Junk

Junk jewelry, pieces of fabric, nuts, bolts, screws, washers, bottle caps, empty plastic containers and soup cans, old thread spools, clothespins, buttons, feathers, shells - anything - will be the stuff of which sculptures are made in a children's art workshop from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Discovery Station in downtown Hagerstown. Hosted by the Maryland Symphony Orchestra in partnership with Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Washington County Free Library and Discovery Station, the workshop - dubbed It's Not Junk, It's Art!

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - Are you ready to "Rock Your Junk"? Members of the junk rock group Recycled Percussion hope so. With a gig at the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center at Shippensburg University on Saturday. The concert is part of the group's "Rock Your Junk" tour, with more than 200 shows lined up at colleges nationwide and at sporting events - including NFL and NBA half-time shows - said the band's publicist, Scott Kassapis. Recycled Percussion got its start 10 years ago at a talent show in New Hampshire, explained the group's founder, Justin Spencer.

What began as a confluence of musical tastes has become a jazz-funk explosion for the Hagerstown band Junk. Now the band is hoping to take it to the next level. With a demo complete, the band is working on its debut album, said founding member Scott Reed, bassist and the band's unofficial frontman. They hope the debut album will land them higher-profile gigs and allow bandmates to quit their day jobs. Junk performs Sunday at Firestone's Restaurant & Bar in Frederick, Md. Junk's sound started off as a hip-hop-jazz hybrid, with a live DJ, though minus the rappers.

KEEDYSVILLE - Keedysville residents who have junk cars parked on the street on a long-term basis will be subject to a $25 fine if not removed, according to an ordinance approved by the Town Council Monday. The Council will first send a letter requesting that the owner remove the vehicle. If they do not comply they will be cited.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Prompted by an increasing number of complaints, the Washington Township Supervisors are starting to enforce their ordinance governing junked cars and auto salvage yards, the township's zoning enforcement officer said Wednesday. Jerry Zeigler said the supervisors have been patient with scofflaws but now are ready to take action. One case is heading to court in June, and the township is keeping an eye on three other properties. A long-standing case against George "Billy" Nicholas of Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., is heading to Common Pleas Court June 3, Zeigler said.

The full-service junk-removal company 1-800-GOT-JUNK? is holding a free electronics disposal day in recognition of International Earth Day. The free disposal day will be held at Valley Mall in Halfway on Saturday, April 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. During that time, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? will accept difficult-to-dispose-of electronic items at no charge. All household appliances with the exception of television sets will be accepted, as will e-waste such as computers, monitors and laptops.

candiceb@herald-mail.com Charles W. McClister III grew up wanting to work in politics. Instead he's hauling junk. McClister is happy to discuss how he went from a federal employee to the owner of a business that has its employees crawling on their hands and knees in basements, knocking their heads on attic rafters and, once, leaving an apartment wearing flea-covered socks. The owner of the Hagerstown franchise of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, a worldwide junk-hauling company, McClister worked for six years in Washington, D.C., with the Department of Labor.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The Washington Township Supervisors, fearing that a junkyard owner under orders to clean up his property is "playing cat and mouse," said Monday they are keeping a photographic record of the owner's property. "If he moves anything back on, then we got him," said Township Administrator Michael Christopher of George "Billy" Nicholas of Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. Nicholas has been under a court order, issued in June by Common Pleas Judge Carol Van Horn, to remove about 1,000 tons of old vehicles, construction equipment, trailers, appliances and junk from his property on the corner of Pennersville and Tower roads.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - A Franklin County judge Monday gave a Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., man and his wife 45 days to move tons of old vehicles, equipment and metal from their property or pay the Washington Township Supervisors to move it for them. Judge Carol L. Van Horn issued the order against George William Nicholas and Mary Adetra Nicholas. The couple's property is at the intersection of Pennersville Road and Tower Road. The supervisors, acting on complaints from neighbors, have been after the Nicholas family for more than two years to rid the six-acre property of the junk.

Business licenses issued in November: Gregory L. Shiley, Shiley Construction Co., 1446 Nadenbousch Lane, Inwood, W.Va., out-of-state contractor Travieso Lucmarbert, NCP Group, 1210 Dual Highway No. 2, Hagerstown, chain store, trader's license Eye to Eye of Frederick Inc., 91 Eastern Blvd., Hagerstown, chain store, trader's license E3 Subs Inc., Jersey Mike's Subs Restaurant, 18015 Garland Groh Blvd., Hagerstown, restaurant, trader's...

City police on Thursday cited a Martinsburg artist who placed a toilet on the pedestal in the city square on Wednesday as a publicity stunt to advocate for more public art in the community. David Heatwole, 42, of Martinsburg, faces a maximum fine of $500 for violating the city ordinance titled “Littering and Deposit of Garbage, Rubbish, Junk, Etc,” according to city code. Heatwole is scheduled to appear in municipal court on May 2, according to the citation. Heatwole put the toilet on the pedestal with the lid up. On it, he wrote “Put art in Martinsburg.” Three helium-filled purple balloons were tied to the flush handle and a fake bill of sale for a “crappy work of art” was dangling from the toilet bowl.

Business licenses issued in November: Gregory L. Shiley, Shiley Construction Co., 1446 Nadenbousch Lane, Inwood, W.Va., out-of-state contractor Travieso Lucmarbert, NCP Group, 1210 Dual Highway No. 2, Hagerstown, chain store, trader's license Eye to Eye of Frederick Inc., 91 Eastern Blvd., Hagerstown, chain store, trader's license E3 Subs Inc., Jersey Mike's Subs Restaurant, 18015 Garland Groh Blvd., Hagerstown, restaurant, trader's...

Junk vehicle concerns raised Smithsburg Councilman Donnie Souders Tuesday night told the police chief that he has noticed a number of vehicles in town that appear to either be junk or inoperable. Police Chief George Knight said he has noticed the vehicles, too, noting that some of them are up on blocks or jacks. Knight said if the vehicles are being repaired, that's allowed. But he said some of them have not been repaired in a while. The town has a law in which people who have such vehicles can be issued a notice.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - It's not hard to figure out that stocking school vending machines with sugary sodas and salty, fatty snacks is a bad idea. Replacing those culinary culprits with something more nutritionious is tougher. But a growing number of school districts around the country are trying anyway. "I can't say enough for what it does for the kids to have the junk out of the machines," says Patricia Gray, who as former principal of San Francisco's Balboa High School oversaw a switch to healthier snacks.

HAGERSTOWN -- Donna Smith never planned to own a bird. She inherited Petey from her uncle and isn't even sure what kind of bird he is. "He talks. He's something like a parrot, I guess," Smith said. Petey has been getting along just fine in a modest little cage, and Smith had no intentions of buying him a new house. But when she stumbled upon a veritable bird mansion at an irresistible price, she was sold. "I only paid 30 bucks," Smith said. "At a store, I would have paid almost $300.

Do you get tons of catalogs in the mail? I used to. I mail-ordered a couple things for Christmas gifts last year. BIG mistake! I guess these people thought I must be a big spender or something and hoped I would order one of everything for the rest of my days. My name must have been sold to every mailing list known to mankind. I ended up getting at least three or four catalogs every week. One day, I'd had it. I figured the best way to put an end to this was to just sit down and call each and every catalog as they came in. I wanted to scream at these people, but I knew that wasn't the right tack to take.

What began as a confluence of musical tastes has become a jazz-funk explosion for the Hagerstown band Junk. Now the band is hoping to take it to the next level. With a demo complete, the band is working on its debut album, said founding member Scott Reed, bassist and the band's unofficial frontman. They hope the debut album will land them higher-profile gigs and allow bandmates to quit their day jobs. Junk performs Sunday at Firestone's Restaurant & Bar in Frederick, Md. Junk's sound started off as a hip-hop-jazz hybrid, with a live DJ, though minus the rappers.

The full-service junk-removal company 1-800-GOT-JUNK? is holding a free electronics disposal day in recognition of International Earth Day. The free disposal day will be held at Valley Mall in Halfway on Saturday, April 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. During that time, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? will accept difficult-to-dispose-of electronic items at no charge. All household appliances with the exception of television sets will be accepted, as will e-waste such as computers, monitors and laptops.

Last week, I received roughly 500 e-mails, 80 percent of them junk. I'm not talking about the loan offers, opportunities to aid an African banker in dire straits by giving him my account numbers or chances to enlarge or shrink various body parts. Or the seven invitations to party with Steve-O from MTV that welcomed me to my e-mail account this morning. A filter blocks a good chunk of that trash here. Only a portion of that still gets through. The majority of the junk I receive is from public-relations people, who are offering to arrange an interview with a cook-off contestant from Rockville, Md., making me aware of a band playing in Shirleysburg, Pa., and inviting me to a book launch party in New York.

Junk jewelry, pieces of fabric, nuts, bolts, screws, washers, bottle caps, empty plastic containers and soup cans, old thread spools, clothespins, buttons, feathers, shells - anything - will be the stuff of which sculptures are made in a children's art workshop from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, March 3, at Discovery Station in downtown Hagerstown. Hosted by the Maryland Symphony Orchestra in partnership with Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Washington County Free Library and Discovery Station, the workshop - dubbed It's Not Junk, It's Art!