"Continuing in the Democrat tradition, Del. Donoghue is again being free and easy with taxpayer money, in proposing legislation that will further increase retirement benefits for top officers in the correctional system, who already are well taken care of in retirement, and he wants to do it not only at the expense of the taxpayers but by reducing retirement payments for subordinate officers. How ridiculous. Since retirees are already assured of getting a percentage of their average final salary, senior officers automatically get more, so why grease the skids even further? If the system is having trouble hiring officers, as he claims, then pay adequate salaries for working, not inflated payments for nonwork. Donoghue's formula would raise nonwork retirement payouts to 87.5 percent of working salary for a senior officer with 35 years of employment. No wonder Maryland is one of the highest taxed states in the nation." - Hagerstown

"I would like for people to forget their 'I hate Bush and everything he does' for a few minutes and seriously think about what would happen if we left Iraq now. Iraq is full of terrorists of many kinds, including al-Qaida. This is a fact I got from my son, who was just there. Would you want to turn the country over to these 'people' who have no qualms about blowing women and children up, using Down Syndrome victims for their purposes, and have no regard for life? You would be throwing innocent people to the wolves, along with the oil revenue to use to spread their terror further. Terrorists are not like we are. They have one objective - to kill anyone who does not share their warped version of Islam. Please think before you speak."

"News flash for the Hagerstown City Council: It was announced during last Saturday's rock concert at The Maryland Theatre that it's the first time The Maryland Theatre sold completely out in five years. Not even 'American Idol' Taylor Hicks last summer sold out. All the area businesses were thriving, both parking decks were near capacity. What we need is a venue for this type of activity at the fairgrounds, so we could have this on a regular basis. Just think of the income and revenue it would provide for the city. But no, our City Council has the same old ideas, and turns a deaf ear when there's a chance to make some money." - Hagerstown

"This is another comment about this global warming, and for people that are for some reason worried about it. It is a natural occurrence that you can do nothing, and nothing at all to stop. It's potentially beneficial, which history has shown over the years. And one more thing that you don't hear about, because these scientists are not politically motivated: Ice cores that they're taking from Greenland and also the Antarctic that reveal more than 400,000 years of the planet's tempered history, these ice cores show a 1,500-year cycle of global warming. The reason it wasn't recorded is because it goes clear back to Celtic tribes or Viking seamen, back in those days." - Hagerstown

"I would like to know why the inspectors from the permits and inspections department of the City of Hagerstown don't have to be licensed in the trade that they're inspecting. Why does someone who's inspecting electricians' work not have to be an electrician themselves? I just think that's ridiculous, and I think that anybody has gone through these code inspections with the city needs to raise Cain about it, because that's just ridiculous that they don't know anything about the trade that they're inspecting." - Hagerstown

"About the new intersection out there at the corner of Potomac Avenue and Eastern Boulevard: I think that's an accident waiting to happen. The two turning lanes were a very poor design. They widened the road, but somehow they made it smaller. I think whoever designed that or OK'd that ought to go to jail for what they did. That's a big mistake up there." - Hagerstown

"Sen. McCain said if he was elected president, he would cross over the party lines and welcome the Democrats and their ideas, whereas Hillary Clinton, she's out there, just nothing but hate speech for the president and the Republicans. Why can't she do the same thing as McCain, and just work together? But she has this negative image against her that she just hates Bush and hates the Republicans." - Boonsboro

"I agree with the person who called in about the BOE making a big mistake by filling the new Rockland Woods school. In my opinion, they should have added on to the Fountain Rock school. That way they could have built a cafeteria, which they don't have. They have plenty of room, the roads are all good to there and it wouldn't be as much travel time for some people. Plus it's probably within three miles of where the new school is being built now. I agree with them 100 percent. I think it was a very big mistake, and a costly mistake." - Williamsport

"I'm amazed at the gullibility of the supporters of the smoking ban. This is just the beginning of things to come. If you allow the state to take away freedoms, when does it stop, whether you smoke or not? What will you say when they say chocolate, sugar and coffee are harmful to your health? The state says if the bar loses too much business, they will issue a smoking permit. Will that permit stop smoking from being harmful? Cincinnati, Ohio, started the same ban, and in the first year, 65 percent of the bars went out of business. Restaurants and truck stops in the area also felt the pinch. Would you say that's good for the city's economy? I don't know why smokers are putting up with this ban. Isn't it funny that we're the land of the free, but you can smoke in Russia? Every time I turn around, Marylanders' rights are being taken away, and as good sheep, we allow it. I am ashamed to think how the forefathers would see us as Americans, rolling over and taking this travesty."

"In response to the individual from Hagerstown who says 'Two wrongs don't make a right, the death penalty should be abolished, and I don't know who would want to pull the switch to kill another man.' I think in reality, the line would probably reach from one end of Hagerstown to the other - and I would be the first one in line, ready and waiting to pull the switch." - Smithsburg

"Our company just announced that we do not get raises this year, and on top of that, it's gonna cost us an extra $25 a week for health insurance. So my question is, to the County Commissioners and the City Council, which one of you is going to pay for these increases that you guys keep giving us? I mean, let's face the facts. People do not have money, yet you keep taking more and more out of our pockets. The solution, unless it benefits the community as a whole, it should not be subsidized. And I'm not talking about social benefit. That's a bunch of bull that politicians ... skating rink money, no more fairgrounds money, none of that kind of stuff. Don't keep giving everybody who sticks their hand out cash. If it doesn't benefit me, I should not have to pay for it." - Hagerstown

"I really cannot believe that the senior citizens are gonna get another slap in the face, to not get any of the rebates that are coming out in May. I'd like to know why. My husband worked 40-some years, and we paid in taxes. I worked. We have both worked hard in our lives, and now - my husband was even in the service during World War II for 3 1/2 years, overseas and in Africa - and you mean to tell me that they're not going to give us any of the rebate? What are we, just no-good throwaways after we retire? Shame on all of you."

"This is to the caller who complained about President Bush, his plane landing out here the other day on 'our' runway. That person should just wait awhile until we get the next president in office, and he'll really have something to whine about."

"No wonder the Washington County schools central office renovation cost $75,000. Why do they need a flat-screen TV?" - Hagerstown

"I am personally grateful for the smoking ban. I am tired of hearing everyone complain that they can't smoke in the restaurants. Now they know how I feel - because even in a nonsmoking section, I could sometimes smell the smoke. If they want to pollute their lungs, more power to them. Now I don't have to worry about their habit polluting my lungs." - Hagerstown

"Even though you Bush haters don't like to admit this, we've had 52 months of continued job growth. Maybe they're not all in Hagerstown, Maryland USA, but they are out there in the world. You just have to leave this area to go find them. There will be a recession when I see fewer cars on the road, teenagers driving like they're crazy, with gas $3 a gallon. I haven't seen any fewer people on the roads Sunday or Monday, or any other day of the week, and they're driving just as fast, going up I-81 and going down I-70, so that tells me they don't have any money worries. And I don't think everybody who goes to the Red Lobster uses a credit card. There are a lot of elderly people there, and a lot of people who have money that don't even need a credit card. So some people talk a depression, if you know what I mean." - Waynesboro, Pa.

"A couple of weeks ago, we were in Canada skiing and my girlfriend came down with some chest pains and hard breathing, so we called an ambulance at the ski slope, and they took us to the hospital. It was a 15-mile high-speed ride, and had her checked out, with EKG and doctors and everything like that, and it turns out that she was OK, and the bill was only $190 total, for an ambulance ride and a hospital visit. That's why we need universal health care in America. So vote for Obama, so we'll get universal health care for everybody." - Hagerstown

"Mr. Donoghue, your thought process is completely backwards. If anyone deserves better retirement, it is the line officers of the DOC, period. Elections are coming, and we do vote." - Smithsburg

"When former Gov. Schaeffer was in office, he spent the tax surplus. When former Gov.Glendening was in office, he spent the $1.5 billion tax surplus before leaving. When Gov. O'Malley took office, he inherited a $1.5 to $2.3 billion surplus, and a projected $1.5 to $1.7 billion deficit. What a dilemma. The light bulb goes on - eureka, I've solved the problem. I'll spend the surplus on various discretionary items, and call a special session of legislature, and push through a new tax increase to pay for the looming deficit. Now the people will know the wisdom of voting Gov. O'Malley in."

"For the people who are alarmed about the heavy increase in assessments to their homes and property: They should contact Sen. Donald Munson. He's head of the budget and taxes committee for our county. He should ask the tax assessor's office why these tremendous increases for the next three years. They're gonna chase us out of our homes, if we don't soon get these people lined up together to find out what the heck is going on." - Hagerstown

"I like Sen. Obama, but I don't see where a 'child' is 25 years old. That is what his insurance plan is, so he said at a debate. That is exactly why Bush vetoed Congress' bill last October. As Bush said, giving to 25-year-olds would take money away that could be covering poor children. Congress made the '25-year-old' mistake last fall only to make Bush look like a meanie. Bush also vetoed it because he wanted to give more money than the amount Congress wanted to give to poor children. Sen. Obama is for open borders, as most Democrats, especially during an election. Latinos will be the party to vote for them in the future. Being good-hearted is breaking our already-in-trouble welfare. I did not hear any candidates suggest anything about welfare reform. Turning a blind eye to the terrorism in the '90s gave us 9/11. A bigger military is needed, with the entire world going nuclear." - Hagerstown

"All of the deep thinkers that I've talked to lately seem to be excited that our benevolent government is going to give them all a special rebate to go and spend. They can't wait to get their hands on this gift of free cash. What they don't understand is that included in this bill is to up the banks' guarantees on defaulted mortgages from $417,000 to $730,000. All the speculators, house flippers and people who put zero down on their mansions are going to get a free ride when they bail out of their mortgage, and the taxpayers are going to pay for it all. Our government is going to steal our future and give us a hand full of Skittles to placate us like children, and it looks like we are going to let them." - Sharpsburg

"This no-smoking ban is one of the best things that ever happened. I can now go out to eat or drink at a bar or restaurant without smelling somebody's stinky smoke while I eat. So you smokers need to get over it. It's the law, and I love it." - Sharpsburg

"This is in regards to the smoking ban. I think that it's ridiculous. The nonsmokers are going to complain because when they walk in, they smell smoke, but now they're going to complain that when they walk into the business, there are people smoking outside. Either way, nonsmokers will not be happy. The smoking ban is just totally ridiculous, and there's at least 10 reasons why people should be against the smoking ban. This is ridiculous." - Hagerstown

"Does everyone realize that no matter who is elected president, both Congress and the president have to sign off on it to get anything done? We have that problem already, and I don't believe it is going to be one of the so-called changes they are all promising. More of the same old, same old."

"The Maryland state assessment, property tax assessment office will be releasing the constant yield rate on Feb. 15. If the property owners of Washington County want the County Commissioners to reduce the property tax equal to the constant yield, they'd better be putting the pressure on the County Commissioners right now, because they won't do it if staff does not want them to do it. So get on the phone, go in and see them, send e-mails, letters, whatever, and insist that they reduce the property tax equal to the constant yield." - Hagerstown

"I'm calling pertaining to the person who wrote in about a veteran. Someone wrote in and said our veterans fought for our country and then they can't even go into their club and have a cigarette. There's two sides to that coin. My uncle's a veteran, and he quit smoking years ago. A lot of veterans I know have quit smoking, so believe me, they're glad that there's no smoking in the clubs. So see, you have to look at it that way, too." - Hagerstown

"Some delegation members keep telling us that the County Commissioners can't be trusted to do their jobs, so the delegation needs to do it for them. May I ask, who is doing the delegation's job while they are running the county? Where was our delegation when the General Assembly deregulated power companies, allowing a 60-percent increase in our electric bills? What were they doing when the state paid $65 million for voting machines that don't work? Maybe they were writing the perfect animal control ordinance for Washington County." - Hagerstown

"I started smoking when I was 16 years old, and that was back in 1973. A carton of cigarettes back then was about $6.60. A pack of cigarettes was about 60, 65 cents, something like that. I quit smoking in 1991, and a pack of cigarettes at that point in time was about $1.35. A carton was about maybe $12. Now I'm seeing unbelievable prices. I'm seeing packs of cigarettes for as high as $5.29, and cartons as high as $40. I don't understand this. It's unbelievable. You should stop if you're a smoker." - Hagerstown

"Please print the administrative personnel and their salary at the BOE, as opposed to the entire budget that is presented, and compare it to another year. In fact, I have one at home here. It's very interesting - the superintendent made $40,000 in 1982. Quite a jump - of course, times do change. But has the board expanded? Are there more people on board, rather than in classrooms? That's my question."

"Since they have put the smoking ban in effect in bars, I have saved so much money. I stay at home now, and just drink and smoke my cigarettes at home instead of spending all of my money at the bars, and also saving money on the tip jars. I believe that they should be outlawed also. I was spending $30 a week just on tip jars alone, so if everybody would - if they would outlaw them, just think how much money people would have in their pockets." - Boonsboro

"I would like to know who sets the dates for the primary elections. We just had Super Tuesday. Our state was not involved in Super Tuesday. They turned around and voted for people - they were allowed to vote for their candidates but we aren't, because most of the people dropped out after Super Tuesday, and we have to pick what is left over, which is nothing, and I can't understand why we weren't included in on Super Tuesday, or why most all the states don't have the same primaries. When they do this, they cheat us. I have no choice now in who to vote for. I was not given that opportunity to vote for my favorite candidate, and I am so upset I don't know what to do, and I would like to know who is the one that sets the dates for these states."