Worker

INWOOD, W.Va. - An armed man walked into an Exxon station next to the Inwood exit along Interstate 81 Saturday night and ordered an employee to give him money, a West Virginia State Police spokesman said. Although the man showed a handgun during the 10:40 p.m. holdup, no one was hurt, Trooper R.D. Eshbaugh said. The man ordered an employee to give him money from a cash register and the worker handed over $332, Eshbaugh said. The man ordered the workers to look away as he left the store, Eshbaugh said.

In a communication-saturated world, there are several ways of conveying messages, many of which require tact. Uncomfortable situations arise frequently at work, in the public arena and even at home. Some communication experts say timing, location and the words you choose make all the difference. "It's not what you say but how you say it," says Siri Young, prevention specialist for Washington County Health Department. [cont. from lifestyle ] She believes in win-win communication, which provides meaningful contact for all parties involved.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- In the span of just six months, the field of professional human services took a big step toward improving the lives of many families in Franklin, Fulton and Adams counties. Twenty-four professionals successfully graduated as the first local class of the Family Development Credentialing Program (FDC), and a ceremony was held for them Wednesday evening at the Chambersburg Recreation Center. The FDC is a strengths-based training program for human service workers of every discipline, which strives to help families identify their own strengths and to work through problems on their own rather than relying on the worker, according to program instructors Bob and Nicole Hewitt.

A former employee of San Mar Children's Home in Boonsboro has filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, claiming she was discharged from her job because she is a lesbian, according to documents. Sarah Rutledge, 29, alleges her co-workers made disparaging remarks about her sexual orientation and marriage to a woman throughout her time at San Mar. Rutledge said she also was placed on probationary status on Sept.

Some worked in lawn and garden, some fitted customers with shoes and some sold cosmetics. Others managed the business office, while still others peddled records back when music was still recorded on vinyl. But all the people gathered in the meeting room at the Sleep Inn Saturday night in Hagerstown were former employees of Montgomery Ward at Valley Mall. And though the store closed its doors when the department store chain went out of business in 2001, each of the former employees remembered working there with enough fondness to reunite for a 10th annual co-worker Christmas party.

Hammann leaving Halltown plant after 42 years By CLYDE FORD Staff Writer, Charles Town HALLTOWN, W.Va. - Conrad "Connie" Hammann walked at ease past beeping forklifts and whirling rolls of paper. He watched as a worker moved large sheets of cardboard from a cutter. In an eight-hour shift, the machine will produce 40 tons of neatly trimmed cardboard paper. One worker will lift an estimated 12 tons of paper by hand each shift, but despite turning 68 on Monday, the broad-shouldered Hammann looked like he could easily handle a shift at the machine.

Harriet Hertz had been fired from her first job for not caring enough. She was fired from her second for caring too much. About Thomas, that is - the co-worker who made her laugh and feel clever. The co-worker who turned into a black panther and savagely fought another panther in a dark Hagerstown alley. After Thomas had explained everything to Harriet, after he had kissed her so beautifully and so sweetly and swore he loved her, he said he had to leave. He couldn't stay anywhere people knew about his family's feline curse, Thomas said.

A co-worker/friend at my last job was always upset with me. You see, at work I have a habit of getting the work done as quickly as possible and then getting myself out of the building. Many times - OK, every night - I would just leave. My former co-worker said this just didn't cut it. There was no reason why I couldn't take a second and say good-bye. This has stuck with me. Of course there were other times when I didn't say good-bye and there were other times when my former co-worker would remind me - harshly.

kristinw@herald-mail.com Jackie Burkett and dozens of other employees from Brethren Mutual Insurance Co. have a special motivation to participate in this weekend's American Cancer Society Relay For Life - their late co-worker Tina Wiley. Wiley died in January of melanoma, a type of skin cancer, at the age of 35. While Wiley's death left her family reeling, her co-workers also were affected, said Burkett, who worked alongside Wiley for 15 years and cultivated a special relationship with her. "This for me, at 35, I thought was just a cruel blow," said Burkett.

Slow down at construction sites To the editor: We want to write this letter about a co-worker who was killed doing his job. He was a flagger. He was a great guy and was well liked by all employees. He knew his job well and his signs were in their proper place as per state standards. But because a driver did not see the signs, our friend and fellow co-worker died. We know some motorists think we are out there to hassle them and cause them delays in their commute, but we are not. We are out here to do a public service and to keep motorists safe as well as the workers on the road.