Worker

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.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - The day before Jennifer Leigh Dodson was last seen alive, she handed a co-worker a piece of paper, telling her that it was her new phone number and not to give it to anyone, especially Vernon Dunlap Sr., Annette McDonald testified Thursday. McDonald, who worked with Dodson at Fertig Cabinet Co. in Martinsburg, W.Va., said that Dunlap "was very attentive" to Dodson, 20. Dunlap, 46, worked at Newbraugh's, an adjacent lumber supply store.

Thumbs up to Del. John Donoghue, D-Washington, for his amendment restoring $1 million to the budget of the University System of Maryland's Hagerstown campus. The facility, its students, its faculty and Washington County at large didn't deserve the raid on its funds initiated by a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. House Speaker Michael Busch said that the restoration of those funds came only because of the respect Donoghue has in Annapolis. Thumbs down to Preservation Maryland and Maryland Life magazine, for nominating the Camp Ritchie Historic District as one of Maryland's 11 most endangered sites.

Editor's note: Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail publishes "A Life Remembered. " This continuing series takes a look back - through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others - at a member of the community who died recently. Today's "A Life Remembered" is about Helen "Maxine" Campbell, who died Oct. 3 at the age of 87. Her obituary was published in the Oct. 6 edition of The Herald-Mail. Many who knew Helen "Maxine" Campbell over the years shared a common description of her as a woman of quiet strength - but not too quiet.

Nearly three out of four employees who work full time for the Washington County government will earn more this year than the average income for workers in the county, a Herald-Mail analysis of county salary data shows. • LINK: Washington County government salaries database   Fiscal year 2011 salaries for Washington County’s 751 full-time, salaried employees range from $22,848 for a landfill attendant to $120,228 for the county administrator. The average salary for full-time county employees is about $46,800.

The unit block of West Antietam Street in Hagerstown could reopen to traffic early next week after it was closed almost two weeks ago to let engineers examine the structural integrity of a building that was gutted by a fire, a city official said. Hagerstown spokeswoman Erin Wolfe said the street is expected to be reopened Monday or Tuesday. “They're in the process of doing the demolition work and stabilizing the remains,” Wolfe said Wednesday. She said workers were in the process of removing the top floor of the building at 19-21-23 W. Antietam St., where a fire was set Feb. 7 by a homeless man who was living in the vacant structure.

A former police officer and fire chief fatally shot his wife and wounded his stepson Tuesday evening before killing himself in a home east of Waynesboro, Pa., Pennsylvania State Police said Wednesday. John Fleagle, 50, fatally shot his wife, Cathy, and himself with a handgun, police said in a news release. Fleagle also shot his stepson, 18-year-old Mitchell Robinson, in the arm, police said. No information was available regarding his condition. Law enforcement authorities said they were called to a home at 13878 Mar Penn Ave. near the intersection with Edgewood Drive shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday.

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - One of two Jefferson County, W.Va., men who died in a single-car crash in the Shannondale area Saturday afternoon was a construction worker who leaves behind two young daughters, the victim's father said Monday. Herbert James Dodson, 21, of Millville, W.Va., was a pipe worker who installed pipe in the ground for a variety of projects, said his father, Darryl Wayne Dodson Sr. Herbert Dodson worked at the job for about two years, his father said.

Dorothy Hull is no stranger to adversity. The 90-year-old mother of eight lives quietly in Martinsburg with her daughter, Darlene Cuddy, filling her weekdays with crossword puzzles and game show reruns, and going out to eat on Saturdays. But her life was not always so tranquil. Hull grew up one of 10 siblings on Tommytown Road off Sharpsburg Pike south of Hagerstown. At 18 years old, she married, moved to Williamsport and started a family with her husband, Daniel Hull. Dorothy Hull recalls the couple's oldest child was about 11 years old when her husband passed away.

gregs@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - A Martinsburg, W.Va., woman who died in a workplace accident in Williamsport earlier this year was remembered Wednesday during a workers memorial service. Deanna L. Stottlemyer, 37, died Jan. 21 when she was caught in a conveyor belt roller while working at a machine that dyes leather at GST AutoLeather. Kelly Miles, 42, of Hagerstown, said he used to work closely with Stottlemyer, sometimes on the same machine at which she was working when the accident occurred.