Counseling

Washington County will pay its three attorneys $253,254 in salaries in fiscal year 2006, which began on July 1. The three county attorneys, with their fiscal 2006 salaries listed, are: · County Attorney Richard Douglas - $99,780 · County Attorney John Martirano - $93,974 · Assistant County Attorney Kirk Downey - $69,500 The entire budget for the department is $610,060 this fiscal year. Including the three attorneys and two office staff members, wages and benefits total $419,770, according to the county's budget.

Bridge of Life Church in Hagerstown has begun providing a counseling office to help people overcome life's problems. Bridge of Life uses a Christ-centered psycodynamic model of therapy for sexual and physical abuse, and for most mental disorders, including personality, mood, behavioral, sexual, anxiety and identity/dissociative. Dianne Kleckner, the primary counselor, has been at Bridge of Life for two years. She holds bachelor's and a master's degrees in Christian counseling from Christian Bible School and Seminary.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A man awaiting sentencing in a federal embezzlement case settled a separate domestic battery charge this week. Gregory A. Gamble, 48, of 515 Surrey Ave., Hagerstown, will be required to get counseling after his federal sentencing, which is expected to include prison time, according to Berkeley County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Groh. Gamble, who pled guilty in March to embezzling more than $300,000 in Social Security payments that he was supposedly managing for mental health clients, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg on Monday.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. ? The founder of the West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters is expected to be evaluated by state officials for 60 days before 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III sentences her on convictions of practicing medicine and counseling without a license. Susan R. Crites, 57, of 208 Ruffed Grouse Lane in Berkeley County, was found guilty in September of three counts of unauthorized practice of medicine without a license and four counts of unauthorized counseling without a license.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- The founder of the West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters was placed on three years of supervised probation by a 23rd Judicial Circuit judge who suspended an 18-month jail sentence for her convictions of practicing medicine and counseling without a license. At the end of a two-day trial in September 2007, a jury found Susan R. Crites, 57, of 208 Ruffed Grouse Lane, guilty of three counts of practicing medicine without a license and five counts of counseling without a license.

SCORE volunteer Bob Poor addressed artists gathered at the Washington County Arts Council during an evening business counseling session recently. SCORE and the arts council partnered to offer the three-evening workshop.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy have Real Alternatives to turn to, a new state-funded crisis pregnancy service promoting options to abortion. Coordinated through Catholic Charities, the program provides free counseling and a variety of educational and supportive services for income-eligible mothers, fathers and family members of children from conception to 1 year of age. "There are lots of ways a pregnancy can become a crisis," said Carolyn George, counseling director in the Chambersburg office.

Q: A couple of times, I have set daytime appointments with a local SCORE counselor. Since I work "down the road," I couldn't make it back to Hagerstown in time for the appointments. Are there any options to daytime appointments? Also, have you changed the location of the SCORE tax workshop? A: SCORE is a national association of active and retired businessmen and women who volunteer to share their expertise with small businesses and new business startups, as well as those who are thinking about going into business.

End-of-life discussion FREDERICK, Md. - A representative from Compassion and Choices will speak at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12, at C. Burr Artz Public Library, 110 E. Patrick St. The organization provides end-of-life counseling and support for dying patients and their loved ones. The event is free and open to the public.

Name of business: Women's Christian Care Center Owners: Bill and Dianne Kleckner with associates Clarence and Kathy Horst Address: 1309 Pennsylvania Ave., Hagerstown Opening date: Nov. 1, 2005 Services: Professional Christian counseling to women and their families. Psychodynamic model of therapy for sexual and physical abuse victims, marriage and sex therapy, other mental disorders such as personality disorders, mood disorders, sexual disorders, anxiety disorders, identity/dissociative disorders.

A Hagerstown man charged in a fatal vehicle crash in October 2012 that killed his brother and left another man paralyzed applied for court-appointed legal counsel Monday in Berkeley County Magistrate Court. Timothy Lee Kegarise, 33, of Hagerstown, is charged with single felony counts of driving under the influence with death and destruction of property, and one misdemeanor count of DUI with injury, according to magistrate court documents. Kegarise's brother, Thomas L. Kegarise, also of Hagerstown, died in the Oct. 11 crash on Hedgesville Road (W.Va.

The Waynesboro Area School Board this week replaced its main legal counsel with a Philadelphia attorney. Richard Galtman had been working for the board in labor negotiations. He will now take over for general representation, replacing Carlisle, Pa., lawyer James Flower. Galtman will be paid $140 an hour for regular business and $185 an hour for special issues, district officials said. School board member Rita Daywalt said the board will reimburse Galtman for travel expenses.

With a little more than a month before Letterkenny employees are faced with a furlough that could shorten their work week to four days, the depot is helping workers manage the financial fallout. Individual, personal financial counseling sessions began Monday and will continue through March 22, according to Letterkenny spokeswoman Lindsay Bryant. Letterkenny's 4,000 workers could lose 20 percent of their pay as a result of federal budget cuts commonly known as sequestration, according to a statement released by Letterkenny earlier this month.

The latest effort of a former Hagerstown man to get a new trial in the 2007 death of an infant has been denied by a Washington County Circuit Court judge. Floyd A. Bingaman III is serving a 30-year sentence for the January 2007 death of 4-month-old Justice Calvin Myers-Cannon. He was convicted by a jury that year of first-degree child abuse resulting in death and involuntary manslaughter, court records said. Judge Donald E. Beachley on Thursday signed an order denying Bingaman's motion to reopen Bingaman's post-conviction case.

The founder of the West Virginia Society of Ghost Hunters, who was found guilty in 2007 of practicing medicine and counseling without a license, failed to abide by the terms of her probation, attorneys said Monday. Susan R. Crites, who was placed on three years of probation in 2008 in lieu of an 18-month jail sentence, failed to get counseling and also failed to pay about $945 in court costs, according to Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely. In a hearing Monday, Crites, of Hedgesville, W.Va., was released from further probation supervision, but the unpaid court costs were ordered by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III to be converted into a civil judgment against her. Chief Public Defender Deborah A. Lawson told Silver that Crites abided by the terms of her probation otherwise.

The state Supreme Court has suspended a Martinsburg attorney's license to practice law for one year due to “professional transgressions” stemming from complaints filed by former clients and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. During his suspension, Michael S. Santa Barbara, 52, is to undergo psychological and/or psychiatric counseling to “deal with depression and alcohol abuse issues until such time that it is determined by the treating psychologist or psychiatrist that treatment is no longer necessary,” the court concluded in a 23-page opinion filed Thursday.

A court hearing for a Franklin County, Pa., man sentenced last year in his wife's fatal shooting was rescheduled on Tuesday. Because a transportation order was not filed, Christopher T. Jones was not brought to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas from the state correctional institution where he is serving a six- to 14-year prison sentence, Judge Shawn Meyers said. Jones, 33, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of his wife, Kristin Runyon. He contended he thought she was an intruder in the 5 a.m. darkness at their St. Thomas Township, Pa., home on Feb. 25, 2010.

"Quit for Love" is part of a campaign offering free nicotine patches and counseling, and reminding residents of the local resources available to aid them in their attempt to quit smoking. Free Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) patches are available as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Health's annual "Quit for Love" Campaign. Launched on Feb. 14, this outreach effort is designed to encourage tobacco users to consider quitting the use of tobacco products for the ones they love.

Grief counselors will be available at Winter Street Elementary School in Hagerstown when Christmas break ends next week to help students cope with the death of a 9-year-old former student who was killed and dismembered last week in Fort Wayne, Ind. Hagerstown resident Rhonda Schwartz said she wants her daughter, Kymberley Schwartz, to take full advantage of the service. She said Kymberley and the murdered girl, Aliahna Lemmon, quickly became best friends after meeting on the school playground during the 2010-11 school year.

Two residents who live on High Street complained recently about speeding in the area, but the average speed on the street is 22 mph, Boonsboro Town Councilwoman Janeen Solberg said Monday night. Resident Tim Roberts and another resident talked about speeding on High Street during a council meeting in October. Solberg said during a town council meeting Monday that town police monitored the street for about 12 hours and determined the average speed on the street was 22 mph. The speed limit on the street is 25 mph, Solberg said.