Future

Washington County Public Schools will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. May 16 at Bester Elementary School to get feedback on the proposed replacement of the school. The options for replacing the school in Hagerstown’s South End will be discussed. This includes whether to save or raze the existing school.

HAGERSTOWN - The second annual 'Choices for the future' fairheld at South Hagerstown High attracted more than 1,000 students. More than 100 colleges, 18 area employers and eight community service agencies were in attendance to provide Tri-State students and their parents with an inside look into their futures. Students received color-coded tickets to correlate with their schools so attendance could be documented for scholarship awards to schools with the highest percentage of attendees.

Lee Green has taken the pledge. He's taking membership in a special fraternity. It is one of serving, helping and nurturing. The former St. Maria Goretti star is living a life of basketball, the dream that he has harbored in the days even before he was running the floor in the Gael Center. Back then, he wanted to be a player. But with time and wisdom, Green found his true calling. Now, he wants to teach players. Green, now based in Dallas, came back to his roots on Saturday to host the Maryland Preseason Skills Clinic on the Goretti campus.

The Hagerstown Ice & Sports Complex is a 40,500-square-foot facility owned by the City of Hagerstown and operated by the Washington County Sports Foundation Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation. The ice and sports complex has a National Hockey League-size rink on nine acres in Hagerstown's Fairgrounds Park at 580 Security Road. Activities include adult and youth hockey, freestyle skating and public ice skating. Those interested in learning to skate can do so in classes at the rink.

Future is now for Suns By BOB PARASILITI / Staff Writer For the Hagerstown Suns, the future is now. The season has been reduced to eight games with no hopes of any of those eight to be meaningful games. The Suns are out of the playoff chase and can't even finish .500 for the year even if they win all the rest of their games. continued Still, manager Rolando Pino claims there is a sense of urgency among his team as it heads into the last week of the season.

"Don't touch anything. " That was my first instruction to the Pulse teen journalists when we were allowed to enter The Herald-Mail Headline News' brand, spanking-new broadcast studio. Nearly all of the six high school seniors are super smart kids, but I wasn't taking any chances. It seems like forever since we started on this broadcast journey. Earlier this year, we had made a decision to stop publishing a weekly Pulse teen section. It was hard adjustment for not only the teens, but for me, too. What was next?

Lawyers have a saying: "Hard cases make bad law. " So, I would argue, does passing laws or policies tailored to one specific person. What drew my attention was the recent attempt by the Washington County Board of Education to update its ethics policy, in effect in its present form since 1997. It doesn't seem like much of an update: Among other things, it would require School Board members who wanted to participate in collective-bargaining decisions to disclose whether their spouse, child, parent or sibling would benefit financially.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - "Finding Common Ground in Morgan County," a panel/community forum will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, at Berkeley Springs High School. The forum will focus on the future of development in Morgan County. The discussion will focus on two questions: n What will Morgan County be like in the future? n Can we shape our shared future together? All members of the community are invited to this free event. Call 1-304-258-3350 or send e-mail to 2076bath@earthlink.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - To better understand their youth, Greencastle-Antrim School District officials are looking to the future - Monitoring the Future, that is. Greencastle-Antrim Middle School was one of 150 schools randomly invited to participate in a nationwide study that reports progress relative to education, health, safety, drugs and alcohol. The school district voted unanimously on March 6 to approve the school's participation, and eighth-graders will complete a 45-minute questionnaire during the anchor period on March 26, according to Middle School Principal Mark Herman.

bonnieb@herald-mail.com SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks on Saturday told graduates of Shippensburg University that their freedom of choice gives him confidence in the future. Franks said that while we mourn the loss of every patriot who died in the service of his or her country, he celebrated the "freedom to choose, to sit where you sit as you commence your journey into the unknown future. " Franks, who oversaw U.S. operations in Afghanistan and operation Iraqi Freedom while head of the United States Central command, spoke during winter commencement exercises at Heiges Field House.

No one can accuse Kate Quinn of not being a modern-day woman. She has multiple college degrees, has pursued her career dreams and is a creative and independent thinker. But sometimes, Quinn enjoys living in the past. It's a requirement of her job. The Crofton, Md., resident is a writer of historical fiction - weaving stories of scandal, intrigue and romance with historical detail. Her favorite periods in time include ancient Rome and the Italian Renaissance, which have provided the backdrop for introducing readers to the terrifying reign of a paranoid emperor, the brutal life of a gladiator and the mistress of a Borgia pope.

Expanding existing commercial air service and targeting new leisure destinations are two recommendations for future growth at the Hagerstown Regional Airport, according to a third-party consultant study. Virginia-based AvPorts, a firm with decades of experience in airport management, development and marketing, presented an overview of its study to Washington County officials on Aug. 20. The comprehensive 192-page marketing plan also suggests that airport officials look into establishing air cargo service for businesses, and increasing promotional efforts for existing businesses at the airport and to attract new ones.

Work is continuing on planning and carrying out renovations at the Washington County Public Schools system's future administrative offices along Downsville Pike. Crews will begin putting a new roof on the administrative building this summer, with the project expected to be completed by the end of November, according to school system documents. Removing asbestos, which was applied as a spray-on insulation on steel on the first and second floors, is expected to begin this month, said Mark Mills, director of maintenance and operations.

For decades now, many of us have bought into the conventional wisdom that agriculture was a dying industry in Washington County. Heavy industry dominated the second half of the last century, and those who look to the future often as not point out the possibilities of services and technology. Worse, economic realities have driven a number of farms out of operation and seen the land sold for building lots. But as Ag Expo continues in Washington County this week, it's a good time to give agriculture a new look - and come out to support the young people who continue to carry the torch of country living.

An Annapolis restaurateur told Washington County liquor officials Wednesday that he wants to open a coffee shop with delivery service on Public Square in Hagerstown. Pietro Priola said during a hearing before the Board of License Commissioners for Washington County that if everything goes as planned, he will open the coffee shop around Aug. 1 at 2 W. Washington St. “I just took it over about two weeks ago,” he said. “We're doing the coffee bar, coffee house with food. We're doing salads, sandwiches, soups, wraps and stuff like that.” Priola said he requested the hearing before the liquor board to discuss meeting the seating requirement to obtain a license to serve beer and local wines.

The annual meeting of the Washington County Homemakers was June 10 at the Ramada Plaza. The theme for this year's meeting was “Farming in Washington County, Past-Present-Future.” A PowerPoint presentation was given by guest speaker Terrie Shank of Palmyra Farms. The Shanks are a fourth-generation farming family, with a fifth-generation granddaughter born June 12. Shank recently retired from teaching agriculture for 32 years in Washington County schools, with the last 17 years at Clear Spring High School.

As a decision on a site to build a new stadium for the Hagerstown Suns still hangs in the balance, one city councilman believes little can be resolved locally until Fredericksburg, Va., officials make a decision of their own about the team. “At this point, the site's not the issue” here in Hagerstown, Councilman Donald F. Munson said Thursday. “Everything depends on what's going on down in Fredericksburg,” he said. “That's my view of it at this point.” Munson said the interest shown by Fredericksburg officials in attracting  Hagerstown's minor league baseball team is a serious concern to him. The next few months will be a matter of seeing how things shake out in the Virginia city 55 miles south of Washington, D.C, he said.

“The Purge” is a moderately effective horror movie that covers the familiar ground of the home-invasion movie while embracing a unique setting. It's 10 years in the future and a new government program called The Purge allows for a 12-hour period every year where all crime is legal. The idea is that The Purge encourages people to get their violent tendencies out of their system so they'll be better behaved the rest of the year. Of course, the downside is that people are just as likely to be victimized as they are to be vindicated.    It's silly to think that such a program could ever work.

The rockfish spring trophy season had arrived, and you fishermen know where the nose of the Old Sea Dog was pointed. Smith Island was on the radar, and a few members of the dog pound - Bad Dog Fuller and Good Dog Hoffman - were hankering for a voyage on the Captain Marshall (the Rock Dog's vessel). Few adventures compare to fishing for the great rockfish. At 2 a.m. on a Saturday, after about a half-hour's sleep, our party left Antietam Furnace for our destination of Smith Island.

Memorial Day may kick off the summer season, but in Washington County, it also prompts a measure of reflection.  War has played a large role in the history of Washington County, and with it a connection to the broader American story.  It has given us a shared sense of community. Antietam, of course, ravaged the homes and fields around Sharpsburg during the Civil War, and less than a century later, the Allied war effort harnessed Washington County's manufacturing to help win World War II. More recently, men and women have answered the call and fought in the Middle East.