Shepherd University

The Really Really Free Market, a public exchange of unwanted stuff, has occupied the wall in front of Shepherd University's McMurran Hall in downtown Shepherdstown one weekend a month for the last five summers. It was a popular greeting spot, a place where the discards of daily living are dropped off to be taken to another home to be reused, reread or reworn. It was all of those things and more until earlier this month, when Shepherd University officials told the free market organizers that they could no longer set it up on the wall.

Sunday, April 21, 2013 GIRLS LACROSSE North Hagerstown 23, Catoctin 2 THURMONT, Md. - Kayla Peterson had seven goals and two assists, and twin sister Leah Peterson added six goals and four assists as the Hubs rolled past the Cougars (1-6, 1-2) on Saturday in an MVAL Antietam contest. Maddie Palkovitz had five goals and an assist, and Anna Compton added two goals and four assists for North (7-1, 2-0). Adrienne Kramer had a goal and two assists, Natalie Karlen and Deanna Brunner scored one goal each, Savannah Plemmons and Natalie Bye had one assist each, and Emma Moss made eight saves.

A Jefferson County grand jury this week indicted a Shepherd University employee on multiple charges of fraudulent use of the college's purchase cards in a case involving nearly $86,000 from October 2010 to August 2012, according to court records. Elizabeth A. “Libby” Shanton, 48, of 328 N. Centre St. in Martinsburg, W.Va., was indicted on 53 counts of fraudulent or unauthorized use of a purchasing card and one count of fraudulent schemes. According to a memorandum to Shepherd employees this week from university President Suzanne Shipley, school officials became aware “of the appearance of improper expenditures by an employee,” and contacted the state auditor's office.

The second of three buildings forming Shepherd University's Center for Contemporary Arts, a “building designed from the inside out,” was dedicated Thursday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the West Campus. “That's what happens when the inside dictates what the outside of a building looks like,” said Dow Benedict, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities. The exterior of the 26,000-square-foot, three-story structure is clad in heavy copper shingles that time will darken with a patina.

An agreement signed Wednesday by leaders of Blue Ridge Community and Technical College and the University of Charleston provides another option for students to seamlessly transfer from one school to the other to continue their education, officials said. The agreement provides Blue Ridge CTC students who complete an associate degree the option of transferring to the University of Charleston's Martinsburg campus to pursue a bachelor's degree without the risk of losing credit for completed course work.

Kelli Ayers Cook, RN, 56, of Hanover, Va., and a Hagerstown native, died Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Savage, Md., after a three-year battle with breast cancer. Born Dec. 24, 1956, she was the daughter of Gladys Ayers Vollmerhausen of Savage and the late Norman H. Ayers. In addition to her mother, she is survived by her sister, Bonnie J. Ayers, and adored daughter, Emily M. Cook, both of Germantown; and many, many friends and loved ones. Kelli graduated from North Hagerstown High School in 1974, Hagerstown Junior College in 1976 and received a bachelor of arts from Shepherd University in 1978.

On Tuesday, the Hagerstown Lions Club will hold its annual  Friendship Day when members invite others in the community to the club to experience the friendship, fellowship and enthusiasm of the Lions Club and learn more about its service to the community and what Lions Clubs International is doing throughout the world. This is a time to introduce a friend, relative or associate to the Hagerstown Lions Club.  A new member induction is also scheduled for Tuesday's meeting. Member Chris Brunner will sponsor Ryan Burns.

When the robot R2-D2 showed up in the Star Wars movies, a lot of people probably thought it would be well in the future before something like that became reality. Well, that day is here. A robotics festival at Shepherd University this weekend featured robots that can find fire in rooms and a solar-powered balloon contraption that can be used to take photographs on a battlefield and pick up military intelligence. Robots are in use today, like those that look for explosives, said Seung-yun Kim, an assistant professor of computer information and science at Shepherd University who organized the third annual ShepRobo Fest at the Butcher Center.

Saturday, March 30, 2013 COLLEGE BASEBALL Hagerstown Community College snapped a six-game losing streak with a pair of wins in a doubleheader sweep of Anne Arundel. Garrett Sprankle had two hits and an RBI, and Tyler Walter and Devin Schaeffer each hit an RBI single in an opening 4-2 win for the Hawks. Tanner Partlow (5-1) pitched a five-hitter with four strikeouts. Eric Schanzenbacher had two hits and an RBI, and Walter drove in two in the second game for HCC (18-13)

Bethany Norris loves to sing. In fact, she loves it so much that she often sings “from the time she wakes up in the morning to the time she goes to bed,” according to her mother, Julie Norris of Keedysville. “She started singing, really, when she was 3 in our church choir and had her first solo when she was like 4 or 5,” Julie Norris said of her 11-year-old daughter. On Saturday afternoon at The Maryland Theatre, Bethany's love for singing scored her a cool $1,000 as the winner of the Search for the Stars final, an event hosted by Herald-Mail Media.