Grocery Store

A new grocery store is opening Thursday. ALDI will open its newest Tri-State area location at 32 Triamigas Drive in Martinsburg. To celebrate the opening of the new Martinsburg store, ALDI will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The public is invited to attend, tour the new store and enter an on-site sweepstakes. Additionally, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., guests are invited to sample ALDI exclusive brands while shopping. “As ALDI continues to grow in the Hagerstown area, we are pleased to open this new location to help more customers stretch their dollars even further,” Jeff Baehr, Frederick division vice president for ALDI, said in a news release.

The Berkeley County Council took the first steps Thursday to relocate the sheriff's Department's law-enforcement division to a vacant shopping plaza that the county purchased in 2007. By a unanimous vote, the council reversed a surplus property order that had positioned the 5.5-acre plaza in the 500 block of South Raleigh Street to be sold at public auction. A second unanimous vote Thursday authorized council President William L. "Bill" Stubblefield to sign a resolution to convert a City National Bank loan that was obtained to purchase the shopping plaza to a long-term building bond.

sbutki@herald-mail.com A 65-acre development under construction on the northeast side of Boonsboro will include the largest grocery store in town, Boonsboro Town Manager John Kendall said. James Draper, one of the owners of the Fletchers Grove development, would not identify the grocery store company but said the store would be at least 40,000 square feet. That would make it larger than any other grocery store in town, Kendall said. The goal is for the grocery store to be open by next summer, Draper said.

The Berkeley County Council voted unanimously Thursday to recruit a "clerk of the works" to act as the county's on-site representative for the planned renovation of the former Martin's grocery store in Martinsburg. The building is being renovated to house the sheriff's law-enforcement division, which is currently headquartered at 802 Emmett Rousch Drive, where deputies work in cramped conditions.  The division shares the building with 911/Central Dispatch and the county's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which officials say also need additional space.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A Newburg, Pa., man who pleaded guilty to participating in the 2003 robbery of more than $10,000 from two employees of a Mercersburg, Pa., grocery store was sentenced Wednesday in Franklin County Court to 58 months to 10 years in state prison. Nicholas Brandon Weist, 23, of 311 Newburg Road, pleaded guilty Aug. 17 to criminal conspiracy to commit robbery in the March 4, 2004, holdup of two employees of Jane's Market, 431 Loudon Road, according to court records.

Bowman Development plans to build a commercial retail center in Hagerstown's south end, not far from Premium Outlets. On Aug. 10, the Hagerstown Planning Commission gave site-plan approval for the project, which is called Oak Ridge Mills. A site plan shows several buildings near Sheetz at South Potomac Street and East Oak Ridge Drive. The planning commission's approval lets Bowman Development Corp. grade the property, preparing it for future use. Bowman Development hasn't decided what stores will be at the center, President David C. Taylor said Friday.

The fifth Food Lion grocery store in Berkeley County is under construction and store officials say it will be open for business in 2008. "Any other specific date would be a guess," said James Hall, Food Lion project manager, speaking from his office in Virginia. The walls are up on the store, which is on W.Va. 9 at Coast Guard Drive near Kearneysville, W.Va., on the Berkeley County side of the county line. Berkeley County Planning Director Stephanie Morton said the site plans indicate there will be a grocery store and parking area at the new location.

A man armed with a baseball bat robbed another man Friday morning, Hagerstown City Police said. Dewayne Mills was walking underneath an underpass with a 4-year-old girl near a grocery store in the 800 block of West Hillcrest Road when a man jumped off the railroad tracks and demanded money, police said. By the time Mills reached the store to call police, the assailant had fled, police said. The robber was described as black, 19 to 21 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 150 pounds.

Checks totaling $44,390 were presented to 15 local schools Friday at the Martin's grocery store on Wesel Boulevard. Three area Martin's participated in the A+ School Rewards program that provided funds to North Hagerstown High School, Marlowe Elementary School, Boonsboro Middle School, Greencastle-Antrim Elementary School and Heritage Academy. Martin's BonusCard members can designate up to two schools of their choice, and 1 percent of each customer's total BonusCard purchases between October and mid-March is donated to that school.

Police do not believe there was any foul play in the death of a North Carolina man who was found Nov. 9 in a vehicle parked at a small Back Creek Valley grocery store in Berkeley County. “We think it was an overdose,” Berkeley County Sheriff's Deputy Lt. Gary Harmison said Monday. The man was seated in the passenger side of the vehicle, which was parked at Shanghai Grocery off Tuscarora Pike, Harmison said. Harmison said the death remains under investigation. Deputies said Tuesday no new information was available.

The trend of swapping disposable grocery bags for reusable cloth and plastic-lined bags has become a popular choice. Reusable bags reduce waste but there are food safety concerns to consider.  Certain foods, such as raw produce, meat, poultry and fish might contain bacteria that cause foodborne illness. The fabric or materials in reusable grocery bags can become contaminated with germs like Salmonella or E. coli from foods or other items. These germs could then cross-contaminate other foods and nonfood items.

When you're married and have two teenagers, evenings out are few and far between. Oh, there are the times spent cheering in the bleachers at a game or the occasions where you quietly sit shoulder to shoulder at a recital, but time for just the two of you? It doesn't happen very often. When opportunity knocks, it is best to take advantage. Last week we planned to attend a Valentine's banquet at our church. I was looking forward to spending time relaxing and talking with other couples.

A new grocery store is opening Thursday. ALDI will open its newest Tri-State area location at 32 Triamigas Drive in Martinsburg. To celebrate the opening of the new Martinsburg store, ALDI will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 9 a.m. on Thursday. The public is invited to attend, tour the new store and enter an on-site sweepstakes. Additionally, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., guests are invited to sample ALDI exclusive brands while shopping. “As ALDI continues to grow in the Hagerstown area, we are pleased to open this new location to help more customers stretch their dollars even further,” Jeff Baehr, Frederick division vice president for ALDI, said in a news release.

 You can learn how to be a healthful shopper during a free grocery store tour led by a registered dietitian from Chambersburg Hospital. The dietitians will lead tours through the Giant Foods store on Norland Avenue in Chambersburg. "We want to use these tours to help educate our community on making healthy choices at the grocery store," said Julie Charnosky, clinical nutrition manager at Chambersburg Hosptial. "We can show you tools that are already in place to help you make healthy choices.

I am a post-Jell-O generation hold-out. My mom lived and learned to cook during the 1950s and '60s, the heyday of the congealed salad and dessert. So at every picnic, party and family get-together of my youth, there was Jell-O in all its jiggly glory. I learned how to concoct gelatin dishes in a spectrum of colors and forms just from being in the kitchen. I can whip up a lemon Jell-O with sparkling grape juice, a strawberry twist with whipped cream and cream cheese, and a lime delight with apples, celery and nuts.

Police do not believe there was any foul play in the death of a North Carolina man who was found Nov. 9 in a vehicle parked at a small Back Creek Valley grocery store in Berkeley County. “We think it was an overdose,” Berkeley County Sheriff's Deputy Lt. Gary Harmison said Monday. The man was seated in the passenger side of the vehicle, which was parked at Shanghai Grocery off Tuscarora Pike, Harmison said. Harmison said the death remains under investigation. Deputies said Tuesday no new information was available.

“This is to the lady calling in wondering what to do with her pop tops, for Ronald Mc-Donald House. You can take them to Funkstown American Legion Post 211. We've been collecting them there for some time, for the Ronald McDonald House. We have cans sitting all the way around our bar. Just bring them in.” - Hagerstown “In order for a DNR officer to make arrests and catch poachers, they'd have to respond to calls. ... I live in an area east of Hagerstown, and we are overrun by poachers, day after day, with no response.” - Hagerstown “Many thanks to Pete Waters and Darrell Strite for the wonderful job they did on the Dargan homecoming.

Some stores in Washington County were fast running out of essential bad-weather supplies such as generators and flashlights Monday, but grocery store shelves for the most part held what people were seeking. After a hectic weekend of grocery shopping in preparation for Hurricane Sandy, the rush appeared to slow down at some area grocery stores Monday. The Martin's grocery store on Wesel Boulevard had bottles of water, bread, batteries, ice packs, paper towels, toilet paper and milk all in stock, but it was running low on water, paper towels and toilet paper.

Save the date for next year's Green Fest To the editor: All we've heard since May 12 has been how wonderful the fourth annual Boonsboro Green Fest was. Make no mistake about it, we sincerely appreciate the positive feedback, but those compliments have been grossly misdirected. All the kudos should go to the 142 vendors, 55 sponsors, more than 100 volunteers and 3,500 attendees who made the Green Fest the most successful ever. They and many other participants over the years are the ones who are responsible for the success of what has become the largest community, earth-friendly event in Western Maryland.

In her past few weeks shopping with coupons, Diane Linn of Greencastle, Pa., got 12 rolls of Bounty paper towels for free and "a ton" of Chinet plates for 50 cents a pack. She bought four boxes of Kellogg's cereals and a gallon of milk for $2.40, and scored seven Schick Hydro razors each with two cartridges for about $8. A friend of mine met Diane and learned about her passion for couponing while retaining her services as a physical therapist. Knowing I dabble in coupons and revel in saving a buck, she tipped me off. I promptly tracked Diane down to pick her brain.