Farm Equipment

INWOOD, W.Va. -- A 55-year-old man was killed Friday afternoon while working on a farm tractor near his home off Sulphur Springs Road, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department. Ronnie Wayne Barrow, of Showtime Drive, was pinned between the John Deere 4430 cab tractor he was working on and a white big-rig truck that was parked in front of it, according to police and emergency officials. Barrow died from compressive asphyxia and was pronounced dead while being taken to City Hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Greencastle, Pa., dairy farmer Clark Barr knows he's lucky he got away with just a swollen leg after the tractor he was driving Monday afternoon turned over, pinning him underneath. Barr, 28, also admits that he went against every farm safety guideline in the book by fooling around on farm equipment. His Case 1594 tractor flipped on its side when he turned a corner too fast in pursuit of a groundhog in a corn field.

Antique tractor show planned at Valley Mall An antique tractor show will be held at Valley Mall from March 19 to 25. Antique tractors and farm equipment will be on display, presented by the Washington County Antique Tractor Club. The Hagerstown area club is comprised of a group of men, women and youths interested in preserving the history of farm tractors, farm equipment and to share knowledge with anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of farming in the county.

Excess levy to go before Berkeley Co. voters MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County taxpayers will not face an increase under the Board of Education's proposed excess levy, which will be on the May 12 ballot. The Berkeley County Board of Education unanimously approved the renewal Tuesday night. If passed, the levy will give the board $42 million, or about one-seventh of its budget, over four years, said James Welton, assistant superintendent and treasurer of Berkeley County schools.

By SCOTT BUTKI / Staff Writer Business is drying up for construction crews, farm equipment suppliers, nurseries and other local businesses because of the dought. But business is booming at well drilling companies as residents with dry wells search for new sources of water. Demand at the SEC Well Drilling and Pumping Co. in Greencastle, Pa., is double that of last summer, said Chief Financial Officer Bill Shinham. Wealthy residents say they'll pay any amount for successful new drills, Shinham said.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer, Waynesboro WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A back room of the Waynesboro library is crammed with more than 400 photographs, some taken before the turn of the century, that depict in black and white much of the history of the community. The display, which runs through August at the Alexander Hamilton Memorial Free Library, is only a sample of old photographs gathered up over 60 years by Bob Ringer of Waynesboro. Ringer, 75, known as a local historian, has been collecting photos about Waynesboro since he was 15. Some are his own. Most were loaned so he could make copies.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Harold and Larry Dorrier leaned toward the table examining an early 1970s Tru Scale combine. "The lever is missing," Harold Dorrier said. "It must have broken off. " If the lever had been intact, the Hagerstown brothers concluded, it could have raised the ramp and conveyor belt that would have been used in harvesting corn. Both Dorrier brothers grew up on a farm, but documenting the history of farm equipment through literature and farm toys became Harold's passion.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - The Morgan County Commission on Friday adopted an ordinance to stop excessive residential noise when it becomes a public nuisance. The ordinance, which goes into effect May 1, defines excessive noise levels in excess of 65 decibels occurring between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. The ordinance covers radios, televisions, musical instruments, parties and social events, power tools and equipment, all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles, and domestic animals such as barking dogs.

The year was 1875. General George Pickett, President Andrew Johnson and author Aleksey Tolstoy breathed their last, while the creator of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burrows was born. In the same year with little fanfare, German immigrant Georg Adam Shinham purchased a farm on the banks of the Conococheague Creek in Fairview in Washington County. This was not un-usual as Washington County had long been a spot where German immigrants settled - Jonathan Hager being one who comes to mind.