Although winter is still a month away, winter conditions are already being felt in the area- leading to an early dismissal for Allegany County Public Schools one day last week. During Tuesday’s regular meeting of the Board of Education, the system’s new supervisor of transportation Homer Martz provided an update on inclement weather procedures. Martz,  who has served as commander of the Maryland State Police Cumberland Barrack, said that are many new and more effective ways to monitor the weather and its possible impact on travel… The timing of school closing decisions have always come under scrutiny from parents and…

Governor-elect Wes Moore, in an interview with WBAL radio Tuesday, said Marylanders don't have to worry about him raising taxes once he's in office. Moore says he plans to move forward with being fiscally smart in Maryland, which does not include raising taxes, which he says isn’t necessasy… He said his administration will focus on investing in key programs that must remain vital…

The City of Cumberland Engineering Department, on behalf of Belt Paving, would like to notify the public that beginning on Monday, November 28, 2022, through Wednesday, November 30, 2022, Fayette Street from Allegany Street to Luteman Road will be patched to repair the road from this summer’s water line project. The road will be flagged during construction to route vehicles around the construction equipment.   Due to the weather forecast and expected daytime air temperatures, the road will not be milled and overlayed until the Spring.   Detours will be set up as needed to direct traffic around the site. Parking…

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that his administration will extend the pause on federal student loan payments while the White House fights a legal battle to save his plan to cancel portions of the debt. “It isn’t fair to ask tens of millions of borrowers eligible for relief to resume their student debt payments while the courts consider the lawsuit,” Biden said in a video posted on Twitter. The moratorium was slated to expire Jan. 1, a date that Biden set before his debt cancellation plan stalled in the face of legal challenges from conservative opponents. Now it will extend…

The Maryland Historical Trust (MHT), a unit of the Maryland Department of Planning (Planning), today announced two in-person workshops and four virtual sessions to inform participants about $600,000 in available funding for historic preservation grants through the Historic Preservation Capital Grant Program. The in-person workshops and virtual sessions are free to attend. Registration is required at https://bit.ly/3GjBYMj. The virtual sessions will be offered on December 1, 2022, January 17, 2023, February 9, 2023, and February 22, 2023. The in-person workshops are December 13, 2022 (in Crownsville) and January 5, 2023 (in LaVale).  During the in-person workshops and virtual sessions, MHT…

REMINDER: Allegany County Public Schools will dismiss 3 HOURS EARLY on Wednesday, November 23, 2022. Schools will be CLOSED for Thanksgiving Break on Thursday, November 24th, Friday, November 25th, and Monday, November 28th. Schools will REOPEN on Tuesday, November 29, 2022, with a 3 HOUR DELAYED OPENING.

On Monday, November 21, 2022, the Cumberland Police Department served a bench warrant on Jessica Jones.  The warrant was issued as the result of Jones failing to comply with an order of the court.  Jones was originally charged with Attempted Assault-2nd Degree, CDS Admin Equip Possess, Resist/Interfere with Arrest, Trespassing-Private Property, Disturb the Peace, Disorderly Conduct, and CDS Possess Paraphernalia.  She was arrested and transported to Central Booking.  Jones was held without bond. ARRESTED:  Jessica Alexis Jones        AGE:  30         Cumberland, MD On Monday, November 21, 2022, the Cumberland Police Department served a bench warrant on James Whetstone.  The warrant was…

America faces a growing risk of a crippling national freight rail strike in two weeks after rank-and-file members of the nation’s largest rail union, which represents the industry’s conductors, rejected a tentative labor deal with freight railroads. The nation’s second-largest rail union, which represents engineers, ratified its own contract. But the failure of the conductors to ratify their own deal is another setback. Roughly 115,000 rail workers  are involved in the contract dispute with CSX, Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and other railroads. Lance Fritz, Union Pacific CEO, remains optimistic that a strike can be averted…

Governor Larry Hogan on Monday announced the awarding of $9.6 million for rehabilitation or replacement of  bridges across Maryland- two of those in Allegany County. The allocation was made possible through a new funding category in the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act  to rehabilitate or replace fair to poorly rated county-maintained bridges  around the state.  These limited federal funds require no local government dollars. $2 million is targeted for the rehabilitation of the Old Mount Pleasant Road Bridge; and the Mason Road Bridge in Allegany County. Both of those structures span Eviits Creek. Hogan says rehabbing and replacing aging…

Although the music festival is held exclusively on Memorial Day weekend-  it is not at all unusual to see Del or other members of the extended McCoury family in town thoughout the year- as the DelFest Foundation regularly visits to give back to the community. The McCoury family has made Allegany County a second home- with frequent return trips to make donations to organizations such as  the Western Maryland Food Bank and County United Way. The commitment to Allegany County has now moved beyond chartable contributions  with McCoury’s group investing in real estate for future music and educational purposes-  recently…