Tri State Area

When Penn State's legendary former football coach Joe Paterno died Sunday, his life and legacy were remembered across the nation. In the Tri-State area, some residents took time to reflect on college football's winningest coach, noting he was more than just a football coach. “He was a great guy,” said Bob Campbell of Fayetteville, Pa. Campbell was a running back for the Nittany Lions from 1966-68, the first years the team was led by Paterno. He is a Brunswick, Md., middle school teacher who also coached at Frederick (Md.)

A novel about the struggle of good and evil. A memoir recalling self healing after living as a victim of abuse. A children’s story about leaving a treat for Santa on Christmas Eve. And a story collection that includes a lesson on how not to get your father to pay you that quarter he owes you. These are some of the books area residents published recently. Some stories bring a smile, others teach a lesson and some pull at the heartstrings. Here are profiles of four Tri-State-area authors and their new books.

As a 12,000-pound crystal ball works its way down a pole in New York City's Times Square bidding farewell to 2012, people across the United States - including those locally - will raise their cups with cheers and a toast to ring in the new year. It's tradition. New Year's Eve celebrations are characterized on Wikipedia as “evening social gatherings, where many people dance, eat, drink alcoholic beverages and watch or light fireworks.” But not everyone ascribes to the “go out and get lit” approach to the new year.

A strong line of thunderstorms swept through the Tri-State area Wednesday afternoon, producing high winds that temporarily knocked out power to thousands of people in Maryland and Pennsylvania. Winds began picking up in Hagerstown around 2:30 p.m. as the storm blew in from the northwest. The highest gust recorded in Hagerstown was 48 mph, according to local weather observer Greg Keefer's website, www.i4weather.net. The gusts brought down several trees and limbs around Hagerstown, which affected one electric circuit in the North End of the city, said Michael Spiker, director of Hagerstown's utility department.

Washington County and all neighboring counties in Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are under a tornado watch, effective until 9 p.m. Friday, the National Weather Service announced at 1:30 p.m. The NWS forecast for Hagerstown  called for showers and a chance of thuderstorms Friday afternoon and evening. Some storms could be severe, with gusty winds and heavy rain, the weather service said. Portions of Frederick County, Md., were under a tornado warning from about 2:30 p.m. until 3 p.m. after a storm capable of producing a tornado moved thorugh the Mount Airy area.

ExxonMobil's Educational Alliance Program has awarded $1.8 million in grants this year to schools to help enhance math and science education across the United States.  This is the 12th consecutive year for the program.   AC&T supported 13 schools in the Tri-State area with $6,500 from educational alliance funds. Schools could partner with Exxon- and Mobil-branded service stations, the majority of which are independently owned and operated, to apply for grants.   In September, AC&T began working with schools in the community to fill out the applications.

FirstEnergy, which announced in February that it intends to close the R. Paul Smith Power Station in Williamsport by Sept. 1, said local customers won't be affected by a recent decision to explore increasing turbine energy sources in Ohio. Mark Durbin, a FirstEnergy spokesman, said the utility company's recent filing for a feasibility study application to install 800 megawatts of new combustion turbine peaking generation at its existing plant in Eastlake, Ohio, won't influence customers in the Tri-State area.

Three people from the Tri-State area entered guilty pleas June 28 and 30, in U.S. District Court in Martinsburg before Magistrate Judge David J. Joel. U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II announced the following Monday: ° Christina Marie Kelley, 28, of Martinsburg, entered a guilty plea to one count of an indictment charging her with the distribution of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of Martinsburg High School on Jan. 13. Kelley, who is free on bond pending sentencing, faces a maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment and a fine of $2 million, according to a news release.

After days of rain and flooding, dry weather is finally headed to the Tri-State area. The Hagerstown area is in for several drier days, with precipitation not making its way back to the area until the middle of next week, National Weather Service Meteorologist Bryan Jackson said. The Potomac River, however could still continue to rise Saturday as water makes its way down from higher elevations, Jackson said. Ed Plank, head of the Washington County Highway Department, said earlier Friday that the worst flooding in some parts of the county would not come until after sunset.

Sunday's shooting in the Nadenbousch Heights subdivision is the fifth case in the Tri-State area since July 28 in which a man shot someone before turning the gun on himself. According to police reports and court records, the shooting brings to 17 the total number of people in the Tri-State area killed in incidents involving firearms since July 23. The incidents involving firearms include: · On July 23, Jackson Agustin Rodriguez, 22, of the Bronx, N.Y., was found dead of gunshot wounds at Washington Gardens Apartments on Security Road in Hagerstown.