Real Estate

MARCH 25, 1946-FEB. 7, 2009 MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Mary Jo Kelley, 62, of Martinsburg, died Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009, at Heartland of Martinsburg. Born March 25, 1946, in Martinsburg, she was the daughter of the late Howard Pierce and Mary Boyd Pierce. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack K. Kelley. She was a former real estate agent in the Martinsburg area and helped run Northeastern College of Real Estate with her husband. She was a member of Crossroads Community Church.

The Hagerstown Hotel and Convention Center property at 1910 Dual Highway is scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction on Tuesday. The sale is set for 11 a.m. at the entrance to the Washington County Courthouse, according to a notice filed by Richard E. Hagerty, substitute trustee with Troutman Sanders LLP of McLean, Va. The property is being sold because owners Watchwood LLC and Bahman Inc. defaulted under the terms of their 2006 financing agreements...

Anyone with lingering doubts about the abilities of Washington County Schools Superintendent Betty Morgan need only peep at the photo on the front page of the March 5 Morning Herald. There's Vincent Groh, purveyor of more empty floor space than a principal at a middle school slow-dance, giving the historic Henry's Theater building to the City of Hagerstown for eventual use as a magnate school for budding young performers and artists. Yes, giving. Yes, that Vincent Groh. If you can dust off the heart of Hagerstown's own Mr. Burns, as Morgan and city economic development coordinator Debbie Everhart did, what can't you accomplish?

HAGERSTOWN -- About 170 Washington County properties are expected to go on the auction block Tuesday during a tax collector's real estate sale. The sale, which is to begin at 9 a.m. in the rear of the Washington County Office Building at 35 W. Washington St., is held annually to sell properties on which taxes are overdue, Washington County Treasurer Todd L. Hershey said. Properties are offered for bid if the taxes aren't paid by 4:30 p.m. the day before the sale. When the county began advertising on June 6 that a tax sale would be held, about 315 properties were listed.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Potomac Shopping Center, built 37 years ago to serve Waynesboro's south end, has been sold to two local men, the owner of the 13-store complex said Wednesday. Nickson Oyer said he sold the shopping center to Dr. Robert G. Zimmerman, a dentist, and Paul Gunder, a real estate agent, for $1.182 million. Oyer said he sold the property because he is getting up in years and wants to do some estate planning. He and his wife, Alma Oyer, built the center in 1962. It was built for Builders and Developers Inc., their development company, he said.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Construction is moving along swiftly on a T. Rowe Price backup data-recovery center being built at the intersection of Downsville Pike and Rench Road south of Hagerstown, a company official said. Crews are putting up the structural exterior walls and steel, and intend to have the building roofed in by winter, said T. Rowe Price Vice President Mark Ruhe, who oversees the company's real estate. Local economic development officials announced the project in February, when the Washington County Commissioners agreed to offer T. Rowe Price an $810,000 incentive.

HCC Terrie Angle, a professor of English as a second language (ESL) and foreign languages, was named Hagerstown Community College's Faculty Member of the Year. Angle, of Hagerstown, has been an instructor at HCC since 1988. She has taught French, Spanish and English at HCC, French at Mack Trucks Inc. and Tecksol Industries, and Spanish at Robinwood Medical Center and the Washington County Sheriff's Department. From 2003 to 2006, she was the chair of HCC's English and Humanities Division.

Great care To the editor: On March 8, my dearest friend and I were involved in a single-car accident on Maugans Avenue in Hagerstown. I lost control of the SUV I was driving after hitting a pile of snow on the side of the road. My vehicle rolled several times, leaving my friend and me trapped inside. Thanks to alert citizens calling 911, the Maugansville Fire and Rescue Company 13 responded in record time. After 30 minutes they succeeded in removing the roof of my vehicle and freeing my friend and me. I can't say enough about the kind and compassionate care given by members of this fire company and fire companies all over this great country who give selflessly of their time and energy to ensure the safety of others.