New Lease

The Maryland Board of Public Works voted 2-1 Wednesday to lease land at a prison complex near Hagerstown to a company planning a $70 million solar farm. The board - made up of Gov. Martin O'Malley, Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp - had to approve the lease for the project to move ahead. The project still needs the approval of the Maryland Public Service Commission, which has scheduled a hearing for Aug. 18 in Baltimore. Franchot questioned the lease proposal, particularly why the state didn't try to share a $24 million federal grant the project would get. However, states aren't allowed to receive credits under that federal program, Raquel Guillory, a spokesman for O'Malley, wrote in an email after the meeting.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Children and families who frequent the Donald "Mike" Waters Memorial Playground will see major changes at the South Second Street park next year - $300,000 in renovations that will be aided by a $150,000 grant announced Thursday by Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Michael DiBerardinis. "I understand what Mike Waters Park is all about because in Philadelphia, I had 157 of them to manage," said DiBerardinis, the former recreation commissioner for Philadelphia when Gov. Ed Rendell was mayor.

charlestown@herald-mail.com SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Feeling a little charitable? How about donating that old car you've been thinking about unloading? Formed in August, a nonprofit organization is reaching throughout the state for donated automobiles for a program to help low-income people get the transportation they need. The Good News Mountaineer Garage specializes in providing automobiles to low-income people with credit problems, said Hal Weber, donated vehicle coordinator for the organization.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- For Stacy Spoonhour, Sept. 7 was at once her birthday, Labor Day and, perhaps most importantly, her independence day. Spoonhour joined family for a celebratory picnic that cool, drizzly Monday at Norlo Park. They indulged in hot dogs, baked macaroni and cheese, and sweet potatoes while observing Spoonhour's 29th birthday. The event also marked Spoonhour's second week out of jail. She engaged in conversation with her cousins, and enjoyed watching her daughter and son run around the park.

marlob@herald-mail.com About seven years ago, Judy Short came to the old downtown Hagerstown YMCA to get herself in shape both physically and emotionally. It worked. She lost 45 pounds and soon got hired to work at the front desk, a job she held for six years. Now she has completed her first year as assistant to the YMCA membership director, Sharee O'Haver. "Everybody in my family always came first, before me. That's the way it has always been," Short said. But several tragic events in Short's life opened her eyes to her own needs.

Tina Schaubroeck of Greencastle walked around the track at Kaley Field with a renewed pep in her step during the American Cancer Society's 19th Annual Greencastle Relay for Life on Saturday. “I just found out this past March that I am free of breast cancer,” said the 41-year-old teacher at Mowrey Elementary School in Waynesboro, Pa. After being diagnosed in December 2011 and losing most of 2012 to cancer treatments, Schaubroeck is determined to make every second of her life count.

Hagerstown City Council members unanimously approved a lease extension Tuesday night, allowing the Hagerstown Suns to use Municipal Stadium through the 1999 baseball season. The new lease for the stadium along East Memorial Boulevard expires Dec. 31, 1999. Suns owner Winston Blenckstone announced in April his intention to keep the Class A minor league baseball team in Hagerstown through next season. Hagerstown and Washington County elected officials will receive the results of a feasibility study for a stadium on Dec. 15. Blenckstone has been lobbying for a new stadium along Interstate 81 to improve attendance for the team, which is affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The owner of the Hagerstown Suns has requested extending its lease for an additional year, meaning the team will remain at its current location for at least two more years. While the extension was mentioned at Tuesday's Hagerstown City Council work session, no council action is required. In March, the city approved a resolution to enter into a new lease agreement that expires Dec. 31, 2004. The team's owner, Mandalay Sports Entertainment, now wants to exercise an option of the agreement, extending the lease to Dec. 31, 2005.

Roger Mattei said he is still kicking himself for selling the building that houses the Millville Post Office five years ago. Now, because of it, the post office is closing for the first time in 128 years. “I should never have sold this place,” lamented Mattei. His big “A“ box holds all the mail generated by his three businesses. “I come here every day. Now I’m going to have to change more than 200 addresses,” he said. Mattei and other patrons of this tiny Jefferson County, W.Va.

Commissioners weigh bids for coronor vehicle CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Franklin County Commissioners opened bids Tuesday for three projects, including a new coroner's vehicle. The county will take a week to consider leasing a 2001 Chevrolet Suburban for Coroner Jeffrey Conner to use to respond to incidents and carry equipment he needs to rope off an accident scene, Commissioner G. Warren Elliott said. The county pays Conner for the mileage he puts on his own vehicle.