Facilities

The Hagerstown, Waynesboro and Chambersburg YMCAs have formalized an agreement that will allow the 16,510 members among them to use facilities at any of the three Ys. Now, a Y member who lives in one community and works in another can use the fitness center in either location. The changes go into effect Jan. 2. “We've looked at what opportunities we have to serve our members better,” said Alan Smith, executive director of the Waynesboro (Pa.) Area YMCA. Across the nation, the Always Welcome at the Y program allows members to visit any of the 2,700 locations.

Evelyn Shaull, 89, of Boonsboro, competed Tuesday with her ex-boyfriend from more than 60 years ago in the Golden Age Olympics at The American Legion in Boonsboro. “Things between us haven't changed a lot,” she said. “I can't complain.” Shaull represented Reeders Memorial Nursing Home in Boonsboro at the event with her ex-boyfriend, Huffer Leon Young, 90. Reeders competed against seven other nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in the area. However, Shaull said the event was not about winning and losing.

Washington County Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Morgan said the opening day of the 2007-08 school year went smoothly. Almost 21,500 students started school Wednesday, and officials say enrollment could increase in the next few weeks. "I think students have returned to some improved facilities," Morgan said. "We did a lot of work over the summer, and we've been doing work over the last year to improve facilities. " Eighty construction projects were completed during the summer months, officials have said, with another 32 projects expected to be completed by the end of September.

West End Little League officials will get some help from the City of Hagerstown in upgrading their facilities. City Council members unanimously agreed Tuesday to loan the league $30,000 over 10 years to install field lights at the major league field in Hellane Park. The lights are expected to be in place by opening day in April.

GREENCASTLE, PA. ? After 13 months of construction, Antrim Way Honda in Greencastle officially celebrated the opening of 36,000 square feet of new facilities Friday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new facilities, which include a cafe, shopping area, showroom, service area, children's play area, retail parts store, office space, delivery center, putting green and walking track, opened Jan. 7, according to Cherie Weaver, marketing director for Antrim Way Honda. "We were very much out of space," Jess Green, customer relations manager at Antrim Way Honda, said as to why the dealership needed the new facilities.

The Washington County Board of Education on Tuesday approved by a 6-0 vote a final reading of a policy regarding the use of school facilities by nonschool groups. The vote came after the board was approached earlier in the meeting by representatives of Federal Little League, who were upset with the proposed rate changes. Dennis Corapi, a member of the Little League's board of directors, said the language in the policy was vague and Little League officials weren't sure whether they'd have to pay for all four fields they use on North Hagerstown High School's property or just for the school's girls softball field.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Seniors living in some retirement communities and nursing homes have not had to rely on the Chambersburg Transportation Authority to get to medical appointments or to go shopping, according to those facilities. Menno Haven, Penn Hall, Luther Ridge, The Shook Home and Quincy Village all provide transportation service to residents, according to representatives of the retirement communities. The authority is scheduled to go out of business Friday after the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced last week that it is withdrawing financial support.

County consolidates facilities, parks maintenance departments By SCOTT BUTKI / Staff Writer The Washington County Commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved the consolidation of the Facilities and Parks Maintenance Departments, which will take effect Jan. 1. The department will be known as the Building, Grounds and Parks Department. The commissioners will review the merger in October to see how it's working. Tuesday marked the first time the merger was publicly discussed.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- A revised policy for how school facilities can be rented and used will go before the Waynesboro Area School Board in coming weeks for a decision on what should be incorporated. Policy updates coordinate with the completion of construction at Waynesboro Area Senior High School. That construction gave the school a new, two-story auditorium. Board members said Tuesday they want to continue renting facilities on a "first come, first served" basis. "Making one group more favored as a priority, we don't think it's fair," Board President K. Marilyn Smith said.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. -- A new 911 center in Jefferson County, W.Va., has been "hardened" to protect it from natural disasters or intruders. A new Jefferson County Sheriff's Department has several levels of security, including cameras and a gated area where deputies will be able to more securely move prisoners into their department headquarters. A newly renovated former Jefferson County jail in Charles Town will help provide needed space for growing county government operations and help tell the story of Jefferson County's history.

The Waynesboro Area School Board took a step Tuesday toward adopting a naming rights policy for school facilities. The policy affects naming of facilities such as buildings and athletic fields in honor of people. It addresses financial contributions that lead to naming rights. The Waynesboro Area Business, Education and Community, or WABEC, Foundation has requested the naming policy be in place as it explores launching a capital campaign focused on athletic facilities, particularly the high school track and football field surface.

The Hancock Town Council voted Wednesday to provide a $200,000 loan to the company planning to build electronic home plates there later this year. The council voted to loan the money to Spessard Manufacturing with a personal guarantee from owner Jerry Spessard. Spessard is the co-inventor of the Eagle Eye Electronic Home Plate, which can call balls and strikes, as well as record pitch speed and other data. He plans to build a 6,000-square-foot facility in the town-owned Stanley Complex property.

Nearly 100 government contract workers at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Martinsburg facility recently lost their jobs as a result of across-the-board federal budget cuts. The 98 contractors laid off at the end of March were doing administrative work at the facility, according to an executive with Three Saints Bay LLC, the parent company of the prime contractor that was affected by the layoffs. The workers in the ATF's firearms program were laid off because the facility was forced to cut its budget by $82 million due to sequestration, a Department of Justice spokesperson said Thursday in an emailed statement.

Standing in front of a newly modified Hawker Beechcraft surveillance plane, U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski on Tuesday announced $43 million in federal funding recently approved by Congress devoted to outfitting two additional multirole enforcement aircraft to protect U.S. borders. Mikulski, an advocate for border patrol and protecting American jobs, told about 100 attendees inside the manufacturing facility of Sierra Nevada Corp. at Hagerstown Regional Airport that the money serves to preserve the “passport of the middle class,” helping to protect about 200 jobs in Maryland, including many of the company's 500-plus workforce locally.

The recommendation of a volunteer committee that examined ways to temporary alleviate overcrowding at Pangborn Elementary School next school year is expected to be presented to the Washington County Board of Education on April 2, said the committee's chairman, Bert Iseminger. The Facilities and Enrollment Advisory Committee met Tuesday night to review a recommendation they came up with at an earlier meeting and did not change the recommendation, Iseminger said. Any redistricting changes would go to a public hearing before the school board gives them final approval, school system spokesman Richard Wright said.

Some Greencastle officials are concerned that a newly opened rail-truck facility could result in heavier truck traffic in the borough. At Tuesday's Greencastle-Antrim Chamber of Commerce monthly breakfast meeting, Grant Cothran, manager of intermodal development for Norfolk Southern, and Jesse Moose, industrial development manager for Norfolk Southern, spoke to local business and community leaders at Rhodes Grove Camp and Convention Center in Chambersburg,...

The Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority voted Wednesday to impose a tax of 50 cents per ton on municipal waste handled at a yet-to-be-built facility that will produce solid refuse fuel from some of the trash. The county board's decision comes after a Public Service Commission administrative law judge signed off on the proposed $19 million mechanical-biological solid waste facility proposed by Entsorga West Virginia LLC to be operated near Martinsburg. The tax, which is authorized by state law, would not be collected until Entsorga begins handling waste, which could occur next year, Solid Waste Authority Chairman Clint Hogbin said Wednesday.

Despite concerns about traffic associated with the project, Williamsport Town Council members Monday night gave final approval of a land classification change for a treatment facility on Lockwood Road where a private company is processing used oil and converting it to fuel. Under a lease agreement with the county, Spirit Services has the capability to obtain the Nicodemous Treatment Facility on Lockwood Road, which is inside town limits. Richard Grimm, the town's zoning administrator, has said the property is zoned suburban residential and Spirit Services has asked for an employment center zone.

The open house planned as part of the Thunder Over the Blue Ridge Air Show in May will not be held due to Defense Department budget cuts and “fiscal uncertainty,” organizers said Tuesday. With the change, the air show on May 11 and 12 now will be staged on the civilian side of Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport and the 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard will no longer host the event on their base at Shepherd Field, officials said in a news release.  “Unfortunately, the uncertainty in our national financial picture has forced us to consider the possibility of some rather dramatic cuts in our funding,” Col. Roger Nye, the Airlift Wing's commander said in the news release.

Nicknames are difficult to change. The administrative team at the Franklin County Career and Technology Center off Loop Road in Chambersburg, says the school's old moniker, “Vo Tech,” just doesn't fit anymore. Career and Technology Center Administrative Director Keith Yohn said “Vo Tech” is an outdated term that just doesn't fit the new, state-of-the art school. “It's so much more than a vocational technical school,” Yohn said. “We offer vocational and technical skills, but we're also preparing students for careers.” Students from Chambersburg, Shippensburg, Tuscarora, Waynesboro and Greencastle-Antrim school districts attend the Franklin County Career and Technology Center.