Meeting Room

LuHowl fundraiser to be held Saturday LuHowl, the annual Hawaiian-themed fundraiser to benefit the Humane Society of Washington County, will be Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the home of Don and Jone Bowman in Williamsport.  Proceeds from the event will benefit the animal shelter's dog spay and neuter programs. Sponsors include Hagerstown Honda and Kia, Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau, RBC Wealth Management, Sir Angus and Eleanor Lakin, Valley Pet Cemetery, AFLAC and Younger Toyota.  The evening will feature dinner by Bulls & Bears catering and entertainment by jazz vocalist Kerensa Gray.

People with strong opinions for and against a possible 23-mile bike trail packed steamy Boonsboro's fire hall Thursday night. The proposal is in its early, formative stage. Joseph Kroboth III, Washington County's public works director, said there's no local, state or federal money committed to the project, which has been estimated to cost about $16 million. Some at the meeting spoke in favor of the appeal of a new avenue for healthy exercise, and the possible tourism and economic development draw that a trail might have.

Many, many years ago in a land (sort of) far away, there was a state where the three commissioners - when faced with a tough agenda item - would adjourn to the men's room, hash out the gory details in private and then return to the meeting room, where they would calmly vote on the matter without comment or controversy. There was never any dissension, at least not in public. Everything passed or was rejected unanimously. At one point, this paper published a story about how the commission had met for something like two years or more without a single 2-1 vote.

The Chambersburg Area School Board failed to approve a districtwide dress code policy, deciding late Wednesday to send the policy back to committee. The vote was unanimous. It is scheduled to be back on the board's agenda for the Nov. 14 meeting. Several hundred people poured into the board's meeting room in the school district's administration building to weigh in on the controversial dress and grooming policy. The original policy banned shorts and jeans, but after dissension from many in the community, those are now permitted with some restrictions.

The Franklin County no-till meeting will be Dec. 17 at the Franklin County Cooperative Extension office in Chambersburg, Pa., from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in basement meeting room 3. Grant Troop, an agronomist from the Penn State Extension Capital Region, will provide new and up-to-date no-till information and demonstrations. Jere Wingert, Penn State Extension agronomy Educator, will discuss utilizing cover crops and then a roundtable discussion will be conducted. Morning refreshments will be served.

The Washington County Free Library will be celebrating National Library Week and National Poetry month by hosting a poetry writing workshop with local storyteller and poet Crystal Brown on Saturday, April 8, at 11 a.m. Children in grades two through six are invited to the hour-long session in the library's B-C Meeting Room. The workshop will include acting out poems with costumes and props, as well as imaginative writing exercises. This program is free, but children must register in advance because space is limited.

The next "Fridays at the Library" for home-schooled students will be "Let's Go Fly a Kite" and will be Friday, April 11, at Washington County Free Library's B/C meeting room, 100 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown. Students will view a presentation on the history of kite-making, and will then design and create their own kite to take home. All materials will be provided. The elementary program will be from 1 to 2 p.m. and the high school program will be from 2 to 3 p.m. Middle school students may choose which session they attend.

The South Jefferson Public Library announces the availability of its meeting room as a venue for local artists to exhibit their work. South Jefferson Public Library is at 49 Church St. in Summit Point. There are two upcoming two-month slots for exhibits - October and November or December and January. Vacancies also exist for 2012 beginning in May. Interested artists interested should contact Curt Mason, art and music coordinator, at cmasonwhf@aol.com or 304-724-7008. 

Occupy Martinsburg will host a free foreclosure workshop Saturday, April 7, from 2 to 5 p.m. in the community meeting room near the food court at the Martinsburg Mall. An attorney and other advisers will be present to provide homeowners with information they can use to protect themselves from foreclosure. The workshop is intended to make homeowners facing foreclosure aware of their rights and options, and how the foreclosure process works.

Want to voice your opinion? Two public hearings are scheduled for the Tempico Mid-Atlantic LLC medical waste treatment plant. The County Commissioners have to amend their solid waste management plan to include Tempico, a requirement for new waste processing facilities. The commissioners will hold a public hearing on the amendment Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the commissioners meeting room at 100 W. Washington St. The Board of Zoning Appeals also must approve the proposal, because medical waste treatment plants are not a primary permitted use in the zoning ordinance.