Earth

Continuing a theme of advocacy, the Antietam Women's Ensemble will open its third season this weekend with Songs for the Earth, a concert program featuring music with environmental conservation themes. The Women's Ensemble will perform Saturday at the National Conservation Training Center near Shepherds-town, W.Va., and will perform the same program Sunday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sharpsburg. The women's ensemble is an all-female community chorus that aims to bring both entertaining and "thought-provoking" music to audiences, according to Georgiann Toole, ensemble director.

I was prejudiced against "Oblivion" because about a week before it opened. A friend of mine got to see a movie in advance and left after the first half hour. At around the 31-minute mark, I was jealous of my friend. It's not a terrible movie in that "clearly a bomb" sort of way, but it failed to hold my interest and it was depressing to know that it was nowhere close to ending. The film stars Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, a drone repairman on an abandoned Earth in a bleak future. Humanity had to evacuate the planet after an alien invasion rendered it uninhabitable.

"The Big Bang" by Busta Rhymes "Rather Ripped" by Sonic Youth "Do I Make You Proud/Takin' It to the Streets" by Taylor Hicks "Earth to America" by Widespread Panic

We should respect God's beautiful earth To the editor: Lent has begun. It is a 40-day period in which we slow down, or at least try, and concentrate on the sacrifice of our Father, creator of this world. He sent forth His son, Jesus, for our redemption and restoration. Jesus came as well to give us guidelines for living kinder. Forgiveness sets an example in living out “loving our neighbors,” the commandment He asks of us now. When I was a young teen, I used to give up sweets for Lent.

You see those signs: "Bridge freezes before road surface. " Why is that? While the roadway has the benefit of the heat of the Earth underneath to retard freezing, air circulates more readily around bridges, explains Fred Crozier, district engineer for the Maryland State Highway Administration in LaVale, Md. When it's cold, you've got cold air above and below the bridge, Crozier said. However, once you get below the frost line, the temperature of the Earth generally stays at about 50 degrees, he said.

521,837. That's how many miles Funkstown resident Thomas "Woody" McDonald had on his work van as of 8 a.m. Friday. That's enough to: - Get to the moon and back with miles left over. The maximum distance from the Earth to the moon is 252,020 miles. (Source: The World Almanac) - Make almost 21 trips around the earth's equator, which has a circumference of 24,901.55 miles. (Source: World Book Encyclopedia and geography.about.com ) - Take 210 cross-country trips.

Once upon a time, about 13 billion years ago, there was total darkness and nothing existed. Then, for some strange reason, a dense piece of volatile matter was formed. I'm not sure why. Shortly afterwards, there was a "Big Bang" and this matter exploded and was thrown outward. Even though you and I did not witness the event, this story is based on reliable information. Oh, speaking of you and me. While this debris was traveling outwards, something very peculiar happened.

Don't like the weather? Wait a billion years The good news is that Earth is going to end. The bad news is that it's not going to happen for another 1.1 billion years, or roughly about the time that Britney Spears is eligible to vote. I know this because I read USA Today, America's only nondepressing newspaper. Last week it had a story about the end of the planet and how scientists plan to avoid it. It didn't say why. But it indicated that in 1.1 billion years, the sun is scheduled to swell up to the size of Deon Sanders' head and burn us all up. I say "us" meaning "you," being all those people who have saved this newspaper article for many million centuries.

This has certainly been a wild spring. Cold, then hot. Dry, then wet. Violent storms. It prompts one to wonder: Does planet Earth have a fever? Is this weather really more extreme than it used to be? Is this our future or just an anomaly that will disappear soon? What role, if any, do humans play in it? I'll leave weather and climate forecasting to the experts. But, with seven billion people distributed throughout all the habitable areas of the Earth, I think it is safe to say that our actions are affecting the health of our planet.

Visible evening planets Jupiter is the bright evening planet low in the southwest. Mars enters the evening sky as Jupiter sets. Visible morning planets Saturn rises before midnight and is high in the morning. Mercury is visible in the east before sunrise early in the month. For more information about the visible evening planets and nighttime sky, download the planetarium's podcast "Skylights" from antpod.com . Solar System Mars is smaller than Earth, farther from the sun than Earth, but seems to be the most hospitable planet to explore.

It was a day of education and fun Saturday at Renfrew Institute's Earth Celebration Day and Festival of Art. Now in its 23rd year, about 40 exhibitors and environmental artists set up on the lawn at Renfrew Park from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. About 500 people attended Saturday's event. Renfrew Park is the most beautiful park in Waynesboro, said Melodie Anderson-Smith, executive director of Renfrew Institute, and she said it's the perfect place to bring people outdoors to celebrate the Earth.

I was prejudiced against "Oblivion" because about a week before it opened. A friend of mine got to see a movie in advance and left after the first half hour. At around the 31-minute mark, I was jealous of my friend. It's not a terrible movie in that "clearly a bomb" sort of way, but it failed to hold my interest and it was depressing to know that it was nowhere close to ending. The film stars Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, a drone repairman on an abandoned Earth in a bleak future. Humanity had to evacuate the planet after an alien invasion rendered it uninhabitable.

Williamsport will hold Earth Hour on Saturday. The community is invited to be part the worldwide initiative. Residents are encouraged to switch off nonessential lights at home and join friends and neighbors at Springfield Farm Barn on Saturday, beginning at 7 p.m. Admission is free. The band Soulstice will entertain on stage and dancing is encouraged. There will be free refreshments and food for purchase, door prizes, lighted balloons and other activities. Williamsport Elementary School and Springfield Middle School will be collecting old phone books, printer ink cartridges and old sneakers.

We should respect God's beautiful earth To the editor: Lent has begun. It is a 40-day period in which we slow down, or at least try, and concentrate on the sacrifice of our Father, creator of this world. He sent forth His son, Jesus, for our redemption and restoration. Jesus came as well to give us guidelines for living kinder. Forgiveness sets an example in living out “loving our neighbors,” the commandment He asks of us now. When I was a young teen, I used to give up sweets for Lent.

Two people were taken to Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown on Saturday morning following a collision between a pickup truck and a motorcycle at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Earth Care Road, Maryland State Police said. The crash occurred at 10:54 a.m. when the pickup truck, driven by Stephen David Horst, 35, of Waynesboro, Pa., pulled out of Earth Care Road and into the path of the motorcycle operated by Randy Wayne Domer, 50, of Hagerstown, troopers said. Domer was unable to avoid a collision and struck the truck, troopers said.

As we celebrated Earth Day on Sunday, I was reminded of this Native American proverb: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” Salem students celebrate Earth Day Students at Salem Avenue Elementary School in Hagerstown celebrated Earth Day April 20 by cleaning up the school grounds. Teachers in each grade level discussed how important it is to keep the Earth clean and what each of us can do each day to keep it that way. Then, during recess time, all Salem students walked around the school grounds with their teachers picking up litter.

Earth Day will be celebrated at Discovery Station on Sunday at 3 p.m.  The science program with student activities is based on the book “A River Ran Wild” by Lynn Cherry. The book encourages children to be aware of and how to care for their environment. The book is the true story of changes in New England's Nashua River over the centuries, and how man has destroyed and later reclaimed the river and the land around it. The children will document these changes on a map. To help children remember the importance of caring for their environment, they will create a 3-D model using trash in a constructive way instead of using it to pollute the environment.  All children participating in the class will receive their own tree to plant to beautify the environment.

Esquire magazine recently published an issue titled “For Our Divided Times,” which featured 79 things “We All Can Agree On.” OK, I'm buying. The cover choice, however, was a little odd: Bill Clinton, who was one of the most polarizing leaders in modern history. While I might not agree with all of the 79 things (I'm all in on Ashley Greene, National Parks, Woody Harrelson and how amazing the young Eddie Murphy was in his early movies), one thing is sure about the idea: we could all use a common cause around which to rally.

It will be “Dark in the Park” for the inaugural Williamsport Earth Hour on Saturday in Byron Memorial Park. The band Final Notice and Henri Verdel will entertain. 4-Star Athletic Complex gymnasts will perform and give away glow sticks.  Williamsport Elementary School's Green School will showcase its program and collect old phone books, cellphones and ink cartridges. Those who donate items will receive a free door prize ticket for each item dropped off. The free event includes refreshments, door prizes, drum circle and environment-friendly sponsors.

Tri-State area residents, along with millions of others along the East Coast, felt the earth rumbling beneath them just before 2 p.m. as a 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck the region. The epicenter of the 1:51 p.m. quake was about 9 miles south of Mineral, Va., in Louisa County, about 123 miles south of Hagerstown, according to the United States Geological Survey. The USGS reported an 2.8-magnitude aftershock from the same spot in Virginia at 2:46 p.m. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake is typically intense enough to be felt by all, to move heavy furniture, and to cause slight to moderate damage in well-built ordinary structures, according to USGS.  It may cause considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures.