Internet

ST. THOMAS, Pa. - A Franklin County resident was among three men recently arrested in an Internet sex sting operation, according to a press release from Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett. Franklin Shane Barrick, 37, of 135 Cottonwood Ave., was arrested in connection with an alleged series of sexually graphic chats with an undercover agent posing as a 13-year old girl, Corbett said. Barrick was charged with four counts of unlawful contact with a minor, one count of criminal use of a computer and one count of identity theft, Corbett said.

Jenna and Jason Lamer hope to find a baby sitter by fielding e-mails from those who notice the couple's Craigslist posting. The Smithsburg couple - parents of 2-year-old Kylie and 11-week-old Dylan - say it beats waiting around for a good sitter to emerge from word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends. While sitters and sitter-seekers are posting ads on Craigslist and other online classified sites, the Internet is one of many resources available to sitters and parents.

For the first time, the Maryland comptroller's office has charged someone with trying to sell cigarettes over the Internet, a spokeswoman said Friday. In a press release, the office said it filed two misdemeanor and two felony charges against James Kevin Morgan. Morgan, 47, is listed as living at 15602 National Pike in Washington County, said Christine Duray, a comptroller's office spokeswoman. Authorities said they confiscated 300 packs of untaxed cigarettes from Morgan on Friday.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - You can get on the Web at a new cafe in town, and you don't have to bring a computer. Lil' Bit A New York Internet Cafe at 270 N. Washington St. opened last month, complete with its own hard-wired computers. Owner-operator Alberto R. Tello said he got the idea when a former job required him to travel. He said he did not like to carry a computer, but he wanted to connect to the Internet. "I saw a lot of these places in my travels and used them," Tello said.

"Don't pump gas on May 15. In April 1997, there was a 'gas out' conducted nationwide in protest of gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight. On May 15, all Internet users are not to go to a gas station in protest of high gas prices. Gas is now more than $3 a gallon in most places. There are 73,000,000-plus Americans on the Internet, and the average car takes about $30 to $50 to fill up. If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take $2,292,000,000 (that's almost $3 billion)

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Report cards don't always make it home. Assessment scores aren't always easy to understand. But soon, Washington County parents will have Internet access to their children's grades and test scores, said Robert C. Brown, Washington County Public Schools coordinator for the office of testing and accountability. The information will be available for parents at the start of the upcoming school year, and parents will receive information on registering for the online accounts during the first week of school.

Editor's note: Each week, The Herald-Mail invites readers to answer poll questions on its Web site, www.herald-mail.com . Readers also may submit comments about the poll question when voting. Each Sunday, a sampling of edited reader comments will run in The Herald-Mail. Last week's poll question was: Do you monitor your child's online use? "You better believe I do! I have accounts online in the same places my child does (we both have blogs and e-mail accounts)

WASHINGTON COUNTY - A career in law enforcement didn't prepare Washington County Sheriff's Department Deputy 1st Class Dan Watson for what he found online. With just 20 minutes of sleuthing, the host of an Internet-safety program shows parents how easy it is for a complete stranger to use information from an online profile to find out a child's name, address, hobbies and daily routine. "Isn't that crazy? Twenty minutes. That shocked me when I did this," said Watson, who navigated through the program during an interview Thursday.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - When Shepherdstown, W.Va., residents experienced a major disruption in public water service last year, the town's leaders made good use of its official Web site. "It was our primary tool to get information out to the public," Town Clerk Amy Boyd said. Launched in 2001, the town's Web page, like many government Web sites in Morgan, Berkeley and Jefferson counties, has evolved from meager beginnings to become a valued source of public information. Only two municipalities in the Eastern Panhandle have no active virtual presence.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - Since it moved to Charles Town in 2003, the Internet-based American Public University System has been getting to know its new community and lending its high-tech expertise to local institutions. The university has donated computers to Wright Denny Intermediate School and Page Jackson Elementary School, and now has turned its attention to the Charles Town Library. The library at 200 E. Washington St., which is not funded by taxpayer dollars, has wanted to expand its use by patrons, so American Public University System officials decided to donate a new computer station to the library at a cost of about $12,000.