Summit

Tristan Andre Prejean, 16, a junior at Heritage Academy, was selected to participate in the National Rifle Association’s annual National Youth Leadership Education Summit (Y.E.S.) June 20 to 26. The summit was a seven-day, expenses-paid educational experience in Washington, D.C., for outstanding high school sophomores and juniors. While in the nation’s capital, Tristan learned about the significance of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights while developing an understanding of government and the importance of actively participating in it. Tristan was one of 45 students selected from applicants throughout the United States.

Author Tim Wendel said one of the keys to being a successful writer is having friends who push you to the limit. Wendel is the author of “Summer of '68: The Season When Baseball, and America, Changed Forever,” a nonfiction book about the extraordinary 1968 baseball season when the game was played to perfection while the nation was being rocked by tragedies like the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Wendel was participating Wednesday...

Healthy Communities summit set Healthy Communities 2000 Summit will be held on Wednesday, April 28, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Four Points Hotel on Hagerstown's Dual Highway. The summit is sponsored by the Coalition for a Healthier Washington County, which is chaired by Dr. Robert Parker and Tom Jimerfield. It is comprised of health, education, business and community agency representatives. The goals of the summit are to review progress and promote current and new actions to meet the county's health needs.

Organizations ranging from the Hagerstown Police Department to St. Joseph Church were represented Thursday at the Comunidad Latina de Washington County Summit, designed to give service-oriented entities a chance to discuss issues facing the Latino community in Washington County. “We want to share experiences and, hopefully, come up with some plans and new ideas,” said Tony Dahbura, president of the board of Comunidad Latina de Washington County, at the event held at Hagerstown Community College.

Top Democrats from the state will converge in Hagerstown on Saturday for an annual summit of Western Maryland Democrats. And although Western Maryland hasn't been a Democrat stronghold in recent years, party leaders said they were buoyed by significant gains made in the 2012 election such as a strong showing by U.S. Congressman John Delaney. “It is a good time to take stock, and talk about the session (the 2013 session of the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis) that just concluded,” said Del. John P. Donoghue, D-Washington.

Hagerstown Councilman Lewis Metzner's call for a summit on the city's homeless population - and how to deal with it - is a good thing. But more will be accomplished if all the relevant agencies are included. Metzner surprised some recently when he said that the construction of a homeless shelter in downtown Hagerstown was "unacceptable. " The location of the current cold-weather shelter run by REACH - Religious Effort to Assist and Care for the Homeless - rotates among local churches.

The adult illiteracy rate in Washington County is estimated to be at 17 percent, which poses economic and cultural problems for the community's future, the director of the Washington County Free Library said Thursday. Library Director Mary Baykan was speaking at the Summit on Childhood Literacy at Hagerstown Community College, where more than 100 people from education, government, civic and other organizations had gathered to discuss how to prevent the county's children from joining that illiterate adult demographic.

CASCADE - Most of the players assembled on the field Sunday were not original members of The Summiteers, yet they gathered in the spirit that kept the semi-pro baseball team active for nearly two decades in postwar America. With borrowed gloves and a couple of bats between them, three generations of guys divided into two teams with what seemed to be dual purposes - to laugh and to play ball. The five original members of The Summiteers in attendance were given an opportunity to speak before the game, sharing their memories with some mountain residents who had never before seen them play and others who remembered them well.

charlestown@herald-mail.com SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - About 370 state and federal government officials and members of emergency response companies from the Eastern Panhandle and across the state kicked off a two-day meeting at a training center near Shepherdstown Sunday to determine the best way to protect state residents from possible terrorist attacks. The West Virginia Summit on Homeland Security will feature respected experts in the terrorism field, including FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, who is expected to speak at the summit this afternoon.

In the year since the first Childhood Literacy Summit was held, there are more programs available in Washington County to boost children's reading skills, and the numbers show they need the help. Across Maryland, 82 percent of kindergarten students are considered “fully school ready,” but the figure is 75 percent in Washington County, said David Hanlin, chairman of the Rotary Literacy Council. The Rotary Club of Hagerstown sponsored the second annual summit Friday at Hagerstown Community College, along with the Washington County Public Schools and Washington County Free Library, with corporate sponsorship from the Volvo Group.

The ninth annual Western Maryland Democratic Summit on Saturday drew the state's party heavyweights from the U.S. Senate, House and statehouse, but also featured something this part of the state has not had in many years - a Democrat representing Washington, Garrett and Allegany counties. U.S. Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., of Maryland's 6th District was among the speakers at Saturday's event. Delaney defeated longtime Republican Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in the November 2012 general election for the seat representing Western Maryland.

Top Democrats from the state will converge in Hagerstown on Saturday for an annual summit of Western Maryland Democrats. And although Western Maryland hasn't been a Democrat stronghold in recent years, party leaders said they were buoyed by significant gains made in the 2012 election such as a strong showing by U.S. Congressman John Delaney. “It is a good time to take stock, and talk about the session (the 2013 session of the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis) that just concluded,” said Del. John P. Donoghue, D-Washington.

Summit Health's board of directors announced this week that Patrick W. O'Donnell of Chambersburg will replace Norman B. Epstein as president and chief executive officer of Summit Health July 1. O'Donnell is currently senior vice president and chief operating officer of Summit Health. He first joined the local healthcare team in 1985 as controller of Chambersburg Hospital and rose through the ranks until he was named Summit Health's chief financial officer and chief operating officer in 2007.

The Drew Michael Taylor Foundation and the Summit Health Community Health department recently received grants from Summit Endowment to aid them in implementing or continuing programs to benefit the community. The grant awarded to the Drew Michael Taylor Foundation will be used to expand the foundation's grief and loss lending library. The grant awarded to Summit Health's Community Health Department will be used for a Drop 10 in 10 with Smart Technology program. This program is an enhancement to the weight loss education now being offered in Summit Health's GetFit!

Franklin County residents are losing ground on some very important health-related issues, according to a study released by Summit Health Thursday. Summit Health, in cooperation with the Penn State Institute of State and Regional Affairs, released the results of its 2012 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) of Franklin County and Shippensburg, Pa., at Green Grove Gardens near Greencastle. After wading through a sea of data over the course of a year, Summit's 30-member advisory group pinpointed four priorities - education, nutrition, access to health care and mental health.

The Washington Township (Pa.) Police Department was investigating the cause of a Wednesday afternoon fire in Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. Firefighters from Franklin and Adams counties in Pennsylvania and Washington and Frederick counties in Maryland contained the fire at 12227 Clermont Road to the attic, where it started. Blue Ridge (Pa.) Fire Chief Steve Moffat said the first firefighters on the scene saw smoke coming from the eaves and had trouble finding access to the attic over the two-story stone house.

Blue ribbons eluded them, but Baron, Twists and Ceri still showed enough skill in their divisions to snare seven green ribbons among them at the recent American Kennel Club National Agility Championships in Tulsa, Okla. Gretchen Mason's Welsh corgis, thanks to their agility on the timed courses in Tulsa, added to the stacks of ribbons that fill the three big tubs in their Summit Point basement. Baron earned his ribbons by completing three “clean” 100 percent rounds in his divisions, while Twist and Ceri each earned accolades for making no mistakes in their runs through the course, Mason said.

Construction for the last leg of a project that will complete a downtown bike loop was unanimously approved Tuesday by the Hagerstown City Council. A contract was awarded to Hagerstown company Henson & Son, Inc, in the amount of $79,786.50 for the construction of a 10-foot-wide multiuse path from South Prospect Street along Walnut Street to Park Circle, along the north side of Park Circle to Walnut Avenue. According to the city documents, the construction will connect existing bike lanes on South Prospect Street to Summit Avenue and cyclists will have the option of turning onto the West Lee Street bike lane or continuing north on a new Summit Avenue lane connecting to an existing lane on Jonathan Street.

Summit Health is offering two screening dates in April to help people at risk determine their vascular health status. The cost will be $25 for each screening test. Screenings will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Waynesboro Hospital, 501 E. Main St., Waynesboro, Pa., and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, at Summit Surgical Group — Chambersburg, in Summit Health Center,  Building 2, 757 Norland Ave., Suite 104, Chambersburg. Screenings are available for stroke/carotid artery disease; peripheral arterial disease; and abdominal aortic aneurysm.