Public Access

Maryland flunks public access test By JIM LEE / Editor, Carroll County Times People visiting government offices in search of school violence reports, routine police arrest logs or other public documents have about a one-in-four chance of immediately getting what they are looking for. Half the time they will get nothing. And a lot of the time they will be quizzed about who they are, who they work for and why they want the record, in direct violation of the state's Public Information Act. A June 15 audit of Maryland public record access conducted by 20 newspapers from across the state, including The Herald-Mail, revealed that public officials routinely deny public access to even the most basic records.

I realize that for many people this week is one of March madness and dreams of Spring. This week past also should be noted because it was Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort by the newspaper industry to increase access to public information and to generally increase the flow of information in our country. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert or an authority on the subject. There are ombudsmen at big papers and a lot of attorneys at newspaper associations who fill that bill.

Berkeley County has no public access to the Potomac River, so preserving the ecosystem of the fishing pond at Poor House Farm Park is important, says Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Board Executive Director Steve Catlett. The parks and recreation board on Tuesday authorized Catlett to rent equipment to dredge the 5-acre pond without draining it. "It shouldn't affect the fishing much at all," Catlett said Tuesday evening. The decision to scrape silt from the bottom of the fishing site in the 137-acre park comes about two months after an estimated 200 to 250 catfish died in the pond.

Berkeley County Commission forms cable advisory group By BOB PARTLOW / Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Berkeley County Commission recently created an advisory committee to recommend ideas to be included in a new cable television franchise. The commission also appointed five people to what will be a seven-member Berkeley County Cable Advisory Board March 8. Four of the seven spoke at a public hearing before the commission at the time about upgrading the cable franchise agreement.

FREDERICK, Md. - The city is opening a "black book" reading room for people who want to see 8,500 pages, plus video and photographs, documenting its investigation of a prostitution ring, Mayor Jennifer Dougherty said Tuesday. The material includes pornographic photos and video that can only be viewed by people 18 or older, said Heather Price Smith, the city's chief lawyer. The documents will be available for viewing under supervision by a city attorney from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. weekdays, starting Wednesday, Dougherty said.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, Pa. - The 70-plus acres of land known as Happel's Meadow Wetland Preserve, once a thriving truck garden that specialized in growing celery, has been an untouched local treasure for the last 60 years. If Washington Township can secure a $67,000 grant and raise a local match, Happel's Meadow, a flattened swamp on top of the mountain leading into Blue Ridge Summit, will become a bird watchers' and nature lovers' paradise. The land to be bought will be turned into a parking area for vehicles and school buses, will allow for the construction of a nature center and, for the first time, provide public access to the wetlands.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Plumbers and other contractors have been working double shifts at Waynesboro Area Senior High School to push themselves ahead of schedule in renovating the existing building, according to Jeff Adams, maintenance supervisor. Their other focus is the 108,000-square-foot addition with the school's new three-court gymnasium and auditorium. Recent efforts for the $46 million renovation and expansion project have fireproofed the new construction. "The original auditorium is being transformed into our new cafeteria," Adams said.

ANNAPOLIS tammyb@herald-mail.com Two bills that would expand Maryland's Open Meetings Act - to permit more public access to actions taken in closed meetings - were presented Thursday in the House Health and Government Operations Committee. One, sponsored by Del. Richard B. Weldon, R-Washington/Frederick, requires a public body that adjourns an open meeting for an "executive function" to report those functions in its minutes for its next meeting. The second, sponsored by Del. James W. Hubbard, D-Prince George's, would change the law's exemption from "executive function" to "administrative function" and would subject such activities to the same notice requirements as open meetings.

Two public meetings on future cable and telecommunications needs in Washington County will be held today at Hagerstown Community College's Kepler Theater. The County Commissioners are considering franchise agreements with cable service providers in the county and would like feedback from the public. The first meeting will be for special interest groups; the public is encouraged to attend the second meeting. Both meetings are open to the public. In March, the commissioners voted to pay a consultant $25,000 to study the county's cable needs.

To Robert Glausier and John Bumbaugh, Washington County's Veterans of the Year and all their brave colleagues who served so that America could remain "the land of the free. " To JLG Industries, Inc. of Fulton County, Pa, for being named one of the top 10 manufacturing plants in the U.S. by Industry Week magazine. Congratulations to those who helped achieve this. To Craig Loy, head of the Division of Motor Vehicles Martinsburg, W.Va. district for seeking home confinement instead of jail time for driving on a revoked license.

Washington County has deep Civil War roots, and learning about it is only a remote control click away. On Monday, Sept. 17, Antietam Cable will premiere the seven-part "The Civil War in Washington County" series. The show airs at 8 p.m. on Antietam Cable's Channel 30. Producer David Dull said the series will begin before the war with John Brown's Raid and follow the history into the post-war years. Dull said the project started last year. He said he had lunch in November with local historians Ted Alexander, Tom Clemens and Dennis Frye, to discuss a way to bring local Civil War history to the TV screen.

Berkeley County has no public access to the Potomac River, so preserving the ecosystem of the fishing pond at Poor House Farm Park is important, says Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Board Executive Director Steve Catlett. The parks and recreation board on Tuesday authorized Catlett to rent equipment to dredge the 5-acre pond without draining it. "It shouldn't affect the fishing much at all," Catlett said Tuesday evening. The decision to scrape silt from the bottom of the fishing site in the 137-acre park comes about two months after an estimated 200 to 250 catfish died in the pond.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Internet users everywhere can now view Hank Williams' death certificate, Gov. Joe Manchin's marriage certificate or great-grandpa's birth certificate through an upgraded online database of more than 5.7 million vital records in West Virginia, officials said Thursday. Unlike most states that provide only lists or indices of vital records online, West Virginia's database also includes images of the original files, said Joe Geiger, director of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History's Archives and History Section.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A six-year-old Ranson, W.Va., boy who went under water for about four minutes while swimming on the Shenandoah River near Shannondale Sunday died Sunday night, a state Division of Natural Resources official said. The boy died at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., about 11 p.m., Sunday, said DNR officer Ken White. The boy was flown to the hospital from Jefferson Memorial Hospital following the accident, officials said. It appears the boy died from drowning but an autopsy will be conducted by a medical examiner in Washington, D.C., to determine the cause of death, White said.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. -- Plans by a brick manufacturer to quarry shale next to a southern Berkeley County town were assailed Wednesday at a public hearing attended by about 150 people who heartily applauded practically every lawmaker and resident who spoke out against the project. "I live probably about as far from this proposal as you can get and still live in Berkeley County and I stand completely opposed to this project," Clint Hogbin said of plans by North Mountain Shale LLC to mine shale from land near Gerrardstown, W.Va.

CHARLES TOWN, W.VA. -- Ruth Anne McQuade said she would bring "tenaciousness and toughness" to the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's office, if voters elected her to replace Michael D. Thompson in the May 13 primary election. Ralph A. Lorenzetti Jr. said he would bring "people skills" and the ability to talk to anybody. With no Republican candidates on the ballot, the Democratic Party's nominee will have a clear shot at being elected to the office in the November general election.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Plumbers and other contractors have been working double shifts at Waynesboro Area Senior High School to push themselves ahead of schedule in renovating the existing building, according to Jeff Adams, maintenance supervisor. Their other focus is the 108,000-square-foot addition with the school's new three-court gymnasium and auditorium. Recent efforts for the $46 million renovation and expansion project have fireproofed the new construction. "The original auditorium is being transformed into our new cafeteria," Adams said.

For more than 25 years, a home on North Locust Street served as a window to black history for visitors and school groups, brimming with five rooms full of old photos, bills of slave sales, quilts made by slaves to commemorate their freedom and other artifacts bought or donated from local families. Since its curator, Marguerite Doleman, died in 2000, public access to the collection has been limited, and the items have been packed into boxes, Hagerstown Planning Director Kathy Maher said.

Last week's question: Many who responded to this column recently called for better communication between citizens and Washington County government. Would it help if the county televised its meetings as Hagerstown does? · Yes, it would be helpful to be able to access the meetings via television. I was outraged to learn of the language used by former Commissioner John Munson in a meeting last year. I believe that if video of that event would've been made public widespread condemnation would have resulted.

I realize that for many people this week is one of March madness and dreams of Spring. This week past also should be noted because it was Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort by the newspaper industry to increase access to public information and to generally increase the flow of information in our country. I'm not going to pretend to be an expert or an authority on the subject. There are ombudsmen at big papers and a lot of attorneys at newspaper associations who fill that bill.