Continuance

A Sharpsburg man charged last month with illegal possession of firearms was granted a continuance during a hearing Wednesday in Washington County District Court. Defense attorney Gregory Bannon asked Judge Mark D. Thomas to grant the continuance because he said he needed more time to prepare for the defense of Terry Allen Porter, 46, of 4433 Mills Road. Porter and Bannon spent about a minute in court on Wednesday to ask for the continuance. Porter declined to comment afterward.

For the fifth time, a continuance has been granted in the case of the woman charged with vehicular homicide in the July 2010 crash that killed a Waynesboro teenager.  Mary Ellen Bonebrake's attorney, Wayne Bradburn of State College, Pa., sought a fifth continuance Wednesday in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. That request was not opposed by Chief Deputy District Attorney David Rahauser, but he said the case needs to proceed. "Time is of the essence. This is the fifth continuance," Rahauser said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Defendants in two criminal homicide cases dating back to the 1970s have been granted continuances in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. Larry Eugene Hull, 52, of St. Thomas, Pa., pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison in 1979, but a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals granted him a new trial last year. Hull was charged in the Feb. 25, 1975, shooting death of Lloyd Shatzer of St. Thomas. Pennsylvania State Police records said Hull dumped Shatzer's body down a well after he was shot during a drunken argument.

A Washington County Circuit Court judge Tuesday granted a continuance for a Myersville, Md., man who was shot several times by police last year during an incident at a park-and-ride lot near Boonsboro. James Jacob Jardina, 46, was charged with two counts each of first- and second-degree assault, use of a handgun in a crime of violence, possession of a stolen handgun and other offenses in the June 10, 2012, confrontation with police at the lot on Mapleville Road off Interstate 70. Jardina, wearing gray pants with no belt and a blue button-downed shirt, entered the courtroom Tuesday with the assistance of a walker.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Bunker Hill, W.Va., attorney accused of killing his ex-wife last year and dumping her dismembered body in or along Back Creek in western Berkeley County was granted a continuance of his trial Friday in Berkeley County Circuit Court. The trial of Stephen R. Fielder, 58, of 9280 Winchester Ave., which was scheduled to begin in late July, was continued to Nov. 6. A pretrial hearing was set for Oct. 26. Fielder shuffled into court Friday wearing an orange jumpsuit, handcuffs and shackles.

A liquor license violation hearing for Cancun Cantina was continued Wednesday and will be rescheduled for March, county liquor board officials said. John Salvatore, the attorney for the Washington County Board of License Commissioners, requested the continuance because a Hagerstown Police Department officer who was scheduled to testify was unable to be there. Related medical records also had not been obtained. Joseph Rouse, representing Cancun Cantina on Dual Highway near Hagertown, opposed the continuance because a number of witnesses had been assembled, but the liquor board members decided to grant the continuance.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Chambersburg man charged with criminal homicide was granted a continuance until the September trial term during an appearance Monday in Franklin County, Pa., Court. Kevin J. Barrett, of 627 Siloam Road, told Judge John R. Walker he recently fired his private attorney. His new lawyer, Public Defender Robert J. Trambley, asked for a continuance until the November trial term, but Walker denied the request. Barrett is charged in the Sept. 7, 1997, shooting death of Wendy Schuchman outside Siggy's bar on Norland Avenue.

HAGERSTOWN Attorneys for an inmate accused of killing a correctional officer at Washington County Hospital in January filed a motion April 25 to postpone his trial for 18 months. Brandon Morris, 20, was indicted Feb. 22 by a Washington County grand jury on 36 counts, including three first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of Jeffery Alan Wroten. Morris' trial was scheduled to begin July 31 and last at least five days. Washington County State's Attorney Charles P. Strong Jr. filed a response to the defense motion Monday.

The defendant and the victim were both in jail and available for trial, but five prosecution witnesses failed to show Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court, delaying for two months the trial of a 16-year-old city teen charged with attempted murder. Maurice Davoughn McMillan, of 623 N. Locust St. in Hagerstown is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault and reckless endangerment in the Oct. 9, 2011, stabbing of Jarvel Fostion. Fostion, 18, of 106 W. Bethel St., Apt. B, Hagerstown, was stabbed five times in the torso, according to city police charging documents.

Contractors continue to work on upgrading Waynesboro's wastewater treatment plant as they eye a spring 2014 completion for the $10.2 million project. The wastewater treatment plant was built in the 1930s and last upgraded in the 1980s, according to Jon Fleagle, chairman of the Waynesboro Borough Authority. The Waynesboro Borough Council received an update on the project Tuesday evening from Fleagle and Leiter Pryor, the borough's director of utilities. The borough's 5,500 sewer customers had rate increases each year since 2010 to fund the project.

Hydrant flushing that began on Tuesday, Aug. 27, in Zone 7 will need to be extended through Monday, according to the city Water Department. The area is bordered by the Pennsylvania Railroad tracks to the west, Memorial Boulevard to the north, Rose Hill Avenue to the east and South Hagerstown High School to the south, including all of Pope Avenue and Corbett Street. Customers, especially those using automatic washing machines, are cautioned to frequently check  for discolored water, which may occur because of the work.

Next week is expected to be an important one in ongoing stormwater system work in the Borough of Waynesboro. Crews working on a system bypass along South Potomac Street are expected to install new pipe near the Cemetery Avenue outfall. They are currently lowering a 24-inch sanitary sewer line at Ninth Street, according to Kevin Grubbs, director of borough engineering. The multimillion-dollar project, which involves several sections of the municipality, is creating changes in traffic patterns.

Contractors are closer to completing an Interstate 81-widening project in Berkeley County, but they first must repair areas where the highway's original concrete pavement has failed beneath the asphalt. “The original concrete pavement that was placed years ago - that is under the blacktop - will be cut out, the area will be stabilized and refilled with concrete prior to placement of the new asphalt,” Troy White, area engineer for the West Virginia Division of Highways, said in an email Tuesday.

London Fletcher says he gets his bell rung perhaps twice a game. He's played in 240 games in a row, not counting preseason and playoffs. Do the math, and it adds up. The Washington Redskins linebacker has seen a lot of stars. “I play inside linebacker and I like to play it physical,” Fletcher said Thursday. “So, I don't know, it can happen a couple of times a game, but I wouldn't classify them as concussions; they're just, you know, bell-ringing. You'll see stars for a second, and then you're back to normal in two, three seconds, whatever the case may be. That's just the way the game is.” The 38-year-old Fletcher, who has never missed a game in 16 NFL seasons, is decidedly old-school.

Opposition to a Washington County proposal to change land-use regulations around four towns including Hancock showed no signs of abating Wednesday night when about 65 people turned out for an informational meeting -   including one resident who brought a petition with 66 signatures of people against the plan. Residents who would be affected by the land-use changes said they are afraid of being forced to hook up to public water and sewer service, and that they will be forced to pay town taxes if the regulations are passed.

Gas prices dropped 6 cents a gallon in Hagerstown this week, the fourth consecutive week they have fallen locally and nationally. The average price of regular grade gas per gallon on Monday in Hagerstown was $3.51 a gallon, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report online at fuelgaugereport.opisnet.com . The prices averaged out at $3.55 a gallon throughout the state of Maryland and $3.53 nationwide on Monday. Malik Burnett-el, 50, of Hagerstown said that the drop in gas prices has been helpful for him and his wife, because they like to go on vacation often, have to commute to work in separate vehicles and just moved to another place in the city.

Waynesboro resident and artist Marjorie Tressler will be painting and demonstrating her craft Saturday at the “Small Town Hosts Big City Art” gallery at 50 W. Main St. Her efforts are part of another busy weekend in downtown Waynesboro as part of Destination ARTS!  Music, art and dramatic readings are included in the free entertainment at various indoor and outdoor locations Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. through Oct. 27. For more information about Destination ARTS!

Funkstown Mayor Paul N. Crampton Jr. said Monday night that the town will continue to research a possible noise ordinance, but problems at a local restaurant and bar that prompted the proposal have diminished. Crampton's comments came after a mayor and Funkstown Town Council meeting. Washington County Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore had contacted town officials to express concerns about the ability for deputies to enforce the noise and loitering proposals. Mullendore recommended that the town contact Maryland officials about the state's Environmental Noise Act of 1974.

Police continue to look for suspects in the July 18 shooting death of a 44-year-old Chambersburg man in front of his King Street home, Chambersburg Police Chief David Arnold said Wednesday. “We're continuing to investigate,” Arnold said. “We have no arrests to announce yet. We're working the case.” David Wayne Gipe was found in front of his residence at 354 W. King St., a two-story brick duplex, at about 11:15 p.m., police said. Gipe was shot once in the upper abdomen toward the shoulder area, Arnold said.