Town Square

Town square in Martinsburg at the intersection of Queen and West King streets reopened Tuesday morning after being closed since Oct. 5 for ongoing pedestrian safety improvements. The square was initially closed for about three weeks this summer for the work, but officials opted to close it again to replace brick used in the new crosswalks. Officials determined that the brick initially used was failing to withstand traffic flow at the busy intersection and decided to replace it with a concrete paver.

The Martinsburg City Council on Monday is scheduled to review the recently passed home-rule legislation, and to discuss possible personnel changes, and requests and suggestions for the pedestal in town square. City Council members are set to meet at 5 p.m. in J. Oakley Seibert Council Chambers at 232 N. Queen St. At 6 p.m., the council's property committee is scheduled to meet with the town square architect and to review ideas for the square's pedestal, which was built as part of the redesigned square at the King and Queen street intersection, according to the meeting agenda.

Martinsburg's town square will reopen Saturday for the 32nd Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival parade, but then immediately be closed again so contractors can complete pedestrian-safety improvements. Due to inclement weather, the state Division of Highways said Friday that it had extended the closure of the intersection of Queen and King streets beyond the initial estimate of five to seven days. However, a new completion date for the modification of pavers in the square was not announced.

A Sharpsburg tradition for 140 years, the annual Memorial Day Parade draws people from near and far to line porches and lawns along Main Street. Held the Saturday before Memorial Day, the parade is preceded by a wreath-laying ceremony at Town Square. There is a ceremony at Antietam National Cemetery, and the Rohrersville Band plays in Town Square.

Traffic through downtown Martinsburg today is being reduced to one lane and directed through the intersection of Queen Street and West King Street at the town square by flaggers while paving work is under way. Martinsburg City Manager Mark Baldwin said he hoped the paving work, which is part of town square aesthetic and pedestrian safety improvements, would be completed later today.

Events are in Sharpsburg. There will be free shuttle buses between Sharpsburg and the battlefield every half hour from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12 all day - re-enactors and sutlers establish campsaround town; visitors are welcome to tour the camps. 4 p.m. - walking tour of Sharpsburg, starts at information booth in Town Square 5 to 8 p.m. - artisans and craft vendors set up around town 7:30 p.m. - Appalachian Songs by Jim Brown and the Choir, St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

The following local events have been scheduled in observance of Memorial Day: Saturday • Rose Hill Cemetery at 600 S. Potomac St. in Hagerstown will hold its annual Memorial Day service at 9:30 a.m. The guest speaker is retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Arthur Callaham. The event also includes Civil War re-enactors, a bagpiper, a color guard and more. • The town of Sharpsburg will hold its 145th annual Memorial Day Commemoration and Parade. There will be wreath-laying ceremonies at 11 a.m. at Town Square and at 3 p.m. at Antietam National Cemetery.

The Martinsburg City Council on Monday is scheduled to review the recently passed home-rule legislation, and to discuss possible personnel changes, and requests and suggestions for the pedestal in town square. City Council members are set to meet at 5 p.m. in J. Oakley Seibert Council Chambers at 232 N. Queen St. At 6 p.m., the council's property committee is scheduled to meet with the town square architect and to review ideas for the square's pedestal, which was built as part of the redesigned square at the King and Queen street intersection, according to the meeting agenda.

Karen Taylor's front porch at 317 N. Main St. was filled with baby clothes and other porch-sale stuff Saturday morning. She thought business would be brisk with the Sharpsburg Heritage Festival and all of the excitement surrounding the 150th anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Antietam. It wasn't. “It's slow,” Taylor said Saturday morning. By afternoon, business had not improved. “It's slower and slower,” she said. “I thought I would do better since they had both things together.

 1. 'Route 30' the sequel John Putch will premiere his new movie "ENMV0002398"> "Route 30, Too!"   7:30 Saturday, Sept. 8, and Sunday, Sept. 9, at The Capitol Theatre, 159 S. Main St., Chambersburg, Pa. There is strange alien activity around Mister Ed's Elephant Museum and Candy Outlet. Other filming locations include The Historic Round Barn, The Penn National Inn, The Cottage Pub, Old Jail House and the town square in Chambersburg. Fayetteville and Caledonia State Park are also represented.

At the onset of his fourth term as Martinsburg's mayor, George Karos told city council members that he hopes they continue to work as a team to do what's best for the community.  After being sworn into office for another four-year term, Karos, 80, said he wanted to especially welcome new City Council members Kevin Knowles (Ward 2), Jason Baker (Ward 5) and Donald Anderson (At Large) who took the oath of office Thursday with incumbents Roger Lewis (Ward 4), Dennis Etherington (Ward 1)

The total cost for Martinsburg's newly redesigned town square is about $1.8 million, and the West Virginia Division of Highways has asked the city to pay the agency an additional $37,130 for the project. In a special meeting Thursday, the Martinsburg City Council is expected to vote on a supplemental agreement with the state that reflects the additional cost the city has been asked  to absorb. The council meeting begins at 5 p.m. in City Hall at 232 N. Queen St. If the agreement is approved, the city's share of the project cost would increase to $360,850, according to a proposed supplemental agreement that the city received June 19 from the Division of Highways.

Sharpsburg officials have been preparing all week for Saturday's 145th Sharpsburg Memorial Day commemoration. The event, which usually draws between 8,000 and 10,000 people, will include a memorial ceremony and a Memorial Day parade. “We've got all the bands lined up, and we got all the flags up Wednesday night,” Sharpsburg Vice-Mayor Bryan Gabriel said Friday. “We're getting our grandstand ready down at the square.” More than 90 organizations in the area are scheduled to be featured in the parade.

City leaders have tabled plans to commission a sculpture of Martinsburg's founder, Revolutionary War Major Gen. Adam Stephen, and place it in the newly redesigned town square. Citing costs created by changes to the recently completed town square project, Mayor George Karos told the Martinsburg City Council Thursday that "it wouldn't be very wise ... at this juncture to move forward with the selection of a sculptor for the artwork. " "What we don't know is the cost of the changes that took place down in the plaza, and let me tell you there were a lot of changes," Karos said of the $1.6 million pedestrian safety project for the town square.

The City of Martinsburg could soon have an official flag. Martinsburg Mayor George Karos said Tuesday that the city is in the “infancy stages” of having a flag designed, but expects it will bear the official seal of the city. Karos said the flag will join the state and U.S. flags that now fly on two of the three flagpoles in the redesigned town square, which was fully reopened to traffic over the weekend. “We have nothing in concrete, we're just in the discussion stage,” Karos said.

Traffic through downtown Martinsburg today is being reduced to one lane and directed through the intersection of Queen Street and West King Street at the town square by flaggers while paving work is under way. Martinsburg City Manager Mark Baldwin said he hoped the paving work, which is part of town square aesthetic and pedestrian safety improvements, would be completed later today.