Continuance

A legal wrangle over where Maryland ends and Virginia begins is continuing, despite a Washington County circuit judge's recent ruling that Maryland's border ends at the water's edge on the south side of the Potomac River. Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. granted a motion by river-ride operators River & Trail Outfitters Inc. of Knoxville, Md., and River Riders Inc. of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to dismiss a lawsuit by Potomac Shores Inc., which owns a section of the river bottom. In its suit, Potomac Shores claimed that river-rafting operators were using land on the Virginia shore that was within the boundary of Maryland, due to changes in the river's level and course over the years.

The Waynesboro Area School Board and its teachers union are continuing to try to reach agreements on teacher contract issues without attorneys present. The two sides met Tuesday for a four-hour bargaining session. Waynesboro Area School Board member Rita Daywalt called the time cordial and cooperative. “Discussions focused around a handful of issues, including salary and benefits. The majority of the discussion included clarifying both sides proposals,” Angie Cales, president of the Waynesboro Area Education Association, wrote in an email on behalf of the union.

Agustin Macias-Marquez will wait another few weeks before a preliminary hearing on two counts of vehicular homicide. The Waynesboro, Pa., man is accused of causing a Dec. 31 vehicle crash that claimed two lives. Macias-Marquez, 27, is charged with two counts of homicide by vehicle, two counts of homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and other charges, including driving under the influence. His preliminary hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, but was continued until Feb. 12, court officials said.

In a report that left two Washington County Board of Education members feeling “shocked” and “depressed,” a team of local health care providers and other officials told the board Tuesday afternoon that there have been 34 teenage pregnancies this school year and that in some cases children in the community are becoming sexually active as young as 8 years old. There were 44 teenage pregnancies last school year, and if this school year's trend...

A Hagerstown man charged with sexually abusing a girl numerous times from 2007 to 2009 had his bond set at $350,000 on Thursday during a hearing at Washington County District Court. Patrick Allen Maietta, 48, of 14302 Pennsylvania Ave., has been charged with sex abuse of a minor, second-degree rape, second-degree sex offense, third-degree sex offense, sex abuse of a minor as a continuing course of conduct and perverted practice, according to the statement of charges obtained Thursday from District Court.

A jury of eight women and four men were sworn in at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday for the trial of a Virginia man charged in the March 2011 shooting death of another man at a Martinsburg-area apartment building. Jonathan Frederick Bennett, 41, of Charlottesville, Va., was indicted in October 2011 on single counts of murder, felony murder, conspiracy, malicious assault, assault during the commission of a felony and three counts of first-degree attempted robbery. Bennett is charged in the March 6, 2011, death of Geronimo Garcia-Cruz, 26, of Winchester, Va., whose body was found in a stairwell of Suncrest Apartments near Martinsburg.

The Bell Pottery Collection was given to the Washington County Historical Society by Frank W. and Roy V. Mish in honor of Mary Vernon Mish. The first telephone service at the Miller House cost $4.80 a month, and installation cost $6. In August 1968, the Washington County Historical Society received a memorial fund in honor of Victor D. Miller III, for various projects. As the year moved along, the society received important additions to the collections of local furniture and other materials.

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.

Name of business: Richards Orthopaedic Center and Sports Medicine Owner: Dr. Robert N. Richards Jr. Address: 144 S. Eighth St., Suite 107, Chambersburg, Pa. Opening date: Sept. 4, 2012 Products and services: Specializing in patient-friendly, expert total orthopedic care, including total joints (hip, knee, shoulder, elbow, hand, etc.), foot and ankle specialists, trauma, wound care, sports medicine, in-office physical therapy and X-rays. The practice provides team physicians for Shippensburg (Pa.)

The Hagerstown Fire Marshal's office is continuing its investigation of a fire in a commercial building Wednesday evening along South Potomac Street, City of Hagerstown spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said Thursday. Investigators returned to the scene at 441 S. Potomac Street on Thursday morning to examine the building and they were also interviewing witnesses to the blaze, Wolfe said in a news release. Hagerstown Fire Marshal Doug DeHaven said Thursday night that investigators still had not determined the cause of the fire, which was reported just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.