Verizon

No amount of money can buy freedom To the editor: My sisters and I were talking about when we were kids and would get a nickel, or sometimes a dime, and how much it would buy at the corner store. The candy was called "Penny Candy" back then. I guess it was because for 1 cent, you could get two or three pieces of something. The old man behind the counter would see the whole bunch of us coming and just know for the next hour, we'd be trying to make up our minds about what to buy. When you did decide, your chewy Mary Jane or colored gum balls were placed into tiny brown paper bags to carry home.

Gail Marie Brown and Lee Edward Callaway were married Saturday, July 12, 2008, at Dahlgren Chapel in Boonsboro. The bride is a physician at Smithsburg Family Medical Center practicing internal medicine and pediatrics. The bridegroom is a manager and systems analyst at Verizon in Hagerstown. They live in Hagerstown.

Elizabeth Ann Dollins and Robert S. Graver Jr. were married on Aug. 23, 2008, at Pleasant Walk United Methodist Church in Myersville, Md.  The bride is the daughter of Anna B. Dollins of Alexandria, Va., and the late Richard F. Dollins. The bridegroom is the son of the late Carrie Mae and Robert Graver.  The bride is a graduate of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, and works for Miller and Anderson in Clear Brook, Va.   The bridegroom, a veteran of the Vietnam War, is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Editor's note: This is the second story in a six-part series about some of the people who will compete in the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon Saturday in Washington County. This story appeared in The Herald-Mail on Tuesday, Nov. 18. Kim Pack is psyched for the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon, but it wasn't always that way. "I hated running," said Pack, who worked as a member of the support crew during last year's race. The JFK 50 Mile is America's oldest ultramarathon. The endurance event, to be run Saturday, takes participants from Boonsboro to Williamsport along paved roads, the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal towpath.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. -- A group of Morgan County residents held picket signs in front of the Verizon office on Wednesday to protest the company's inability to provide broadband Internet service in their area. Local resident Jennifer Carpenter-Peak organized the event that had about 15 people, including children, holding up signs along U.S. 522 asking drivers to honk their horns if they wanted better Internet service. A lot of honking was heard. Carpenter-Peak said she and her family live about 12 miles south of Berkeley Springs in the Colonial Village subdivision and cannot be connected to the high-speed service.

Alumni games The Clear Spring Blazers alumni basketball games will be played Saturday, Dec. 6, at the high school. The first game will start at 6 p.m. and it will be for those who graduated in 1998 and after. The second game will begin at 7 p.m. for those who graduated in 1997 and before. The games will be odd years vs. even years. The concession stand will open at 5:30 p.m. There will be raffles and prizes, including Blazer season passes and game ball. There will also be a halftime shoot-out for fans.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Verizon is arguing that it didn't break the law by releasing unpublished phone numbers and Maryland's Public Service Commission doesn't have authority to order remedies, according to recent filings in the case. The Maryland Office of People's Counsel, an advocate for residential utility customers, has asked the PSC for a formal hearing on the release of about 11,000 unlisted and nonpublished phone numbers in the Washington County area. Verizon, which appeared before the PSC more than three months ago, said the official hearing isn't necessary and would generate unnecessary publicity about a sensitive issue the company has tried to handle discreetly.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Verizon is arguing that it didn't break the law by releasing unpublished phone numbers and Maryland's Public Service Commission doesn't have authority to order remedies, according to recent filings in the case. The Maryland Office of People's Counsel, an advocate for residential utility customers, has asked the PSC for a formal hearing on the release of about 11,000 unlisted and nonpublished phone numbers in the Washington County area. Verizon, which appeared before the PSC more than three months ago, said the official hearing isn't necessary and would generate unnecessary publicity about a sensitive issue the company has tried to handle discreetly.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- New phone books are in the mail in Washington County, replacing copies of a directory that accidentally included thousands of private listings. Verizon spokeswoman Sandra Arnette said Wednesday that new directories were mailed about a week ago. Some people have received the new phone books. Prepaid envelopes for people to send back the original directories also were mailed last week, Arnette said. While providing names, addresses and phone numbers to Ogden Directories for a Washington County phone book, Verizon accidentally included about 11,000 unlisted and nonpublished listings, angering law enforcement officers and victims of domestic violence, among others.