West Virginia

Public schools in Berkeley and Jefferson counties in West Virginia will be operating on two-hour delays Thursday, school officials said Wednesday.

Two Jefferson County residents were killed early Sunday in separate car accidents in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, according to police. See Monday's Herald-Mail newspapers for the full story.

Schools in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia are closed Monday because of the wintry weather. According to school officials and Web sites, public schools in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties are closed.

Sarah Morris, an English teacher at Berkeley Springs High School, has been named West Virginia's 2007 Teacher of the Year. Read the full story in Wednesday's Herald-Mail newspapers.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Hagerstown Suns looked to get a four-game sweep of West Virginia but settled for a three-game sweep after Sunday's contest was postponed by rain. The Suns are off today and return home to face Greensboro on Tuesday at 6:35 in the first of a four-game series. West Virginia then follows for a four-game series to complete the homestand.

The West Virginia Environmental Council invites the community to its winter fundraiser titled “West Virginia - Ever Green” Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. at The Train Station in Shepherdstown.   There will be music, light refreshments and speakers. Admission costs $10, which includes two raffle tickets. The raffle will include prizes.

Congestion along the busy U.S. 340 corridor near the Potomac River is not a new issue to local residents or transportation officials from Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. Searching for answers to traffic backups that can reach almost two miles long during rush hours, about 30 people attended a meeting Friday night at Pleasant Valley Elementary School in Knoxville, Md., to air their complaints. Officials from the Md. State Highway Administration were joined by West Virginia and Virginia Department of Transportation representatives to talk about the issues that motorists are facing, offer some short-term solutions and seek input.

Since I've been writing this column - more than two years now - I've wanted to write about West Virginia. You see, as much as I love Maryland and the Hagerstown/Washington County area, I'm still a West Virginian at heart. I was born and reared in Summers County, educated in West Virginia public schools and flunked out of my first college at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. I entered the military and my permanent home address was in West Virginia until I left active service in 1972.

Changing state boundaries makes sense To the editor: I know I'm not the first to suggest this, but I think it has merit. Give Washington, D.C., to the State of Maryland. This would give D.C. residents an equal representation in Congress. Give Allegany and Garrett counties to West Virginia. They are more like most of West Virginia. Give Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan counties back to Virginia since they are more like the mother state. Possibly include Washington County in this change to Virginia.