Homeless People

Solicitors asking for donations at intersections in Washington County will be around for the next several months, Sheriff Charles F. Mades said this week. A law banning the practice does not go into effect until Oct. 1. The solicitors, most of whom are from out of state, mainly gather on Halfway Boulevard near Valley Mall and approach people sitting in their cars and ask for money. Mades said deputies have been informing the solicitors of the new law. On Friday, he described the solicitors as transients who "pop on and off the interstate" to gather money.

The national point-in-time homeless count in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle will take place in Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties from 4 p.m. Jan. 24 to 4 p.m. Jan. 25. The local count is sponsored by the Housing Work Group of the Health and Human Service Collaborative. Data collected are used to secure federal funding to prevent homelessness and to assist those in need, according to a news release from the organization. Volunteers are needed to work a two- or four-hour shift to assist homeless people to complete the survey.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - A Greencastle man plans to ride his bicycle to Adams County, Pa., this week to help raise money for a financially troubled homeless shelter in Waynesboro. Pete Seville, who is celebrating his 43rd birthday today, said he will leave Thursday from Greencastle and ride his bike to Gettysburg, Pa. Seville, a fixture at area parades with his patriotic display of flags and flag apparel, is making the ride because he wants to raise money for the New Hope Shelter on South Potomac Street in Waynesboro.

HAGERSTOWN -- Those who work to feed, house and otherwise help the homeless have ideas about why people find themselves without permanent roofs over their heads. Bruce Shank, executive director of the Hagerstown Rescue Mission, a shelter for men, points to addictions, a lack of a work ethic and mental illness as major causes. Maj. Robert Lyle, commanding officer of The Salvation Army in Hagerstown, mentions drugs, the cost of living, unaffordable housing and domestic violence.

Most people knew Joan Brewer as “Grandma,” whether they were related to her or not. Family and home were her priorities. “Her caring extended beyond her family,” son Jim Acre of Smithsburg said. Joan was the third of six children of Michael and Lucy Arnone. She was born and raised in Eckhart, Md., near Frostburg, Md. Her father was born in Italy and came to the United States when he was 13. He lived with an uncle in the Frostburg area and worked in the coal mines. After her first marriage, which produced five children, ended after 15 years, Joan met and married the man of her dreams while waitressing in Hagerstown, said daughter Debbie Ward of Hagerstown.

Editor's note: The Herald-Mail invites readers to answer poll questions on its Web site, www.herald-mail.com. Readers also may submit comments when voting. A sampling of edited reader comments will run on The Herald-Mail's Opinion page on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The question posted Monday on The Herald-Mail's Web site was: Are you inclined to volunteer to help homeless people? o "When my small business was doing well, I helped out quite a few homeless people in the past.

At REACH, they call her the "Soup Lady. " Once a month for the six months that the REACH cold weather shelter is open each year, Nancy Wallech cooks up between 16 and 20 quarts of soup for meals served to the homeless people who frequent the shelter now permanently housed at 140 W. Franklin St. She's been at it for nearly 12 years now ... that's a lot of soup. "There was a little item in the bulletin at St. Andrew's United Methodist Church that REACH needed people to help feed the homeless people at the shelter," Nancy said.

scottb@herald-mail.com Hagerstown's police chief, Councilwoman Penny May Nigh and others spoke at a public hearing Wednesday in support of a proposal to tighten the zoning restrictions for future homeless shelters and to require that they be open around the clock. No one at the Hagerstown Planning Commission public hearing spoke against the proposed zoning text amendments, which would require homeless shelters to be open 24 hours a day with constant supervision. Shelters in the city currently do not have to be open during the day. Under the proposed zoning change, a homeless shelter would have to be at least 1,500 feet from the Washington County Free Library's downtown facility.

scottb@herald-mail.com Following comments by Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith, Hagerstown City Councilman Lewis C. Metzner on Tuesday suggested the city consider prohibiting the construction of a homeless shelter in downtown Hagerstown. "A homeless shelter in downtown Hagerstown is unacceptable," Metzner said. But Terri Baker, executive director of REACH, said it does not make sense to build a shelter outside of the downtown when the organizations providing services to the homeless are downtown.

ashleyg@herald-mail.com After Thursday's unseasonable high of 56 degrees, the National Weather Service predicts much colder weather to come. Temperatures in the low 30s are predicted for the weekend, and Monday's high is expected to be in the mid 30s with possible rain or snow, according to the National Weather Service forecast. Protecting yourself from the cold is important because of the risk of hypothermia, according to a Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene press release.