North (17-1) will face another unbeaten team in Centennial (18-0) for the 3A state title on Friday night at 8. The Eagles - who beat La Plata (15-3)

State efforts to widen and improve the intersection of U.S. 11 and Pa. 16 in Greencastle will intensify next week, according to Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokesman Michael Crochunis. Crews from Valley Quarries, a division of contractor New Enterprise, will be removing an existing Sheetz sign and air compressor, Crochunis said in a phone interview Friday. That corner of the intersection will be undergoing drainage work, Crochunis said. Winter weather could affect how much work is completed this year, but the entire project is not expected to wrap up until November 2013, he said.

The count of more than 2,700 absentee ballots from Tuesday's election began Thursday morning and is expected to be completed Friday, Washington County Election Director Kaye Robucci said. The only race that might be affected by the count is for the fifth seat on the Hagerstown City Council where Martin Brubaker had 5,262 votes - 188 more than William Breichner, according to unofficial results. About 600 absentee ballots from city residents were returned to the Board of Elections.

Washington College announced that Christopher Brown of Waynesboro, Pa., completed his work as a Comegys Bight Fellow. Presented by the college's C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the fellowship program offers stipends to support summer internships at some of the nation's leading historical and cultural institutions. The paid internships annually provide a handful of students with high-level research experience on topics related to American history pre-1900.

Neil LaPine testified he fired a handgun just once - and by accident - during a May 18 stand-off with police, but a Washington County Circuit Court jury deliberated just 70 minutes on Friday before finding him guilty on three counts of first-degree assault. LaPine, 49, formerly of 12962 Little Hayden Circle in Hagerstown, was also convicted of three counts of reckless endangerment and one count each of use of a handgun in a crime of violence and discharging a firearm within city limits, court records said.

Although it's a few months later than originally hoped, Antietam Fire Co. officials said Wednesday their move to Potomac Avenue in Hagerstown's North End could be completed in three to four weeks. Antietam Fire Co. President Ron Horn said some unexpected costs during the company's $400,000 renovation of the former Four Seasons RV building at 790-800 Potomac Ave. have delayed the process. “We've had to cut a lot of our construction costs out because it was just too costly to stay within budget,” Horn said.