Facilities

The Washington County Board of Education has approved a facilities master plan that lists replacement of Sharpsburg Elementary School as the board's third highest school project priority. The 2012 Educational Facilities Master Plan approved Tuesday by a 5-2 board vote lists the Sharpsburg project behind the replacements of Bester Elementary, as well as Winter Street and Conococheague elementary schools with a new “West City” Elementary school. Board members Donna Brightman and Karen Harshman voted against the plan.

A Washington County company that manufacturers catnip and other feline treats will close its doors and move to another location in Ohio by the end of the month, a company official said Wednesday. Rochelle Hartigan, spokeswoman for OurPet's Co. of Fairport Harbor, Ohio, said in an email that the Cosmic Pet Products facility at 16014 Business Parkway near Hagerstown has already begun the transition to Mentor, Ohio. She did not give the specific date when the move began. “The new facility located in Mentor ... has already begun operations, and the transition will be complete by the end of the month,” Hartigan said in the email.

Ceremonial shovels digging into the dirt of a vacant field on the Jefferson, Berkeley County line on June 13 will signal the start of construction for Hospice of the Panhandle Inc.'s $11.5 million, 14-bed inpatient facility and office complex. The campaign, which began 3 1/2 years ago, got a boost last week when the Jefferson County Commission agreed to funnel $6 million in bank qualified, tax-exempt commercial development revenue bonds to the project. Berkeley County officials did the same earlier in the amount of $2 million.

International crane leader Manitowoc Cranes in Franklin County, Pa., is leading the way in the industry with its new multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art quality assurance facility, according to company officials. Manitowoc executives and workers unveiled the company's newest tool to outpace its competition during a ribbon-cutting ceremony and facility tour on Tuesday. Believed to be the first facility of its kind in the crane industry, Manitowoc's Product Verification Center is an 18,000-square-foot testing center that will examine the components that go into its cranes.

Dozens of people streamed through the doors of Conococheague Elementary School Wednesday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the school, known for its small, intimate feel and the close-knit community that strongly supports it. The milestone was celebrated during a two-hour program that started at 5 p.m. at the school located on Learning Lane off U.S. 40 west of Hagerstown. It included games for kids, cake and punch, and singing performances by students. Although there was excitement at the celebration, it was tempered by the possibility of a new facility that could replace the school along with Winter Street Elementary School.

Surface repairs began Monday for the Tuscarora School District's tennis courts, which are the latest athletic facilities to benefit from Fix JB Sports fundraising. A donation from Tom Beddard of Lady Moon Farms helped to make the tennis court project a reality, according to Marianne Quinn, a parent and active member of the Fix JB Sports committee. “This year, we have collected enough that we could go forward with that” project, Quinn said. It will cost $150,000 to $200,000, she said.

The Berkeley County Council on Thursday authorized issuing up to $3 million in tax-exempt bonds to help Hospice of the Panhandle finance the construction of a planned 14-bed inpatient facility and office building. The council voted 4-0 to approve the request. Council member Jim Whitacre was absent. At the end of the month, the Jefferson County Commission is expected to consider a similar request by the hospice to authorize the issue of $6 million in bonds, according to hospice Chief Executive Officer Margaret Cogswell.

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.

The former facilities director of Berkeley County claims in a lawsuit that he was wrongfully terminated in November because he opposed wrongdoing and waste in county purchases of goods and equipment. The lawsuit filed May 4 in Berkeley County Circuit Court on behalf of Jay Russell of Winchester, Va., names the Berkeley County Council and Council Member Douglas E. Copenhaver Jr., as defendants. Russell is asking for unspecified general damages; reinstatement of employment, benefits and seniority rights; back wages; future lost earnings and benefits in lieu of reinstatement; attorneys' fees; and punitive damages, according to the lawsuit.

Artifacts from a centuries-old house that once survived wrecking equipment avoided burning in a fire that ripped through their storage facility late Saturday. Wooden beams and stones from Mercersburg's dismantled Smith House were being stored in an old tire and auto shop on Pa. 16 across from the MMP&W Fire Co. Fire heavily damaged the storage building overnight Saturday. “I couldn't believe it,” said Paul Orange, a Franklin County, Pa., doctor who owns the artifacts. In February 2011, the Smith House was demolished to expand the fire department's lot. Demolition capped off an 18-month struggle between the firefighters who owned the property and preservationists who wanted the house preserved.