While Giving Tuesday is a day that marks the season of helping others, the Maryland Secretary of State’s Office and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General warn that this year’s holiday season comes with an increased urgency to protect against scam artists preying on generous donors.  “​The holidays are a peak season for charitable giving as Marylanders open their hearts and wallets to donate to charities and those in need, ” said Secretary of State John C. Wobensmith. “While we are grateful to our reputable charities, we urge our citizens to be on alert for scam artists who take…

Enrollment at Maryland’s public colleges and universities continued to decline again this fall. WTOP reports in fall 2021, there were nearly 165,000 students enrolled throughout the state. This year, there are 163,200 students enrolled, about a 1% drop, though it is a number that is about 1,300 higher than had been originally expected. But at the University System of Maryland’s Board of Regents meeting earlier this month, optimism was also expressed. “[For] the first time, full-time enrollment increased for the second year in a row,” noted Ellen Fish, who is a regent at USM. In fact, there are 668 more…

The Department of Health has launched a health dashboard to keep track of  respiratory syncytial virus cases. The RSV dashboard is similar to the COVID-19 dashboard that was launched during the pandemic. The dashboard will be updated every Thursday. Officials recommend residents get what they call a "flooster." A flooster is the COVID-19 booster vaccine and flu shot combined. “Maryland has seen an early surge of severe respiratory illness, especially in very young and school-age children,”  Deputy Secretary for Public Health Services Dr. Jinlene Chan said in a statement. “Many children recover at home within a week or two, but others can get…

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….

While Giving Tuesday is a day that marks the season of helping others, the Maryland Secretary of State’s Office and the Maryland Office of the Attorney General warn that this year’s holiday season comes with an increased urgency to protect against scam artists preying on generous donors.  “​The holidays are a peak season for charitable giving as Marylanders open their hearts and wallets to donate to charities and those in need, ” said Secretary of State John C. Wobensmith. “While we are grateful to our reputable charities, we urge our citizens to be on alert for scam artists who take…

Allegany County Emergency Services reports a possible wilderness rescue operation at Collier Run Road in the Mexico Farms area

On November 24th, 2022 at 12:00 am officers of the Cumberland Police Department responded to the 400 block of Williams Street for a report of a female slumped over the wheel of a vehicle. Upon officer’s arrival they located the vehicle and made contact with the operator of the vehicle, Harley Coffey. Officers observed evidence of impairment and after performance of standardized field the officer observed further evidence of impairment. Coffey was placed under arrest and later released awaiting her trial at District Court. Arrest: Harley Marie Coffey, age 28, Bedford Pennsylvania. Charges: Driving Under the Influence Related Citations. On…

Cumberland’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony will be held Friday (tonight)  November 25th with festivities starting at 6 p.m. The event will include musical entertainment and ice cream from the Queen City Creamery and Mayor Ray Morriss says it kicks off more than a month of holiday activities and events planned for downtown Cumberland… While there are dozens of events upcoming, the mayor says it’s the tree lighting ceremony which stands out…

According to a new survey, nearly 6 in 10 holiday shoppers (59%) are likely to shop on Small Business Saturday – ahead of those who expect to shop on Black Friday (56 %), the day that has traditionally kicked off the holiday shopping season. Small Business Saturday has always been popular in downtown Cumberland, and Becky McClaren with the Downtown Cumberland Business Association expects that trend to continue this weekend…

A banner year for area high schools bands- and they received recognition during this month’s meeting of the Allegany County Board of Education. Mountain Ridge High School received the Maryland Marching Band Association large open division state championship;  Fort Hill High School won Tournament of Bands Class 3A Championship and by virtue of their score they have been promoted to open class for next year; and Allegany High School “won Tournament of Bands Class 1 Open Championship” . Allegany High School also won best color guard at that event, their seventh color guard championship in the last nine years. Jeff…