Stars

Washington County earned its second win in 10 tries against South Central Pennsylvania at the 10th annual Four Diamonds All-Star Boys Soccer Game for senior players Wednesday night. The Washington County All-Stars fell behind very early but rallied back to win 7-3 in sloppy weather conditions. The Pennsylvania All-Stars struck early as Colton Arnold (Chambersburg) netted the game's first goal within 15 seconds of the opening whistle. It was the only lead Pennsylvania would hold in the game.

The Hagerstown Junior Basketball League held its annual All-Star Saturday — a tripleheader of all-star games — inside the Gael Center at St. Maria Goretti High School. In the Junior Division “A” Game, Ameka Akaya and Corey Crosby scored 14 points each and Riley Lazich added 10 to lead the Red Team to a 74-67 win over the Blue Team. Elijah Stubbs and Nick Steiner finished with 14 points each, while Justin Smith tallied 13 points for the Blue Team. “The key to the victory was that the fact that we were able to sustain the defensive pressure,” Red Team coach Adam Carter said.

The Hagerstown PONY-13 All-Stars are about to earn some frequent flyer miles. The team traveled to Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon for an overnight stay, and will catch a flight to Phoenix on Thursday morning at 8. After a connecting flight lands in Los Angeles, it's off to Fullerton, Calif., for the PONY-13 World Series on Friday, and a first-round game against Tijuana, Mexico at 1 p.m. (4 p.m. Eastern). It's the result of Hagerstown winning the East Zone title with a 13-1 win over Albany (N.Y.)

Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden used to say, “It's not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.” The Hagerstown Suns won't be on the field to start the 53rd annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game, but they most surely will have a hand in finishing it. Four members of the Suns - and manager Brian Daubach - were selected as Northern Division reserves for the SAL's exhibition on June 19 at Joseph P. Riley Jr....

Thursday, Feb. 10 10:15 p.m. on TCM "Philadelphia" TCM's annual "31 Days of Oscar" continues with this 1993 movie that brought Tom Hanks his first best-actor award; Bruce Springsteen won for best original song, "Streets of Philadelphia. "

Wednesday, March 30 9 p.m. on PBS "National Geographic" Decades of war and terrorism have taken a heavy toll on the culture of Afghanistan. But this program reports that some important artifacts were saved or have been recovered, in some cases because Afghan people risked their lives. And a search is under way for a giant statue of Buddha that may be buried near the two that the Taliban government blew up in 2001. 10 p.m. on ABC "Eyes" Tim Daly, best known for "Wings," stars in this new drama series as the head of a high-tech private investigation firm that operates "at the absolute fringe of the law. " Gregg Henry is his former employer and rival, and Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon plays a "ruthlessly efficient" investigator.

High school seniors from across Western and Central Maryland will converge on Municipal Stadium today for the 2007 Mid-Maryland All-Star Baseball Classic. The small school game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and will include seniors from Boonsboro, Broadfording, Clear Spring, Grace Academy, Smithsburg, St. James, St. Maria Goretti and Williamsport. The big school game follows at 8 and includes seniors from North Hagerstown and South Hagerstown.

Jessica Black wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. She got a 4-inch reflector telescope and headed off Saturday afternoon to the Tri-State Astronomers Club's telescope clinic at Discovery Station at Hagerstown. Jessica, 12, of Middletown, Md., said she has caught glimpses of seas and craters on the moon, and she wants to see and learn more. "I want to learn more about what different parts of (the telescope) do, learn more about the lenses and how they work," Jessica said.

Parkman stars in Shepherd loss SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Senior guard Antar Parkman scored 24 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds but Shepherd dropped a 96-82 decision to St. Augustine's on Monday night. Demond Tapscott added 16 points for the Rams (1-1). Parkman, along with Concord College freshman center Brian Atkins, were named co-West Virginia Conference Players of the Week earlier in the day, the conference announced earlier in the day. Parkman scored a career-high 31 points to lead Shepherd to a 78-73 overtime win over the District of Columbia last Tuesday in the Rams' season opener.

BOONSBORO - On the brink of elimination for four innings Wednesday, South Mountain got its offense going. The Boonsboro stars scored five runs in the top of the fifth inning and stayed in front to beat Federal 6-4 in the loser's bracket of the Maryland District 1 11-12-year-old Little League Baseball Tournament. [cont. from sports page ] South Mountain (2-1) advances in the loser's bracket to play at West End, which defeated LaVale 7-3 on Wednesday. Game time is 6 p.m. Friday.

Fountaindale Elementary School held its STARS awards ceremony April 16 to honor students. “It was awesome. I was excited to actually get an award for my hard work,” said fourth-grader Alina Wrin.   Together with Jackson Hewitt and United Bank, Fountaindale has held two  STARS awards ceremonies, one in January and the other on April 16.  Students were selected for the awards based on academic success, by classroom and Encore teachers....

Horses are Stephanie Eberly's favorite animal. “I've always loved horses - working with them, riding them, taking pictures of them,” said Stephanie, 17, who started riding at age 9. When she needed to earn community service hours to meet a high school requirement, the former Heritage Academy student completed the volunteer training at Star Equestrian Center, at 13674 Greencastle Pike. She started volunteering while an eighth-grader in October 2009. Since then, Stephanie has logged 684 hours at Star Equestrian Center and a total of 876 community service hours since ninth grade.

But after her boyfriend dumps her and heads off to law school, Elle decides to follow him. With her trusty dog Bruiser by her side, Elle proves to her ex - and everybody else - that she's one blonde who isn't dumb. Barbara Ingram School for the Arts presents the musical “Legally Blonde.” The show opens Friday, April 26, and runs for two weekends at The Maryland Theatre. For Leah Harrell, 17, of Hagerstown, getting the chance to perform as Elle is a dream come true. “It was a role I always wanted to play,” she said, noting that she's seen the show about 15 times.

TriState Astronomers will have telescopes set up near the visitors center at Antietam National Battlefield Friday and Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. for the public to observe the wonders of the spring night sky.  Attendees can visit any time throughout the evening to look through the telescopes. Laser guided sky tours will be available. A free children's zone will be set up where children can have hands-on use of several child-friendly telescopes. The event is free. The event will be canceled in the event of cloudy skies.

The excitement began building for the second Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown on Thursday afternoon as people crowded into the new location of the Washington County Arts Council for an opening reception and a chance to rub elbows with one of the stars of this year's festival - Tony Mendez. Mendez, the former CIA agent whose work to free six Americans in Iran provided the storyline for the Academy Award-winning movie “Argo,” arrived at the arts council at 34-36 S. Potomac St., dressed in a black tuxedo and in the company of his wife Jonna.

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.

Antietam Unit 236, Sharpsburg American Legion Auxiliary President Ava Gift, Chaplain Darlene Hoffman, members Venetta Potts and Linda May presented a Blue Star Service Banner to Kathy Jones at Sharpsburg Bible Church March 16. Kathy's son, Pfc. Blake Poffenberger, is serving with the Marines at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., in motor transport training.  He graduated from James Buchanan High School in Mercersburg, Pa., in 2012. Blake comes from a military family. He is the son of Randy Poffenberger, a Marine veteran.

If the four guys from Hagerstown Honda have as much fun on the sales floor in the upcoming year as they did lip-synching and swaying to The Temptation's “My Girl,” 2013 should turn out to be a fine year. Joined by several other spirited acts by Hagerstown-area professionals Friday night, the group took the stage at Hager Hall Conference and Event Center, performing a choreographed dance to the 1964 R&B classic before a crowd of about 300 people at the fifth annual Showcase of the Stars.

The 4-Star Gymnastic Team recently took fifth place after raising $5,800 for Breast Cancer Awareness (Unite For Her) at the Pink Invitational-Gymnasts Unite competition in Philadelphia. The team placed fifth out of 43 teams competing to raise money. 4-Star Gymnasts Genna Chenoweth and Breanna Koopman accepted the award on behalf of the team. 4-Star is in Williamsport.

For 129 years, children in Washington County have had a safe haven in times when home life is untenable, or trouble is in their way. That place, since 1927, has been known as the San Mar Children's Home in Boonsboro. Here, girls whose homes are too difficult to navigate, and girls whose paths are leading them into danger, find shelter and programming that gives them a chance at a better future. And the future, for those who attend the home's upcoming annual Showcase of the Stars, might include a ride in an L-39 Albatros military jet. The showcase is on Friday, March 15, at Hagar Hall Conference & Event Center, and will feature six amateur groups competing in a lip-synch contest, with judging akin to that on "American Idol," said Daniel C. Day, director of development and marketing for San Mar. Lawyers, doctors, clergy and business leaders will compete for judges, including radio and television personality Lou Scally, District Court Judge Dana Moylan Wright and attorney Carl Disque, who is also the organizer of the annual Western Maryland Blues Festival.