During the last hour of a six-hour meeting of the Frederick County Commissioners reviewing the Thurmont Regional Plan, Commissioners John Thompson and David Gray voted to strike the road improvements from the plan.

Thompson also stated he was ready to vote to rezone land needed for the parkway to make it more difficult to build the parkway until Commissioner Kai Hagen left the meeting. “Well, you are done for today because you won’t have a quorum to make anymore votes,” Hagen said before leaving the meeting after asking Commissioners John Thompson Jr. and David Gray a dozen times in a » full story

Restaurants and bars are noticing a decline in business since the Maryland Clean Indoor Act took effect Feb. 1. The smoking ban, as it is often called, bans smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars.

Business owners in the town of Emmitsburg notice an even greater decline. Only one mile separates them from Pennsylvania, where there is no smoking ban.

Larry Shriner, owner of One More Tavern in Emmitsburg, recognized a negative impact. A small establishment, One More Tavern serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and 95 percent of its patrons are smokers. “People are » full story