Washington County

The Washington County government announced recently that its annual business and industry survey showed there had been a net gain of more than 440 jobs in the past year. But that isn't the whole story. Despite the increase in the county's January unemployment rate, the county said in an emailed news release on March 22, “the annual Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Business Industry Report confirmed an increase of 448 jobs within the County based on 2012 reporting data through March 22, 2013.” What the county didn't say is that almost all of that net gain was because of new jobs funded by taxpayers, according to an examination of the county's data by The Herald-Mail.

Name: Wall-E Age: 3 years old Color: Brown, black, white tabby Breed: domestic short hair mix ID: 19383723 Wall-E is one big lovable boy. He is looking for a family to call his own. Wall-E and many other animals are available for adoption at The Humane Society of Washington County, 13011 Maugansville Road, north of Hagerstown. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Williamsport's Jesse Zeger and Cody Grams both found their form at the right time as the Wildcats successfully defended their boys team title at the MVAL Antietam Conference Track & Field Championships on Friday evening at Oakdale High School. Zeger was the champion in both 110-meter hurdles (15.46 seconds) and 300 hurdles (41.30). “Two weeks ago at Walkersville (at the Talley Zimmerman Invitational), I didn't even make the finals of the 110 hurdles and was only fourth in the 300 hurdles,” Zeger said.

Following a 24-hour period of giving that concluded Thursday at midnight, the inaugural Washington County Gives online fundraiser raised $161,378 to assist 48 area nonprofits. Bradley N. Sell, executive director of the Community Foundation of Washington County, said the amount included a little more than $113,000 from community donors and approximately $48,000 in matching dollars the foundation raised in advance and contributed Thursday night. A total of 1,564 contributions came from 1,021 donors, according to tallies at washingtoncountygives.org.

The 24-hour Washington County Gives online fundraiser which ended at midnight Thursday raised $161,378 for four dozen county nonprofit organizations. The amount came from 1,564 contributions from 1,021 unique donors, according to tallies at washingtoncountygives.org. While the goal was to raise $300,000, Bradley N. Sell, executive director of the Community Foundation of Washington County, which spearheaded the fundraiser aimed at benefiting area nonprofits, was pleased with the inaugural results.

A Republican Washington County delegate, with help from Democrats, is mounting a challenge to the repeal of the death penalty, a measure that was signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley earlier this week. Neil C. Parrott, R-Washington, announced the start of a petition drive at a press conference in Baltimore on Friday. With him were Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat, and Sen. James Brochin, D-Baltimore County. “Life is extremely precious ... but, for example, if someone does something like the attack on the Boston marathon, they deserve the death penalty,” Parrott said, noting that the press conference was held not far from the finishing line of the Baltimore Marathon.

In the year since the first Childhood Literacy Summit was held, there are more programs available in Washington County to boost children's reading skills, and the numbers show they need the help. Across Maryland, 82 percent of kindergarten students are considered “fully school ready,” but the figure is 75 percent in Washington County, said David Hanlin, chairman of the Rotary Literacy Council. The Rotary Club of Hagerstown sponsored the second annual summit Friday at Hagerstown Community College, along with the Washington County Public Schools and Washington County Free Library, with corporate sponsorship from the Volvo Group.

The kind of uninhibited cheers preteen girls typically reserve for celebrity heartthrobs erupted Friday night as 12 area bachelors paraded through an audience of about 200 people, most of whom were women anxiously awaiting a chance to win a date. The second annual Charity Bachelor Auction, hosted by Friends of Safe Place, was held at BPO Elks Lodge No. 378, where the highest bidder paid $800 for a date with 34-year-old Jeffrey Butts of Hagerstown. The first bachelor up for bid, 27-year-old Arnold Martin III, of Martinsburg, W.Va., topped out at $250.

Washington County Gives online fundraiser kicked off at midnight, and by 3 p.m. had raised $71,199. That amount came from 614 unique donors who made 863 total donations, according to tallies at the website at washingtoncountygives.org . “It's really exciting to see how fast it's growing,” Bradley N. Sell, executive director of the Community Foundation of Washington County, said Thursday morning. Sell said he expects the biggest period of giving will be this evening after people start getting home from work.

An armed robbery was reported at Universal Spirits at 33 E. Franklin St., Thursday night, according to a Washington County 911 spokesman. The robbery was reported at 10:36 p.m. and Hagerstown Police Department officers were investigating the incident, the spokesman said.