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Meredith Vieira, co-host of ABC daytime talk show "The View," delivers the commencement address Sunday at St. James School. Vieira's niece, Margaret Vieira, was among the school's 41 graduates.

Dusty Clever of Hagerstown paints the inside of a steeple approximately 50 feet above the ground Monday, atop the Trinity United Church of Christ at the Maryland/Pennsylvania border in State Line.

ROUZERVILLE, Pa. -- More than 300 vehicles participated in the Cumberland Valley Rod & Custom Club's 21st annual show Sunday at Red Run Park in Rouzerville. Proceeds benefited Red Run Park and local charities.

Marion Ochoa of Waynesboro, Pa., holds up grandson, Tekoa Ruggiero, of New Jersey to get a better look at a model train layout during the Waynesboro Lions Club's annual Model Train Show at the Mont Alto (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Co. Sunday. David Mackley, chairman of the train show committee, said the club set up for more than 80 vendor tables and more than 330 people visited during the first two hours of the five-hour show. The proceeds benefit the Lions Club's programs for the sight-impaired.

Several writers have told their story by the use of contrast in two cities to get their message across. St. Augustine set the City of God against the City of Satan to illustrate the eternal conflict between good and evil. Charles Dickens compared London and Paris as the setting for the comparison between moderation and radicalism in “A Tale of Two Cities.” Today, we could set reason against revelation by setting Charlottesville, (Jefferson) as a contrast to Lynchburg (Jerry Falwell)

On April 16, I asked readers to tell me if they were tired of syndicated columnist Charley Reese, who has been an outspoken opponent of the war against Iraq. More than 100 readers responded and while a number of them said it was time for Reese to go, many others said that while they sometimes disagreed with his message, they felt it was valuable to hear opposing points of view. Unfortunately, when I made my request for comment, I didn't ask readers to agree to allow us to publish their views with names attached.

Some of us are so afraid to live life that we spend our days cowering behind emotional walls. As far as Franca Lewis was concerned, that would be like living in a room with no view. Before her sudden death on Monday, Franca used to sit across from me in the newsroom. She was my friend. But let's get back to the view. Franca let it all hang out, so to speak. She wasn't afraid to live, or to love, or to tell you off if she thought you deserved it, for that matter.

For vacationers who have seen the sights of Ocean City, Md., from along the beach or boardwalk, Veronica Grove suggests another option. Try the view from 800 feet in the air. Last summer, Grove threw caution to the wind and went parasailing. Not only was it one of her favorite experiences, it was the perfect way to celebrate her 85th birthday, the Hagerstown resident said. With the attitude of an adventure seeker, Grove said she always is willing to try something new. So when several of her children had gone parasailing during a family vacation, she wanted to join in on the fun. "Anything they do, I'll do," she said.

see the enlargement W.Va. teacher plans trip to view solar eclipse A partial solar eclipse on Thursday will look like a cookie-monster bite out of the sun to Tri-State area star gazers. But some lucky people who are trekking to the Carribean hope to see an even rarer event - a total eclipse. Elizabeth Wasiluk, director of the Berkeley County (W.Va.) Planetarium, will view the astrological wonder from Aruba, an island off the northern coast of South America.

· Commentary In my dad's quirky, self-titled "Atomic Library" I found a lot of books about 19th century robber barons, which seemed a bit out-of-place amongst titles relating to the splitting of the atom, the complete works of Josephus and the Bible translated into, among other languages, Navajo and original Hebrew. I'm not sure why that was. He always kind of conceived a spite against anyone who had "made his pile" and had more money than he did, which, at points in his life, represented pretty much all on the non-Bangladeshi human race.

A Monday morning fire that started on a bed caused $25,000 in damages to a single-story house at 103 Crest View Road near Hagerstown, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said. The fire, which was discovered by the occupant at 5:07 a.m., caused $20,000 in damage to the structure and $5,000 in damage to the contents, according to a Fire Marshal's Office news release. The Fire Marshal's Office said the fire was out when firefighters from Funkstown and Hagerstown arrived. Authorities said smoke detectors were present and operating.

I never fared terribly well with eyeglasses. I was amazed at how crisp the world looked when I first got them in the third grade. But all that clarity kind of gave me a headache and made me a little dizzy. Just days after I got the oversize smoky purple beauties, a large, bouncing, eraser-colored kickball sailed across the echoing gymnasium in gym class and thumped me in the eye. I wobbled back, trying to maintain my balance, as a lens popped from the frame and I ended up with a shiner that left my brothers referring to me as Muhammad Ali. For months, I would remove my glasses when I ate. I felt like they were after my food.

Four people who have been charged with setting a number of fires across Washington County were arrested after one of them called deputies to his Williamsport home, where evidence was found linking him to the investigation, according to court documents. The statement of probable cause obtained Wednesday from Washington County District Court alleges that Tyler William Murray, 20, of 16615 Coney Court, called authorities to file a complaint that someone had tried to break into his vehicle and set his trash can on fire.

A public hearing will be held April 11 about the proposed use of more than $500,000 in federal funding by the city of Martinsburg and Eastern Panhandle Housing Consortium. The hearing will be at 6:30 p.m. in the J. Oakley Seibert Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall at 232 N. Queen St., Martinsburg Community Development Director Patricia E. McMillan said Thursday. The city intends to submit its 2013 fiscal year annual action plan to disperse $232,381 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

The Rev. Rob Apgar-Taylor, pastor of Veritas United Church of Christ, lives in Hagerstown with his husband, but despite the state of Maryland voting to legalize same-sex marriage in November, he and his spouse still do not have access to any federal benefits, and he has to file his taxes as a single man due to the 1996 Federal Defense of Marriage Act. “What people don't realize is there are almost 1,100 tax benefits that aren't granted to same-sex...

Highland View Academy seniors are bringing the 1960s television family with a cement pond and a Granny who loves opossum stew, hunting and hootenannies to their school stage this weekend. The school will present "Beverly Hillbillies" at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 16, in the school gymnasium.  First, though, some of them had to figure out who "The Beverly Hillbillies" even were. "We've got lots of students who hadn't seen the show," said Julie Recker, registrar at the private high school in Hagerstown.

The first woman to be elected judge in Franklin County helped Letterkenny Army Depot observe Women's History Month on Wednesday. Since 2000, Carol L. Van Horn has served on the bench of the Court of Common Pleas for the 39th Judicial District comprised of Franklin and Fulton counties. In her keynote speech, Van Horn spoke about the journey of women in the legal profession beginning with Myra Bradwell, who paved the way in 1872. Bradwell asked the Illinois legislature for a license to practice law and was denied.

In one sense, the event had the feel of a traditional college fair with college representatives there to help high school students plan for a career. But this was a much broader view of higher education with sessions geared at ways to even get elementary school students on the right track for college. The Future Starts Now: College and Career Planning for K-12 Families also helped parents with tips on how to pay for college education, such as applying for financial help through university trusts, offered high school students advice on what kind of preparation they need to start taking now for various fields and featured various panel discussions.

The state Rail Authority will hold a public meeting in Martinsburg on Tuesday for residents to learn about the development of a statewide rail plan, West Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Brent Walker said Thursday. The meeting, which is among eight public information sessions planned statewide, will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., in Berkeley County Council chambers at 400 W. Stephen St., according to the WVDOT. There will be a formal presentation at 6 p.m. followed by a public comment portion of the meeting, according to Walker.

A disabled train blocking a Norfolk Southern railroad crossing at Maugansville Road northwest of Hagerstown could be there for a while, a Washington County Emergency Services supervisor said Friday night. The road has been shut down since about 5 p.m., between Maugans Avenue and Garden View Road. The initial report from fire and train officials was that a wheel on the train “fell off,” the supervisor said earlier Friday. As of 6 p.m., the train's conductor was waiting for the arrival of his supervisors, which may take up to two hours, the supervisor said.