Mowing

Complaints about overgrown lawns and other weed ordinance violations in Washington County are coming in at such a high rate that the county is considering hiring a contractor to mow those lots, officials said. Since April 12, the county has had 179 weed ordinance complaints, Permits and Inspections Director Daniel F. DiVito said Tuesday. "This is something that is not going away, especially with the number of foreclosures, the properties that are being owned by banks and companies that are not around here," DiVito said.

Graydon Munn, 1, works hard Wednesday morning mowing the grass that has grown from the recent rain in Hagerstown.

CLEAR SPRING - With 10 contractors bidding for the grass mowing contract at Clear Spring's wastewater treatment plant, town officials Monday announced they were awarding the contract to Randy's Multi-Services at 13122 Independence Road in Clear Spring.

FUNKSTOWN - The Funkstown mayor and Town Council voted Monday to give the American Legion in town one month to remove supplies the legion has been keeping in the town's garage.Assistant Mayor Paul N. Crampton Jr. said a representative at the legion was asked if the group would help pay to have the garage roof replaced since it uses the garage, but the group declined. Crampton said the legion houses mowing equipment and other items in the garage, which is at Funkstown Community Park.

There's been a whole lot of mowing going on. When the weather has broken to allow mowing, Hagerstown-area residents are finding themselves mowing more often or mowing higher grass, some said. "I've been mowing twice a week and, normally, I haven't done that in some time," said Earl Babington, 74. Babington said he has been riding his red Toro mower on his Linden Avenue lawn on Tuesdays and Saturdays this spring. "It's staying wet enough for me to keep to that schedule," Babington said.

Book project on Civil War OK'd South Hagerstown High School teacher John Priest can enlist his students in a Civil War book project in the coming school year, school officials decided Tuesday night. The Washington County Board of Education granted Priest, a social studies teacher, permission to undertake the project, related to the 16th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry. It will be the third such student research project since 1989, said Priest, who said the two previous books were well-received.

Spring has sprung and with the arrival of warmer temperatures last week the cereal rye crop has rapidly begun to grow and develop. Stan Fultz, dairy extension agent from Frederick County, and I were working in our forage plots last week and we noticed how fast our rye cover crop was taking off. I know in some areas this crop is quickly approaching knee height. This indicates that the harvest for highest quality forages is just around the corner. Are you ready? Many dairy producers have adopted management practices to maximize forage quality and yields from ryelage.

Sewer project advances WILLIAMSPORT -- The Town of Williamsport is moving ahead on two fronts with a sewer improvement project. The town council formally agreed Monday to accept $1.5 million as a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mayor James G. McCleaf II said the money will pay to replace the town's four pumping stations and for sewer-line improvements on Frederick and North Conococheague streets. The town was offered up to $3.6 million as a loan, but town officials scaled down the project when they learned that borrowing the full amount could raise sewer bills about $7 per month.

By LAURA ERNDE Staff Writer He may walk with the aid of a cane, but that hasn't stopped Frank "Buck" Artz from helping to dig a water line and clear acres of overgrown brush. For the past few weeks, Artz, 70, has been right there beside organizers of the 135th Commemoration of the Battle of Antietam, preparing to turn his 612-acre farm into a tent city this week. "He has just been working like a dog," said his wife, Sally. Reminiscent of the days when he farmed the land, Artz is busy from sunup to sundown.

Name: Florence Taylor-Block Résumé: Realtor, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Board member, Habitat for Humanity of Washington County Born: Oct. 6, 1947 Children: Sons J.D., 36, and Jason, 27 Education: South Hagerstown High School, class of 1965 Mentor: Joan Schupp, a Realtor with Long & Foster. Schupp is "very professional. I just admired the way that she interacted with clients. " Favorite part of your job: "The interaction with people" Least favorite part of your job: "The paperwork" Biggest challenge of your job: "Keeping everybody happy - buyers and sellers.

A Hagerstown man who waited until his neighbor's dog died before breaking into her home last year was sentenced Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to seven years in state prison for that break-in and another burglary. Clyde Eugene Gatrell Jr., 39, of 1257 Magnolia Court, pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and theft of $1,000 to $10,000. Circuit Judge Daniel P. Dwyer sentenced Gatrell to 20 years on each count, suspending all but seven years. After her house was broken into on Oct. 4, 2011, Robin Baker told Hagerstown police that she suspected a neighbor she knew only as “Clyde,” the application for statement of charges said.

Monday, April 2, 2012 PREP BASEBALL THURMONT, Md. - J.T. Root pitched a one-hitter with 12 strikeouts Monday for North Hagerstown in a 9-2 MVAL Antietam victory over previously unbeaten Catoctin (4-1, 3-1). Phil Pietro, Charles Cvijanovich and Alex Courtney each had two hits for North (5-1, 4-1). North    000    133    2    -     9    10    2 Catoctin    200    000    0    -     2    1    2 Root and Williams.

Aaron Dudley had two hits and two RBIs, while Greensboro’s pitching held Hagerstown in check on Sunday in the Grasshoppers’ 5-2 win over the Suns. Hagerstown suffered its fourth straight loss as its lead int he South Atlantic League’s Northern Division shrank to one game over Kannapolis. Dudley drove in runs in the second and sixth innings to help Greensboro win the first three games of the four-game series. Grasshoppers starter Kyle Winters pitched six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits while striking out four.

Complaints about overgrown lawns and other weed ordinance violations in Washington County are coming in at such a high rate that the county is considering hiring a contractor to mow those lots, officials said. Since April 12, the county has had 179 weed ordinance complaints, Permits and Inspections Director Daniel F. DiVito said Tuesday. "This is something that is not going away, especially with the number of foreclosures, the properties that are being owned by banks and companies that are not around here," DiVito said.

Billy Nutter didn't make up his mind until Thursday morning who would start for West End in its losers' bracket final against Hancock. Nutter had to choose between ace right-hander Airin Martin or a committee approach heading into the key Maryland District 1 11-12 contest a hot Hancock team at Hellane Park in the elimination game. "It really was 'no tomorrow' so I wanted to give Martin the ball," said Nutter. "It could also have been his last game on home turf. " Martin responded impressively and guided West End to a 6-2 victory over Hancock and a berth in tonight's championship game at Conococheague at 6. With a setup curveball backed up by a fastball that Hancock batters generally could not catch up with, Martin fashioned a two-hitter, struck out 12 and walked none before reaching his pitch count limit of 85 in 5 2/3 innings.

It's easy to take the power mower for granted and forget how dangerous it is. A recent Consumer Reports poll found that 12 percent of surveyed homeowners drink beer while mowing their lawns. Maybe that's a contributing factor in some of the 85,700 injuries from walk-behind and riding lawn mowers that the Consumer Product Safety Commission says are treated in U.S. emergency rooms each year. The top cause of injuries is flying debris, according to the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, a trade organization in Alexandria, Va. But riding mowers are most deadly, causing about 95 deaths a year, compared to three deaths a year from walk-behind mowers, the CPSC says.

Once St. Maria Goretti pitcher Caroline Rosenthal got locked in Tuesday, Washington's softball team went down very quietly. Rosenthal had 15 strikeouts and was perfect through the final four innings, and the Gaels took the lead with a six-run third inning and scored a 9-3 victory in the Apple Valley League. "She took the game over and pitched an outstanding game," Goretti coach John Marrama said. "She pitched every hitter the way she was supposed to, and she helped herself with two hits today.

Sewer project advances WILLIAMSPORT -- The Town of Williamsport is moving ahead on two fronts with a sewer improvement project. The town council formally agreed Monday to accept $1.5 million as a loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Mayor James G. McCleaf II said the money will pay to replace the town's four pumping stations and for sewer-line improvements on Frederick and North Conococheague streets. The town was offered up to $3.6 million as a loan, but town officials scaled down the project when they learned that borrowing the full amount could raise sewer bills about $7 per month.

Spring has sprung and with the arrival of warmer temperatures last week the cereal rye crop has rapidly begun to grow and develop. Stan Fultz, dairy extension agent from Frederick County, and I were working in our forage plots last week and we noticed how fast our rye cover crop was taking off. I know in some areas this crop is quickly approaching knee height. This indicates that the harvest for highest quality forages is just around the corner. Are you ready? Many dairy producers have adopted management practices to maximize forage quality and yields from ryelage.

The Washington County Board of Education voted Tuesday to approve bids for grass mowing at several schools and for relocating portable classrooms. The vote was unanimous. The board approved a bid of $11,985 for grass mowing services at schools and storm water management ponds, and a bid of about $94,500 per portable classroom. Eighteen portables will be moved from three sites and moved to nine different schools. Board Member Ruth Anne Callaham pointed out that the company hired to provide grass mowing services, Turf Pro Lawn Services, is based in Martinsburg, W.Va.