Potomac River

Emergency crews responded to the scene of a multiple-vehicle crash on the Potomac River bridge on U.S. 340 shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a Washington County 911 supervisor. Two vehicles were involved in the incident, according to the Maryland State Police. All parties involved refused medical treatment, police said. The crash occurred on the Potomac River bridge at the southern tip of Washington County near the Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia borders. The road was closed for about 30 minutes, police said.

Four people were pulled out of the Potomac River near U.S. 340 and Keep Tryst Road on Saturday night, according to Washington County Emergency Services. All four, one adult male and three female teenagers, refused transport to the hospital, Potomac Valley Fire Chief Eric Gray said. The foursome was tubing on the river around 11 p.m., Gray said. Also responding were emergency services officials from the Boonsboro fire department's Rohrersville substation and Brunswick fire department in Frederick County, Md., according to a 911 supervisor.

A kayaker on the Potomac River was bitten by a copperhead snake Wednesday afternoon after he took a break along the river near Berm Road, according to a Hancock Volunteer Fire Co. spokesman. After rescue crews received the call at 5:15 p.m., the kayaker was flown to Meritus Medical Center, which has anti-venom serum for snake bites, Lt. Raymond Poole said. The victim was transported by medevac helicopter because it was important to treat him as soon as possible, Poole said. The unidentified kayaker was expected to recover, Poole said.

Emergency crews responded to a report of a possibly overturned canoe in the Potomac River near Sandy Hook Tuesday afternoon, but it turned out to just be a deflated raft, a Washington County emergency dispatcher said. The incident happened near the U.S. 340 overpass that crosses the river into West Virginia, the dispatcher said. While on the call, crews spotted several individuals standing on a rock nearby, and one female was suffering from an asthma attack, the dispatcher said.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- Officials believe a 37-year-old man who was found in the Potomac River on Sunday night near Shepherdstown drowned, according to Maryland Natural Resources Police spokesman Sgt. Brian Albert. The man, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y., owns property along the river, Albert said. The man and his girlfriend were at the property for the weekend and the girlfriend found the man's body in the river at about 8:24 p.m., Albert said. Albert said he did not know the name of the man and said the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department is investigating the case.

A search for someone who might have been in danger in the Potomac River was called off Thursday afternoon when a group of kayakers was found to be OK, a Washington County emergency dispatcher said. A report came in at about 3:30 p.m. that someone might have been stranded in a kayak or small raft in the river near Sandy Hook Road. Emergency crews used rescue boats to search the river where it meets the Shenandoah River, near Harpers Ferry, W.Va. However, shortly after 5 p.m., the rescue effort ended when everyone that was part of a group of kayakers was accounted for. A dispatcher said the kayakers had been in the water earlier and someone reported that someone might have been in danger, but the concern turned out to be unfounded.

A man swam 100 yards to shore Sunday night to seek help when his family's canoe tipped in the Potomac River, leaving his wife and 6-year-old daughter clinging to a rock until rescuers arrived, Potomac Valley Fire Co. Chief Eric Gray said. Gray and fire Sgt. Donald Warfield navigated a boat 25 feet from the rock, then Gray swam to the woman and child and pulled them to the rescue boat. He said the water temperature was 62 degrees, and the river is above normal stages. Maryland State Police helicopters provided a spotlight for the rescue, which started after crews were alerted at 6:12 p.m. Everyone was out of the water by 8 p.m., Gray said.

“Rockin' at River Bottom” will be held Saturday at Williamsport's River Bottom Park. The rock festival is a fundraiser to benefit the Potomac River. Gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. Five rock bands are scheduled to perform. The Edmund Allan Brown Band kicks off the event at 11 a.m. Crush Theory performs at 1 p.m., Calisus at 3 p.m., Charm City Devils at 5 p.m. and Rhino Bucket at 7 p.m. (the times are approximate due to band setups). Food will be available for purchase, including breakfast and chicken dinners.

Southbound Interstate 81 was closed Tuesday morning following a single-vehicle accident on the bridge over the Potomac River, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. Police were responding to the accident at 7:48 a.m. Tuesday. Earlier, a tractor-trailer accident caused the exit ramp from southbound Interstate 81 to Exit 2 (Virginia Avenue/U.S. 11) near Williamsport to be closed, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. Police responded to that accident at 6:16 a.m. Tuesday. 

Emergency crews responded to the scene of a multiple-vehicle crash on the Potomac River bridge on U.S. 340 shortly after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to a Washington County 911 supervisor. Two vehicles were involved in the incident, according to the Maryland State Police. All parties involved refused medical treatment, police said. The crash occurred on the Potomac River bridge at the southern tip of Washington County near the Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia borders. The road was closed for about 30 minutes, police said.

The body of a 54-year-old Frederick, Md., man was pulled from the Potomac River at Point of Rocks State Park on Sunday, according to a Maryland State Police news release. Police found a suicide note in the man's home, state police said. The body was taken to the chief medical examiner's office in Baltimore to determine the cause and manner of death. A bicyclist reported seeing the body in the water along the river bank around 4 p.m. Sunday, police said. Carroll Manor Fire Co. firefighters recovered the body, which was in a cove along the river.

Civil War cannons that occupied Doubleday Hill in Williamsport from the late 1800s until they were removed in 2000 returned to their home during a ceremony Saturday. Williamsport Town Councilman Scott Bragunier coordinated the historic project, through which the cannons were sent away to Kentucky firm Steen Cannons for restoration. Bragunier said in 1896, U.S. Sen. Louis E. McComas donated the tubes that had been stockpiled following the war. The town of Williamsport mounted the tubes on bricks and dedicated them on Doubleday Hill on July 4, 1897.

Cut to the Chase Film Festival will be Friday, July 12, through Sunday, July 14, in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Judges include retired CIA agent and writer of "Argo," Tony Mendez; award-winning Shepherdstown photographer Benita Keller; and Emmy-nominated, owner of the Shepherdstown Opera House, Lawrence Cumbo. Cut to the Chase is a short film festival. Local entries are welcome.  All films must be no longer then eight minutes, including titles and credits and must contain the key element.

The price of gas in Maryland, following a tax hike in the General Assembly, is on target to increase by 4 cents in July, with a series of percentage hikes to follow, lasting through the year 2016 - not to mention a permanent tie to inflation. All told, gas likely will cost 20 more cents a gallon by the time the hikes are phased in over the next three years. It goes without saying that rural Marylanders who do the most driving will pay a higher percentage of the new tax, at least on a per-capita basis.

A legal wrangle over where Maryland ends and Virginia begins is continuing, despite a Washington County circuit judge's recent ruling that Maryland's border ends at the water's edge on the south side of the Potomac River. Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. granted a motion by river-ride operators River & Trail Outfitters Inc. of Knoxville, Md., and River Riders Inc. of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., to dismiss a lawsuit by Potomac Shores Inc., which owns a section of the river bottom. In its suit, Potomac Shores claimed that river-rafting operators were using land on the Virginia shore that was within the boundary of Maryland, due to changes in the river's level and course over the years.

Southbound Interstate 81 was closed Tuesday morning following a single-vehicle accident on the bridge over the Potomac River, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. Police were responding to the accident at 7:48 a.m. Tuesday. Earlier, a tractor-trailer accident caused the exit ramp from southbound Interstate 81 to Exit 2 (Virginia Avenue/U.S. 11) near Williamsport to be closed, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. Police responded to that accident at 6:16 a.m. Tuesday. 

A more squeamish people might have called pest control. But not the people of Williamsport. Near the Potomac River at the foot of steep, grassy Doubleday Hill, children played with rats in open shoe boxes. Adults roamed around dressed as rats, and even the mayor found amusement eyeballing a white albino rat in a tank on a table. They were not only tolerating the long-tailed rodents, but celebrating them in a unique, inaugural take on Groundhog Day proudly dubbed River Rat Day. More than 75 people gathered Saturday morning braving roughly 20-degree air to observe whether “Rat-otomac Willie” would see his shadow.

Where the south side of the Potomac River ends and the state of Virginia begins is the subject of a court case in Washington County Circuit Court between the owners of the river bottom and two river rafting companies. On Friday, Circuit Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. heard arguments on a defense motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Potomac Shores Inc. against River & Trail Outfitters of Knoxville, Md., and River Riders Inc. of Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Potomac Shores Inc. owns more than 500 acres of land that includes the bottom of the Potomac River and that property extends to what is now dry land on the Virginia side, due to changes in the course of the river, Potomac Shores' attorney Bradford Webb argued during in the hearing.

“Rockin' at River Bottom” will be held Saturday at Williamsport's River Bottom Park. The rock festival is a fundraiser to benefit the Potomac River. Gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. Five rock bands are scheduled to perform. The Edmund Allan Brown Band kicks off the event at 11 a.m. Crush Theory performs at 1 p.m., Calisus at 3 p.m., Charm City Devils at 5 p.m. and Rhino Bucket at 7 p.m. (the times are approximate due to band setups). Food will be available for purchase, including breakfast and chicken dinners.