Allegany County has spent $3.4 million towards flood relief since the May 13th flood.  County Administrator Jason Bennett told the County Commissioners at Thursday night's meeting that if FEMA denies their request again, and if state funds are unavailable, the County will have to pull what they can from elsewhere…   “We’ve tapped out all of our lottery proceeds—they’re gone.  Everything from here on out will be unexpended fund balance, and if nothing comes in at all, we’ll have to start talking about doing the borrowing.” Commissioner Creade Brodie said at this point the federal and state levels are playing games……

Allegany County continues to foot the bill for the many needed repairs in Westernport and Lonaconing, but if FEMA does not accept the appeal by the county for relief funds, something will have to give. Lonaconing Mayor Jack Coburn said a tax increase may have to play a role…    “When the county’s putting this type of money out to do the restorations and repairs, the only way I see that they’ll be able to recover is, unfortunately, raising taxes and no one wants to see that. That money has a huge impact on every person – whether you were…

West Virginia families, especially parents of children with disabilities, often struggle with high medical bills. Ashley Ferrell is the mom of a child with Down Syndrome who required heart surgery. For families like hers, the UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation is a source that offers grants for uncovered medical expenses, regardless of the insurance carrier. Ferrell says parents often are unaware of community resources…     “If it weren’t for other people in our life to kind of guide us along the way, we would be very deep in a hole of medical debt that we would have no idea how to…

About 35 people attended the first Virginia Avenue revitalization meeting last week. City Administrator Jeff Silka updated the Cumberland Mayor and City Council during Tuesday Work Session, saying the next meeting for the avenue will be a walk and talk session held on Wednesday, October 24th at 3 pm.  Silka told the Council the avenue’s first meeting brought insight into its current state. “We had a good host of comments.  Some were positive, some, you know, had some vision.  Some were, you know, outlining some of the challenges that we face in the neighborhood.  It went pretty well. We had a really…

Maryland State Comptroller Brooke Lierman wants to continue her progress in the state, announcing her reelection bid this week. Lierman, who is the first woman state comptroller for Maryland has launched the “Four More Tour,” visiting 12 counties, including Allegany County on October 28th where she will make an appearance at Dig Deep Brewing. Lierman has said she wants to continue modernizing the state’s government systems and increasing transparency.

A holiday fixture in the Cumberland area is changing venues in December.  The Western Maryland Jaycees have sponsored Lights on the Lake at Rocky Gap for years and have announced that this December the event will be moved to the Allegany County Fairgrounds and be renamed Lights by the Mountainside.  The lights display will be available from December 5 through December 28.

On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, Officers of the Cumberland Police Department served a bench warrant on Amber Diehl. The warrant was issued as a result of Diehl failing to comply with the terms of her pretrial release. Diehl was arrested and transported to the Allegany County Detention Center. She was released on her own recognizance pending the trial. ARRESTED: Amber Marie Diehl     AGE: 35       Cumberland, Maryland CHARGE: Failure to Comply Arrest Warrant Served On Wednesday, September 17, 2025, Officers of the Cumberland Police Department served a fugitive warrant on Dakota McGee. The warrant was issued in Mineral…

Pennsylvania farmers say the One Big Beautiful Bill safety-net programs that will hurt low-income families and the growers who feed them. Over 100,000 people in Pennsylvania are at risk of losing SNAP benefits and over 310,000 would lose Medicaid coverage. Michelle Hughes, with the National Young Farmers Coalition, says the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will drive even more farmers out of the field…     "Many farmers markets, local grocers and even CSAs can take SNAP and rely on it as an income stream. With reductions to SNAP farmers bottom line will be impacted, as well as the consumers…

Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor has drawn the attention of Maryland’s House Minority Whip over a legal advocacy fund set up to help illegal immigrants.  The fund of $20,000 was included in the city’s 2026 budget. Grants would go to non-profits to assist immigrants facing deportation.  Delegate Justin Ready tells WBAL the money should not be put up by the city and that tracking the spending on grants will be tricky…     “It really evades a lot of accountability because it’s a block grant from the taxpayers to an NGO, a nonprofit. If I’m the city of Frederick I would…