Green Party

Politics is guaranteed to come up at two meals this month, when Washington County's two major parties hold their annual picnics. The Republicans will go first. Their picnic will be Wednesday, Aug. 23, at Smithsburg Community Park on Bikle Road. The gate will open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will start at 6:30 p.m. The special guest will be Kristen Cox, Maryland's secretary of disabilities, who is running for lieutenant governor with Gov. Robert Ehrlich. Tickets cost $25 for adults, $15 for ages 7 to 16 and free for those younger than 7. To make reservations, call Wanda McGurl, secretary of the Washington County Republican Club, at 301-790-1539 by Friday.

Views vary on choice of Cheney By JULIE E. GREENE and RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writers Many Tri-State area residents aren't interested in the upcoming presidential election, but quite a few were outspoken Saturday about Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush's choice of Dick Cheney for running mate. Barbara Franks, 61, of Hagerstown, gave Cheney a "thumbs down" because he's too "wishy washy. " "I just don't trust the running mate and I'm not that fond of Bush," Franks said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - "Long shots win," Peg Luksik said Thursday over a cup of coffee at Howard Johnson's in Chambersburg. "The last long shot was in 1992 and his name was Bill Clinton," the Constitutional Party gubernatorial candidate said as a television behind the counter detailed the latest developments in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Luksik said former president George Bush had "a 70-some percent approval rating in 1992 and nobody wanted to run against him. " The Johnstown, Pa., woman is in a somewhat similar position as she seeks to unseat popular Republican Governor Tom Ridge.

o Candidates for county, state and federal races Washington County will have at least two new county commissioners and two new school board members after the coming election. Commissioner William J. Wivell said Tuesday that he decided three terms is enough. Instead, he has filed to run for Maryland delegate to work on state issues that have a local impact. He will be one of two Republicans challenging incumbent Andrew A. Serafini in a Sept. 14 primary in Subdistrict 2A. There is one Democrat in the race, too. Tuesday was the deadline for candidates to file for office.

gregs@herald-mail.com Vice President Richard B. Cheney will make an appearance next week at a fund-raiser in Hagerstown for U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, Bartlett's campaign manager said Thursday. Cheney's visit is seen as a major boost for Bartlett, R-6th, who is being challenged by a fellow Republican in the March 2 primary election, Bartlett's campaign manager Sallie B. Taylor said. "We're doing back flips. Pinch us," Taylor said. Hagerstown Mayor William M. Breichner said the visit is "flattering.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Constitutional Party candidate Peg Luksik, who ran third in the 1994 Pennsylvania gubernatorial race, will be in Chambersburg today to meet with opponents of the proposed Exit 7 project. "This particular exit certainly illustrates the problems that occur when the state tries to micromanage land use," Luksik, 42, of Johnstown, Pa., said Tuesday. She said she has studied articles and legal documents from the decade-long battle over the exit in preparation for her visit.

Life's inequities ignite woman's activism Fayetteville, Pa. By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer Alanna Hartzok said she learned in high school that life isn't always fair. The lessons came while Hartzok, 53, worked with children of migrant workers, Atlanta's inner city poor, Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and a YMCA youth program in West Virginia. "They were my formative years," she said. "They gave me a grasp of social problems that led to my questioning of what causes the gap between rich and poor.

TRI-STATE - The hoopla and speeches of the Democratic and Republican conventions are over and the tickets set for the Nov. 4 presidential election pitting Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden against GOP nominee John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin. Polls show the race remains close, and while several people from the Tri-State area said they have picked sides, others still are weighing their presidential options. "So far, I haven't made up my mind. Normally I'm a Democrat, but I can't support Obama" and Biden, said JoAnn Slusher of Charles Town, W.Va.

TRI-STATE -- The hoopla and speeches of the Democratic and Republican conventions are over and the tickets set for the Nov. 4 presidential election pitting Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden against GOP nominee John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin. Polls show the race remains close, and while several people from the Tri-State area said they have picked sides, others still are weighing their presidential options. "So far, I haven't made up my mind. Normally I'm a Democrat, but I can't support Obama" and Biden, said JoAnn Slusher of Charles Town, W.Va.

9th District Democrats choose Conklin By STACEY DANZUSO / Staff Writer, Chambersburg HUNTINGDON, Pa. - The Democratic parties in the 9th Congressional District have picked a Centre County man as their candidate to run for the seat U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster will vacate next week. The committees chose Scott Conklin, a Centre County commissioner who has twice run for the state legislature and lost by a narrow margin. The selection will not be official until the state Democratic Committee approves it, probably next month, said Shannon Bilger, chairman of the Mifflin County Democratic Committee.