Kosovo

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Berkeley County church is looking to Broadway to help raise money for the crisis in Kosovo. Trinity Lutheran Church on W.Va 45 in Arden will host show tunes with Trivial Pursuit at 7 p.m. Saturday in a fund-raiser for Doctors Without Borders, Donna Giguet said. Ellen McDaniel-Weissler, of Hedgesville, W.Va., created "Trivial Broadway" about six years ago as a useful outlet for "all the useless trivia I had mushed inside my head. " An opera student who has studied at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, McDaniel said she has performed the show around the nation.

Tri-State area residents who want information on how to help refugees from Kosovo can call 1-800-727-4420 The Kosovo Refugee Hot Line is manned from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays.

When Eric Webber returned home after a year in Kosovo, it was a cause for celebration for his family. They didn't know a surprise party was in the works at their church, The First Church of God on Rose Hill Avenue. Webber, 48, was just discharged after 20 years in the military - six years with the United States Navy and the past 14 years with the U.S. Army, where he was a tech sergeant, said his father, William Webber. The party was held on Nov. 18, just three days after Webber's return.

Concluding that the first two weeks of the air war against Yugoslavia have vindicated his opposition to military intervention, U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett now finds himself with a dilemma over what should be done next. Now that the United States is involved, Bartlett, R-Md., said he is not sure what course of action the nation should take next. He acknowledged that in Washington and throughout the country sentiment is growing in support of ground troops in Kosovo. "The mood is now swinging," he said.

By BRYN MICKLE / Staff Writer, Martinsburg photos: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Cindy Allen has watched her husband fly off before but somehow, she said, it seemed different in the past. "The fear seems more real this time with everything that's going on, but I have confidence they'll do this mission and come home safe," said Allen. [cont. from front page ] Allen's husband, Master Sgt. Jim Allen, was one of 25 members of the 167th Airlift Wing who embarked on a 13-hour trip to Germany Thursday afternoon.

The war in Kosovo shouldn't hurt the U.S. economy and could benefit Maryland's economy, two economics experts told a group of Washington County business people Wednesday night. Overall, speakers at the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce's 1999 Economic Summit painted a rosy picture of continued economic growth with low inflation - bucking traditional economic models - in 1999. About 110 people attended the dinner event at the Sheraton-Four Points Hotel, sponsored by Merrill Lynch, said Chamber Executive Vice President Fred K. Teeter Jr. A question from Teeter following the speakers' formal presentations prompted discussion of Kosovo's impact on their positive projections for 1999.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - For more than a year, the attention of the nation has been focused on the war in Iraq, but thousands of American servicemen and women remain overseas in almost forgotten hot spots, such as Kosovo in the Balkans. Many among the 3,000 troops serving in that region are, like 1st. Lt. Matt Fogal, members of the Pennsylvania National Guard. An assistant Franklin County district attorney, the 31-year-old returned to Chambersburg last month after being deployed to Kosovo in July 2003.

Area residents wishing to help relief efforts in war-torn Yugoslavia can send contributions to the American Red Cross office in Hagerstown. "The Red Cross is the only humanitarian organization still working in Kosovo, providing food and protection," said Cindy Kline of the local Red Cross office. In addition, the Red Cross is active in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia where refugees from Kosovo have been streaming because of the fighting and bombing. Checks may be made out to the American Red Cross, International Relief to Kosovo, Kline said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- A prosecutor with legal experience in Pennsylvania, Afghanistan and Kosovo officially becomes the new district attorney in Franklin County, Pa., Friday. On Thursday, Franklin County judges announced Matthew D. "Matt" Fogal as their choice to fill a vacancy created by the death of John F. "Jack" Nelson two weeks earlier. "I learned a lot from Jack," Fogal said. "He was a friend and a mentor. " Fogal, a Chambersburg native, began his prosecutorial career in the Adams County, Pa., district attorney's office and later became a full-time assistant district attorney in Franklin County.

When Eric Webber returned home after a year in Kosovo, it was a cause for celebration for his family. They didn't know a surprise party was in the works at their church, The First Church of God on Rose Hill Avenue. Webber, 48, was just discharged after 20 years in the military - six years with the United States Navy and the past 14 years with the U.S. Army, where he was a tech sergeant, said his father, William Webber. The party was Nov. 18, just three days after Webber's return.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - For more than a year, the attention of the nation has been focused on the war in Iraq, but thousands of American servicemen and women remain overseas in almost forgotten hot spots, such as Kosovo in the Balkans. Many among the 3,000 troops serving in that region are, like 1st. Lt. Matt Fogal, members of the Pennsylvania National Guard. An assistant Franklin County district attorney, the 31-year-old returned to Chambersburg last month after being deployed to Kosovo in July 2003.

HANCOCK - Paul Capcara once rode, paddled and hiked 34 hours to get to work. His commute is shorter now. The former Peace Corps participant only has to drive from his home in Hedgesville, W.Va., to 130 W. High St. in Hancock to assume his duties there as executive director of the Tri-State Community Health Center. Capcara, 35, took the post Jan. 3, replacing William Wood. Wood built a solid organization and strong management systems, and Capcara hopes to keep the "community driven" health center on its steady course of providing low-cost, high-quality health care to the people of Hancock, he said.

SMITHSBURG - The Town of Smithsburg is searching for a police chief to replace Vincent duCellier, who resigned the post to take a job in Kosovo. [cont. from front page ] DuCellier was hired as Smithsburg's police chief in January 1998. He replaced Tommy Bowers, who was fired by the Mayor and Town Council in August 1997 after three years as head of the town's police force. Bowers has since been elected mayor. DuCellier, 61, was hired by DynCorp, a company that screens applicants to work in a United Nations program that trains police officers overseas.

"This is dedicated to the loving memory of Maurice Duray Dickson who was taken to heaven suddenly on July 18. In Revelation 21:4 it says 'God should wipe away all tears from their eyes and there should be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away.' It is too true, Reese was taken from all of us much too soon. What we need to realize is that God has more important things for him. Maybe He brought Reese home to watch over all of us. Everyone of us at the visitation on Wednesday night knew that Reese was watching.

They come every night now, in series of reports that would have been judged too graphic for TV's nightly news shows just a generation ago. The aftermath of what happened in Kosovo is presented for viewers' close inspection, with the camera sparing none of the gory details. Partially-decomposed bodies, some in pieces, some intact, are unearthed from mass graves as sobbing survivors clutch at each other, and tell reporters stories of the atrocities that preceded their loves ones' deaths.

Kosovars forced to flee their homes may not be on the minds of most children, but Salem Avenue Elementary School students raised money for the refugees. "It just sort of came to us," said Kim Gray, a fourth-grader whose Project Challenge group put together a plan to collect change. The class set a fund-raising goal of $240 but amassed more than $460 in two weeks. "A lot of our families don't have a lot of money themselves," said Alan Zube, the group's teacher. "It's a testament to them that even though they don't have a lot, they were willing to give what they have.

The White House may be celebrating a victory in Kosovo, but two Republican members of Congress from the Tri-State area are worried how the United States will now deal with the fallout of the conflict. U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., said he does not believe U.S. troops should be a part of the peacekeeping effort in Kosovo because "we are hated by the Serbians. " "We should not be a part of that," Bartlett said Friday. Bartlett also said he is worried about U.S. troops being in Kosovo for extended periods of time.