Workplace

Special to The Herald-Mail When Jo learned her mother's illness was serious, she had no idea that it would affect every aspect of her family's lives — even her work life.   For the first time in her memory, she was unable to balance her personal life with her work life. Jo had always been chosen to handle sizable projects and was selected to lead multiple initiatives at work. For her, her dedication to her job was part of her identity. But suddenly, she needed time to take her mother to medical appointments, to accompany her to treatments and to wade through the growing maze of bills and insurance papers.

Home is workplace for mother By JULIE E. GREENE / Staff Writer GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Tracy Ritz loves working her 24-hour, seven-day-a-week job. And she gets the best pay for it - hugs and kisses, said Ritz, a stay-at-home mom and homemaker. "I love the fact that I can be with my kids and be there for them when they need a kiss or a hug. Those are the true benefits," said Ritz, 34, of Greencastle, Pa. Being the cook, dishwasher, laundress, teacher, chauffeur and more for daughter, Melia, 5, and son, Luke, 16 months, can be overwhelming at times, but what job isn't, Ritz wrote in an e-mail to The Herald-Mail.

pepperb@herald-mail.com Williamsport - GST AutoLeather near Williamsport was running on a limited production schedule Thursday as Maryland Occupational Safety and Health personnel investigated the death of a woman who was killed Wednesday while operating a spraying machine at the plant. Deanna L. Stottlemyer, 37, of Martinsburg, W.Va., died Wednesday afternoon when she got caught in one of the rollers on spraying machine No. 3 at the Clear Spring Road plant, Dr. Edward Ditto III, the deputy medical examiner for Washington County, said after the accident.

War Memorial Hospital will offer the American Heart Association's Heartsaver First Aid with CPR & AED training course from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 26, in Education Room B at the hospital, 109 War Memorial Drive. This course is designed for laypersons, especially those in a workplace setting.  After successful completion of the class, individuals will be issued a participation card from the American Heart Association.              The cost is $65. Class size is limited so advance registration is required.

Stress management experts agree that employees and employers both can take steps to reduce stress in the workplace. Some of their suggestions are: For Employees Schedule three small "pleasures" into each work day. For instance, schedule lunch with a friend, listen to a favorite tape on the way into work or bring fresh flowers to the office. Spend leisure time engaged in hobbies or activities that differ from what you have to do at work every day. For instance, if you have a sedentary job do something physical in your free time.

WASHINGTON COUNTY Those with election fever might find it tough to check their loyalties at the door when they go to work. But they have to, according to rules in place at government agencies and other workplaces. Nonprofit organizations must be vigilant about not violating Internal Revenue Service prohibitions on political advocacy, at the risk of losing tax exemptions. In Maryland, state employees may speak their mind about politics during off hours, but are limited while on the job. That limit, or a perception of it, was at the heart of a recent controversy involving Democrat Douglas M. Duncan, who said he was told not to speak at a Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce dinner scheduled to feature him and former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich discussing politics.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Those with election fever might find it tough to check their loyalties at the door when they go to work. But they have to, according to rules in place at government agencies and other workplaces. Nonprofit organizations must be vigilant about not violating Internal Revenue Service prohibitions on political advocacy, at the risk of losing tax exemptions. In Maryland, state employees may speak their mind about politics during off hours, but are limited while on the job. That limit, or a perception of it, was at the heart of a recent controversy involving Democrat Douglas M. Duncan, who said he was told not to speak at a Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce dinner scheduled to feature him and former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich discussing politics.

The Frederick Key Notes event with business author Steve Denning scheduled for tonight has been postponed. Denning will speak from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Cultural Arts Center, 15 W. Patrick St., in downtown Frederick, Md. Tickets cost $10. The theme of Denning’s presentation will be “Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century,” based on his book “The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management: Re-Inventing...

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. ? The employees of Panhandle Home Health, Inc. have exceeded their donation goals for their United Way of the Eastern Panhandle workplace campaign this year, raising a total of $4,897. As a United Way agency, the staff recognizes the importance of giving locally.

andrear@herald-mail.com Allegheny Energy employee Jennifer Wilson didn't consider the impact of domestic violence on the workplace until she attended several local seminars that addressed the issue, she said. Hagerstown-based Citizens Assisting and Sheltering the Abused, or CASA, hosted the seminars last November and December to educate Washington County employers about how domestic violence affects business, and to teach managers how to create safer workplaces, CASA Executive Director Vicki Sadehvandi said.

War Memorial Hospital will offer the American Heart Association's Heartsaver First Aid with CPR & AED training course from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, June 26, in Education Room B at the hospital, 109 War Memorial Drive. This course is designed for laypersons, especially those in a workplace setting.  After successful completion of the class, individuals will be issued a participation card from the American Heart Association.              The cost is $65. Class size is limited so advance registration is required.

Washington County residents have, on average, higher rates of cancer, heart attacks and strokes than the rest of Maryland, and one place to begin improving those statistics is in the workplace, a state disease expert said Friday. Maryland has approximately 6 million residents, half of whom spend nine hours or more at work each day, analyst Katie Jones of the Maryland Office of Chronic Disease Prevention told a group of health care and business professionals at the Robinwood Professional Center.

Some "old Fleetwooders" showed up at the former travel trailer plant Thursday, not hoping to get their old jobs back, but of getting new work under the same roof. State, county and local elected officials Thursday welcomed Evolve Composites to Hancock. Also, on hand were men like Michael McFadden and Greg Unger, who are looking to fill positions that will be created when the company starts making precast lightweight concrete products in January. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Fleetwood plant in Williamsport was bustling, filling orders for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build trailers to house those displaced in Louisiana and Mississippi, recalled McFadden, who worked 20 years for Fleetwood.

Special to The Herald-Mail When Jo learned her mother's illness was serious, she had no idea that it would affect every aspect of her family's lives — even her work life.   For the first time in her memory, she was unable to balance her personal life with her work life. Jo had always been chosen to handle sizable projects and was selected to lead multiple initiatives at work. For her, her dedication to her job was part of her identity. But suddenly, she needed time to take her mother to medical appointments, to accompany her to treatments and to wade through the growing maze of bills and insurance papers.

The Frederick Key Notes event with business author Steve Denning scheduled for tonight has been postponed. Denning will speak from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, at the Cultural Arts Center, 15 W. Patrick St., in downtown Frederick, Md. Tickets cost $10. The theme of Denning’s presentation will be “Reinventing the Workplace for the 21st Century,” based on his book “The Leader’s Guide to Radical Management: Re-Inventing...

HAGERSTOWN -- Health professionals disagree on whether employers would be providing any benefit to staff members by notifying them if a co-worker is sick with H1N1, also known as swine flu. Col. Peter Weina, director of the Division of Viral Diseases at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Silver Spring, Md., said he doesn't believe it is appropriate within a workplace to advertise the fact that someone has been diagnosed with H1N1....

Hagerstown Business and Professional Women's Club celebrated National Business Women's Week at its October meeting. Featuring "Spotlight on Women in Business," Hagerstown City Councilman Martin Brubaker and County Commissioners President John Barr presented proclamations to Rosalie Ridenour, BPW president, supporting National Business Women's Week. The government officials acknowledged the many women holding positions in local government and volunteering on commissions and committees.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - Those with election fever might find it tough to check their loyalties at the door when they go to work. But they have to, according to rules in place at government agencies and other workplaces. Nonprofit organizations must be vigilant about not violating Internal Revenue Service prohibitions on political advocacy, at the risk of losing tax exemptions. In Maryland, state employees may speak their mind about politics during off hours, but are limited while on the job. That limit, or a perception of it, was at the heart of a recent controversy involving Democrat Douglas M. Duncan, who said he was told not to speak at a Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce dinner scheduled to feature him and former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich discussing politics.

WASHINGTON COUNTY Those with election fever might find it tough to check their loyalties at the door when they go to work. But they have to, according to rules in place at government agencies and other workplaces. Nonprofit organizations must be vigilant about not violating Internal Revenue Service prohibitions on political advocacy, at the risk of losing tax exemptions. In Maryland, state employees may speak their mind about politics during off hours, but are limited while on the job. That limit, or a perception of it, was at the heart of a recent controversy involving Democrat Douglas M. Duncan, who said he was told not to speak at a Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce dinner scheduled to feature him and former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich discussing politics.

WASHINGTON COUNTY -- Scenes from a shootout between police and a group of teenage criminals played on the screen as roughly 20 members of the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) watched in silence. After the video was over, Washington County Deputy Dan Watson turned to the crowd. "Is this workplace violence?" Watson asked. Watson, who was the guest speaker at the LEPC's semi-annual meeting Thursday morning, used the video to make a point about violence at work. "People think about it as just outbursts or 'going postal,' but workplace violence is very broad," Watson said.