Herald Mail

The Herald-Mail business office will be closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day. The business office will reopen Tuesday at 8 a.m. The Herald-Mail will publish Monday.

A crane installing new windows at The Herald-Mail and a school bus collided Wednesday afternoon on Summit Avenue in Hagerstown, city police said. It is unclear how the bus and the crane hit each other about 3 p.m., because there were differing accounts of the accident, according to a spokesman for the Hagerstown Police Department. According to one account, the crane pivoted and hit the bus, while another said the crane was stationary when the bus tried to squeeze by and hit it, the spokesman said.

The Herald-Mail on Friday won 32 awards and was named the 2011 Newspaper of the Year for its division by the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association. The newspaper's awards included 17 first-place and 15 second-place honors in its division. The Herald-Mail is in Division B, for newspapers with daily circulations of between 30,000 and 75,000. Publisher Andy Bruns said he was “thrilled and proud to have inherited such a quality staff” and promised to make sure the paper keeps the quality up in the years to come.

The doctor is in. At least he will be beginning Monday. Seven weeks after being removed from The Herald-Mail's comics pages, “Rex Morgan” is being brought back for publication seven days a week. His return is a response to reader feedback following a major overhaul of the comics pages. On Jan. 2, we cut in half the number of comics that The Herald-Mail publishes in its Monday through Saturday editions. Before October 2007, we published The Daily Mail with one page of comics daily and The Morning Herald with an entirely different page of daily comics.

OK, so maybe your invitation to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences got lost in the mail this year. But you've paid your money, watched the films, then later picked them apart scene by scene with family and friends. So what if you don't get a chance to vote for the actual prizes? But you get something they don't - a chance to walk away with $50 for picking the winners. The Herald-Mail is sponsoring its ninth Oscar Picks Contest, where movie fans get a chance to select who will walk away with the top prize in 10 categories.

Some subjects are so interesting, or so important or so entertaining, that you just want to keep talking about them. We developed a new program around that concept, and you can get a sneak peek at the show on our website. We're introducing the new show on Cable Channel 30 on Friday, Feb. 17. Called HM Newsmakers, the show will air on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day.  You can see the premier edition of HM Newsmakers on our website now at www.herald-mail.com.

You've got friends and family invited for the big game on Sunday. What will you serve? Well, it's a pretty good bet that at least a couple guests will want something spicy - chicken wings, nachos, chili, you know the list. But not all hot sauces are the same. Some are mild, some very hot, some thin, some thick. With that in mind, The Herald-Mail Lifestyle Department hosted a "blind" hot sauce-tasting this week. Six volunteers tasted six commercial hot sauces. The sauces were not identified until after the tasters were done sampling.

On Jan. 31, The Herald-Mail will begin charging for some of the content on its website, www.herald-mail.com , Publisher Andy Bruns said. The website will have a "meter" that allows each user 15 premium page views for free every 30 days. After passing the limit of 15 page views, the user will be asked to purchase an online subscription to view additional premium content. The subscription will grant unlimited access to content on www.herald-mail.com . "Simply put, I don't know what business can spend millions of dollars doing something and then give that product away for free, and survive," Bruns said.

Sometimes it takes a little glass to create a window of recognition. Howard S. Kaylor has never sought the spotlight, content instead to, along with his wife, Anne, quietly spread a legacy of care and support throughout the community. His generosity has touched all demographics and social strata, from the symphony to The Salvation Army. This year, however, his latest contribution - $1 million toward a fine glass atrium spanning the courtyard of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts - was hard to overlook.

With only three weeks until Christmas and 16 days until the start of Hanukkah, we are officially in the heat - or shall I say glow? - of the holiday season. It's a tradition-filled time of year.   Families adorn their homes with decorations passed down through generations or collected over the years. Ovens and stoves emit smells of treasured holiday recipes sweet and savory. The shopping frenzy is in full swing as people strive to find gifts that will make lasting impressions.