Thousands

They parked blocks away after driving, for many of them, more than an hour to Hagerstown's Municipal Stadium on Sunday. They came to see Stephen Strasburg. The phenom. The $15.1 million No. 1 overall pick of the Washington Nationals in the 2009 draft. The one who had hearts racing when he struck out 14 batters in his major league debut in June 2010 and later had hearts breaking when he injured his right elbow that August and had to have Tommy John surgery. The pitcher who skipped Single-A ball on his way to the majors had Municipal Stadium so packed for his first rehab assignment on Sunday afternoon that one couldn't walk to a seat without squeezing through a crowd of people.

A former American Red Cross worker convicted of embezzling more than $30,000 from the agency’s Eastern Panhandle chapter was placed on probation for five years Monday with the condition that he pay back the money. Samuel K. Bunner, 38, was sentenced by 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Gray Silver III, who agreed to suspend what could have been a sentence of as many as 10 years in prison to allow the Martinsburg man to make monthly payments totaling $30,233.71 to the disaster relief agency.

The smell of funnel cakes, kettle corn and beer. The soulful wail of guitars. The itch to move that starts in the knees and moves to the hips before taking hold of the whole body. In Hagerstown, this could only mean one thing — Western Maryland Blues Fest was in full swing. The four-day music festival hosted by the City of Hagerstown drew thousands of blues fans from around the country Saturday during its paid-admission-only Downtown House Party, which ran from noon to 9:30 p.m. in the city's Central Lot. The event continues today with a free-admission Family Blues Picnic at City Park.

It speaks on a spiritual level. It speaks on a human level. "It's has emotion," said Linda Lay of Fernandina Beach, Fla. "... That transcends race, gender, middle income, upper income, lower income," said Carl Disque of Hagerstown. "It's this great leveler that brings people together. " It even transcends the senses. They call it the blues. And in Hagerstown this weekend, it will bring together thousands of people for the 16th Annual Western Maryland Blues Fest.

Thousands of students descended on the Chambersburg Area Senior High School field house Friday for the first Franklin County Student Career Expo. About 3,200 eighth- and 10th-grade students from Chambersburg, Fannett-Metal, Greencastle, Shalom Christian Academy, Shippensburg, Tuscarora and Waynesboro schools attended the event sponsored by the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce (Franklin County Student Career Expo Committee) and the South Central Tech Prep Consortium. “This is a pilot program.

A crowd of about 200 people came together Thursday night for the first-ever Spring Fling with the Library, a benefit event for the Lilian S. Besore Memorial Library capital campaign, at Green Grove Gardens, just off Pa. 16. Patti Divelbiss, chairwoman of the library's capital campaign, said tickets for the event sold out almost two weeks ago. "This evening is sort of like a taste of the town," she said. The evening featured food sampling provided by 12 area restaurants and vendors, as well as wine tasting courtesy of Tuscarora Mt. Winery and more than $8,000 worth of donated silent auction items, Divelbiss said.

A Hagerstown pharmacist has been prohibited from dispensing drugs classified as controlled dangerous substances following allegations that he filled thousands of prescriptions for Oxycodone, OxyContin, methadone and other powerful painkillers written by two physicians whose licenses were subsequently suspended. The Maryland Board of Pharmacy voted on Dec. 22, 2010, to summarily suspend the license of David Russo, owner of Russo's Rx at 25 N. Cannon Ave. "There has since been a consent agreement by which my license has been restored, but I cannot dispense controlled dangerous substances," Russo said Tuesday.

It may have been the first time that the three-day Franklin County Builders Show was held outside the Chambersburg area, but that didn't keep the crowds away. "I'm just tickled to death. It's just wall-to-wall people. I just think it's wonderful," said Tom Hanks, executive officer of the Franklin County Builders Association. Now in its 28th year, the show, sponsored by the association, continues to draw between 13,000 to 15,000 visitors eager to research landscaping, remodeling and financial management.

Debbie Hackley and Dennis Sullivan want to add a shed to their Funkstown property, but the shed has to be built on-site because there isn’t enough access to their yard to move a shed there, she said. “We just moved into a house that’s very, very tiny and we need the storage. I think it’s the smallest house in Funkstown,” said Hackley, 54. Hackley and Sullivan, her fiance, aren’t sure whether they will buy a shed or build one themselves, but they went to the Home Show at Hagerstown Community College’s Athletic, Recreation and Community Center on Sunday to scout for information.

HAGERSTOWN -- The activity Saturday morning at Fairgrounds Park was the picture of efficiency. More than 1,200 volunteers for Hagerstown Convoy of Hope descended on the park at 7 a.m., registering and gathering for cheerful direction from their leaders. Within minutes, they had split with precision into groups to serve areas designated for providing free haircuts, family portraits, meals, information on community resources, medical screening, children's entertainment and more. A contingent of more than 100 people charged with preparing bags of groceries fell into a moving assembly line.