Shepherdstown

Police on Monday apprehended a Harpers Ferry, W.Va., man at his home in connection with a robbery last Friday at Jefferson Security Bank on Princess Street, police said. Mark David Swann, 49, who is charged with robbery, did not offer any resistance when police took him into custody, Patrolman Mike King of the Shepherdstown Police Department said Monday night. Shepherdstown police officers along with officers from the West Virginia State Police, the U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force, and the Harpers Ferry Police Department assisted in the apprehension, said Shepherdstown Police Chief David Ransom Jr. Swann's home was also searched, Ransom said.

A pedestrian crosses W.Va. 480 between the East and West campuses of Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va., on Wednesday.

The town of Shepherdstown is spending $4 million to increase the capacity, flow and pressure of its public water system by replacing two aging 500,000-gallon water tanks on W.Va. 45 about a mile from the corporate limits. The first one old tank was razed to make room for the first of two new 700,000-gallon tanks which is expected to go on line this spring, said Public Works Director Frank Welch. The remaining old tank will be razed to make room for the second new one schedule to be ready for service in September.

Fire companies from West Virginia and Maryland were still on the scene late Thursday night of a house fire north of Shepherdstown. John Lehman, the homeowner at 3953 Shepherd Grade Road, said no one was home when the blaze started. Lehman said the home had recently been put on the market, and he and his family had lived there for about a year. As best he could determine while standing in the pouring rain, it looked like the fire started in a back corner of the house, Lehman said.

A fire Friday night heavily damaged a blacksmith shop in the 300 block of South Princess Street, Shepherdstown Fire Chief Ross Morgan said. The fire was called in at about 6:30 p.m. and firefighters were on the scene until after 8 p.m., Morgan said. The cause of the fire was being investigated by the State Fire Marshal's Office and town police, he said. The fire was in a wooden two-story building that measured about 50 feet by 25 feet, Morgan said. It had been rented to a blacksmith, he said.

Adrienne Morgan got her start in business as a young girl helping by her father, a painting contractor, keep his account payables and receivable in good order. "I knew even then that I wanted one day to own my own company," said Morgan, president and chief executive officer of A-Zone Environmental Service LLC, her seven-year-old, six-employee company based in Charles Town, W.Va. Morgan told an audience of more than 50 Eastern Panhandle small business owners that she was awarded a $4 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract for environmental remediation services.

Historic Christ Reformed Church in Shepherdstown will welcome Emma Kathleen “Katie” Morgan as the guest preacher on homecoming Sunday, Nov. 11, at its 11 a.m. service.  A recent Master's of Divinity graduate from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, Morgan is the daughter of D.L. and Tara Morgan of Shepherdstown, and the granddaughter of Mary Ann Morgan, organist and director of music at Christ Church. The church, founded in 1747, is a congregation of German Reformed heritage within the United Church of Christ.

Robert William Bryant, 87, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., died Wednesday, May 15, 2013, at his home. A Celebration of Life will be Sunday, June 16, at 1 p.m. at St. Peters Lutheran Church, Shepherdstown. Arrangements are by Melvin T. Strider Colonial Funeral Home, Charles Town, W.Va.

The CASA River Century Charity Bike Ride is Saturday, starting and finishing at the Butcher Center at Shepherd University. Cycling routes of 25, 50 and 100 miles are available, with the 50- and 100-mile routes touring the most scenic parts of Berkeley and Jefferson counties. All registration and route information can be found at www.casarivercentury.org; online registration will remain open until noon Wednesday. Registration for the 100-mile ride must be done in advance, but registrants for the 50- and 25-mile routes will be accepted Friday from 4 to 9 p.m. at Shepherd University's Wellness Center and Saturday beginning at 5:30 a.m. at the Butcher Center.

Shepherdstown police were investigating a report of a possible abduction attempt Friday morning that reportedly involved a man who was driving a white work van. A female told police she was jogging in Shepherdstown when the man drove past her a couple of times during the course of her run, according to a news release. She reported the incident about 9:10 a.m., police said. The van pulled beside her in the 200 block of West German Street and the driver, a white man believed to be 50 to 55 years old, made several verbal attempts to get her to get into the van, according to the news release.

Donna Lynn DeBerry, 58, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., died Wednesday, May 1, 2013, at her residence. Visitation  will be two hours prior to service. The service will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

Richard Charles Marsh, 83, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., died Tuesday, April 30, 2013, at his residence. Services and inurnment will be held at a later date. Arrangements are by Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

Bill Tchakirides, age 66, retired, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., died peacefully Saturday, April 27. Bill was born May 24, 1946, in Waterbury, Conn., the son of the late William Tchakirides and Doris (Barsale) Tchakirides, formerly of Bristol and Farmington, Conn., now residing in Manassas, Va. Bill is survived by his wife, Ellen Louise Smith of Shepherdstown, and by his children, Cassandra Corrigan and husband, Matthew Corrigan, of Manchester, Conn.; Penelope Cantor of Williamsport, Md.; William “Buddy” Tchakirides and wife, Rachel Neal-Tchakirides, of Milwaukee, Wis.; five grandchildren, John, Milo, Jason, Aden and Jacob; his sister Ellen Forbes Gerhard and husband, Jeff Lychwick, of Gainesville, Va.; and several nieces and nephews.

Louise Brooks Willard, 84, of Shepherdstown, W.Va., died Sunday, April 28, 2013, at her residence. Services and burial will be held at a later date. Arrangements are by Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

Dorothy Mary Ann Kuckuda, 83, died Saturday, April 27, 2013, at Canterbury Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The service and burial will be private. Arrangements are by Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

Edythe Bagley Myers, 96, of Molers Crossroads, died Tuesday, April 23, 2013, at Canterbury Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. A Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Shepherdstown, with the Rev. Fr. Mathew Rowgh as the celebrant. A viewing will be held from 9:30 to 10 a.m. at the church. A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Fort Lincoln Cemetery in Brentwood, Md. Arrangements are by Eackles-Spencer & Norton Funeral Home, Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

In the next two weeks, a contractor will begin cleaning up the site of the former town dump, marking the first physical step toward construction of a new $3.5 million Shepherdstown library. Snyder Environmental of Charles Town, W.Va., won the $718,000 contract to clear trees, remove buried garbage and do preliminary site work at the 4.5-acre brownfield, said Libby Sturm, president of the five-member Shepherdstown Public Library Board of Trustees. The members are appointed by the Shepherdstown Town Council.