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The Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber on Monday revealed a new corporate brand identity and redesigned website. “Our new brand tells the world that the our business community is thriving, and that means more customers for chamber members, and more jobs for Washington County,” Brien Poffenberger, president of the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce, said in a news release. “Our community will be the next generation of prosperity in Maryland, and the chamber is helping to make that happen.” Working in conjunction with Hagerstown marketing firm and chamber member Power Marketing, the chamber completed a comprehensive series of brand strategy meetings, member surveys, competitor analysis and market research.

Cascade Elementary School's technology team has worked this year on providing a customized website for the school . The website is a work in progress and the school hopes to have teacher pages added in the future. A schedule of events, PTA information, staff listings, newsletters and links to websites that students can access from home are available. Don’t forget that students can access Study Island from home to practice reading and math in a fun way. Smithsburg Middle School Help support the 25 Book Challenge.

The 2012 Maryland Farmers Market Directory listing locations and hours of each of the state's markets is available through the Maryland Department of Agriculture website.  This year, some 138 markets will be open with at least one in every county and Baltimore City. Many of the markets are open and offering produce and plants such as salad greens, spinach, asparagus, strawberries, blueberries and bedding plants. Farmers market locations, hours and producer/vendor and product listings are available at www.marylandsbest.net.

In the next few months, The Herald-Mail's online site will be changing. Regular visitors to herald-mail.com probably already are rolling their eyes and muttering things like "Why? Why? Why?" The site is easy to navigate. The site does look good. The feedback from users is predominantly positive. So ... why, why, why? We can make it even better. The Herald-Mail launched its online site around 1996. It was a very simple website to visit, but a very complicated website to produce.

On Jan. 31, The Herald-Mail will begin charging for some of the content on its website, www.herald-mail.com , Publisher Andy Bruns said. The website will have a "meter" that allows each user 15 premium page views for free every 30 days. After passing the limit of 15 page views, the user will be asked to purchase an online subscription to view additional premium content. The subscription will grant unlimited access to content on www.herald-mail.com . "Simply put, I don't know what business can spend millions of dollars doing something and then give that product away for free, and survive," Bruns said.

The Western Maryland Regional Library and the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts are looking for items created between 1859 and 1867 that reflect life around the time of the Civil War and early Reconstruction periods. On Saturday, Nov. 17, items that tell your family's stories can be scanned for inclusion in the statewide collection of Civil War material online at the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage website, www.mdch.org/civilwar The Hagerstown event is part of an effort by the Maryland history libraries and museums to make available to the public Civil War material owned by individuals.

It might be the digital age, but when it comes to pinching pennies, Stephanie Brandt does it the old-fashioned way. She clips paper coupons. That's not to say she doesn't find discounts on the Internet, too. She leaves no page - or site - unturned in an effort to save money. Brandt has always been concerned about how to get the most for her dollar, she said, but more so after she and her husband adopted their 6-year-old son from Guatemala. "You have to make serious financial sacrifices to adopt and this forces you to learn other ways of saving," she noted.

There is no shortage of sports leagues or organizations for children to get involved with in Washington County. From standards like football, soccer and basketball to newer and growing sports like lacrosse and hockey, there is a sport for nearly every taste. Here is a list of some of the larger fall and winter youth sports organizations in Washington County. Many of the fall leagues have already closed for preregistration, so hurry if your kids still want to get in on the competition.

Grief counselors will be on hand at the Waynesboro Area Senior High School today to counsel those who might need help dealing with the death of a fellow student. Waynesboro Area School District Superintendent Sherian Diller said in a recorded message sent to parents that a high school student had died and that students were notified during the day of the student's death. Diller said in her message that a letter was sent home with all high school students. “It is important for you as parents to be aware that your child may need or want to talk about this situation,” Diller said in the message.

Tired of watching someone else do the judging for the Miss America Pageant? Think you possess some unique skills in picking a winner? Then this Saturday's Miss America Pageant is for you, now that organizers have set up a process to allow members of the public to vote for their favorite contestant. Among the contestants in this year's pageant are two local women - Miss Maryland Carlie Colella of Hagerstown and Miss West Virginia Spenser Wempe of Martinsburg, W.Va. Rules for public voting allow for one vote per person and Internet-accessible device per contestant through the voting period that ends Thursday at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, according to the Miss America website.

Heather Gayle of Hedgesville, W.Va., believes that music can bring people together. That's why Gayle, 19, and her group were selected to perform today at the Capital Pride event in Washington, D.C. The event is a celebration for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. Gayle, who's a singer and rapper, is known as 1 Luv. Joining her onstage are her dancers, the 1 Luv Crew, younger sister Hope Gayle, and longtime friend Charice Washington of Shepherdstown, W.Va. “We go every year.

Friday night's graduation at Chambersburg Area Senior High School was postponed due to rain, according to school officials. Commencement will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at Trojan Stadium. Gates will open at 12:30 p.m. Parents and students can check the district's website for additional updates at www.chambersburg.k12.pa.us . Meanwhile, Greencastle-Antrim High School will decide early Saturday whether the Class of 2013 will graduate on Kaley Field or in the gymnasium. District Superintendent C. Gregory Hoover said a decision about the commencement ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday for at the football stadium will be made at 7:30 a.m. and posted on the district's website at www.greencastle.k12.pa.us . Hoover said the starting time could be 10 a.m., 11 a.m. or noon.

Have you filed your tax returns and not received your refunds in a timely manner? Still wondering when your refunds will arrive? Peggy Riley, spokeswoman for the Internal Revenue Service, said a resource is available on the IRS website to easily check the status of your federal refund and find out when it is scheduled to arrive. After logging on to www.irs.gov , users can click on a link toward the right of the page that reads: “Where's My Refund?” There, tax filers need to input their Social Security number, filing status (i.e.

The record high temperature for April 10 was broken Wednesday afternoon when the mercury rose to nearly 90 degrees in Hagerstown, Hagerstown weather observer Greg Keefer reported on his website at i4weather.net. The temperature in the city reached 89.3 degrees at 2:11 p.m., beating the old record high of 86 degrees set for that day in 1922, according to Keefer's website. The record low temperatures for April 10 is 18 degrees, which was set in 1985, according to Keefer's website.

Hagerstown officials presented a new process to facilitate the sale of city-owned properties via the city's website Tuesday before the mayor and five-member city council. Through the competitive negotiated sale process, the city will solicit online proposals for the redevelopment and appropriate reuse of city-owned property on an ongoing basis, said John Lestitian, the city's director of economic and community development. Two properties - 11, 12, 15 and 16 Public Square, and 170 W. Washington St. - currently are available on the city's website at www.hagerstownmd.org/index.aspx?

People who have been dissatisfied with the spring temperatures so far got some relief Monday when the mercury shot to a high of 79.3 degrees in Hagerstown, local weather observer Greg Keefer reported on his website at i4weather.net. But the high temperature reached at 2:49 p.m. was not enough to set a record, according to Keefer's website. The record high temperature for April 8 was reached in 1991 when the temperature climbed to 87 degrees, according to the website. The high temperature Tuesday is expected to be near 82 degrees and the high on Wednesday will be near 84 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Del. Neil C. Parrott said Friday that a website he chairs is trying to gauge support for petitioning some measures passed during the current session of the Maryland General Assembly to the ballot. Parrott, R-Washington, who is chairman of MDpetitions.com , provided an email that listed some of the measures that could be challenged. They include Gov. Martin O' Malley's gun-control measure, the repeal of the death penalty and the question of implementing the federal health care overhaul in Maryland.

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)

Kimberly Robinson, a Greencastle building contractor, former retirement home owner and restaurateur since August 2000, won approval Monday night to add on to her Highline Restaurant and Railway Lounge. The council voted to grant Robinson a waiver to add an $86,000 addition to the restaurant at 101 W. Washington St., described on the Internet as a “premium dining destination.” Robinson said after the meeting that she needed more room to expand the dining room and kitchen and to add a new lounge.

 Counselor Carol Ambrose, who has practices in Hancock and Rockville, Md., is offering married couples a free initial 30-minute consultation during National Marriage Week, Thursday, Feb. 7 to Thursday, Feb. 14.    To learn more about marriage and National Marriage Week, go to www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org . For more information, Ambrose, who see can be reached at 301-667-6327 or through her website at www.carolambrose.com ...