Franklin County

The 4-H Tractor Club members and parents recently met for the 60th annual awards banquet at the Chambersburg Church of the Brethren.  The family style dinner was planned to recognize project club winners and to complete the annual winter program. This was the last meeting of the year.  Cyrus Lehman, club president, made an introduction and then Roger Dice, program director, made a few comments. A ribbon was given to each member to determine how he or she did in their project book.  Dale Martin taught the first-year group and awarded Bryce Ocker first place.

The opening of a new Norfolk Southern rail-truck terminal in Antrim Township, Pa., helped Franklin County's unemployment rate improve in February. Franklin County's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped nine-tenths of a percentage point to 6.4 percent in February, according to the latest data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry. Neighboring Fulton County, Pa., also experienced a decrease in its unemployment rate. Its seasonally adjusted rate for February was 8.4 percent, compared to 9.7 percent in January, labor department data shows.

Second crime watch meeting set for April 9 WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A second meeting about forming a crime watch program in the Borough of Waynesboro will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, in borough hall. The program in the second-floor council chambers will discuss the process by which residents can form a crime watch group. Pennsylvania State Police and the Waynesboro Police Department will host the session. “This department cannot be as efficient and effective as its potential without the involvement of the community,” Waynesboro Police Chief Jim Sourbier said previously.

Stretching 855 miles through six states from New York to Tennessee, Interstate 81 is the most important transportation artery in the region and keeping it flowing safely and efficiently are among the goals of the I-81 Corridor Coalition, which met in Hagerstown this week. About 100 people met Monday and Tuesday to discuss issues affecting the corridor at the coalition's annual meeting, said Carolyn Blanton, the administrative assistant for the coalition. “There is no transportation artery more important for commerce than I-81” in the eastern United States, said Mike Ross, President of the Franklin County (Pa.)

Summit Health will announce the results of the 2012 Community Health Needs Assessment of Franklin County and Shippensburg from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at Green Grove Gardens, 1032 Buchanan Trail East, Greencastle.  Four health priorities for the county will be announced. The  The event is open to the public. Registration is required by Thursday, April 11. To register, go to www.summithealth.org/CHNA to register, or call 717-262-4472.

The northbound lanes of Interstate 81 just north of the Pennsylvania-Maryland border were temporarily shut down for about an hour Friday evening due to a one-vehicle rollover accident, according to Franklin County (Pa.) Emergency Services. No injuries were reported in the accident, which was dispatched about 4:45 p.m., a dispatcher said. Pennsylvania State Police and fire units cleared the scene just before 6 p.m. The crash happened near the 1-mile marker of I-81, north of Exit 1 (Mason-Dixon Road)

The Franklin County 912 Patriots will host a “Second Amendment Freedom Rally” on Saturday, April 6, from noon to 2 p.m. adjacent to the old courthouse in downtown Chambersburg. The event will feature numerous speakers discussing the importance of protecting the Second Amendment, according to a news release. State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, will be one of the featured speakers. Metcalfe is the primary sponsor of House Bill 357, known as the Right to Bear Arms Protection Act. That legislation would nullify any new federal gun control measures in Pennsylvania, according to the news release.

A Fulton County, Pa., man has been charged with sexually abusing a girl multiple times over the course of the last 2 1/2 years, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Warren David Kerlin III, 50, of Burnt Cabins, Pa., is charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, indecent assault and other related offenses, according to a state police news release. Troopers allege Kerlin sexually assaulted the girl over the course of the last 2 1/2 years in Dublin Township.

Two Franklin County Career and Technology Center students will compete against students from across the country next month for more than $3 million in prizes and scholarships. Brandon Clever, a senior in the Greencastle-Antrim School District, and Josh Long, a senior who is home-schooled from Greencastle-Antrim, are third-semester students in Bobby Bard's automotive technology class at the center. Bard is a big believer in Brandon and Josh's talents after seeing them roll over the competition at the state level on Feb. 21 in Hershey, Pa. These are the guys you want working on your cars, Bard said about his “winning team.” Brandon and Josh faced teams from nine other Pennsylvania schools in a three-hour, hands-on test of diagnostic skills.

Volvo Construction Equipment celebrated its $100 million investment in its new national headquarters in Shippensburg during a day-long ceremony Thursday. The company also unveiled its first U.S.-built wheel loaders as they rolled off the assembly line at the Franklin County plant Thursday. “This should serve as a very clear signal that Volvo CE is committed to this market and in a better position than ever before to offer our customers products that are made by Americans, for Americans,” Volvo Construction Equipment President Pat Olney said in a statement.