Writer

As part of the upcoming Nora Roberts Writing Institute (NRWI) at Hagerstown Community College, HCC will also offer a special Young Writers Institute for high school students entering 10th through 12 grades. The Young Writers Institute will be Friday, Aug. 2, and Saturday, Aug. 3, the same weekend as NRWI, and will feature a series of workshops and events specially geared towards aspiring, young writers. Workshops will include fiction-crafting and publishing, as well as the opportunity to network with other teen writers.

By RICHARD F. BELISLE Staff Writer MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Nine months after a Berkeley County jury found Kevin Ray Fowler innocent of the murder of Martinsburg pawn shop owner David Frazier, a U.S. District judge sentenced him to more than 22 years in federal prison for his guilty plea on drug charges, according to a release from U.S. Attorney William D. Wilmoth in Wheeling, W.Va., Friday. Fowler was sentenced in federal court in Martinsburg by Chief Judge Frederick P. Stamp Thursday, according to Wilmoth.

Mark Twain Noe painting wildlife diorama By RICHARD F. BELISLE / Staff Writer MERCERSBURG, Pa. - A black rhinoceros charges out from the tall grass to protect the baby at its side. The grass is being painted behind and around the big animal by award-winning wildlife artist Mark Twain Noe. Noe spends four to five hours most weekday nights, often into the wee hours, painting the background for the display of mounted African wildlife in the Charles T. Brightbill Environmental Center that opened this year behind James Buchanan High School.

katec@herald-mail.com Lisa Scrivener is coordinating registrations for the seventh annual Hagerstown MS Walk that will take place Saturday, April 20, at Antietam National Battlefield. Why? "It's just being part of the family," she says. The Scrivener family - the whole family - has been involved in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's fund-raising events since Bill Scrivener - Lisa's brother-in-law - was diagnosed with MS in 1991. Bill's sister, Virginia Scrivener, helped to start the walk in Hagerstown in 1996.

What do the movie "Avatar" and John Bunyan's book "Pilgrim's Progress" have in common? If you say both focus on man's journey to understand life and the world around him, you would be correct. If you say that both are allegorical accounts - one focusing on current cultural and political concerns and the other focusing on a faith-based journey through life - you would also be correct. Allegory uses objects, persons, and actions in a story so a reader can understand a related concept.

This section, Pulse, is for teens, but teens don't have to settle for being the focus of stories or the readers. Try writing them. Teen readers can get their voices in the newspaper with a good idea and a little determination. Make Pulse your own. If you have a creative streak, we'd like to hear from you. There are opportunities for teens who want to challenge themselves and maybe add to their college rsum with some extracurricular writing, photography or graphic art. Of course, stories and photographs must be appropriate for publication.

marieg@herald-mail.com Whatever Gail Barrett is doing now, you can be sure she'd rather be writing. "I'm one of those people who knew what I wanted to do early on," the Hagerstown resident said. "I have always loved to read. In fact, some of my best childhood memories involve being curled up with a good book. And by the seventh or eighth grade, I had formed the concrete goal of becoming a published writer. " After years of dedication and hard work, Barrett has finally achieved that goal.

Less than two weeks remain in the current election campaign. The Herald-Mail will make every effort to get in all election-related letters by Sunday, Oct. 31. Readers can help us if they would remember a few things, including: · The amount of space we have is limited, so of necessity shorter letters will get preference over longer ones. · The letters of those who have not written previously on election-related matters will get preference over those who have written repeatedly.

Matt Newton, 17, studies visual communications at Washington County Technical High School. He views organized religions with a skeptical eye. Robert Keller, 13, is an eighth-grader at Western Heights Middle School. He has enjoyed eighth grade and is looking forward to high school. Elina Mir, 12, is a sixth-grader attending St. Mary Catholic School. She enjoys reading and writing books. Brad Smith, 14, goes to Boonsboro Middle School; his favorite class is lunch. He likes video games, comic books, TV, computers, gadgets and tech toys and stuff.