With construction set to begin on April 1st a number of measures are being taken to help prepare downtown business owners for the 18-month project including a town hall meeting in February. The project cleared a final hurdle early in November with the city council voting to accept $14.6 million bid from Triton construction to complete the renovation in downtown mall. The project includes replacing underground utility lines, reinstalling Baltimore Street through the pedestrian Mall and creating a new streetscape with parklet trees and shrubs. City council member Laurie Marchini said the goal is to provide copies of the plan…

On 12/4/2022, at approximately 2:36 am, troopers from the Hagerstown Barrack with the assistance of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office responded to a single vehicle collision in the area of Rohrersville Road (MD Rt 67) and Park Hall Road.  Upon arrival they located a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox resting against a tree.  The investigation revealed that the vehicle was traveling southbound on Rohrersville Road at which time it crossed over the northbound lanes for an unknown reason and went off the northbound shoulder and head-on into a tree. The passenger, Dylan Fagnano was transported to Meritus Medical Center and died of…

On 12/04/2022 at approximately 4:30AM the Cumberland City Police Department were dispatched to a business in the 700 block of Park Street for a destruction of property complaint. Officers spoke to employees of the business and learned that a male subject had turned over a display stand breaking it and threatened to assault the employees. Officers contacted the suspect William Victor Wight and attempted to place him under arrest. Wight resisted arrest and kicked at an officer while resisting. Wight was taken into custody after a brief struggle.  Wight was taken to the Allegany County Detention Center pending a hearing…

 Wreaths Across America announced today Pilot Company’s sponsorship of Wreaths Across America Radio and its live coverage of the 2022 Escort to Arlington. The “Escort to Arlington” has become a weeklong tradition of support and remembrance for our nation’s heroes in the trucking industry as professional truck drivers volunteer to haul veterans’ wreaths to participating locations across the country. On the way to delivering veterans’ wreaths for placement at Arlington National Cemetery on National Wreaths Across America Day – this year on Saturday, December 17, 2022 – the escort stops at schools and monuments in various communities along the East…

 Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) have reintroduced legislation to strengthen consumer protections and reform medical debt practices. The Strengthening Consumer Protections and Medical Debt Transparency Act would put in place standard practices to make sure that health care entities communicate with consumers about any debt that is owed and cap the annual interest rate growth for medical debt. The legislation also directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a public database to collect information from health care entities about their debt collection practices. “When folks are sick or in the hospital the last thing…

​​​​Bill J. Crouch, Cabinet Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), today announced additional changes as a result of the organizational study of DHHR by the McChrystal Group, at the direction of Gov. Jim Justice.​  DHHR is centralizing the reporting structures of the staff who work in the job functions of Finance, Management Information Services, Human Resources Management and Purchasing. Finance staff in each bureau and office will report to Tara Buckner, DHHR's Chief Financial Officer; technology staff will report to Shaun Charles, DHHR's Chief Information Officer; purchasing staff will report to Warren Keefer, Director of…

Game Wrap

The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) today reported the first cold-related illness death in Maryland for the 2022-2023 winter weather season. The deceased individual is an adult female in the 60 to 70 age range. The death occurred in Baltimore City. To prevent the onset of cold-related illness, including frostbite, Marylanders should avoid exposure to cold weather, both by limiting time outside and by wearing several layers of lightweight, insulated clothing. Insulate toes, fingers, ears, cheeks, and the tip of the nose. Marylanders in need of warming centers are encouraged to reach out to their local health department or to…

WASHINGTON – To wrap up National Tax Security Awareness Week, the Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners today urged businesses to remain vigilant against cyberattacks aimed at stealing their customer’s personal information and other business data. The IRS continues to see instances where small businesses and others face a variety of identity-theft related schemes that try to obtain information that can be used to file fake business tax returns. For example, phishing schemes continue to target businesses as well as tax professionals and individual taxpayers. “Just like individuals and tax professionals, businesses of all types need to be…

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced today over $12 million in grant awards to support the restoration and conservation of the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Maryland. NFWF and EPA representatives joined local leaders and community members at Truxtun Park in Annapolis, MD to announce the awards. The 39 grants will leverage more than $9.5 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of more than $21.5 million dollars. The grants were awarded through the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grant Program (INSR) and the Small Watershed Grants (SWG) Programs, core grant programs of the federal-state Chesapeake…