Thousands

The Humane Society of Washington County raised an estimated $4,000 to $5,000 Sunday through its annual motorcycle ride fundraiser, a 40-mile trek through the Cearfoss, Williamsport and Boonsboro areas that ended at Washington County Regional Park east of Hagerstown, Executive Director Paul Miller said. Thirty-three motorcycles participated in the ride, with about 70 people turning out for the picnic at the park after the ride ended, organizers said. Craig and Mary Hood, of Williamsport, rode a 1-week-old Harley-Davidson Switchback for the Bone to be Wild fundraiser.

Thousands of Washington County properties could end up with new addresses under a proposed county ordinance that would be designed to make it easier for emergency responders to find locations, Emergency Services Director Kevin L. Lewis said Tuesday. The Washington County Board Commissioners agreed Tuesday to schedule a public hearing on a proposed “Addressing Ordinance” that would create standards for naming roads and numbering properties to avoid confusion and duplication.

Local representatives of the Disabled American Veterans participated in a ceremony celebrating National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans, Maryland Day, on Feb. 15 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Martinsburg. Jerry Barnhart, commander of Disabled American Veterans Chapter 14, presented a $6,000 donation to Ann Brown, director of the Martinsburg center, to complete the Women Veterans Domiciliary Program. Three donations of $1,000 each were made to The Haircut Fund, which provides free haircuts and shaves to extended-care and indigent patients; for items and equipment for visually impaired veterans; and for the purchase of materials for smoking-cessation groups.

With his striped conductor's hat and bright smile, Bill Knode mans the control station for seven trains and a trolley car every holiday season. This is the 22nd year for the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum's “Trains of Christmas” exhibit, and Knode has been involved since its one-level, humble beginnings. “People from all over the world have been here,” he said. “I think for one thing, this is like a fantasy land. It's a layout we all wanted when we were kids, and there's something in the layout for everyone.” Today, the exhibit boasts four levels of miniature tunnels, bridges, ski lifts, people and buildings.

A Hagerstown man serving a six-year prison term for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his employer asked a Washington County Circuit Court judge Tuesday to reduce his sentence. In March, circuit Judge W. Kennedy Boone III sentenced Curtis Philip Pietro, 53, to 100 years, with 94 years suspended. Pietro had pleaded guilty in December 2010 to felony theft scheme charges, as well as forgery and uttering charges for embezzling more than $800,000 from Glessner Alarm & Communications over a period of more than four years while serving as its chief financial officer.

Thousands of Allegheny Power customers across the Tri-State are without power late Saturday morning as a heavy, wet snow continues to fall, turning roadways to slush. In Washington County, the largest power outages were affecting customers in Knoxville, Md. and Williamsport, Md., according to Allegheny Power's Outage Management System. Both were caused by trouble on the main line. Other major outages were affecting customers in Greencastle, Pa., Martinsburg, W.Va. More than half an inch of accumulated snow had fallen in Hagerstown by 11:45 a.m., according to Greg Keefer's weather station website, www.i4weather.net .

As a periodontist, Dr. Rebecca Wagner Bye knows the repercussions of dental neglect. She has had to counter the effects of gingivitis among teenagers and the lack of flossing among adults. But Saturday, she saw people too busy finding ways to put food on the table to even worry about oral hygiene. For the past four years, Bye has had a rare window on the toll poverty - and sometimes fear - plays on a person's mouth. She has seen individuals suffering from infections, decay, burning gums and ulcers who rely on aspirin to ease their pain.

Local volunteers were out at Fairgrounds Park in Hagerstown at 7 a.m. Thursday, setting up for the fourth annual Hagerstown Convoy of Hope to be held Saturday. The event - which program Co-coordinator Melissa Linn said is expected to draw 5,000 people - will provide free haircuts, medical services and food for area residents. It will also provide entertainment and an area for children. "This event is extremely important to the community, and it's almost like a carnival," said Linn, who coordinates the program with Curt Snyder of Life House Church Bethel.

It wasn't ideal, but it worked out all right. Stephanie Owings got off work, hurried to the Leitersburg Peach Festival on closing day and snagged herself a peach pie just in the nick of time. "I didn't even get to look around," Owings said. That was last year. This year was better. Owings, 20, of Maugansville, showed up early Saturday at Leitersburg Ruritan Community Park ready to do the day right. The annual attendee said she first likes to hit the vendor booths.

Waynesboro Area Middle School was vandalized Wednesday, police said. The Waynesboro Police estimate several thousand dollars of damage was done to the school between 2:30 and 9:39 p.m. Wednesday. Police said the damage was discovered Wednesday at 9:39 p.m. when an officer was checking the rear parking lot on the south side of the building. "He observed a trophy lying in the grass on the south side of the parking lot," the release stated. "He continued around to the east side of the building, observed the plate-glass window that was located between the two doors just north of the music room doors had been shattered," police said.