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…

On December 2, 2022 at approximately 10:24pm officers of the Cumberland Police Department responded to a disturbance at 219 E. Elder Street. Officers made contact with Alissa Kolodi. Kolodi  had an active arrest warrant. Kodoli was placed under arrest and taken to Allegany County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing. On December 2, 2022 officers with the Cumberland Police Department served an active arrest warrant on Nakota Durham. Durham was taken to the Allegany County Detention Center awaiting bond hearing. On December 2, 2022 officers with the Cumberland Police Department served an outstanding active arrest warrant on Michelle Pattison. Pattison…

On 12.02.2022 at approximately 11:30 AM, Deputies of The Allegany County Sheriff’s Office were made aware that a female was allegedly being held against her will in a Frostburg residence.  In coordination and with the assistance of The Frostburg City Police, deputies responded and established a perimeter at the residence in an attempt to determine the validity of the report. The female was able to communicate with family members though the use of an Alexa device, and confirmed that she was being held against her will and that her captor had access to at least one long gun. At that…

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice announced today that the West Virginia Division of Natural Resource’s lifetime license giveaway is back for a fourth year.  Hunters and anglers who purchase an annual 2023 hunting, trapping or fishing license in the month of December will automatically be entered into the drawing. “There’s a lot of good things happening in West Virginia and so much to be thankful for as we enter the holiday season, and the return of the WVDNR’s license giveaway is just one more thing that makes our beautiful state such a great place to hunt and…

Beall Elementary School will lift the lock in and begin dismissal at the regular time of 3:10 p.m. Office staff is currently notifying students who live on streets that have been closed due to police activity (Mt. Vernon, Green, Washington) to arrange for alternate transportation/dismissal plans. All other walkers, buses, and private transportation will be unaffected.