Research

Investigators seek clues in I-70 copter crash Employees of Frederick firm among 4 killed in copter crash on I-70 Hagerstown house fire started in basement workshop Officials speak out against closing Sideling Hill center Shippensburg profs' baby name research draws media attention

On Saturday, April 18, the MS Walk will be held at Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg. Participants in the 5K walk will raise funds for research, programs and services provided by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. For more information, go to www.walkmsmaryland.org or call 1-800-FIGHT MS More than 8,000 walkers are expected to participate in nine communities statewide.

The board of directors of SHAF, or Save Historic Antietam Foundation Inc., voted  to establish a stipend for scholars willing to research selected aspects of the Maryland campaign of 1862, especially the battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg. The award is named in honor of Joseph L. Harsh, longtime professor at George Mason University, and author of the prize-winning trilogy on the Maryland Campaign.  Through the generosity of the family and friends of Harsh, SHAF is able to provide an annual stipend of up to $2,500 for those who apply to undertake a project that is beneficial to understanding various aspects of the campaign and battle.  The stipend will be offered annually, and will be awarded based on a decision by a committee composed of representatives of the SHAF board of directors, the Harsh family and Antietam National Battlefield.

Join the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Maryland Chapter, in the fight against MS by joining its annual walk. On Saturday, April 12, at 10 a.m., Antietam National Battlefield will host the annual 5K walk to raise funds for research, programs and services provided by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. To register or find out more, go to www.marylandmswalk.org or call 443-641-1200. The walk is the Maryland chapter's largest fundraising campaign, and organizers have set their goal to raise $1.5 million.

Hagerstown will host 150 members of the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society for their annual fall meeting on Saturday. The theme for the meeting is "Putting the Family Puzzle Together: Research and Writing. " The group is a genealogical society founded in 1982. Its mission is to stimulate and facilitate research on Germanic genealogy and heritage in the mid-Atlantic region and to promote genealogical research of Germanic ancestors who settled in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A second round of bids to make hundreds of Franklin County computers Y2K compliant were lower and much closer together than three that were rejected by the Board of Commissioners two weeks ago. American Advanced Computers of Williamsport, Md., lowered its bid by more than $10,000 to come in the lowest at $6,998. RBA Inc. of State College, Pa., submitted a bid of $7,280 and Sunrise Computers sent in a bid of $13,657. The RBA bid was unchanged from the one submitted last month, but the Sunrise bid was about a third of its previous estimate for fixing the computers and software research.

bonnieb@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, PA. - A sign hanging in the hallway of a Waynesboro-area church reads, "To a genealogist, a step backward is progress. " At the Fairview Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Mentzer Gap Road, genealogists, whether new to the hobby or old hands at it, can find a variety of aids to researching their ancestry. Local speakers are presenting classes and workshops on such topics as Tips and Rewards for Using family.

scottb@herald-mail.com Allegheny Energy officials asked the Washington County Planning Commission during a public hearing Monday to create a new zoning designation and rezone the 452-acre Friendship Technology Park property south of Interstate 70 along Downsville Pike to the new classification. Currently, 244 of the acres at the site are zoned planned industrial and 208 acres are zoned agricultural, county documents said. The 452 acres include Allegheny Energy corporate headquarters.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A state marker noting Chambersburg's role in the Civil War-era Underground Railroad will go up later this year. Local historian James Wolfson said he spent more than two years working on the request to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission with Downtown Chambersburg Inc. He said the process of finding facts for the application was difficult, taking him throughout Southcentral Pennsylvania, scouring newspaper archives, historical journals and court records.