Frederick

The Hagerstown Police Department installed two security cameras outside the AC&T gas station on Frederick Street on Thursday following the third robbery at the business within two weeks, according to Hagerstown Police Chief Mark Holtzman. Holtzman said the cameras were installed on two utility poles outside the business at 724 Frederick St. The cameras record 24 hours a day and can be monitored live or on a delayed basis for specific time periods, Holtzman said. The most recent robbery occurred at the gas station Wednesday night about 8:26 p.m. A white male with dark clothing, a mask and gloves entered the station and demanded money, said Sgt. John Lehman.

Drastic health care changes are happening federally, spurring three major regional health care providers in Washington, Frederick and Allegany counties to take a proactive approach to mitigate potential repercussions at the local level, a Meritus Health executive said Thursday. “Our world is going to change dramatically on the way we are held accountable for care, and none of the infrastructure to manage that exists today,” said Joseph P. Ross, president and CEO of Meritus Health, which operates Meritus Medical Center east of Hagerstown.

The AC&T gas station at 724 Frederick St. in Hagerstown, was robbed Wednesday night, the third reported robbery at the business in the last two weeks, according to a Hagerstown Police Department spokesman. A white male with dark clothing, a mask and gloves entered the station and demanded money, Sgt. John Lehman said. No weapon was displayed and the male left the station with an undisclosed amount of cash, Lehman said. The man was last seen heading toward railroad tracks behind the store and a police dog “picked up something” to track, Lehman said.

Hagerstown firefighters evacuated 28 residents in the area of the 200 block of Frederick Street on Tuesday after scrap metal thieves cut a gas line inside a vacant duplex, fire officials said. The street was blocked off to motorists and pedestrians from about 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Hagerstown Fire Marshall Doug DeHaven said the matter would be turned over to the Hagerstown Police Department for an investigation. “City police will handle it from here,” he said.  City Fire Department Capt.

With temperatures below freezing Tuesday morning, 28 people were ordered to temporarily leave their homes as emergency personnel responded for a reported gas leak on Frederick Street in Hagerstown. The Hagerstown Fire Department was dispatched for the call in the 200 block of Frederick Street shortly after 11 a.m. Firefighters knocked on doors of nearby residents and told them to leave as a precaution. “They were banging and told us we had to evacuate,” said Leteshia Campbell, who lives across the street from where the gas leak was discovered.

Film festivals aren't just for adults anymore. The Maryland International Kids FilmFest will be held for the third year Saturday, Jan. 19, at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick. It will feature more than 50 short films and an evening screening of two Oscar-winning films —Nick Parks' Wallace and Gromit films, "A Grand Day Out" and "A Matter of Loaf and Death. "  "I think this is a great way to spend a Saturday in the winter," said Walter Chalkley, director of the Frederick Film Festival and organizer of the kids film festival.

A Charlottesville, Va., man charged in the March 2011 shooting death of another man at a Martinsburg-area apartment building was found not guilty of felony murder Thursday after jurors deliberated for more than nine hours. Jonathan Frederick Bennett, 41, who originally is from New York City, was found guilty of unlawful assault in the March 6, 2011, death of Geronimo Garcia-Cruz, 26, of Winchester, Va., whose body was found in a stairwell of Suncrest Apartments at 2998 Winchester Ave. south of Martinsburg.

Hagerstown Community College will host the Equinox Dance Company for a special performance on Friday, Jan. 25, at 7:30 p.m., at Kepler Theater on HCC's campus. Based in Frederick, Md., Equinox Dance Company is a contemporary women's dance group for adults that specializes in fusing modern dance with jazz and tap. Company members choreograph their own dances and frequently offer free classes and shows for children and adults. The event is free and open to the public. For more information about the performance, contact dance instructor Alyssa Foley Little at ajfoley@hagerstowncc.edu.

The Alzheimer's Association, in partnership with the Delaplaine Visual Arts and Education Center and the Frederick (Md.) Department of Aging, is launching a Collage Expressions Program Friday, Jan. 25. This beginner art program is designed for people with early-stage memory loss and their family members. Both will have the chance to develop their artistic abilities while introducing basic collage techniques with emphasis on creative expression using objects including family photographs, fabrics and personal pieces from the past.

The attorney for a Virginia man charged in the March 2011 shooting death of another man at an apartment building in Berkeley County told jurors seated Wednesday for his trial that his client's gun went off amid a struggle to protect himself and a woman with him. Jonathan Frederick Bennett, 41, of Charlottesville, Va., is charged in the March 6, 2011, death of Geronimo Garcia-Cruz, 26, of Winchester, Va., whose body was found in a stairwell at...