Travel Plans

As far as I know, no mom of any NFL wide receiver has ever e-mailed our sports department to complain about a story we ran that mentioned her son dropping a pass in the end zone. To the best of my knowledge, no dad of any Heisman Trophy runner-up has ever called us wondering why we only ran a photo of the guy who won, especially since his son was more deserving of the award anyway. And I really don't think there's ever been a complaint about us not giving pro beach volleyball enough attention.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Shelton State (Ala.) Community College put an end to Hagerstown Community College's Cinderella season in emphatic fashion on Thursday by eliminating the Hawks with an 11-0 five-inning mercy rule victory in the NJCAA Division I World Series and sending them home with the third-place trophy. University of Alabama-bound Adam Scott quieted HCC bats until the bottom of the fifth when Charles Johnson broke up a no-hitter with a single up the middle. By then, the end was near for HCC's 42-19 season, the Hawks' best ever.

BALTIMORE - Guest Conductor George Cleve leads the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and internationally acclaimed horn player Barry Tuckwell for his final performances as a soloist Thursday, Jan. 23, and Friday, Jan. 24, at 8 p.m. in Celebrity Series performances, and Saturday, Jan. 25 at 11 a.m. in a Casual Series concert at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St. The program on Thursday and Friday consists of Adolphus Hailstork's Symphony...

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller will use his visit to Taiwan this week to strengthen relationships that have brought the prospect of more than 1,000 jobs to the Eastern Panhandle. Speaking from his Wyoming vacation home last Thursday a few days before embarking Saturday on a three-week trade mission to Asia, the West Virginia Democrat said the Taiwan portion of his Project Harvest trip will include meetings with officials from Sino Swearingen and TLM Aerospace. "Anytime you go to Asia you're in the business of building relationships," Rockefeller said.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI probe of two men arrested in Amsterdam after suspicious items turned up in one of the men's luggage is finding they were probably not on a test run for a future terror attack, a U.S. official said Tuesday, casting doubt on earlier suggestions even as Dutch authorities held the pair on suspicion of conspiring to commit a terrorist act. The U.S. does not expect to charge the men, a law enforcement official said. The two men arrested in Amsterdam -- both traveling to Yemen -- did not know each other and were not traveling together, a U.S. government official said.

By JULIE E. GREENE Staff Writer The reins of a downtown Hagerstown institution have changed hands, but the new owner says she plans to continue the tradition of quality merchandise and service. After 29 years at the helm of Lena Darner Boutique, Marjorie Grumbacher is retiring. She sold the store to Cheryl Kendig on March 13 but is continuing to work at the shop to ensure a smooth transition, she said. "I've made a lot of friends," said Grumbacher, 77. "I've enjoyed outfitting people for special events and travel.

It's been asked, "what does the Convention and Visitors Bureau do?" The membership organization is charged with helping market Washington County and to attract visitors. Tourism is a critically important part of our economy. It creates and maintains jobs, and makes a sizable investment in our community. According to Maryland's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations, more than 5,300 of our county's citizens are working in "leisure and hospitality" today. Without tourism, our unemployment rate would double.

koelble@herald-mail.com Young toddlers like big back yards where they can play. Ashley Grier was able to play in an extremely big yard when she was six years of age, and 14 years later, still uses the big, green pasture as her playground. Grier's stomping grounds cover the acreage at Yingling's Golf Center, where she first began hitting golf balls after her father, Dave, purchased the golf business. It was easy access with the family already living on the Yingling property.

karenh@herald-mail.com Volunteer firefighter Jimmy Kimble of Fairplay had never been far from home. He had never been on an airplane. So, when 1 million people fled New Orleans, that's where he went. A mechanic at Emergency Vehicle Specialist, Kimble and a co-worker, Wayne Boward of Halfway, spent nearly two weeks replacing flat tires, switching out batteries and fixing equipment for fire and rescue crews assembled in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Hagerstown Council members Penny Nigh and Kelly Cromer are correct when they say it was a proper use of taxpayer money for them to travel on the public's dime to a convention of city governments. They are also correct to say that there are elements of sexism in Hagerstown. But when making such arguments it pays to use a narrow brush, because to do otherwise threatens to land us in the same soup as when we used the Willie Mays episode to extrapolate that Hagerstown as a whole is racist.