Funkstown

ANNAPOLIS -- Two tennis courts in Funkstown will be renovated with $36,450 provided by the State of Maryland. Gov. Martin O'Malley announced Wednesday the approval of recreational projects in nine counties and Baltimore City through Program Open Space and the Community Parks and Playgrounds Program. Funkstown will receive the money to renovate the courts with a new surface, netting, fencing and lighting.

FUNKSTOWN -- The town of Funkstown has hired a contractor to clean the town's streets Thursday and Friday, Mayor Paul N. Crampton Jr. said Wednesday. "No parking" signs are posted in the areas to be cleaned and the signs indicate which sides of a street will be cleaned during the two-day period, Crampton said. The street cleaning will remove cinders and other material that was used to treat roads in the winter, Crampton said. In the past, the town has used employees armed with brooms and shovels to clean the streets, Crampton said.

The Funkstown American Legion Post 211 baseball team shook off its first loss in the Western Maryland District in a big way Thursday, throttling Woodsboro Post 282 19-5. Funkstown fell to Frederick 20-11 on Wednesday, but put it all together Thursday. Despite falling behind 3-0 in the first inning, Funkstown (4-2, 2-1) scored 12 runs in the bottom of the frame, taking advantage of four Woodsboro errors and shaky pitching. Charles Cvijanovich started the 12-run rally with a leadoff homer to deep left field, and Tyler Byers capped it with an RBI single.

Funkstown's planning and zoning commission will be asked to review the town's sign ordinance and bring it “more in keeping with today's standards,” Mayor Paul N. Crampton Jr. said Monday night after Councilman Luke Barnette proposed changes to the ordinance. Saying it would be nice to have more conformity among signs in town, Barnette distributed a sheet of recommended amendments to the sign ordinance during Monday night's council meeting at Town Hall. Barnette said he wouldn't want bright, neon lights to be visible as people go through town, and he didn't believe the town's current sign ordinance prohibited someone from putting up a 100-square-foot sign with neon lights that would be “grossly disgusting.” The council voted 6-0 to have planning and zoning officials review the sign ordinance and recommend changes.

Funkstown held its annual Halloween parade Thursday evening.

A water line that broke at the intersection of Maple Street and Frederick Road in Funkstown has been repaired, a town spokeswoman said. Town officials believe the line ruptured overnight, but it is not clear why, town secretary Kelli Roser said. The pipe was an older water line, Roser said. Some residents lost water service as a result of the broken line, Roser said. The line was fixed about 12:30 p.m. and water customers might see cloudiness in their water for a while, Roser said.

Two pit bulls killed several sheep at a Funkstown-area farm over the weekend, Maryland State Police said. The dogs are believed to be family owned and not strays, according to a state police news release. Police were called to the farm at 116 Old National Pike shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday after the farm’s owner, Joseph Frey, arrived to tend to the farm and was confronted by two large pit bulls, which chased him into a barn, police said. Frey was able to shut the barn door and keep the dogs from entering, but discovered several sheep in the barn who had been attacked and mauled during the night, police said.

A compliance inspector with the Maryland Comptroller’s Office told the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County on April 13 that he believed Joker’s Bar & Grill in Funkstown was buying bulk quantities of 1.75 liter bottles of liquor and using them to refill 1 liter and 750 milliliter bottles in the bar. There was no allegation by the inspector that the larger bottles were not purchased from a licensed distributor. The allegations also stated that the business’ purchase records accounted for the larger bottles.

The first job Paul Crampton Jr. can remember doing for his father was sweeping and cleaning up materials such as nails at a Funkstown apartment building his father's contracting company was building in the early 1970s. “Anywhere he went, I went,” Crampton said of his father. Crampton's sons, Paul III and Lance, said they had similar first jobs with the family business. Paul Crampton Jr., who also is mayor of Funkstown, said he was thinking recently about how lucky he is to spend his workday with his family.

Thursday, June 13, 2013 YOUTH BASKETBALL Mason Dixon Summer League H&H North Hagerstown 81, South Hagerstown 64 H&H: Isaiah Keyes 28. South: Kevin Henson 17. Thomas Johnson 65, Greencastle 47 TJ: Travis Barbe 15. Greencastle: Joel Zola 23. Oakdale 55, Gettysburg 38 Oakdale: Zach Thomas 20. Gettysburg: Tim Thomas 10. St. Maria Goretti 60, Middletown 37 Goretti: Isaiah Harris-Winn...

William Rhodes (Bill) Iseminger, 76, of Funkstown, Md., died on Thursday, June 13, 2013, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. Born Nov. 11, 1936, in Funkstown, he was the son of the late William Garis and Elsie Elizabeth Rhodes Iseminger. He began working at Mack Trucks in 1968 as a heat treat foreman, and later became a metallurgist, after completing several college courses. He retired in 2000. Prior to his career at Mack Trucks, he owned Hub City Esso in Hagerstown, and Myersville Esso.

Trash was found strewn around Funkstown Community Park Thursday morning and the restrooms were flooded after the newer section of the park was vandalized, according to a town official. A Washington County Sheriff's deputy discovered the damage while patrolling the park Thursday morning, Town Clerk/Treasurer Brenda Haynes said. The town's maintenance supervisor arrived shortly afterward while making his rounds and was spending the morning cleaning it up, Haynes said. As a result of the vandalism, the restrooms will be closed until Saturday, when the pavilions are booked, she said.

The Funkstown Volunteer Fire Co. is holding a spaghetti dinner Friday to benefit company member Bill Wiegel, who has cancer. The all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner will be Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the fire hall, located at 2 S. Westside Ave. The meal costs $7 for adults, $5 for children and is free for those younger than 5. The meal will include spaghetti, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and iced tea or coffee. Carryout meals will be available.

A Funkstown man has been charged by Maryland and Hagerstown fire officials with posing as a fire marshal after allegedly pretending to conduct safety inspections at five Washington County businesses. Johnathan Theodore Stahley, 22, of 102 E. Baltimore St., was charged by the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office with four counts of personation: member of an emergency squad, according to the statement of charges obtained Tuesday from Washington County District Court. The State Fire Marshal's Office also charged Stahley with one count of theft of $1,000 to $10,000.

For the past several years, the Funkstown Post 211 baseball team has not been able to crack through and win the Maryland American Legion state tournament. With a mix of new and returning characters, Post 211 hopes to end the trophy famine. Funkstown last won a state championship in 2005 and lost in the championship game last year to Chaney Enterprises to finish off a 22-7 campaign. Patrick Moore has taken over for Jeff Williams as manager of Post 211, but is no stranger to the surroundings, having been an assistant under Williams.

Saturday, June 1, 2013 LEGION BASEBALL CUMBERLAND, Md. - Funkstown Post 211 used solid pitching to open its season with a doubleheader sweep of Fort Cumberland Post 13 on Saturday, winning the first game 3-1 and the second game 7-2. In the opener, J.T. Root went the first four innings, allowing only one hit and striking out eight, before Ian Moss and Aaron Jones finished up with Jones recording the save. Aaron Roby went 5 1/3 innings in the second game and Jones came on for another save.

A malfunctioning hot tub pump caused a fire that displaced the owner of a trailer Monday morning on West Poplar Street in Funkstown, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said. The fire destroyed the residence, causing an estimated $30,000 in damages to the structure and $5,000 in damages to the contents, according to a Fire Marshal's Office news release. The trailer was located at 20 W. Poplar St., Lot No. 19. Authorities said the fire, which was reported at 7:51 a.m. by a neighbor, started in an attached enclosed room.

Authorities were investigating a reported fire on Poplar Street in Funkstown just before 8 a.m. Monday, according to a Washington County emergency communications supervisor.