Spring

Spring, which begins Wednesday, should bring with more precipitation to Washington County than winter has, a National Weather Service meteorologist said Monday. About 5.9 inches of precipitation have fallen in the Hagerstown area since December, according to local weather observer Greg Keefer. Winter officially began Dec. 21. This spring Washington County residents can expect about 3 inches to 4 inches of rain to fall each month, meteorologist Dewey Walston said. That would be about the normal rainfall level for spring in Maryland, he said.

HAGERSTOWN - With overnight temperatures in the low 30s and 1 to 3 inches of snow predicted for parts of the Northeast, it didn't feel like spring Monday. But at 8:07 p.m. today, spring officially begins. Some were anticipating an early start to spring after the groundhog failed to see his shadow this year. The nearly two months that followed that prediction were the coldest of the season, and most of the nearly 24 inches of snow that fell this season in Washington County came after Groundhog Day. "The groundhog blew it this year," said Frank Strait, an AccuWeather meteorologist.

As part of its new Alternative Energy Technology Program, Hagerstown Community College's Technology and Computer Studies Division will offer a three-credit course this spring called Introduction to Alternative Energy. The course will introduce students to the various types of alternative and renewable energy available in today's global market. Students will learn the basics about different types of energy, such as solar, wind, biofuel, solar thermal, geothermal, magnetism, pressure and mechanical energy.

katec@herald-mail.com SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - "Spring makes you feel so good you want to celebrate," says Joanie Blanton, an organizer of this weekend's May Festival activities. And a celebration of the coming of spring is what will be happening Saturday in Shepherdstown. Spring festivals have been around for centuries in many cultures. May Day is so ancient that nobody - not even scholars - knows its roots, says Laura First of Keedysville. Blanton says First was the inspiration for the Shepherdstown event.

My son came home from preschool the other day with the following assignment: The next time you come to class, bring with you a sign of spring. This prompted some discussion with me and his older brother, a first-grader who had some suggestions of his own. "You could take some flowers," the 7-year-old said. "Or birds, they're a sign of spring. " I wasn't quite sure how I would have managed to get a bird into his classroom if that suggestion had been considered a good one. Luckily, my 4-year-old had an idea of his own. "I could take a baseball," he said.

Hagerstown Community College baseball coach Scott Jennings is ready for the Hawks to turn their hitting up a notch this spring. "I think that this year will probably be a little bit different than the previous two years," Jennings said, "because I think that this year's strength will be our offense. "This might be the best hitting that I have had in three years since I have been here. I think that we are going to score some runs this year. It is a pretty well-balanced lineup.

If you're like me, you get a little blue in the winter. Gardeners cry out for color, craving things that are green and alive. Coaxing flowering branches to bloom early in your home is a wonderful antidote to the winter doldrums. You can have armfuls of sunny forsythia, snow white spirea and pink cherry blossoms in just a few weeks. Best of all, the process of "forcing" branches is easy, requires no fancy tools and is perfect for beginners. The secret to forcing branches to flower lies in tricking plants into thinking it's spring.

Spring break is short for Washington County high school students, so many are planning ahead to pack in as much as they can. Many teens will be hanging out with friends, some will work extra hours to make more money and some will go on trips. "It's pretty much tryin' to live it up here," said Michael Hockensmith, 17, a senior at South Hagerstown High School. "If they had actually a full week and weekends - a lot of schools do that - then I'd definitely go somewhere. " Instead, Hockensmith plans to hang out with friends locally after getting in some extra work hours at Target.

HAGERSTOWN - Holiday vacations might be over, but it's not too late to enjoy some warm Florida air. Temperatures in the Hagerstown area were expected to rise into the 60s today and tomorrow, as a high pressure system off the Atlantic coast draws up warmer air from Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va. Sunday afternoon, families strolled through City Park without coats as temperatures reached...

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - They entered the country through Massachusetts more than a century ago, were first spotted in Pennsylvania in the 1930s and devastated millions of acres of woodlands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Gypsy moth caterpillars were back in force this spring, munching their way through hundreds of thousands of acres of oaks, other hardwoods and even coniferous trees. The damage has been done for this year - the caterpillars have metamorphosed into moths - but homeowners whose properties have been infested can take steps now to suppress the voracious insects.