"Thank you, Virginia, for capital punishment."

- Hagerstown

"I'm reading Mail Call, and everyone's sort of down on the judge about being caught for drinking and driving. Well, I gotta say, I think he's a pretty good individual, the way he admitted everything right up front. He didn't try to get out of anything. He even said he was gonna - he needed help, as far as going to classes and everything. And this one person in Mail Call said that he should be given a stiff sentence, like he gives other people. Well, I haven't seen many men ever go to jail for their first offense at drinking and driving."

- Hagerstown

"I'm calling about Kennedy Boone. If he wants to be treated like other citizens, why wasn't he held overnight, like most DUI cases? Why did he get special treatment, being released to a friend just two and a half hours after he ... got a DUI?"

- Falling Waters, W.Va.

To the caller from Clear Spring regarding Judge Boone: ... For the record, Judge Boone did not suspend your license, the hearing officer at the Dept. of Motor Vehicles made that ruling based on your prior offenses and driving record. Also, in all likelihood the Health Department would not have recommended eight months of intensive treatment and AA meetings for a first offense. ... Judge Boone has stated publically that he used poor judgment and made a mistake; in all probability you were given the chance to right your mistake on your first offense, Judge Boone deserves the same consideration. If you are going to make comparisons, I suggest you compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges, or be so quick to publically question someone's character and integrity."

- Hagerstown

"This is in reference to all the horrible stories being placed in The Herald-Mail about the Washington County junior football league. Nobody has yet to comment on the head coach or the coaching staff for the Boonsboro Titans, in which they conducted themselves in a very professional manner. ... It would just be nice for somebody to recognize the coaching staff for the Boonsboro team, for conducting themselves in a very professional manner."

- Hagerstown

"I want to thank my neighbors in Woodlands North. I fell on the 4th of November ... on Pennsylvania Avenue, and I broke (my) nose. Thanks to my neighbors for giving me such wonderful food, and all the wonderful people who came to my aid that day, including the manager of the Family Dollar store on Pennsylvania Avenue. They were all wonderful. Urgent Care on Pennsylvania Avenue was also wonderful. Again, I thank all of you, and I'm getting better."

- Hagerstown

"What is so horrible about lethal injection? John Muhammad died a peaceful death, compared to his victims and families."

- Hagerstown

"I was wondering if the BOE could reconsider how they schedule holiday concerts. I have three grandchildren that play musical instruments, and each of them go to a different school, and each concert is scheduled for the same evening. It makes it impossible to show my support to my grandchildren, and I wish they could be scheduled on different evenings."

- Hagerstown

"Roscoe Bartlett has to go. Whenever you read in the paper about how he votes, have you ever noticed that when ... the legislation is for the people, he votes no, and when it's for big business, he votes yes?"

- Hagerstown

"They announced the prisoners down here in Hagerstown are going to be getting their flu shots. What is wrong with this picture in this news article? I'm 75 years old, had pneumonia twice, called my doctor four times since Oct. 15. They can't get the flu shots, but yet our prisoners ... There's something wrong with this picture."

- Smithsburg

"To the fellow that was out there at Hagerstown Motors and didn't find anything and wants to know what happened: Why doesn't he read The Herald-Mail?"

- Chambersburg, Pa.

"Everywhere you go, people talk about fitness. There are a group of us seniors who enjoy swimming four to five days a week during the morning and afternoon. We thought we had found the ideal place, but this week our hours were cut drastically, due to the lack of a lifeguard. Why can't someone find us a place to swim with a lifeguard, four to five hours a day, five days a week? We do not want a freebie. We are willing to pay."

- Hagerstown

"Nice article in The Herald-Mail on the courthouse costs, almost a little over a million dollar overrun, not counting Maugans Avenue and all the other things. Doesn't anybody understand you have to live within your guidelines in your budget? It's absurd. Why don't we go ahead and get somebody in there that knows what they're doing at the county level? I'm fed up with it, as a taxpayer, and everybody else is."

- Leitersburg

"I am not a supporter of the death penalty but was glad to see John Muhammad executed. I remember the fear he spread in the area and the misery he caused so many people. I can't imagine wanting to randomly kill people. I remember going to a restaurant in Hagerstown when he was on the loose and wondering if he might be in the parking lot. The Virginia governor deserves a thank you for not intervening."

- Greencastle, Pa.

"I am proud to live in the Williamsport area. They do more for the people than any other town."

- Williamsport

"In a country where we are all descended from immigrants, Lou Dobbs is against all immigrants, legal or otherwise. Expect to see him next on Fox News, with the other hatemongers."

- Chambersburg, Pa.

"I see where our delegates are asking the BOE to prepare to make budget cuts. The BOE has come a long way in reducing class size. All politicians will take the easy road here. They will lay off teachers and increase class size. The real answer is simple, yet hard. Cut all extracurricular activities to zero. No bands, no athletics, no ... if it outside the main curriculum, cut it."

- Halfway

"I called in regarding the detention center, and my comment was that they are not getting their necessities, such as heat and hot water. The heat was out for three days, the hot water was out for eight out of 10 days. And if you think about it, germs and bacteria thrive in cool, damp places. So if they are not having heat and they are not having hot water, them and the individuals that are staff are more susceptible to illnesses."

- Hagerstown

"The illegal immigrants shouldn't fall back to Congress. The local officials should step up to the plate and do something about this in the surrounding counties. ... Lot of us Americans are unemployed. Why is this? It is not because we don't want to work. ... Fine these people for hiring illegal immigrants, close their business for a year for this practice and give them something to think about. Closing their doors will put them in the same position most of us Americans are in."

- Boonsboro

"This is to the East End caller who is complaining about the lack of shopping. That's what's wrong with Americans. Everybody wants everything right by their fingertips. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. And don't want to travel or do anything to get their jobs done. So just live your life, be happy you can travel, and stop complaining about little things like that."

- Hagerstown

"Yesterday, Nov. 11's article on the possible BOE layoffs left out a possible area: Commonwealth Avenue. ... The supervisors housed there would be more appropriate than increasing the student/teacher ratio."

- Halfway