Designation

After about 18 months of design and construction work and securing the required permits, the wind turbine at Washington County Technical High School was installed on the school's property on Wednesday. Tech High Principal Jeffrey Stouffer said in a phone interview that the turbine is ready to operate and will begin generating electricity when the wind speed reaches 7 mph. The Skystream 3.7 features a 45-foot pole with 6-foot fiberglass reinforced composite tri-blade, Stouffer said.

The Washington County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to implement a stimulus program aimed at making it easier for developers to create "pad-ready" sites for commercial and industrial uses. Under the two-year program, projects to bring undeveloped commercial and industrial sites to pad-ready status will be granted priority plan review, deferment of county fees and a real-estate tax credit once a building is constructed. Sites for shopping centers and "big box" retailers are excluded from the program.

Students in the Web and Multimedia Program at Hagerstown Community College recently completed the design for the Women in Maryland Higher Education web site. According to HCC Web and Multimedia Technology Instructor Sean Maher, each spring, students in the Web Server Administration course are charged with the task of creating, designing and implementing a new web site for an outside nonprofit organization or local business. This year, students worked with Jennifer Haughie, HCC director, admissions, records and registration, to create a new web site for the Women in Maryland Higher Education organization.

U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones III handed down a 139-page decision in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that declared that teaching Intelligent Design in public school science classes was unconstitutional. Since that 2004 decision was made, there have been no federal court cases introduced on that issue. This only means that there have been changes in the strategy of those who are determined to combat the teaching of evolution. Because of the importance of the decision, Judge Jones accepted an invitation to speak to members of Americans United for Separation of Church and State about his reflections on such a controversial case.

Diagnostic Imaging Services (DIS) was designated a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR) earlier this year.  By awarding facilities the status of Breast Imaging Center of Excellence, ACR recognizes breast imaging centers that have earned the accreditation in all of the college's voluntary breast-imaging accreditation programs and modules, in addition to the mandatory mammography accreditation program. The breast imaging services at DIS araccredited in mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, breast ultrasound and ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.

It's a gardening competition worthy of a generous cash prize, but it's not about the money. In this case, it's about enhancing the healing environment for the patients and residents at Western Maryland Hospital Center, said Cindy Holzapfel, a member of the center's Therapeutic Gardens Committee. The seven-member committee came up with the idea to invite nine local garden clubs to design and plant a garden on the center's property, with the gardens to be judged in hopes of winning the $1,000 prize, which was provided by an anonymous donor.

Washington County Public Schools administrators and teachers have been in discussions about designing a pilot evaluation program for teachers and principals that would provide financial incentives of at least $7,000 — hypothetically — to a teacher deemed to be highly effective during the first year of the program, Assistant Superintendent Mike Markoe said. Teachers and principals at five schools could apply to the pilot program, which will be funded largely by a $7.4 million federal grant the school system learned last fall it would receive to create an incentive program for teachers and administrators at schools serving students from low-income families.

Questions still abound about how teachers will be evaluated as part of a voluntary pilot program for five public schools in Hagerstown. Most questions center around how student learning growth will be measured since it likely will account for 50 percent of a teacher's evaluation. The pilot program being developed by Washington County Public Schools officials, with help from the Washington County Teachers Association, is the school system's effort to design its own new evaluation system to comply with the Maryland Education Reform Act of 2010 and President Obama's education reform initiative, Race to the Top. The Education Reform Act of 2010 says data on student progress shall be "a significant component" and "one of multiple measures" used to evaluate certified teachers and principals.

Williamsport's efforts to be a greener town have netted it a "Tree City USA" designation, officials said at a Williamsport Town Council meeting this week. The town received a $15,000 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and used the money to plant an additional 175 trees in town, Maryland Department of Natural Resources spokesman Becky Wilson said in a presentation Monday night before council members and Mayor James G. McCleaf II. Pruning tools were also purchased for town employees, and the workers were given some training on how to properly trim trees, McCleaf said.

The latest designs for a pumptrack proposed at Pine Hill Regional Recreation Area in Washington Township, Pa., would not only have a course for smaller bicycles, but it would also be surrounded by an obstacle track for mountain bikes, township officials said Wednesday. Pumptracks require bicyclists to use their upper body to navigate a dirt track with various berms and bumps. An area where the proposed pumptrack would be established at the Mentzer Gap Road park is about 100 feet by 200 feet.