Grocery Store

A Food Lion in Shippensburg, Pa., and a Bloom in Walkersville, Md., are expected to close within 30 days, according to Delhaize America, the supermarket company that owns the grocery chains. The Food Lion at 300 S. Fayette St. in Shippensburg and the Bloom at 8425 Woodsboro Pike in Walkersville were the only two grocery stores in the local Tri-State area on the company's store closings list, which can be found online at www.foodlion.com . No Food Lions in Washington County are closing.

“To the person who called in about the lazy people not returning grocery carts, and things like that: Honey, it's not because they're lazy. They just don't care. They have no respect for anybody. I mean, they go to the grocery store in their pajamas and their slippers, with their hair uncombed, and their bellies hanging out, and you know, they're not teaching their children - you know, it's just, it's not because they're lazy. They just don't care. I guess that is a type of lazy, but it's mind lazy, it's brain lazy.” - Hagerstown “I'm the man from Smithsburg.

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.

By the time you read this column, the sun will have set on the 2011 Washington County Ag Expo & Fair. As I have mentioned previously, as a boy I enjoyed attending and competing at the Great Hagerstown Fair. But as we know, it had a sad ending in the early 1980s. It seems to me that many in the community have lost touch with the fair and I am not sure why. It seems like the community in general is not nearly as supportive as it is in other places or as it was in the past.

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.

Storage space for property seized or recovered by Berkeley County Sheriff's deputies was "overflowing" the day the agency's law-enforcement division moved into their current headquarters at 802 Emmett Rousch Drive about 20 years ago, Sheriff Kenneth Lemaster Jr. recalled Thursday. Given the space limitations, not only for evidence storage, but the agency's growing roster of deputies, Lemaster said he is "very happy" with the Berkeley County Council's decision to move forward with a plan to convert the former Martin's grocery store along South Raleigh Street into the agency's new, larger headquarters.

War Memorial Hospital's Center for Rehab & Wellness will offer a free nutrition program "Virtual Grocery Store Tour" on Monday, June 13, at 4:30 p.m. Sara Kuykendall, a registered and licensed dietitian with Valley Health, will discuss strategies for making healthy food purchases.  The class is open to the public, but class size is limited. War Memorial Hospital's Center for Rehab & Wellness is located at 261 Berkmore Place, Suite 2A,...

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.

Everyone is looking for ways to save money, especially on food. Saving money on food doesn't mean you have to give up good food and good tastes. Saving money means you need to be a little creative. Check prices online. Most major grocery store chains will list their weekly sales online. So find the Web site for your favorite stores and log on before you do your menu planning and food shopping. You can tweak your menus and your shopping list based on what you find on sale. You can also compare prices at several different stores before you leave home.

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.