Water issues during construction continue to plague downtown Cumberland.  A caller to WCBC on Tuesday said they had been without water for over 24 hours in the area of the Baltimore Street without prior notice. Several businesses and a restaurant was forced to close due to the water outage Monday afternoon and a number of residents were inconvenienced not able to flush toilets or wash clothes or dishes. Water service was restored at 11:20 a.m. Tuesday morning. WCBC talked to City Engineer Matt Idleman who said that the incident on Liberty Street was not a planned outage and it could…

The Allegany County Fairgrounds are being prepped for this year’s fair which opens July 14th.  Longtime Fairgrounds Manager Kevin Kammauf talked to WCBC about events at this year’s fair and also the amount of volunteer work that goes on behind the scenes ahead of time to make the fair happen… Reithoffer Shows will once again be providing the rides for the fair including a roller coaster and there will also be special entertainment in the grandstands nightly along with a free show featuring former performers for Ringling Brothers Circus…

Correction workers at All state-run correctional facilities are covered under a settlement reached last week between the Maryland Board of Public Works and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3. A settlement of more than $13 million was reached to resolve claims of unpaid wages due to the changing of timecards at the state’s corrections facilities after an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department. Governor Wes Moore said the federal government found that thousands of employees were underpaid for hours of work they performed. The timecard changes were made without employee knowledge or consent.  Settlements…

Maryland’s casino gaming revenue from its six casinos was up slightly over June last year, generating over $163.7 million dollars in the state. Contributions to the Education Trust Fund in June 2023 were $50,433,185 – up 1.6% over last year.  Locally, the Rocky Gap Casino took in $4.5 million in gross terminal revenue for slot machines while table games at the resort generated another $532,600 – a decrease overall of 4% from this time last year. For the calendar year to date, Rocky Gap Casino has taken in almost $31.5 million dollars in gross revenue. Portions of that revenue are…

The alley behind Rose’s will be blocked off beginning at 7am to allow for a crane to hoist air conditioning units to the top of the Rosenbaum building.  The crane will be in use between 7am and Noon and then will be moved to the George Street area to raise AC units to the top of the McMullen Building. The work is being done by Service Unlimited.

Cumberland Police Department was on scene of a motor vehicle crash on I-68 East Bound on the Cross Town Bridge yesterday afternoon.  Johnson Street Exit was closed  for an hour to perform an investigation and cleanup.

Federal funding has been made available to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to control the spread of wildlife diseases. The funding comes from the US Fish and Wildlife Zoonotic Disease Initiative and will initially focus on the highly contagious avian flu that spread through poultry farms last year, killing hundreds of thousands of chickens on local farms.  The DNR will be able increase surveillance of animals considered to be highly susceptible to emerging diseases in the Chesapeake Bay region and address outbreaks before they become pandemic.

Preserving housing stability for West Virginia families is at the center of a new program for residents needing essential home repairs.  The West Virginia Homeowner Rescue Plan offers financial assistance up to $10,000 to address critical repairs necessary to keep residents in their homes.  Erica Boggess of the West Virginia Housing Development Fund lists some of the repairs that can be done with the program…

Ella (Ej) Holly presents Frostburg Fire Dept. Asst. Fire Chief, Matt McMorran, with certificates for Arby’s meals as a trivia prize. Producer Chris Meyers answered Ella’s trivia questions correctly for the win.

The Cumberland Historic Preservation Commission Meeting for the month of July has been cancelled.  The next meeting will be held Wednesday, August 9th, at 4pm in the Council Chambers.  A copy of the meeting agenda and packet can be viewed on the City of Cumberland's website 48 hours prior to the meeting at the following link: https://www.ci.cumberland.md.us/129/Agendas-Minutes