Plumbing

The following were the first-place winners in Saturday's 2007 skills contest hosted by the Cumberland Valley Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors. · Mitchell DeLashmutt - carpentry · John Eyler - plumbing · Floyd Harbert Jr. - sheet metal · Carlos Hoyos - HVAC · Austen McCarter - electrical

Hagerstown city officials recently condemned Zipper's, a bar on North Jonathan Street, because the owners were doing electrical, plumbing and other types of construction without proper permits, said John Lestitian, the city's director of code administration. Lestitian said the business was condemned March 13 for failure to obtain the permits. Since then, the owners have applied for and been granted electrical and plumbing permits. All they need now is a building permit, he said.

Hagerstown Council members on Tuesday introduced an ordinance to buy 58 more acres to protect the watershed by the city's Edgemont reservoir. The city purchased the land north of Raven Rock Road at Ritchie Road for $253,500 from John C. and Miriam I. Fraver, according to the ordinance. Council members are expected to approve the purchase on Oct. 28. . A Hagerstown Housing Authority employee was appointed to Hagerstown's Board of Technical Appeals on Tuesday. Michael Stoner, of Hickory Hill Road, was appointed to the board by a 4-0 vote on Tuesday night.

HAGERSTOWN - Hammers pounded and saws buzzed as about 35 Tri-State-area apprentices competed to be the best in their trade Saturday during the 2007 skills contest at the Barr Construction Institute on North Locust Street in Hagerstown. The event was sponsored by the Cumberland Valley Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors. Participants competed in one of five categories - carpentry, electrical, HVAC, plumbing and sheet metal. Competitors who won the hands-on portion of their category and scored 85 percent on the written test will advance to compete at the nationals next month in Nashville, Tenn.

By STEVEN T. DENNIS Staff Writer The Washington County Commissioners delayed a vote on raising permit fees Tuesday after some commissioners raised questions about the size and fairness of the proposed 50 percent hike. The commissioners approved updated building, plumbing, mechanical and electrical codes but balked when it came to proposed rate hikes. Paul Prodonovich, director of permits and inspections, had proposed increases in building, plumbing and electrical fees and proposed imposing fees for the first time on mechanical inspections.

HAGERSTOWN -- The City of Hagerstown has cited the owner of property on West Antietam Street for a large hole that was cut in the sidewalk, a city official said. John Lestitian, the city's chief code compliance officer, said the hole in front of 21 W. Antietam St. was made as part of interior plumbing work, but the work was started without a permit. The city issued a notice of violation because there was no permit and because the work was being done without proper safety measures, Lestitian said.

Washington County Health Department Carla Freeman has been named Washington County Health Department's Employee of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2011. Freeman has been employed by the health department since 2008, where she works as a community health nurse with the communicable disease program. In that capacity, she identifies, tracks and reports communicable disease outbreaks and works with the clinic programs that provide family planning, sexually transmitted disease prevention, tuberculosis screening and childhood immunizations.

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail publishes "A Life Remembered. " This continuing series takes a look back -- through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others -- at a member of the community who died recently. Today's "A Life Remembered" is about Richard C. "Dick" Shain, who died July 23 at the age of 63. His obituary was published July 29 in The Herald-Mail. In the 1960s, "Sears has everything" was a popular commercial catch phrase. It seems Sears had just what Dick Shain was looking for -- he found his future wife, Mary Willson, working at the Sears switchboard when he was selling carpet for the chain store at night.

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail publishes "A Life Remembered. " This continuing series takes a look back -- through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others -- at a member of the community who died recently. Today's "A Life Remembered" is about Rupert Cuneen, who died June 14 at the age of 84. His obituary was published in the June 16 edition of The Herald-Mail. When World War II ended, Rupert "Rupe" Cuneen boarded a train with every intention of returning to his Wisconsin home.

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail publishes "A Life Remembered. " This continuing series takes a look back - through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others - at a member of the community who died recently. Today's "A Life Remembered" is about Rupert Cuneen, who died June 14 at the age of 84. His obituary was published in the June 16 edition of The Herald-Mail. When World War II ended, Rupert "Rupe" Cuneen boarded a train with every intention of returning to his Wisconsin home.

Clear Spring's Plumb Grove Mansion took on the role of the Lincoln White House during filming Monday and Tuesday for a Civil War-themed documentary for the Smithsonian Channel. The documentary will be a three-part series currently called “Smithsonian Civil War Treasure” shows created byWashington, D.C.-based television production company The Biscuit Factory. The three shows document the experience of the Union, the experience of the Confederacy and the story of the ending of slavery.

The family of a Smithsburg man who died Tuesday in a car crash said he will be remembered for his sense of humor and willingness to help others. Alexa Masser said her father-in-law, George Masser, liked to tell stories and play cards with his children and grandchildren. "He will be missed," Alexa Masser said. "He would tease the kids like there was no tomorrow. He was always making them laugh. " Alexa Masser said her father-in-law was well known in the community. He owned George's Auto Body in Frederick, Md., in the 1970s and later worked for the Frederick County Board of Education at Linganore High School, where he was in the maintenance department.

Washington County Health Department Carla Freeman has been named Washington County Health Department's Employee of the Quarter for the first quarter of 2011. Freeman has been employed by the health department since 2008, where she works as a community health nurse with the communicable disease program. In that capacity, she identifies, tracks and reports communicable disease outbreaks and works with the clinic programs that provide family planning, sexually transmitted disease prevention, tuberculosis screening and childhood immunizations.

CLEAR SPRING -- Colleen Cashell learned the secret to stringing gumdrops for holiday decorating from an 82-year-old aunt. "A little bit of oil on the thread (and) they slide right on," Cashell said Saturday at the historic Plumb Grove mansion in Clear Spring. Built in 1831, the brick home off Broadfording Road was adorned in Christmas greens and finery for Plumb Grove by Candlelight, a one-day open house held by the Clear Spring District Historical Association, which has all but fully restored the property.

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail publishes "A Life Remembered. " This continuing series takes a look back -- through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others -- at a member of the community who died recently. Today's "A Life Remembered" is about Richard C. "Dick" Shain, who died July 23 at the age of 63. His obituary was published July 29 in The Herald-Mail. In the 1960s, "Sears has everything" was a popular commercial catch phrase. It seems Sears had just what Dick Shain was looking for -- he found his future wife, Mary Willson, working at the Sears switchboard when he was selling carpet for the chain store at night.

HAGERSTOWN -- The City of Hagerstown has cited the owner of property on West Antietam Street for a large hole that was cut in the sidewalk, a city official said. John Lestitian, the city's chief code compliance officer, said the hole in front of 21 W. Antietam St. was made as part of interior plumbing work, but the work was started without a permit. The city issued a notice of violation because there was no permit and because the work was being done without proper safety measures, Lestitian said.

Dear Pat: I am totally redoing the kitchen and bathrooms in an older house. I plan to do the plumbing myself. Because I cannot solder copper pipe, can I just use plastic pipe throughout? - Erika K. Dear Erika: Plastic pipes can be used throughout your remodeling projects. Although it can be a somewhat time-consuming task, it definitely is a do-it-yourself job. You will need to have to use several types of plastic-pipe materials to do the entire job. For no-pressure drain-waste-vent lines, or DMW, white polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, pipe is commonly used.

CLEAR SPRING - The bad news is there is always something that needs doing at Plumb Grove, the period property owned and managed by the Clear Spring District Historical Association. But the good news is there is a dedicated group of men who volunteer every Monday to take care of the heavier duties at the home just off Broadfording Road near the school complex. Led by Jim Seibert, the group consists of Jesse Shoemaker, Paul Bowers, Bill Lane, Sam Gossard, Harold Kline, Bob Weaver and Carl Llewellyn, the oldest member who now lives at Homewood.

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail publishes "A Life Remembered. " This continuing series takes a look back - through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others - at a member of the community who died recently. Today's "A Life Remembered" is about Rupert Cuneen, who died June 14 at the age of 84. His obituary was published in the June 16 edition of The Herald-Mail. When World War II ended, Rupert "Rupe" Cuneen boarded a train with every intention of returning to his Wisconsin home.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Chambersburg Police Department was investigating a burglary at Rodney B. Smith Plumbing and Heating, 940 Hollywell Ave., in which lengths of copper pipe were stolen. The fence of the business was scaled between Wednesday afternoon and 6 a.m. Thursday, police said. The pipes were stolen from roof racks on company trucks, police said. That same night six 4-foot sections of copper pipe were cut from an outside wall at a town house construction site on the 200 block of Merriweather Drive, police said.