The powerful hurricane pummeling the Atlantic Coast is producing more than powerful winds and devastating storm surge.
Hurricane Matthew tore through parts of Haiti and the Bahamas as a Category 4 storm. Â Now the storm is taking aim at Florida’s east coast.
Satellite images show how powerful this storm is but there is one image that is creeping everyone out.
Check out the video and see why so many people are saying this storm is a demon.
-Dianah Gibson
Photos by Zack Tignall
Photos by Zack Tignall
Parents-How would you punish your teen?
As police nationwide continue to investigate clown threats and sightings, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office announced they made an arrest for the clown threats made against local schools this week. Â A 16 year old girl from Carroll County has been charged.
The girl is from Westminster but has ties to Washington County.  Police say she used a Facebook profile of a clown to make the threats.
The schools mentioned in the post where Williamsport High School, Springfield Middle School, North Hagerstown High School and South Hagerstown High School.
Police were able to identify the girl after investigators tracked down the IP address from where the post was originated. Â That led to a residence in Westminister,
The girl has been charged as a juvenile with Electronic Mail Harassment-Minor, Disturbing School Operations, and Threat of Mass Violence.
So parents, how would you punish your teen? Take away all electronics for a year? Community service? Hard labor around the house or just let police handle the  situation?
-Dianah Gibson
Over 5-million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s. A local event is being held to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support, and research.
On Sunday October 16, 2016, WFRE’s Tom Whalen will join hundreds of other local residents at the Western Maryland ‘Walk To End Alzheimer’s’. This crippling disease affects 5.4 million Americans.
Tom is going to be walking with ‘Team Hope’ in memory of his twin brother Michael Whalen, who lost a valiant 11 year battle with Alzheimer’s last December.
Every 66 seconds, someone in the U.S. develops the disease. Families spend more than $5,000 a year on their care.  Alzheimer’s takes a devastating toll on caregivers. Many say they suffer from depression and cut back on their own doctor visits because of their care responsibilities. There will be information and support at the walk for caregivers.
The walk will take place at the Frederick Fairgrounds. Registration starts at 1 PM and the walk begins at 1:30 PM.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S.
Join Tom on October 16th for the ‘Walk To End Alzheimer’s’. Together we can make a difference.
-Dianah Gibson
Several school systems in Maryland receiving on-line threats
As parents, we show our children how to be responsible and respectful.  We believe this will help our children make good choices in all situations.  But this may not be the case when it comes to social media.  Parents, how often do you monitor what your children post on social media?
Frederick County Public Schools in Maryland are now asking parents to monitor their kid’s social media accounts. Â FCPS officials want parents to let their children know that certain things posted on social media sites could be considered threatening.
In Washington County Public Schools on Monday, there was an increase in police presence due to on-line social media threats. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office says they take these threats seriously and are investigating the incident.
In Prince Georges County on Monday, a high school student at Parkdale High School in Riverdale was arrested following “a threat of mass violence” made against the school.
The teen reportedly set up an account on Twitter with a clown theme in class and threatened to harm anyone at the high school during the school day.  That student has been charged with Threat of Mass Violence and other related charges.
Kids may think what they post on social media is funny, but their actions could have far reaching consequences. They need to realize their posts can be traced and they last forever on the world wide web.
-Dianah Gibson
Things are starting to slow down a bit (for now) on our check list of things to do, but there are a few more items that I hope to check off in the next month!
Can’t wait until I can tell you all about checking off these next items on my list 😉
<3 Katie Ryan
Don’t miss Country Countdown USA with Lon Helton Saturday morning from 6 until 9 on 99.9 WFRE. Our good friends Chris Lucas and Preston Brust of LoCash will co host the countdown of top 30 songs in country music with Lon Helton. We have been happy to have LoCash be part of a number of shows in Frederick including Random Acts of Country and Rally In The Valley. The guys wrote “You Gonna Fly” for Keith Urban and along with Chris Janson wrote “Truck Yeah” for Tim McGraw. LoCash finally had their own break through single with “I Love This LIfe” and now are near the top of the country music chart again with “I Know Somebody.”
How early is too early to decorate for Halloween?
That is a question that has been bantered around on the WFRE Free Country Wake Up Crew over the past few weeks.
Tom says no Halloween decorating until October 15th. Â Only ‘harvest’ decorating with corn stalks and hay bales are acceptable right now.
October 1st is when Katie decorates for Halloween.
Dianah has gone on a different path. Â Her house has been decorated since the middle of September.
We went to the experts to find out when someone should decorate for Halloween. Â They said October 1st! Â While researching this topic, we came across some very interesting facts about Halloween.
1. The first Jack O’Lanterns were actually made from turnips.
2. Halloween is thought to have originated around 4000 B.C., which means Halloween has been around for over 6,000 years.
3. Americans buy 600-million pounds of candy on Halloween.
4. Kids number one choice of candy is chocolate.
5. A typical child’s candy bag contains about 11,000 calories.
After these interesting facts, perhaps lots of dental appointments are made November 1st!
-Dianah Gibson
