Effect

An opinion released Thursday by the attorney general's office said that same-sex couples can obtain marriage licenses as soon as Gov. Martin O'Malley “formally proclaims” the results of this month's election, which he is expected to do on or about Thursday. The law, and therefore the licenses, will not be effective until Jan. 1. Attorney General Douglas Gansler answered other questions about the implementation of Maryland's same-sex marriage law in the 19-page opinion. Gansler and Chief Counsel Adam Snyder found that postdating the licenses' effective date doesn't impose an unconstitutional waiting period on same-sex couples because it's the ceremony, not the license which validates the marriage.

With work on the Interstate 70 cual bridges over the Conococheague Creek continuing, motorists can expect possible single-lane closures at certain times throughout the winter months. “Folks will start to see some off-peak closures from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.,” Maryland State Highway Administration spokesperson Dave Buck said. “The impact to traffic over the winter will be minimal.” The first SafeZones Automated Speed Enforcement system in Washington County has already gone into effect at that location, according to the SHA. Currently the system is in a warning period, but after the period ends on Wednesday, Nov. 28, motorists going 12 mph or more over the speed limit will face a $40 civil citation.

The Tri-State area was spared from the worst of the storm that had been Hurricane Sandy, but thousands could be without power for days, and many schools and government agencies remained closed on Tuesday. As of 7 a.m., Wednesday, nearly 10,000 Tri-State area customers were still without power, according to FirstEnergy Corp.'s website. Berkeley Countly, W.Va., topped the list with 3,661 customer without power and Franklin County, Pa., had the second-highest amount with 3,519 customers without electricity.

A tornado watch remained in effect in Washington County and other parts of the Tri-State area Tuesday as a cold front accompanied by heavy rain moved through the region. The watch, affecting Washington and Frederick counties as well as Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties in West Virginia, is in effect through 7 p.m., the National Weather Service reported. Southern Washington County is under a flash flood warning until 4:45 p.m. Southern Washington County and parts of Frederick and Jefferson counties were under a severe thunderstorm warning effective until 1:30 p.m., the weather service reported.

Raising the cost of a parking ticket from the current $7 to as much as $25 dollars was discussed at Wednesday's meeting of the Hancock Town Council. “We've seen a decrease in revenues from parking meters,” Town Manager David Smith said. Because of that, the position of a parking meter reader was eliminated and ticketing duties are now solely in the hands of police officers, he said. The town's Police Commission has discussed raising the price of tickets from $7, unless the offender pays on the same day it was issued, in which case the fine is reduced to $3, Smith said.

Some artifacts more than 150 years old and related to residents who lived on what is now Antietam National Battlefield during the Civil War are now on display at the battlefield visitor center. The battlefield held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday morning to announce the opening of a new museum exhibit room in the visitor center that highlights the effect the battle had on the nation and families who lived there. Artifacts and photographs are included in the exhibit, and veterans returning to the battlefield for reunions is also documented, as well as the creation of the park by the United States War Department.

Maryland's new state superintendent of schools, Lillian M. Lowery, stopped by the Educator Effectiveness Academy at South Hagerstown High School on Thursday. Lowery, who took over the state post July 2, has been touring the state, meeting with officials of local school systems, she told a packed auditorium at the high school. Lowery's last job was as secretary of education for the state of Delaware. Approximately 420 teachers and school administrators from the region attended the three-day academy, which wrapped up Thursday, to learn about the more rigorous curriculum being adopted in the state.

If a judge's ruling goes into effect, Maryland residents no longer will need a strong reason to carry a concealed firearm after Aug. 7. U.S. District Court Judge Benson E. Legg in March struck down a requirement that state residents applying for concealed-carry handgun permits provide a “good and substantial” reason to carry them in public. On Monday, he signed a court order giving state officials two weeks to implement his ruling, according to published reports. “We're going to comply with state law,” Maryland State Police spokesperson Elena Russo said in a telephone interview.

Approximately 420 teachers and other educators from the region will meet for three days at South Hagerstown High School this week for an Educator Effectiveness Academy to learn more about the new curriculum for Maryland public schools, according to local and state education agencies. The Maryland State Department of Education is having academies throughout the state this summer to help teachers and principals learn about the more rigorous, in-depth Common Core curriculum, according to the state education department's website.

Following a day of record-setting heat, a tornado warning and a thunderstorm watch were in effect Friday night for different parts of Washington County, the National Weather Service said. The National Weather Service issued the tornado warning for the extreme western part of Washington County until 9:45 p.m. The thunderstorm watch was issued until 10:30. As of 10:50 p.m., Potomac Edison's website was reporting that 3,335 of its customers were without power in Washington County.