Hotspot

BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Writer In the heart of Hagerstown's once-vibrant black community sits 337 N. Jonathan St., a decaying house residents say has become a symbol of their neighborhood's decline. The house, built in 1913, is boarded up and empty. Graffiti mars its outside walls and the sidewalk in front of it. Neighbors say the house, which is in the middle of one of the most notorious illegal drug markets in the Tri-State area, attracts and nurtures crime. The owner of 337 N. Jonathan St., Charles F. Summers, has been cited for numerous code violations in the 4 1/2 years he has owned the property, according to city officials.

HotSpot success celebrated By JULIE E. GREENE / Staff Writer Volunteers and partners in the HotSpot crime prevention program gathered Friday at Frostburg State University's conference center in downtown Hagerstown to celebrate the program's success. The three-year program could have ended this month, said coordinator Carolyn Brooks. Instead it will continue next year, though Brooks said she is still waiting to hear formal word on how much funding the program will receive.

For years, members of King's Apostle Holiness Church of God in Hagerstown attended services and gatherings in cramped quarters. On Sunday, a ground-breaking was held for a 12,000-square-foot expansion to the building to accommodate its overflowing congregation. About 200 church members attended services and then stayed for the celebration. The Rev. Derek Kee said the expansion of the 45-year-old church is long overdue "The Lord has blessed our church with a growing congregation and we want to make them comfortable," said Kee. The $180,000 construction project includes putting on a new roof, extending the building forward and building multi-purpose rooms and a basement.

A public performance by the dancers who participated in a weekly HotSpot jazz clinic will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Martin Luther King Center. More than 40 people ranging in age from 3 to adult have been kicking up their heels for the past six weeks at the Sumans Avenue Community Center. The clinic was coordinated by Carolyn Brooks, HotSpot coordinator, and Ranelle Flurie, director of Ballet and All That Jazz, both of whom donated their time. Flurie and her students have been teaching basic stretching exercises, mixed in with dance steps.

The Hagerstown City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to give $5,000 to the Character Counts program for Washington County. The Character Counts program attempts to teach the "six pillars" of character - trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship - through seminars, speeches and videos. Washington County HotSpot Coordinator Carolyn Brooks, who is also a co-chair for the Washington County Character Counts program, has said the money would help pay for staff and supplies.

Commissioners fill committee vacancy. The Washington County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday appointed David McMullen of Clear Spring to the Washington County Solid Waste Advisory Committee. McMullen fills a vacancy created when Ralph Burdick resigned. Commissioners to fund five HotSpot projects The Washington County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved spending a total of $6,000 on five projects in the HotSpot area and $8,000 on six projects elsewhere in Washington County.

  Performances Saturday, May 13 - Homewood Strawberry Festival in Williamsport. The group is expected to perform between 11 a.m. and noon. Saturday, May 20 - The Maryland Theatre, 21 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown, 2 and 7 p.m. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted. By MARLO BARNHART / Staff Writer The BTJ Dancers are hot ... and they're cool. So cool, in fact, that they will heat up the stage at The Maryland Theatre Saturday, May 20. The group has certainly come a long way from its humble roots just over a year ago. What began as a short-range effort to get kids off the streets has blossomed into a regular dance group, said instructor Ranelle Flurie, director of Ballet and All That Jazz.

wandaw@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Setting and achieving high goals in life isn't always easy, but it can be done despite adversity and peer pressure, said Washington County's Boys and Girls Clubs Youth of the Year, Eric Rollins of Hagerstown. He's been an active member of the Pennsylvania Avenue club since he was 8 years old. "You can make it; the situation doesn't matter, or how people label you," Eric, 17, said in an interview before addressing the audience Thursday night at the 14th Annual Steak and Burger Dinner to benefit the clubs.

King's 'Dream' inspires youth By MARLO BARNHART / Staff Writer photos: RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer Above : Twin sisters Valentina, left, and Veronica Wheller, 11, enjoy lunch during the Martin Luther King Jr. Students' Luncheon Celebration at Memorial Recreation Center Monday. Above : Sisters Kaya henry, 6, and Isolla Henry, 5, enjoy lunch during Martin Luther King Jr. Students' Luncheon Celebration. Shantale Perrain is too young to have heard the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak, but she knows he wanted black people and white people to be friends.

County taken to the cleaners To the editor: I noticed the county custodial cleaning Contract was awarded. I could not believe the county is going to pay $186,000 for a one-year contract to a company that is outside the county. As a county resident and the owner of a local cleaning company, I was disappointed that my tax dollars are being used to pay for a service that could be done for much less. I attended the pre-bid meeting, but due to circumstances beyond my control I did not submit a proposal.

wandaw@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Setting and achieving high goals in life isn't always easy, but it can be done despite adversity and peer pressure, said Washington County's Boys and Girls Clubs Youth of the Year, Eric Rollins of Hagerstown. He's been an active member of the Pennsylvania Avenue club since he was 8 years old. "You can make it; the situation doesn't matter, or how people label you," Eric, 17, said in an interview before addressing the audience Thursday night at the 14th Annual Steak and Burger Dinner to benefit the clubs.

scottb@herald-mail.com Three Hagerstown City Council members want to know more about a decision to discontinue state grant funding for the Hagerstown Area Police Athletic League's youth-based program before acting on a request for about $45,000 to help pay for Hagerstown HotSpots after-school programs. HotSpots coordinator Carolyn Brooks made the request for the $45,000 at Tuesday's council meeting and asked for an answer that night. She wanted to mention that commitment when soliciting money from the Washington County Commissioners at this week's meeting.

gregs@herald-mail.com With only three days left before the state's fiscal year ends, it is unclear how much money, if any, the city will receive for the popular HotSpot Communities anti-crime grant program. Carolyn Brooks, the city's HotSpot office coordinator, said Friday that neither she nor Hagerstown Police Chief Arthur Smith has heard from state officials about the status of the grant for the new fiscal year that begins Tuesday. "Through June 30, everything's taken care of," Brooks said.

scottb@herald-mail.com A Sunday event highlighted the success of the HotSpots Communities program in Hagerstown as a way to both thank those responsible for the achievements and to warn them of a current funding hurdle, said Carolyn Brooks, the program's coordinator. While full funding for the program's future is uncertain, Brooks is confident the efforts can continue, though perhaps with some different funding sources, she said. "We have a lot of faith that we will be able to carry on," she said.

Last July the Rev. James Irvin, president of the Washington County chapter of the NAACP, gave a speech at Hagerstown's Wheaton Park in which he charged local government with ignoring the needs of the black community. Government officials responded with a mixture of irritation and puzzlement, with County Administrator Rod Shoop saying the county government hadn't heard from the NAACP in years. Whether or not it hears from the NAACP now, local government needs to seriously consider how to save the best parts of the HotSpots Anti-Crime Initiative.

tarar@herald-mail.com The HotSpots Communities crime prevention program will continue in the next fiscal year but is likely to have a new name and "a whole lot less funding," program coordinator Carolyn Brooks said Friday. Brooks said she probably will have to turn to the City of Hagerstown and Washington County for financial help. "No doubt I'm going to have to appeal to the county and the city," Brooks said. Government officials said they didn't think they'd be able to bail HotSpots out. Early this year, those involved with HotSpots were uncertain whether Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. would end the program by not providing money for it in the state's fiscal 2004 budget.

Five years ago the State of Maryland launched the HotSpots anti-crime initiative, which state officials described as a completely new approach to fighting crime. State support was only supposed to last three years, but continued until the defeat of the program's champion, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Now local officials have to decide whether to fund HotSpots, or let it die. Their decision must take into account the positive difference this program has made in the city's black community.

gregs@herald-mail.com People in Hagerstown have begun realizing a life without HotSpots. The HotSpots Communities program, begun in 1997, was a major tenet of then-Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend's crime-fighting initiative. Hagerstown received $1,107,914 over the past five years, paying for new law enforcement as well as prevention programs, the program's coordinator said. However, while officials praised the program - especially for its effect on crime around Jonathan Street - the proof it actually stopped crime is disputed.

Five years ago Maryland officials assembled in Baltimore to launch what they said was a completely new approach to fighting crime. As U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno listened, state officials said that they would target crime-ridden neighborhoods by getting groups of agencies to work together instead of battling illegal activity in isolation. It was the HotSpots anti-crime initiative and Hagerstown's Jonathan Street was one of the first 36 areas targeted. But five years later the program's champion, Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, lost her bid for governor.

County taken to the cleaners To the editor: I noticed the county custodial cleaning Contract was awarded. I could not believe the county is going to pay $186,000 for a one-year contract to a company that is outside the county. As a county resident and the owner of a local cleaning company, I was disappointed that my tax dollars are being used to pay for a service that could be done for much less. I attended the pre-bid meeting, but due to circumstances beyond my control I did not submit a proposal.