With less than two months from the midterms, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox is pushing back against proposed changes to ballot counting in Maryland. WBAL reports that Cox has filed a motion aimed at blocking the state Board of Election's emergency petition. The petition would allow an early counting of mail-in ballots while current law prevents them from being counted until two days after election day. The board argues if that is the case, key races would not be decided until December. In August, the state Board of Elections announced the intention to file the emergency petition to allow for early…

Republican Gov. Jim Justice on Friday signed into law a ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy, making West Virginia the second state to enact a law prohibiting the procedure since the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling overturning its constitutional protection. The bill will go into effect immediately, except for the criminal penalties, which will go into effect in 90 days, he said. Justice described the legislation on Twitter as “a bill that protects life.” “I said from the beginning that if WV legislators brought me a bill that protected life and included reasonable and logical exceptions I would sign it, and that’s…

Maryland has been working for years to make getting across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge faster and more efficient. Highway officials say the next step in the process is going to be implemented soon. The Maryland Transportation Authority said it expects that a new automated lane closure system will be activated “in the fall.” They aren’t sure exactly when.

In 2019, amid grand promises, state lawmakers launched an effort to force down the price of medications through the creation of a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. WTOP reports that by creating an entity with a mandate to provide consumers with relief, lawmakers boasted, they were making Maryland the first state to take the pharmaceutical industry head on. Nearly three years later, the board’s initial mandate remains narrow — to determine which medications cost too much, then to set up a legally defensible method of capping the amount that state and local government health plans can be forced to pay to…

Allegany County Emergency Services reports a vehicle accident at Mechanic and Harrison Streets. 

Residential outdoor school is back for Allegany County Public School fifth graders after a two-year hiatus due to COVID restrictions. Students once again have the unique opportunity to participate in environmental studies through outdoor school experiences held at the Western Maryland 4-H Center in Garrett County, Maryland.               The outdoor school program is a phenomenal experience for students. There is perhaps no better way for them to learn about environmental and life science than to be fully engaged in nature to see how all of plant and animal systems work together in a natural setting. Not only do the students…

The latest COVID-19 data reveals that Allegany County is the only of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions  with a high transmission rate. Five counties including Garrett are in the medium category while 18 are low. The county is also well behind in the percentage of those fully vaccinated, still well under 60%.

Maryland State Police are investigating a fatal two-vehicle crash that occurred Friday morning in Allegany County. At about 5:50 a.m., troopers from the Maryland State Police Cumberland Barrack responded to a report of a crash at eastbound Interstate-68 east of MV Smith Road in Flintstone, Maryland. According to a preliminary investigation, a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe was traveling eastbound I-68 when the driver failed to negotiate a right turn. The vehicle struck a metal guardrail on the left side and began to skid. The vehicle traveled across the road to the right and struck a metal guardrail on the right side…