Hagerstown Community College

The Hagerstown Community College baseball team had just as many hit batters - six - as hits on Wednesday. The bumps and bruises led to a 4-3 Maryland JuCo victory over Montgomery-Germantown. Fittingly, the winning run scored on - what else? - a walkoff hit batter. “We can't control that,” HCC coach Scott Jennings said. “It worked for us today. It gave us ways to get on base.” The Hawks (29-25, 13-12) were locked in a 3-3 tie with Germantown (32-16, 11-11) entering the bottom of the ninth.

The Washington County Commissioners will never face an easier decision: In exchange for a relatively small expense, the county could finally begin to reverse the biggest local obstacle to growth and employment, that being the long-standing truth that business is reluctant to come here because of a poorly educated workforce. The commissioners last week heard a plan to offer a college or advanced trade education free to graduating seniors for the bargain-basement price of $2.2 million.

Washington County Government has announced that Leslie Hart has been appointed to the Governor's Intergovernmental Commission for Agriculture. In this role, Hart will deliver recommendations and offer insights into programs and policies to help meet the needs of the agriculture community and the state's agricultural strategy goals. A subject matter expert within the agriculture community, Hart has served the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission as an agricultural business development specialist since 2008.

Concerned about hungry children and their families in Washington County, a group of Hagerstown Sunrise Rotary members and many other volunteers prepared more than 500 spring break meal bags for distribution around the area. Support from donors at the Community Foundation of Washington County, Weiss Market in Boonsboro, the Maryland Food Bank-Western Branch, and Cutting Edge Ministries/Raven House made the project possible. Each bag included a ham slice, canned vegetables and fruits, macaroni and cheese, rice, gravy, boxed juice and brownie mix.  Eligible children were identified by the Washington County Public Schools system.  Volunteers distributed the bags on March 30 at 22 sites in Hagerstown, Hancock, Clear Spring, Smithsburg, Boonsboro, and elsewhere in the county.  Bags not picked up that morning were delivered to area food pantries for later distribution to those in need.  Thanks go to the Community Action Council, which served as fiscal agent for the project and to Kathy Powderly and Carol Brashears for their advice and counsel.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013 COLLEGE BASEBALL KEYSER, W.Va. - Dylan Dunn had two hits, including a two-run homer in the first inning, and three RBIs for Hagerstown Community College in a 6-4 loss to Potomac State (32-13) on Tuesday. Hagerstown led 4-3 before surrendering three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Jamie Miller pitched 3 2/3 innings of no-hit relief to pick up the win for Potomac. Tyler Walter had three hits and Eric Schanzenbacher had two hits for Hawks (28-25)

Brian Ansel and Kris Pearl thought they were going to spend Tuesday morning observing and helping another teacher work with her students at Bester Elementary School, but the pair was surprised when a group of people walked into the classroom with balloons. Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox and officials from the Washington County Public Schools Education Foundation then presented Ansel and Pearl with a large ceremonial check for $1,000. “I was amazed. I was astonished. I was overwhelmed.

Through Hagerstown Community College's affiliation with the Maryland Space Grant Consortium, HCC students are eligible to compete for the 2012-13 Maryland Space Grant Consortium scholarship. To be eligible, applicants must meet the following requirements: • Must be a U.S. citizen • Must be a Maryland resident or a graduate of a Maryland high school • Must be enrolled at HCC or another Maryland Consortium-affiliated institution • Must be a full-time student majoring in (but not limited to)

Carnival Games, face painting, photo booth (use your camera or phone), craft and bake sale, firetruck display by Volunteer Fire Co. of Halfway. Proceeds will help the Springfield Middle School Destination Imagination team compete at global finals in Knoxville, Tenn. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today. St. Joseph Catholic Church, 17630 Virginia Ave., Halfway. Youth dance A youth dance for ages 11 to 16. 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. today. Martin Luther King Gymnasium, 131 W. North Ave., Hagerstown.

North Hagerstown High School senior Heidi Stasiowski warned underclassmen that if they did not work hard in their classes they would regret it by their senior year, which she said she does, at a school assembly in the auditorium Friday morning where seniors shared their post-graduation plans. “I cared about my home life and my social life before my school life,” she told the crowd. Stasiowski, 18, also told them that it is never too late to turn things around, which she said she worked toward doing after taking a college prep class her junior year.

As part of the upcoming Nora Roberts Writing Institute (NRWI) at Hagerstown Community College, HCC will also offer a special Young Writers Institute for high school students entering 10th through 12 grades. The Young Writers Institute will be Friday, Aug. 2, and Saturday, Aug. 3, the same weekend as NRWI, and will feature a series of workshops and events specially geared towards aspiring, young writers. Workshops will include fiction-crafting and publishing, as well as the opportunity to network with other teen writers.