"To the truckers and large vehicle operators out there, if you can't make the turn, don't take that road. It is time that you make a wider turn or take another route. I am tired of having to move and I am not going to do it anymore."

Well, it's about time someone took a stand on this! How dare they? Do they think they own the road or what?! -end sarcasm- How ridiculous is this? You're TIRED of having to move? Of course we'll move for them. Move or get ran over.

"I am calling about the obits. Not long ago I remember reading in the paper where they would only take so much information on an obit. Since when have the obits become a biography column? I don't mind reading about what clubs and stuff they belong to, but now they have in there about what dogs they like, where they lived all their lives. I just don't understand it. Cut back on some of those. I don't know why they have decided to put all that in the paper."


Editor's note: Regular obituaries are free of charge. For a fee, residents can have an expanded obituary.

Let the deceased rest in peace and let the ones they left behind grieve in peace. Quit complaining about the obits! Have some respect.

"About the kids' curfew. If there were something for kids to do and not be able to get in trouble, something more than a club with alcohol, then the kids wouldn't be in trouble."

Didn't they just put up a skate park? We have skating rinks, bowling alleys, laser tag and arcades, pool halls, parks with volleyball courts and tennis courts. We have mini golf, bating cages, go carts, movie theaters, an ice sports complex, and this is all just off the top of my head. What do you mean they don't have anything to do? Would a King's Dominion right smack in the middle of Hagerstown make you happy? Maybe that would solve the problems with downtown too. It would give the homeless people jobs walking around as huge pieces of candy. It would increase revenue. It would bring back the benches to sit on. That's an idea. We can solve all of Washington County's problems by putting an amusement park right in town.

ROTFLMAO Heather!!!!

I especially liked the one about putting a King's Dominion downtown! Homeless dressed in candy suits! lol

Great!

O.K. sorry I'm dense today What the heck does ROTFLMAO mean?
But I liked the part about dressed as candy too!

ROTFLMAO = rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.

The kids curfew is a problem? [B]Since when do parents have no control over where their kids are? A curfew is understandable. As my mother used to say, if you are not home by 11:30pm I know what you are doing, and I do not want to know what you are doing.[B](in other words, if you are going to do something I would not approve of, like sex, do not throw it in my face).
And let me tell you about cities that start to buy into the notion of a Kings Dominion place solving all the problems...they end up with more problems...a plethora of low wage jobs and nothing else being given to the community. I lived through this kind of illogical thinking...see San Antonio--they opposed all types of industry--put up large roadblocks to companies and then complained when all they have is Fiesta, Sea World and the like..tourism is a hard road to base an economy on....

As far as drivers not willing to give way to truckers, I have seen and dealt with the aftermath of drivers who try to cut on the right side of a turning 18 wheeler, and it is not pretty...they drive right over the vehicle which is in the wrong(by the way)...

Has anyone else noticed that Dunkin Donuts shop is still not open???speaking of low paying jobs...

txexpatriot, you know I was only kidding about the King's Dominion, right?

They could put that amusement park right where the County Hospital used to be!

I thought low wages and poor working conditions were the rule around here. Hence all of the outrage over teachers' pay and the shock at the notion that the person in charge of the entire County School sytem would dare to ask for a private bathroom.

Mail call is pretty entertaining, though! You've got to admit that!

I agree that there is plenty of stuff to keep young people entertained around the area, however all of the things mentioned by Heather require money. And there are lots of poor kids that don't have an allowance or aren't privileged enough to have the kind of money to go and do that sort of thing. I think it would be nice if there were some free after-school programs for kids. When I was a young grasshopper we had summer Recreation - a morning and early evening program that kids went to over the summer to play kickball, do arts and crafts, etc. And it was sponsored by the school district, with 2 counselors. I'm not sure if this still exists at all, but it would be a nice thing to have for the kids who can't afford the other activities or are not on a school sports team.

Yo, Mel--
There are very few afterschool programs and will be even fewer with the new policies of charging for each event at school...so the poor and will be out in the cold again...I am sorry but that is the way it is...

True, but it's so sad to see what we've come to!

Nowadays the kids are all locked in their homes, eating junk food, playing video games or chatting with pedophiles on the internet while mommy and daddy slave away the day. You almost never see kids playing pick-up games of any kind at the parks and playgrounds. Certainly never with any kind of supervision! It's a different world than when I was a kid, that's for sure.

BMIC--that's because they are busy worrying about getting 'gifts' back...There has been an entire dialogue on this subject in mail call--making me think we need more Ann Landers columns...I think people who ask for their gifts back(even after someone dies) were called when I was young--indian givers(no derogatory comment intended-I have no idea why that slang was used--and I am part American Indian and never took offense..)...
Just an aside--I find this it quite amusing that someone had to actually post that question...Definition of gift--the process of turning over some good/service to another without desire of recompense or promise in return...once a gift is given, it is up to the recipient to determine what happens to it after they die or before for that matter...

It would be nice if the school board would have an organized after school program where they would take kids bowling, or to the movies stuff like that so that the underprivelages would be able to do what the privelaged can.

Well then, what's the point in being privileged?

Really! The school board has enough trouble supplying the schools with enough supplies. Now ya want em to pay to entertain the kiddies after hours??

Hold the phone??You think you should have to WORK for your extra stuff in life??No entitlements???Oh my gosh, you must be a conservative...yipeee...

Maybe if the conservative government wasn't so busy sending all our money overseas to UNDERPRIVELEGED countries, we could have enough money for school supplies and extracurricular activities for the kiddies in our OWN country.

oh please phish!! We have increased our own school spending to the nth degree in the past 20 yrs and it still has not helped...face it--the great social program the war on poverty has failed...

The problem is sooooooo much money is completely wasted! I saw where the Department of Defense doesn't know where a couple of million dollers is!

It's in their own pockets and they're just covering their _sses!
And the schools shouldn't have to entertain the kids after school.
Growing up in the East End we always had somebody's parent keepin track of us after supper when we were all out and about.
We tended to be...how should I say this...aggressive?.Like most kids get when a group gets together for pick-up sports.
Sides,theres always something to do some where.

Txpatriot - obviously we have not increased school spending ENOUGH. Yes, it has increased, but there are still schools without enough funding for books, supplies, etc. So like I said, we'd have more money for the schools if we weren't sending it all overseas.

I don't necessarily agree that it's a school's responsibility to provide entertainment after school. However, there are many school programs that I feel are important.... Sports, Band, etc. It's just sad when children in this country are not receiving a quality education because of money, when we're supposedly one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

Well, there was an article in the Washington Post where the USA compared to Western Europe and Canada spend the most money on schools, yet still have lower test scores. I think more power should be given locally i.e. Hagerstown/Washington Co rather than the Feds deciding what goes on here. I also seem to think that the main problem is the inner city schools in Baltimore or any other big city.

I concur. Let's get the feds out of education, and many other programs...you know that for every dollar you send the feds you get back to spend about 30 cents...now if you got that type of return on your savings acct you would soon just put your money inside a mattress...
But as far as spending on education, years ago they spent very little--and guess what? Our children were educated--heck, they are now the 60-80+yr olds...and they are fine..they understand alot more than the newly educated often do..

The Public School system doesn't really need more money: it needs to make better use of what it's given.

I'll bet that most if not all of us, given their child's portion of education funding, could get them a better education in an environment better suited for their children's needs at the private school of their choice. I think it's a shame that the situation has gotten so bad that so many (myself included) are asking for vouchers so we can afford to get our children a better education. I would be far happier if the public system would improve, and eliminating the bureaucracy at the State and Federal levels would be a great start.

For the record, I don't blame the teachers. So many of them are doing an incredible job, putting in extra effort and working for far too little pay. It's not their fault that so much money is wasted on unnecessary bureaucratic nonsense. Most of them simply need to be given the resources to excel.

I want to ask a question and it seemed silly to waste space with a new topic.

Whats with the mail call section here on the web site?It'll go 4-5 days without being updated and then sometimes there will be an entry that has the same date 3-4 times.
And yes I've read the top part that says it's not manned on weekends and holidays.But still it should be updated regularly.It's my "funnies" on the web site. I get a kick out of reading them cuz I can't get the evening paper delivered here.Only the morning one and they won't reprint them for the morning paper.

I'm curious too! It is the best part of the paper...some comments are just hysterical. I often wonder if they only print the ones that make people appear just looney...like the back & forth on some recipe--it went on for weeks it seemed...

yeh,like the dogs,the year books for `49,and the benches just to name a few.
I sure do wish that they'd reprint them in the next days morning paper.
And unfortunely I think the people calling in are really that looney.No need to enhance.

Yeah Dragonlady, they really may be that looney and probably LONELY too. Maybe they only have mail call to talk to.

Too true.shame tho.wonder if I e-mail the print section and suggest they reprint them in next days paper?hmm.

I tried that WVD. I too, don't get the evening paper and suggested having mail call in the morning paper also. I was shot down.

But if more folks ask for it, maybe that'll carry some weight!

guess we need to start a call-in avalanche!

I notice that they have no trouble getting the" letters to the editor" section done every day. And beleive me I don't want to read those rambling peices of narrow mindedness.

Theres been no update for 4 days so far.Wish I had that job(sigh),It's seems to be an easy one

The newest installment of mail call is now available. Deer whistles and handicapped spaces....sounds like a country song. By the way, what is a "notch baby?"

I just love reading the mail call online. I just get the morning paper and so can't read them in print. It really grounds me. I can just see the faces of the older people calling and talking to a recording with their recipes, complaints, and praises. It reminds me of simpler times, when people weren't so busy going to work, driving around kids, watching their big screen tvs and dvds, etc.. For the elderly, it is their forum or chat room!

I moved up here a year ago from terrible montgomery county, and was shocked to see there was something like mail call. I felt like i had stepped back in time, and i loved it.

And i have no idea what a notch baby is either!

"You probably know about the fears of Baby Boomers that Social Security will be flat out of money by the time they retire. A problem so potentially devastating to the economy that President Clinton made ensuring the long-term solvency of Social Security one of the top priorities of his administration.

Far less familiar to most Americans, are a smaller group of people who are now and have been suffering the short comings of changes to the Social Security system for the last 23 years. These are the Notch Babies -- persons drawing Social Security born after 1917 but before 1922. The Notch Babies' problem is that since 1977, they have been drawing significantly less in Social Security benefits than persons born either before or after them."

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa082100a.htm

ain't google wonderful???

Yup, notch babies. They still are getting more out of SS than they put in...as opposed to my generation, which will get the shaft. I am on the back end of the baby boomer and frt of gen X.

Ah ha! I see. I hadn't heard that term before.

Eeek, that makes my dad a notch baby. He is 83 years old and stlil working, now i know why!

texex!you're a tweener!!!!he,he!
Both my parents were notches(?)!They've moved on now,but I remember them complaining about it tho.
I have this abnormal fear of being old and destitute!I'm afaird there won't be any S.S when we need it.The way the prices of things are skyrocketing I don't think even the investments we've made for retirement will be enough.

Thanks-a Tweener..that makes sense..I have very little in common with the baby boomer's views(per the media) and very little in common with the X'ers...I guess I am tween both--squeezed from both ends...yup--that's me--take care of the grandparents and the kids...and watch my paycheck disappear...

I was readign some posts about adding mroe low paying jobs here in Hagerstown, and all I ask is why? We are all over worked and underpaid as it is. I have lived here for 4 years, and I've found that not only do jobs here pay less than they should for the area, but if you're a woman who can have a thought for herself, then you're a threat. I am so tired of the narrow mindedness that goes on here. It's no wonder most people commute to the larger cities, and Hagerstown can't keep any of it's shopping centers full of stores.

Not directed at you thumper, and no disrespect to you intended, but...

I just gotta put my $0.02 in here. Hagerstown is Hagerstown. Hagerstown is not Washington, Hagerstown is not Frederick, Hagerstown is not Baltimore, Hagerstown is not San Diego. Hagerstown is a small, western Maryland community known for its rural lifestyle. It does not have high paying jobs. Sure, there are companies that pay a decent wage, but for the most part we are a warehouse job community. Before companies started taking advantage of the I-81 / I-70 intersection for shipping, we were a farming community. We have a lot of "backwoods" thinking, we have a lot of basic family lifestyle living. Hagerstown is a place to live to get away from the urban lifestyle and congestion.

I wish people would stop trying to make Hagerstown into an Urban center. We are not an urban center. I would guess that most of our real estate is still farmland. Why do people think that if they move to Hagerstown from PG, Montgomery, Baltimore, and other urban areas that they are going to find $20/hour jobs here? It ain't gonna happen, captain! So kwitcherbichen! Or go back to the city. Or, come and live here and enjoy our community.

We don't have high paying jobs because we don't have a highly educated community and we don't have public officials with the necessary skills to attract high paying employers.

Folks from the City have moved to Hagerstown to get away from the City. So why the heck are you trying to make us into the "City"?

Here! Here! Yo!!!!!!!!!!! I've been wondering bout those things myself.Why do they(city people) want to change our way of life?I thought that was the reason they moved here was to enjoy those things. It seems that if they have trouble making the change then WE"RE not living "right". And as for the high dollar jobs...my husband and myself have no trouble living on those wages.We don't live above our means.We don't try to impress anybody.If friends can afford to go some where and we can't?, no big deal..have fun!,we'll be here when ya get back! we don't care what the "Jones" think or feel.
Seems like alot of people are caught up in this crap and it's running their lives.
O.K. I'll shut up now!

Thank you WVD. I will be running for County Commissioner next term against Munson. Please be sure to vote for me.

Only if you agree not to Push people who won't take your merchandise back...by the way--we will need more info if you want us to vote for you...

I would certainly vote for you Yossarian for Commissioner, but you would never win because you have too much common sense!!!

lol txexpatriot!

Thanks slager!

No problem Yossarian, I didn't want you to get your hopes up!!!

I can't vote for ya I live in WV.

I'd vote for ya if I didn't live in Martinsburg.