Trash

A trash can was set on fire in a group home at Cedar Ridge Ministries Tuesday night, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's office. The fire, which was reported at 10:30 p.m., caused about $50 in damages to the home at 12146 Cedar Ridge Road, Deputy State Fire Marshal Ed Ernst said. The fire in a second-floor bedroom was discovered by occupants of the home, Ernst said.

Doris Ellis has a message for the community. “You get up, have some breakfast. Do not turn on the TV, do not turn on the computer. Get your shoes on, grab a jacket and bag, and get out there.” Ellis, who turned 85 on Sept. 26, started walking daily after retiring in 1987. She said retirement changed her routine, and when she found herself still in her pajamas later in the morning, she realized she needed to make a change. She started walking with other women from her Woodcrest Village neighborhood off Wilson Boulevard.

CLEAR SPRING, Md. - Trash collection schedules have been revised because of the holidays, according to Clear Spring Town Clerk Nancy Keefer. Residents are to put their trash out on Friday, Dec. 25, for pickup on Saturday, Dec. 26. The next week, residents are again to put their trash out on Friday, Jan. 1, for pickup on Saturday, Jan. 2.

Because of the Christmas holidays, there will be some changes in trash collection and recycling in Hagerstown. Residents of the North End zone are to set out trash Sunday, Dec. 19, for Monday pickup; set out trash Wednesday, Dec. 22, for Thursday pickup; set out trash Sunday, Dec. 26, for Monday pickup; and set out trash Wednesday, Dec. 29, for Thursday pickup. Residents of the South End zone are to set out trash Monday, Dec. 20, for Tuesday pickup; set out trash Thursday, Dec. 23, for Friday pickup; set out trash Monday, Dec. 27, for Tuesday pickup; and set out trash Thursday, Dec. 30, for Friday pickup.

HAGERSTOWN andrews@herald-mail.com The price of garbage collection in Hagerstown is about to go up and a new service is coming: weekly curbside pickup of glass, plastic and aluminum products. The Hagerstown City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday to increase its rates because of changes to its pickup program. The quarterly rate per residential unit will go up from $27 to $35.75, starting with bills sent after Jan. 20, 2006. Councilwoman Penny M. Nigh cast the only vote of opposition.

The Antietam Creek yielded boatloads of trash to more than 75 volunteers during the Antietam Creek Watershed Alliance's seventh annual Rubbish Roundup on Sept. 22. Volunteers in canoes and kayaks, along with streamside walkers, filled a dump truck with metal and stuffed 51 large trash bags with miscellaneous junk. The volunteers filled seven more bags with glass and plastic bottles, two bags with cast-off foam containers and one with aluminum cans. Highlights included 58 tires; seven traffic cones; four shopping carts; three, 20-pound propane tanks; and a 275-gallon fuel oil tank.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Berkeley County woman wants something done about the trash, piles of old tires and dead deer scattered along two county roads. Mary J. Weidman made a plea to the Berkeley County Commission Thursday morning to put an end to illegal dumping along Nestle Quarry and Cedar Grove roads off W.Va. 11 North. The two roads run along 322 acres known as "The Old Quarry Land" and have become a magnet for people dumping trash from neighboring Maryland, said Weidman, who lives in a subdivision bordering the area.

Due to the Labor Day holiday Monday, there will be some changes in the City of Hagerstown trash collection schedule. Those changes affect North End residents, who are to set their trash out Monday for Tuesday morning collection. South End trash should be set out Tuesday for Wednesday morning collection. Citywide yard waste should be set out Wednesday for a Thursday morning pickup. There will be no citywide mixed paper collection all week.

Hagerstown officials will again consider the possibility of moving downtown trash collection off the main streets and into the alleys. Mayor Robert E. Bruchey II said Tuesday he was disgusted by the large amount of trash that had been set out in front of an apartment building and the Dagmar Hotel in the first block of West Antietam Street on Monday night. "I was doubly disgusted when it was still there today," Bruchey said during Tuesday's City Council work session. City Engineer Bruce Johnston said the city has had problems before with the apartment building, which is checked by the city's code enforcement officer.

Boonsboro Town Council members decided Monday night to increase the frequency of the town's curbside recycling service. Boonsboro currently has twice-a-week trash pick-up and recycling every other week, but council members decided to use a new trash collection company that will collect trash once a week and recyclables once a week. The town's current one-year trash contract with Allied Waste is up for renewal at the end of June, town officials have said. The council decided to seek bids on two types of service, one that would keep the current setup, and also decided to seek bids on once-a-week recycling and once-a-week trash pick-up.

Dean Reeder watched as the remnants of his family's barn continued to burn Thursday morning near Boonsboro. The barn fire was one of five fires that was intentionally set late Wednesday and early Thursday in Washington County, according to the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office. “To me, it makes no sense to just ride around here and destroy all of this property and create hardship,” Reeder said. “Nothing in my lifetime like this has ever happened around here. It's just hard to comprehend.” Jason Mowbray, deputy chief state fire marshal, said authorities were investigating whether the five overnight fires were set by the same person or people who started 14 other fires - primarily in the central and southern parts of the county - since March 17. Of those fires, the only one that was reported in the northern part of the county was in the 23100 block of Foxville Road near Smithsburg, where a Ford Escort was set ablaze on Thursday morning.

Washington County is hosting a medications collection event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 23, at the Washington County Health Department in Hagerstown, Residents of Washington County may drop off their unused or unwanted medications.   Accepted medications include prescriptions, sharps, inhalers, liquids, over-the-counter medications, veterinary medications, expired and empty prescription bottles. For those unable to visit the collection event, here are tips on proper disposal: Do not flush medications, pour them down the sink or dump them in the trash; remove and destroy all identifying personal label information; between collection events, dispose of medications anytime at Washington County Sheriff's Department, 500 Western Maryland Parkway, Hagerstown.

A trash collection truck worker who died Thursday after he was struck by a pickup in the 800 block of Dominion Road near Gerrardstown was identified Friday as Jeremy Lee Tabler of Martinsburg, police said. Tabler, 30, was working as a driver for Apple Valley Waste when he was struck by a green Ford F-250, according to police and a Berkeley County Emergency Services supervisor. Tabler of Whitings Neck Road, was pronounced dead at City Hospital in Martinsburg, W.Va., where he succumbed to his injuries, police had said.

Valentine's Day is celebrated each year on Feb. 14. This year it falls on a Thursday. Why is this holiday scheduled in the heart of winter? Is it intended to give students and teachers a little break in the midst of hum-drum days? A room full of sweet treats and greetings from friends is a sure way to accomplish that. Or is this holiday designed to provide an opportunity for those young and in love to express heartfelt sentiments? There's certainly a lot of that going on, but young couples probably would find a way to share their feelings in a tangible way regardless of the holiday.

Town considers changes in trash, recycling pickups BOONSBORO - Boonsboro Town Council members are considering the possibility of increasing the frequency of the town's curbside recycling service. The town currently has twice-a-week trash pick-up and curbside recycling every other week. The town is pondering having curbside recycling once a week and trash pick-up once a week. The town's current one-year trash contract with Allied Waste is up for renewal at the end of June, town officials said.

The Chambersburg Borough Council is hammering out a 2013 budget plan that anticipates $72 million in operating funds. The council is scheduled to adopt its budget and tax rate at a Dec. 10 meeting. In early drafts, the electric department represents about $31.4 million in the overall budget. Other large expenditures include the gas and sewer departments. A 4.4 percent increase in total expenditures is almost completely attributed to construction projects, including renovations at the sewer treatment plant, Borough Manager Jeffrey Stonehill wrote in preliminary budget documents.

A new trash contract approved this week in the Borough of Waynesboro will change how residents and businesses recycle materials. The Waynesboro Borough Council unanimously approved a three-year contract with Waste Management on Wednesday. At $700,000 per year, officials said they will be saving $23,400 annually compared to what the municipality pays now. Those savings will not be passed onto customers because administrative costs, such as employee health insurance and mailings, have gone up, Borough Manager Lloyd Hamberger said.

The Antietam Creek yielded boatloads of trash to more than 75 volunteers during the Antietam Creek Watershed Alliance's seventh annual Rubbish Roundup on Sept. 22. Volunteers in canoes and kayaks, along with streamside walkers, filled a dump truck with metal and stuffed 51 large trash bags with miscellaneous junk. The volunteers filled seven more bags with glass and plastic bottles, two bags with cast-off foam containers and one with aluminum cans. Highlights included 58 tires; seven traffic cones; four shopping carts; three, 20-pound propane tanks; and a 275-gallon fuel oil tank.

Doris Ellis has a message for the community. “You get up, have some breakfast. Do not turn on the TV, do not turn on the computer. Get your shoes on, grab a jacket and bag, and get out there.” Ellis, who turned 85 on Sept. 26, started walking daily after retiring in 1987. She said retirement changed her routine, and when she found herself still in her pajamas later in the morning, she realized she needed to make a change. She started walking with other women from her Woodcrest Village neighborhood off Wilson Boulevard.