Smoking

A kitchen fire was reported at 801 View St. in Hagerstown at about 11:15 a.m. Monday, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. The smoke detectors went off in the house because of burnt food, the supervisor said.. The smoke was cleared out and the scene was cleared by 11:30 a.m., according to the supervisor.

Eight emergency departments responded to a house fire in Greencastle Friday night. When firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke pouring from the second floor of 36 West Franklin St., said Deputy Fire Chief JR Koons of the Greencastle Rescue Hose Co. The fire, which was reported at about 6:45 p.m., was under control by shortly after 7 p.m., Koons said at the scene. The cause was still under investigation. No one was home at the time of the fire, and there were no injuries, Koons said.  The home suffered mostly smoke and heat damage and can be refurbished, he said.

A report of smoke coming from the basement of a house on 100 Saint Paul Street in Boonsboro Thursday turned out to be the result of a chemical the town put in its drainage system, a supervisor for Washington County Emergency Services said. The town put the chemical in its drainage system to test for leaks, according to the supervisor. However, it can cause smoke to come up from pipes in houses, which is what happened on 100 Saint Paul Street. The Boonsboro Fire Department responded to the call at 11:20 a.m., but it was cleared up by 11:45.

The Ruby Tuesday restaurant at 1645 Wesel Blvd. in Hagerstown was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after employees reported smoke in the building, a Hagerstown Fire Department official said. Capt. Mark Cleck said at the scene at about 1:30 p.m. that the incident turned out to be nothing serious. Firefighters left the scene shortly after they arrived.

Movie night The movie "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2" will be shown Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bridge of Life Church, 14 S. Potomac St. The movie is free. Free popcorn and drinks will be available while supplies last. Summer camp Although all of the classes are full, you can put your child's name on a waiting list for summer camp, which will begin June 13 at Memorial Recreation Center, 131 W. North St. in Hagerstown. The camp is for those in grades one to six. For more information, call 301-790-0203.

Livvy Smith feels like a punch line in a comedy routine. It's easy to quit smoking. She's done it lots of times. Smith was a teenager when she took her first puff from a cigarette. While she knew the dangers of smoking - the increased risk of heart disease, cancer and breathing disorders - Smith gave in to peer pressure. "All of my friends smoked, so I wanted to be part of the crowd," she said. It wasn't long, though, before she began to hate how the smell of cigarettes lingered in her hair and clothes and how her fingers turned yellow.

One of the joys of Satellite radio is that you get to hear all the low-budget, filler advertisements that they run when, for one reason or another, they have empty air time to fill. You really get the jump on the latest scams, snake oil and fringe products well before they hit national consciousness. These are the companies that will eliminate your back taxes, buy you up a mess of gold bullion, get you out of your credit-card debt, refinance your house, give you six-pack abs without diet or exercise and communicate with your deceased dog. They do a big, initial ad run, and then you normally don't hear from them again until they're featured on "60 Minutes.

Leaving the University of Maryland on Friday night, the Williamsport basketball team had a “To Do” list. Eat, get sleep and stay hydrated. It’s going to be a quick turnaround for the Wildcats after their 67-48 victory over Pocomoke in the Maryland Class 1A state semifinals. Williamsport will attack the taxing task of playing a second game in 20 hours today at 1 p.m. when it faces one of the state’s best-ever programs in Dunbar. “We’re going to play probably what is Maryland’s most storied team in public schools ever,” said Williamsport coach Scott Mowbray.

Hospital officials have determined that an elderly man pulled from a fire Tuesday at his home north of Hagerstown died of smoke inhalation, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said Thursday in a news release. Delbert G. Summerville, 88, 12809 The Terrace, died Wednesday afternoon at Meritus Medical Center, according to Deputy State Fire Marshal Ed Ernst. Longmeadow Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Jason Eckstine said at the scene of the fire that rescue personnel received a call at about 10:16 a.m. Tuesday that a man was trapped in the basement of a burning home in the 12800 block of The Terrace.

In my well-chronicled descent into grumpy old manhood, some mile markers along the way are predictable: I like to be in bed by 9:30 p.m., I like white socks and soft shoes, and my idea of a perfect car is a 1978 Lincoln Mark V. But this new revelation hit me out of the blue, and worries more than all the rest put together: I’m tired of explosions. For a guy, that’s a tough one to admit. But there you have it; everything on TV seems to blow up these days, and it makes me tired.