Area News
Contractor hired for Cacapon expansion project
A St. Albans company has been selected as the contractor for a 78-room addition to the Cacapon State Park lodge and a host of other planned upgrades at the park. Paramount Builders submitted the low bid of $25.38 million in late July. Only two contractors submitted a proposal in the third round of bidding for…
Read MoreHigh school renovations behind schedule
by KATE EVANS Contractors are still significantly behind in the Berkeley Springs High School Building C and Building D renovations, holding up progress on the gym roof and floor. Factors have been the weather and difficulties finding people to do the work, Morgan County Schools Superintendent Erich May said at the August 21 school board…
Read MoreDedication ceremony set for Hancock veteran banners
by GEOFF FOX The first phase of the veterans banner project will come to an end on Tuesday evening, September 11, as town officials will dedicate the banners in Widmeyer Park. Mayor Ralph Salvagno said the hope is to recognize those veterans on the banners as well as all veterans at that point. “I…
Read MoreMaryland archery deer season opens Saturday
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced that Archery hunting for white-tailed and sika deer opens in Maryland this Friday, September 7, and continues through January 31, 2019. “Archery hunters harvest over 25,000 deer each year, many from urban and suburban areas where excessive deer numbers are especially problematic. The early archery season is also…
Read MoreObservatory group asks for land, telescope facility
by KATE EVANS Morgan County Observatory Foundation president Kevin Boles has asked school officials to sell the observatory facility and two acres of land to put in water and sewer to the nonprofit for a nominal fee of $1. His request came at the August 21 Morgan County School Board meeting. Boles said he’d asked…
Read MoreDrag racing event at airport drew crowds, highlighted by two wrecks
by GEOFF FOX Two wrecks marred a street-racing event at the Potomac Airfield in Hancock, WV, this past weekend. One wreck left a man seriously injured. The two-day event drew around 1,000 people according to a social media post by the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office. The actual number was far less than what organizers expected.…
Read MoreMan flees DUI stop
A Berkeley Springs man fleeing a traffic stop on Fairview Drive was arrested in Washington County, Md. after police there used “stop sticks” to deflate his tires on I-70. According to a press release from the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department, David E. Bucher, 51, will face charges in both West Virginia and Maryland following a…
Read MoreSchool board approves GPS tracking system for buses
by KATE EVANS The Morgan County School Board approved a contract with Unite GPS for the Crosswalk k-12 School Transportation Safety Solution for 38 buses for the 2018-2019 school year. The cost of the total implementation and integration of the Crosswalk system is $7,600 plus a total monthly $950 subscription cost for the software. Transportation…
Read MoreEnvironmental groups ask for rehearing on Columbia pipeline permit
by KATE SHUNNEY Two environmental groups who have actively opposed approval of an interstate natural gas line that would run under the Potomac River have asked a federal agency to hold another hearing on the project and reassess the impacts of the pipeline. Potomac Riverkeeper Network and Chesapeake Climate Action Network filed a request with…
Read MoreLocal shooter takes top trap honors at The Grand
Berkeley Springs resident Gary Gaither was one of several area trap shooters to travel to Sparta, Ill. earlier this month to compete in the World Championship Trap Shoot. It was Gaither’s first trip to The Grand, as trap shooters call the Grand American. It is the premier shoot of the season for the Amateur Trapshooting…
Read More