Construction Site

A power outage caused by blasting at a construction site west of Hagerstown left more than 1,100 Allegheny Power customers without electricity for about an hour Wednesday afternoon, company spokesman Todd Meyers said. About 1,150 customers initially lost power, but it was restored to more than 900 customers by 1:15 p.m., Meyers said. Service was restored to the remaining customers by 2:45 p.m., the power company reported on its Web site. The power failure was first reported at 12:09 p.m., according to dispatchers at the Washington County 911 Center.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- Construction of the long-planned Raleigh Street "extension" is expected to begin this fall, Mayor George Karos announced Thursday evening. "To me, that's about the best news we've had for years," Karos said of the Martinsburg road construction project that has been talked about for many years. The Hagerstown/Eastern Panhandle Metropolitan Planning Organization notified the city Thursday that $15.5 million had been "programmed" for building about a half-mile section of the highway from the intersection of U.S. 11 and W.Va.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.VA. -- As the cold wind swirled Saturday at the construction site of the new Morgan County Courthouse on Fairfax Street, more than 200 people watched a cornerstone-laying ceremony provided by the local Masonic Delford A.F.&A.M. Lodge 88. On Aug. 8, 2006, the courthouse was destroyed by fire. Soon after, the Masons received permission from the Morgan County Commission to perform the ceremony to commemorate the new building. Wearing aprons, some with gold fringe, about 100 Masons participated in the procession to the site.

Sue Lloyd's sunset photo could be a painting. Bill Taylor's moon rising could be a postcard. When it comes to landscapes and brilliant skies, Mother Nature is the premier artist working on the world's largest canvas. The Herald-Mail runs readers' best recent photographs taken in the Tri-State area on this page. Quality is key. Sharp, large, color images look best. Close-up photos show detail better. If the subject is small, get close or use a telephoto lens to make the subject appear large in the photo.

"Don't know why Obama spent all that money to become the first black president, when everyone knows that Nancy Pelosi and her sidekick Reid actually run the country. " -- Falling Waters, W.Va. "This is in regards to the Robinwood Medical Center. I'm calling with a concern at the Robinwood Medical Center. Because of the disaster caused by the hospital construction, the parking for employees, not only Antietam Health employees but the private offices, we are being harassed, with nowhere safe to park.

HAGERSTOWN -- Mark Phillips and Diane Lim said their businesses have been losing thousands of dollars a week since workers began replacing a sewer main about a month ago at the intersection of Church and Jonathan streets. Phillips, the owner of Rapid Lube at 120 W. Church St., said his business relies heavily on motorists who see the Rapid Lube sign, realize they're due for an oil change and pull in for service. Because of the ongoing work, potential customers are detoured away.

Store fire cause still undetermined RANSON, W.Va. - A fire Saturday morning at the Southern States store along Mildred Street was either due to a mechanical failure or lightning. That was the conclusion after Patrick Barker of the state Fire Marshal's office investigated the scene Monday, said Ed Smith, chief of the Independent Fire Co. Parker has not completed a final report on the fire's cause but "more and more" it appears the fire was started by lightning, Smith said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A company's request to move earth on the steep slopes of North Mountain west of Martinsburg to build storage facilities for explosives, blasting agents and other inventory has proved to be explosively controversial. A standing-room-only crowd, both for and against the request by Falling Waters, W.Va.,-based Geological Technologies Inc. (GTI), urged the Berkeley County Planning Commission to consider their side in a public hearing that spanned more than 90 minutes.