Queen Street

The 33rd Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival parade on Saturday is expected to effectively detour traffic in downtown Martinsburg for more than three hours, according to organizers and police. Vehicle traffic will be prohibited from traveling on the parade route and the course for Apple Trample 5K race beginning about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. The parade, which starts in the 1300 block of West King Street, is slated to start at 1 p.m. With 196 parade units registered, Apple Harvest Festival board member Kevin McBee said this week he expects the procession could last three to four hours from start to finish.

Life imitates art as a pedestrian braving Monday's rain and wind passes a window display at R. Lewis Clothier on Queen Street in Martinsburg, W.Va.

Dorothy Kerns Widmeyer died Saturday, May 11, 2013. The viewing will be Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, W.Va. A service of remembrance will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church on Queen Street in Martinsburg. Burial will be in Rosedale Cemetery immediately following the remembrance.

State highway officials have agreed to study two intersections in Martinsburg's north end in response to the city's request to address traffic concerns there. State Transportation Secretary Paul A. Mattox Jr. told Mayor George Karos in a memo Aug. 7 that a study of traffic volumes, crash history and physical conditions at Moler Avenue's intersection with North High and North Queen streets should be completed within 90 days. “Once it is completed, I will advise you of the findings of the study and any actions planned by the Division of Highways,” Mattox said in the memo.

The West Virginia Division of Highways announced Thursday that Rosedale Cemetery Road (Berkeley County Route 45/6) will be closed on Monday. The closure is approximately one-tenth mile south of the intersection with Jenny Wren Drive and will be in place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in order to replace a culvert, according to a news release from the division of highways. Motorists are advised to use Burke Street, Queen Street and Moler Avenue. 

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Martinsburg Police Department is reminding residents and motorists that some traffic delays could result from today's police-led funeral procession for police officer J.R. Butcher. Butcher, 30, was a nine-year veteran of the department. He died Thursday after a battle with cancer. The funeral service is from noon to 1 p.m. at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Center on Woodbury Avenue in Martinsburg. Following the service, the procession will travel west on Woodbury to Queen Street and south through the city.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A Martinsburg man was killed Thursday afternoon when the commercial box truck he was driving south on Interstate 81 collided with a 2010 Ford Edge midway between the Queen Street and Dry Run Road exits, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department. David Hull, age unavailable, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a police press release. After hitting the Ford, Hull's truck veered off the interstate and struck several trees, the release stated.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The goal of a monthly sidewalk market downtown is to promote area art and tourism. "Let's Fall in Love with Martinsburg Again" is the theme for the First Saturday Street Fairs that began in April and will run through October, if the weather holds, said Bonnie Rockie, president of ArtBerkeley, a local artisan group. "It snowed in April, so we may start a little later next year," Rockie said. ArtBerkeley, the Heritage Craft Center and Main Street Martinsburg collaborated to present the street fair, Rockie said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The goal of a monthly sidewalk market downtown is to promote area art and tourism. "Let's Fall in Love with Martinsburg Again" is the theme for the First Saturday Street Fairs that began in April and will run through October, if the weather holds, said Bonnie Rockie, president of ArtBerkeley, a local artisan group. "It snowed in April, so we may start a little later next year," Rockie said. ArtBerkeley, the Heritage Craft Center and Main Street Martinsburg collaborated to present the street fair, Rockie said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Chambersburg Police Department and Franklin County Coroner's Office are investigating the death of a borough man whose body was discovered Friday on the bank of Conococheague Creek. Jeffrey Lynn Smith, 35, of 523 Center St., was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:28 p.m. by Franklin County Coroner Jeffrey R. Conner. His body was found on the east bank of the Conococheague below the south end of the Rail Trail trestle between Lincoln Way West and Queen Street, Conner said.

Dorothy Kerns Widmeyer died Saturday, May 11, 2013. The viewing will be Wednesday from 6 to 9 p.m. at Brown Funeral Home in Martinsburg, W.Va. A service of remembrance will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church on Queen Street in Martinsburg. Burial will be in Rosedale Cemetery immediately following the remembrance.

A chocolate cupcake contest takes place Saturday, April 27, as part of Main Street Martinsburg. Bakers must enter two dozen cupcakes. All cupcakes will be entering the Chocolate Walk for the public to taste, as well. Cupcakes must be in standard cupcake liners. All cupcakes must contain chocolate with anything else you want to add. Participants may submit two entries and there are no age restrictions. Bring a small index card stating the type of your cupcake. Please put your name on the card.

In his more than 50 years of real estate ventures, Benson Fogle says his purchase of the Shenandoah Hotel building in downtown Martinsburg stands alone - and not in a good way. “I've never had a property I wasn't able to find tenants for until I ran into the Shenandoah,” Fogle said in a recent interview. Built in the 1920s by community investors, the hotel, its restaurant and ballroom once was a civic and social center for Martinsburg. Former U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy visited and actors Debbie Reynolds and Robert Mitchum once stayed at the five-story landmark on the corner of Martin and Queen streets.

The 33rd Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival parade on Saturday is expected to effectively detour traffic in downtown Martinsburg for more than three hours, according to organizers and police. Vehicle traffic will be prohibited from traveling on the parade route and the course for Apple Trample 5K race beginning about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, police said. The parade, which starts in the 1300 block of West King Street, is slated to start at 1 p.m. With 196 parade units registered, Apple Harvest Festival board member Kevin McBee said this week he expects the procession could last three to four hours from start to finish.

State highway officials have agreed to study two intersections in Martinsburg's north end in response to the city's request to address traffic concerns there. State Transportation Secretary Paul A. Mattox Jr. told Mayor George Karos in a memo Aug. 7 that a study of traffic volumes, crash history and physical conditions at Moler Avenue's intersection with North High and North Queen streets should be completed within 90 days. “Once it is completed, I will advise you of the findings of the study and any actions planned by the Division of Highways,” Mattox said in the memo.

The West Virginia Division of Highways announced Thursday that Rosedale Cemetery Road (Berkeley County Route 45/6) will be closed on Monday. The closure is approximately one-tenth mile south of the intersection with Jenny Wren Drive and will be in place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in order to replace a culvert, according to a news release from the division of highways. Motorists are advised to use Burke Street, Queen Street and Moler Avenue. 

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A Martinsburg man was killed Thursday afternoon when the commercial box truck he was driving south on Interstate 81 collided with a 2010 Ford Edge midway between the Queen Street and Dry Run Road exits, according to the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department. David Hull, age unavailable, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a police press release. After hitting the Ford, Hull's truck veered off the interstate and struck several trees, the release stated.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Martinsburg Police Department is reminding residents and motorists that some traffic delays could result from today's police-led funeral procession for police officer J.R. Butcher. Butcher, 30, was a nine-year veteran of the department. He died Thursday after a battle with cancer. The funeral service is from noon to 1 p.m. at the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Center on Woodbury Avenue in Martinsburg. Following the service, the procession will travel west on Woodbury to Queen Street and south through the city.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Police were looking for at least one suspect in robberies early Monday in downtown Martinsburg in which two men said they were struck in the head before their wallets were taken in separate attacks. A suspect seen leaving the area of a reported robbery in the 200 block of East Martin Street was described as a black male between 6 feet and 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds. The suspect was wearing dark clothing in the robbery, which occurred about 6:27 a.m., police said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Congestion along sections of Queen Street in Martinsburg will continue at least for a couple more days as the West Virginia Division of Highways continues a road-repair project along the heavily traveled road into the city's downtown. Darrell Parsons, Berkeley County's acting DOH road maintenance supervisor, said areas of the road slated for repair are between East Moler Avenue and the intersection of King and Queen streets. Though flashing signs warn motorists of congestion through Saturday, Parsons said he was aware of the heavy congestion and hopes the work can be done in the next day or so. "I'm hoping it doesn't take all week," Parsons said of patching to repair cracking and deterioration.