"I would like to make a comment about the rent in this area. I think it's really ridiculous. I have to move, and I'm on a fixed income. I can find no homes for no less than $1,000, and I think it's just ridiculous." - Williamsport area

"People are rightfully concerned about bullies in schools, but think about it. There are bullies in all of life; bullies because of their position, bullies because of their size, bullies because of their money. So if the children are taught how to handle bullies in school, they will be better prepared to handle life in general." - Greencastle, Pa.

"To the veteran in Sharpsburg who wrote about the nonsmoking in clubs and bars: First of all, it's a state law. It's not the clubs or the bars. I'm a veteran, and it is not the veterans' organizations, clubs, bars. It's a state law. So please get your act together and understand."

"In reference to the article on Feb. 12 on the front page, 'Janet Huckabee shoots some skeet and talks some politics:' I'm a member of the North American Rod and Gun Club, and I wasn't a Huckabee supporter before the campaign. Thanks a lot for coming. We appreciate it."

"I read with interest your article on 'Five Million Lives.' But I have a question. Nothing was addressed about the mentally ill that sit in the ER for up to 12 hours, on a bed, in the hall and in a hospital gown. They are totally ignored. It is so sad and unfair." - Boonsboro

"Fewer than 10 percent of the eligible voters in the county voted in favor of the charter. Now it is time to move on and consider lowering the property tax rate and not fully funding the school system's bloated budget." - Rohrersville

"In response to Greencastle, who says we're still in Iraq, 'killing, being killed and spending money.' Is that what you really think of our fine men and women? The people they are killing are not ordinary people, they are terrorists - the same terrorists who use women and children to do suicide bombings. Perhaps it's no longer front-page news because the surge is working and things have improved, and that is why it's not the most important thing on people's minds now."

"This is for the caller from Sharpsburg who said he was gonna be taking pictures of the drunks coming out of the taverns and clubs, and trying to get them arrested. The clubs allow them back in the rear for people to go to smoke, so when he takes pictures of these drunks coming out of the clubs, some of them might not just be drunks. They might be drunks who smoke, too." - Williamsport

"What people don't understand when Mr. McCain or any other Republican gets in, there's gonna be amnesty for everybody that's here illegally, and you know what that means: Free health care, and everything else that goes with it."

"This is a reply to the smoking thing. I think it's great that the veterans that don't smoke have got their club back, and the ones that do smoke, they're just gonna have to bear it." - Hagerstown

"People are gonna vote for John McCain, and this war is gonna keep going on and on forever. I can't believe the country is voting for this guy that's for keeping the war going. It's ridiculous." - Hagerstown

"Now that the election is over, I'm very relieved, and I'm very happy to see that the better-informed, intellectual part of the community came out and voted, especially against charter home rule. That was the main thing I was worried about. They had to defeat that - which was just my opinion, but at least it was defeated." - Hagerstown

"So much for the judge giving Brandon Morris life in prison so that the family wouldn't have to go through all these appeal cases. Here it is, it's not even been a month yet, and he's already appealed." - Falling Waters, W.Va.

"I feel sad this morning. I'm reading the paper and I happen to see the Halfway news. I see where Halfway Little League is gonna have a meeting to sign up little ballplayers and charge them $40. I used to help coach Little League, and help to build ball diamonds and keep the fields up. We did everything for free and a little bit of fundraising. Never got any money from the county, and leagues today get as high as $3,000 per year." - Hagerstown

"Confused person who doesn't know a difference between conservative and liberal: Liberals don't evidently approve of birth control. They just rather have the baby. Somebody that's a conservative believes in birth control, not murder. Second of all, everybody who is a conservative isn't gun totin', as you put it. In the first place, that's our right."

- Waynesboro, Pa.

"This is on defeat of home rule ... the general public is dissatisfied and distrusting of the government. I don't trust the government, so why should I vote for home rule? I don't trust politicians, period. All they want to do is raise your taxes." - Hagerstown

"I think it's about time we remove some people who are officials in the prison system up here at Hagerstown out of their positions. They have a policy that the staff cannot take anything in that is not in a clear container. If it's a candy bar, it has to be removed from the wrapper. Everything has to be in clear containers, yet the inmates and the visitors can practically do what they want to. I want to know who the real prisoner is here." - Sharpsburg

"Despite the bad housing dilemma, many old ranchers remain more than $250,000. Prior to the boom, they were in the low hundreds. We've stopped reading the Saturday home edition weekly, since it repeats the same absurd pricing. Our county's income has not improved, yet home sellers continue to dream about unrealistic prices. Even blatant proof such as zero showings within a year doesn't seem to get the message across to Realtors and homeowners. Stop blaming the economy. Your houses remain severely overpriced." - Washington County

"This is concerning handicapped spaces. Yes, I am young, yes, I am attractive, and yes, I do park in the handicapped spaces. If my doctor didn't want me to have that sticker, I wouldn't have it. So before you judge me, you better know my medical condition, because I'm about ready to go off on one of you people who keeps judging me." - Washington County

"I'd like to comment on the days off that the school kids here in Washington County have had here of late. It seems like they're home more than they're in school. Snow days ... cry about having to go to school a few days more if they don't think about it when they're taking them off during the winter. So I think the schools ought to do a little better job of keeping them in school."

"I voted against charter home rule. I believe in charter home rule, but with the elected local officials that we have, I cannot vote for home rule. We had to go to Annapolis in order to get our property taxes lowered from 10 percent to 5 percent per year increase per year." - Hagerstown

"If you want to help the economy, close the borders, and quit giving money away to illegals, and health care and things like that." - Williamsport

"Give murderers the death penalty, and get rid of these people, rather than keeping them for the rest of their lives. This way we won't have to be spending our money on new prisons, and having them live better than I do."

"Good for the people who voted 'no' to home rule. See what can be accomplished when we stick together?" - Hagerstown