Young Woman

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) - A body found near a farm supply store has been identified as that of a girl missing for three months, police said. Stacy Hoffmaster of Frederick was 15 when she disappeared a month before her 16th birthday on Oct. 1. She was a student at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, who had been reported missing by her mother, Vickie Hoffmaster, Frederick police Sgt. Jeffrey Hutchison said. "The medical examiner's office, after a thorough examination, has positively identified the body as that of Stacy Hoffmaster," said Lt. Thomas Chase, head of the criminal investigation division of Frederick City Police.

Old Opera House will host auditions for the comedy-drama "Home Games" by Tom Ziegler, will be at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, and Monday, Jan. 30. Auditions will be at the theater, 204 N. George St., Charles Town, W.Va.  Roles are open for one young woman, approximate age of 25 to 35, one young man, approximate aged 25 to 35 and one man, approximate aged55 to 70. For more information, go to www.oldoperahouse.org .

Nichole Knable, 19, of Hagerstown, will compete for the title of Miss Maryland USA on Nov. 4, 5 and 6 at the Marriott North Bethesda Hotel & Conference Center in North Bethesda, Md. Nichole is the daughter of Brian and Sheri Kipe. Her hobbies include photography, scrapbooking, bowling, swimming, drawing and crafts. She is a 2004 graduate of Washington County Technical High School, who majored in printing and communications. She has been a resident of Washington County her entire life.

Tara Leigh Fockler, 20, of Hagerstown, will compete for the Miss Maryland USA 2007 title on Nov. 3, 4, and 5, at Marriott North Bethesda Hotel & Conference Center in North Bethesda, Md. Fockler is the daughter of William and Stacy Fockler. She attends Hagerstown Community College. She also works as a full-time teller at Fidelity Bank in Hagerstown. The Miss Maryland USA and Miss Maryland Teen USA pageants are preliminaries to the Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, owned and produced by Donald J. Trump and NBC Television.

She's in her early 60s, works in a local drug store and counts her "four nice law-abiding-citizen children" among her greatest blessings. She likes to read history - a favorite subject is the Holocaust - but the most remarkable thing about her may be that three times in the last 10 years she willingly accepted a volunteer assignment she knew might take her years to complete. Let's call her Penny, though that isn't her real name. She works with the Parent-Child Center, a United Way agency in Washington County that helps parents learn to raise their children without resorting to physical or mental abuse.

The year was 1974. It was a spring day in College Park, Md., when the young woman walked through the door of a University of Maryland journalism classroom. The room had been commandeered by a distinguished middle-aged, dark-haired newspaper man with a crooked smile. He had been using this classroom to interview candidates for summer interns. It was quite clear from the stack of rsums lying on the professor's desk that he had already interviewed quite a few students interested in spending the summer working on his daily newspaper.

Woman's body found in city The decomposed body of a young woman was found in a wooded area along South Burhans Boulevard Monday afternoon, according to Hagerstown City Police. Police said a Conrail employee noticed the body at about 2:30 p.m. on the west side of the 900 block of South Burhans Boulevard. Police said they did not know the cause of death. The body was to be sent to the State Medical Examiner's Office in Baltimore for an autopsy to determine the cause and time of death, according to police.

One of the joys of Satellite radio is that you get to hear all the low-budget, filler advertisements that they run when, for one reason or another, they have empty air time to fill. You really get the jump on the latest scams, snake oil and fringe products well before they hit national consciousness. These are the companies that will eliminate your back taxes, buy you up a mess of gold bullion, get you out of your credit-card debt, refinance your house, give you six-pack abs without diet or exercise and communicate with your deceased dog. They do a big, initial ad run, and then you normally don't hear from them again until they're featured on "60 Minutes.

"In regards to the article about the substitute teacher that taped the student's mouth shut. I just wanted to say that there is a substitute teacher at Eastern Elementary that my kids love. Her name is Mrs. Ridenour. My children have had her a few times this year. I see her a lot at school and every time I do see her, at least one child reaches their hands out for a quick hug. She welcomingly gives one back. I just wanted to say thanks to Mrs. Ridenour, for making my children feeling safe and comfortable when you are in the room and not their teacher.

Name: Rachel Stark Age: 20 City in which you reside: Shepherdstown, W.Va. Day job : Communications student at Shepherd University Book title: "A Veil of Shattered Dreams" Genre: Young Adult/Psychological suspense Synopsis of book: "A Veil of Shattered Dreams" is the story of a teenage girl, Katerina, struggling to piece together lost fragments of truth - the reality of the dark past that she has forced...

Name: Rachel Stark Age: 20 City in which you reside: Shepherdstown, W.Va. Day job : Communications student at Shepherd University Book title: "A Veil of Shattered Dreams" Genre: Young Adult/Psychological suspense Synopsis of book: "A Veil of Shattered Dreams" is the story of a teenage girl, Katerina, struggling to piece together lost fragments of truth - the reality of the dark past that she has forced...

Old Opera House will host auditions for the comedy-drama "Home Games" by Tom Ziegler, will be at 7 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, and Monday, Jan. 30. Auditions will be at the theater, 204 N. George St., Charles Town, W.Va.  Roles are open for one young woman, approximate age of 25 to 35, one young man, approximate aged 25 to 35 and one man, approximate aged55 to 70. For more information, go to www.oldoperahouse.org .

One of the joys of Satellite radio is that you get to hear all the low-budget, filler advertisements that they run when, for one reason or another, they have empty air time to fill. You really get the jump on the latest scams, snake oil and fringe products well before they hit national consciousness. These are the companies that will eliminate your back taxes, buy you up a mess of gold bullion, get you out of your credit-card debt, refinance your house, give you six-pack abs without diet or exercise and communicate with your deceased dog. They do a big, initial ad run, and then you normally don't hear from them again until they're featured on "60 Minutes.

When Heather Bartel began volunteering at Windy Rock Equine Rescue in Clear Spring, she had no idea what to expect.  A year and a half later, she is the proud owner of Lucy, a horse who had been abandoned, rescued by the Humane Society of Washington County and was living at Windy Rock.   Found wandering on the C&O Canal towpath in early 2009, the 24-year-old mare, lovingly referred to as Old Lady at the rescue, was transferred to Windy Rock for some much needed care and potential adoption.

FARMVILLE, Va. (AP) -- An aspiring California rapper has been indicted on capital murder charges in the deaths of four people, including an Inwood, W.Va., woman, found bludgeoned to death at a central Virginia home in September. Richard "Sam" McCroskey, 20, of Castro Valley, Calif., was charged Tuesday in indictments returned by a Prince Edward County Circuit Court grand jury. McCroskey is charged in the Sept. 18 deaths of his girlfriend, 16-year-old Emma Niederbrock; her parents, 50-year-old Presbyterian minister Mark Niederbrock and 53-year-old Longwood University professor Debra Kelley; and Emma's friend, 18-year-old Melanie Wells of Inwood, W.Va.

The year was 1974. It was a spring day in College Park, Md., when the young woman walked through the door of a University of Maryland journalism classroom. The room had been commandeered by a distinguished middle-aged, dark-haired newspaper man with a crooked smile. He had been using this classroom to interview candidates for summer interns. It was quite clear from the stack of rsums lying on the professor's desk that he had already interviewed quite a few students interested in spending the summer working on his daily newspaper.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Amanda Agee is upfront about her involvement at Shepherd University. "I'm on a thousand and one things here," Agee immediately says at the start of an interview. The load certainly is heavy. Agee is a member of the executive board for the university's student government association, helps the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, is on Shepherd's Relay for Life committee, is a member of the homecoming committee and the West Virginia Student Advisory Council.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A teenager who scrawled a bomb threat in lipstick on a bathroom wall at James Buchanan High School last year was sentenced Wednesday in Franklin County Court to three years on probation. Denise McEwen Fait, 19, of Mercersburg, Pa., pleaded guilty Oct. 24 to a misdemeanor count of making a terroristic threat, Assistant District Attorney Bret Beynon said. The charge filed by the Mercersburg Police Department stemmed from an April 19, 2006, incident that caused the high school to be evacuated and classes to be dismissed while police from several agencies searched the school for explosives.

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 Amy Kay Anderson, who died Nov. 29 at the age of 23. Her obituary was published in The Herald-Mail on Dec. 1. TOMAHAWK, W.Va. - Donny Anderson Sr. and his family are trying to cope with the sudden and unexpected death of his daughter, Amy Kay Anderson, who succumbed to a blood clot on Nov. 29. But other families also are mourning, including Amy's Wal-Mart family in Hagerstown.

Tara Leigh Fockler, 20, of Hagerstown, will compete for the Miss Maryland USA 2007 title on Nov. 3, 4, and 5, at Marriott North Bethesda Hotel & Conference Center in North Bethesda, Md. Fockler is the daughter of William and Stacy Fockler. She attends Hagerstown Community College. She also works as a full-time teller at Fidelity Bank in Hagerstown. The Miss Maryland USA and Miss Maryland Teen USA pageants are preliminaries to the Miss Teen USA, Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants, owned and produced by Donald J. Trump and NBC Television.