Violence

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- The 17th annual Women in Need Vigil Against Violence was held Thursday at Wilson College in Chambersburg. The event ended with a candelight vigil through the Wilson campus.

A meeting to discuss recent violence in Hagerstown's Westview Homes public housing complex will be held at 6 p.m. today at the Westview Community Room at the corner of Main and Buena Vista avenues. Hagerstown Police Chief Dale Jones and housing authority officials are scheduled to attend. The public is invited.

In the days after the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Conn., I made it clear that I believe it is time for us to move from rhetoric to action to prevent future acts of senseless mass violence. Since then, much has been made of those comments - some of it accurately reflecting what I said, some not. Because I am an A-rated, lifelong member of the National Rifle Association and a proud defender of the Second Amendment, some people viewed my comments as a tipping point in the debate about guns in America.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - When Mulzim Fida'i moved to Martinsburg from New York City about a year ago, he did not expect street violence to make the trip with him. [cont. from news page ] Now, in the wake of last week's fatal shooting in broad daylight, Fida'i is concerned the same criminal element he left behind is finding its way into smaller towns. "It troubles me when I see drugs and violence coming into Martinsburg. It frightens me," said Fida'i. Kevin Smith, 22, of Martinsburg, died last week after he was shot twice in the head last Thursday afternoon in an outside courtyard at Berkeley Garden Apartments.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Two students who recently won awards for essays on nonviolence said they wanted to enter the contest because both have come in contact with fighting at school. "A boy punched me, and I was suspended for defending myself. Luckily the suspension was taken off my record," says Allyson Orndorff, a seventh-grader at North Middle School in Martinsburg. Allyson won first place in the middle school division of 1997 Project on Racism essay contest. The contest, sponsored by Wheeling, W.Va.

In July of this year, I was asked to give testimony before a Gov. Martin O'Malley-appointed 23-member commission regarding a study on capital punishment. I was honored by this request, but this is a topic I simply cannot discuss without resurfacing a deep emotional scar. On July 27, 1988, I was 23, married with two young daughters, when tragedy struck. My father had shot and killed my stepmother and stepsister. Twenty-four years ago, my mother remarried and a new blended-family was formed.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Stacey Chaney couldn't prevent her son from being shown the hanging of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein at his Berkeley County school's computer lab. At home, she's found herself with the difficult task of explaining erectile dysfunction after a commercial aired during a TV show. Mooch Mutchler said he couldn't get to the remote fast enough to change the channel when a particularly disturbing advertisement aired while he and his child were watching an NFL game recently.

The discovery of the body of Martinsburg, W. Va. resident Deborah Grove last Monday in an apple orchard brings to three the number of woman slain in the Eastern Panhandle since July. In each case, the bodies were dumped in fairly remote locations. But justice officials say there's no link between the three cases, except perhaps that they all took place in a society that's becoming more violent - and among citizens who are becoming more complacent about it. Citizens ought to care for humanitarian reasons; every life is unique and precious and not a piece of property to be discarded or destroyed on a whim or in a moment of anger.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Fellowship Church of the Brethren will hold a service in observation of the International Day of Prayer for Peace on Sunday at 6 p.m. People will gather to pray for military peace throughout the world, an end to drug-related violence in the streets and domestic violence in the home. Those who attend may bring the names of family members who are serving in the military for prayers. The church is at 505 Blossom Drive, Martinsburg, south of Tablers Stations Road along U.S. 11. More information can be obtained by calling 304-263-7750.

On Sept. 28, 2012, Gabrielle Thomas was raped by someone she had known for years and considered a friend. “I never thought such a terrible tragedy happened in real life until it happened to me,” said the 20-year-old Shippensburg University student. “The day of my attack I was in complete shock, yet a part of me knew I had to report it right away. Immediately I sought attention with the help of my best friend,” Thomas said. Thomas was one of four women who shared her story at Women in Need's 21st annual Vigil Against Violence at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Chambersburg on Tuesday.

Ratings help, but parental intervention is the key to protecting children from the effects of playing violent video games, watching violence in movies and on television and seeing what's widely available on the Internet, according to participants in a round-table discussion on the issue Monday. The panel of 10, including parents, Jefferson High School students, a teacher, pediatrician and representative of the Entertainment Software Rating Board was convened by U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., at the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center at 2500 Foundation Way. The 25 members in the audience were invited by Rockefeller to ask questions.

March is Women's History Month, a time we usually celebrate or honor a specific woman in history. This year, I would like to do something different. I would like to focus on domestic violence, an issue that has received a lot of attention in recent months because of legislation in Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. I want to use this opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the issue, the progress we have made since the 1980s and what still needs to be done. Until the 1970s, there really was very little attention paid to domestic violence in our nation.

At the age of 10, William Kellibrew witnessed the murder of his mother and 12-year-old brother. That 1984 summer day, he was spared by his mother's boyfriend, who pointed his gun at Kellibrew but then instructed him to run from the Capitol Heights, Md., residence before taking his own life. But the nightmares have since stayed with him. “Sometimes it's very difficult to sleep,” Kellibrew said, addressing close to 40 students of the Memorial Recreation Center's after school program Tuesday in Hagerstown.

Tears rolled down Maria Edmonds face as she read her original poem titled “After,” written as an outlet to her experiences as a victim of domestic abuse. The emotion on Edmonds' face, in her voice as she read - even in her breaths between words as she collected herself - was palpable. “I started writing out of desperation to heal,” said Edmonds, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) Club at Hagerstown Community College. “And I just felt like writing poetry was an appropriate vehicle to express emotions that I really have a hard time containing sometimes.” As a way to raise awareness about the topic, a group of about 30 people - including men and women of all ages - gathered inside HCC's student center Thursday night to celebrate V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women.

Patricia Greenlee never thought she would be a victim of domestic violence. She never witnessed a domestic violence in her life. Her parents had been married for 52 years, and she and her four siblings all were college educated. “I always thought that those people who didn't have as much education, who didn't live in good neighborhoods were those who dealt with domestic violence,” Greenlee told Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and more than 30 others gathered Friday near Martinsburg for a discussion on the issue and the Violence Against Women Act now pending in Congress.

A Washington County Circuit Court jury on Thursday found a Hagerstown man guilty of assault and weapons charges for attacking a man during a 2012 drug deal. Judge Dana Moylan Wright ordered a presentence investigation for Eric Shaquille Baymon, who was found guilty of first- and second-degree assault, use of a handgun in a crime of violence, reckless endangerment and two other gun charges. First-degree assault carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison and use of a handgun in a crime of violence has a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, under Maryland law. Baymon, 19, of 42 E. Washington St., was charged in an April 11, 2012, incident near the intersection of Lee and Potomac streets in which he was accused of assaulting Giancarlos Badia, 22, of 272 S. Potomac St., according to Hagerstown police charging documents.

Handguns are biggest perpetrators of violence To the editor: I find myself agreeing, in part, with Steve McAbee (Jan. 14).  While I am in favor of sensible gun control and other measures to curb violence, I find it counterproductive to legislate up the wrong tree. According to the FBI, McAbee is correct in stating that rifles (including assault rifles) account for a low number of murders (2.55 percent in 2011). And he is correct in saying that other weapons are used to murder more people than are rifles (Knives and cutting instruments, 13.38 percent; punching and kicking, 5.75 percent; blunt objects, 3.92 percent: shotguns, 2.81 percent)

In the days after the horrific tragedy in Newtown, Conn., I made it clear that I believe it is time for us to move from rhetoric to action to prevent future acts of senseless mass violence. Since then, much has been made of those comments - some of it accurately reflecting what I said, some not. Because I am an A-rated, lifelong member of the National Rifle Association and a proud defender of the Second Amendment, some people viewed my comments as a tipping point in the debate about guns in America.