Drain

HAGERSTOWN - A perilous game of truck-truck-vamoose ended happily Monday after a couple of animal lovers came to the rescue of a mother duck and her babies, who were separated as they crossed a busy Hagerstown street. Randy Catlett, of the 13300 block of Marsh Pike, was one of a few motorists who stopped after they saw some ducklings slip through a sewer drain as they attempted to cross in front of traffic at Leitersburg Pike near the former Sears building at Long Meadow Shopping Center.

HAGERSTOWN A perilous game of truck-truck-vamoose ended happily Monday after a couple of animal lovers came to the rescue of a mother duck and her babies, who were separated as they crossed a busy Hagerstown street. Randy Catlett, of the 13300 block of Marsh Pike, was one of a few motorists who stopped after they saw some ducklings slip through a sewer drain as they attempted to cross in front of traffic at Leitersburg Pike near the former Sears building at Longmeadow Shopping Center.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Residents who live between South Ridge Avenue and South Washington Street may be drained of their problems if the borough receives a Community Development Block Grant. Borough Council last week approved conducting a survey of households along the two-block stretch that's had problems with stormwater flooding for years, said Kenneth Myers, borough manager. Residents in the area often end up with flooded basements, water-logged garages, streets that look more like rivers and backyard lakes after a hard rain, Myers said.

Eating pasta and rice can be an excellent way to help meet the six to 11 servings of breads, cereals, rice and pasta recommended by United States Department of Agriculture. However, you can cut yourself short nutritionally if you prepare these foods incorrectly. If you rinse rice or pasta and drain off the cooking liquid, or if you cook rice in too much water, you are needlessly wasting nutrients. Ninety percent of the rice sold in the United States is enriched with a dusting of thiamin, niacin and iron, according to Rice Council of America.

A Salisbury, Md., man who claims he fell 8 feet into a drainage ditch in 1997 has filed a $4 million suit against the City of Hagerstown, two of its employees and the then-owners of a local motel. Named in the suit filed in Washington County Circuit Court by Bennie Reynolds of 506 Overbrook Drive, Salisbury, are City Engineer Bruce E. Johnston, City Public Works Director Douglas H. Stull, Vidoni Limited Partnership, of Florence, S.C., Venice Venture Limited Partnership, Florence, S.C., and Venice Motel and Restaurant of Eaton Rapids, Mich.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. -- The Antrim Township Road Department will be closing Shanks Church Road between Preston Lane and Carol Avenue for a drain tile replacement today. The road will be closed from approximately 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Detour signs will be posted. o Shinham Road north of 629 Shinham Road and south of Valley View Lane will be closed for drain tile replacement on Thursday from approximately 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., the road department announced. o The department also announced that paving work on Grant Shook Road will be completed today.

Several gallons of sanitizer containing acid were accidentally dumped Wednesday into the sanitary sewer from Western Maryland Hospital Center in north Hagerstown, Hagerstown Fire Department Battalion Chief Richard T. Hopkins said. The product, LpH se, an aqueous acid phenolic detergent, had expired and when someone was attempting to dispose of it by diluting it in a drain, the drain backed up and it came out in an area on the first floor of the hospital, creating a "nuisance odor," he said.

Editor's note: Each Monday, The Herald-Mail will highlight an infrastructure issue or other problem and will try to find out what is being done to fix or improve the situation. We will not tackle situations involving neighborhood or domestic disputes or consumer problems. The problem: In an alley that runs between West Baltimore Street and West Lee Street east of Summit Avenue, a drain is set down about 3 inches below the surface of the alley. Who could fix it: City of Hagerstown What they say: After checking out the drain, Hagerstown Public Works Manager Eric Deike said it could be raised, but he didn't think it was an immediate issue.

INWOOD, W.Va. - In a project that is expected to cost more than $1 million, officials propose building three waterways in the Inwood area to relieve flooding in the community. During heavy rains, water often backs up around the intersection of U.S. 11 and W.Va. 51 and in nearby areas. Not only does it create a traffic problem, but the flooding poses a contamination risk to groundwater, said Donald Dirting of the Eastern Panhandle Soil Conservation District. The high water flows through septic drain fields and into groundwater supplies, Dirting said.

By JULIE E. GREENE Staff Writer SHARPSBURG - Some Sharpsburg officials are fed up with the state over a $2.8 million Main Street renovation project that solved some of the town's storm drain problems, but created others. Mayor George Kesler said town officials are concerned with two intersections where storm water ends up sitting rather than draining underground. In both cases the sitting water is a result of poor grading, Kesler said. At the corner of South Mechanic and Main streets, storm water misses two drains before ending up near the front of Councilman Hal Spielman's home.

The Maryland State Highway Administration hosted a meeting to get feedback from Chewsville residents on a proposed paving and sidewalk improvement project Thursday, but some people suggested that the SHA first fix the town's drainage problem. The meeting was prompted by the SHA's plan to pave Twin Springs Drive, Md. 804B/Md. 62, and Track Side Road, in addition to making sidewalks along Twin Springs Drive comply with current Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility standards.

There's a lot of this century left to play out, so I can understand why news outlets shied away from “Storm of the Century” as Sandy crept up the coast. The 1990s, if I recall, were a bit of embarrassment after we logged about five “storm of the centuries” in the space of three years. So we went with “Frankenstorm,” along with a side dish of the old stand-in “Perfect Storm.” That's a concern. Because these, paired with “Snowpocalypse” and “Stormaggedon” from a couple of years ago, represent a serious drain on our pun-related resources.

An earthen dam has eroded to the point that it might collapse, DNR wrote in a news release. By Tuesday, DNR had removed most of the water from the pond, which is about 0.8 acres, said Don Cosden, the director of DNR's Inland Fisheries Division. Cosden did not know when the dam will be fixed and the pond refilled. That depends on an engineering estimate of the work and how long it would take to secure funding, he said. The pond, which is off Md. 67, is considered a “fisheries management area.” The state mostly maintains it, Cosden said, but the community uses it to fish for catfish, bass, bluegill and black crappies.

When I was a young teenager in a 4-H club, I made a little footstool with a knitted square pattern on it. I'm so not crafty that I can't even describe the design properly. I really didn't even make it. One of my fellow 4-H'ers pretty much knitted the top for me. It looks great, but the fact that I had little to do with it has always kind of made me cringe. So, aside from the fact that I'm a packrat, I don't know why I kept it for so many years. It's not sturdy enough for me to stand on, and because it evoked unpleasant memories, I never cared to display it at home.

His name is Fred and his plumbing strikes me as a work of art. I've called others over the years out of curiosity. They have tried to persuade me to remodel my bathroom over a simple drain issue and they wanted to charge me literally twice as much to unclog a drain.  Fred would never. He is an old-fashioned, no-nonsense kind of guy - honest, whip-smart and efficient. It's fascinating to watch as he considers a situation and makes his plan of action. One recent Sunday night, my husband went to change the filter in our water purifier when he abruptly announced that we had no water.

A combination of chemicals being used to unclog a drain led to a building being evacuated and parts of two streets being closed in Hagerstown Friday evening, city officials said. The hazardous materials incident caused the first block of South Potomac Street and a portion of Antietam Street to be closed for about 90 minutes, according to a city news release. A man using a cleaning agent and a drain-clearing solution to unclog a bathtub drain created a cloud in an apartment at 55 S. Potomac St., the release said.

Editor's note: Each Monday, The Herald-Mail will highlight an infrastructure issue or other problem and will try to find out what is being done to fix or improve the situation. We will not tackle situations involving neighborhood or domestic disputes or consumer problems. The problem: In an alley that runs between West Baltimore Street and West Lee Street east of Summit Avenue, a drain is set down about 3 inches below the surface of the alley. Who could fix it: City of Hagerstown What they say: After checking out the drain, Hagerstown Public Works Manager Eric Deike said it could be raised, but he didn't think it was an immediate issue.

Recycle cooking oil, grease With deep-frying turkey a current fad, the need to manage cooking oils that get poured down the drain increases. Washington County's 40-West Landfill is accepting used and unused cooking oils and greases for recycling from county residents. Any type of liquid vegetable oil used in residential kitchens, such as peanut, corn, canola, olive, and safflower oil will be accepted for recycling, along with animal-based cooking greases like bacon grease, renderings, and lard.

There was a Valentine's Day dance following the Williamsport-St. Maria Goretti basketball game at the Gael Center on Friday night, but while the lights were on, Williamsport did the two-step. Rebounding from a loss on Thursday to Brunswick that officially eliminated them from contention in the MVAL Antietam, Williamsport rebounded to post a 58-49 victory over the Gaels. "It was rewarding to see the guys come out and execute the offense after Thursday's game," said Wildcat coach Scott Mowbray, who earned his first win over Goretti.

By PAT LOGAN Creators Syndicate Dear Pat: We have three toilets in our house. Each one seems to have a different problem. It costs a fortune to hire a plumber, so I want to try to fix them myself. What are the common toilet problems? - Tracy L. Dear Tracy: Experienced plumbers are highly skilled and generally worth the fees they charge. Yet most homeowners can repair many common toilet problems themselves. Most of the toilet-repair parts and kits include detailed instructions.