Police departments across the nation are facing an uphill battle to protect communities as they grapple with staffing shortages, rampant crime and widespread anti-police rhetoric. Efforts to hire additional police officers continue in Cumberland. In the past few months residents have voiced concerns about vagrancy, drug trafficking and assaults. Police Chief Chuck Ternent says that the department tries to maintain a staff of 50 officers- but that can prove challenging at times due to retirements and other forms of attrition. Councilman Joe George lsat week attended his first Maryland Municipal League Conference since his appointment and said law enforcement staffing issues was a common…

Governor Jim Justice on Wednesday announced that West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 3.5% for May 2022, breaking the all-time record for the lowest unemployment rate recorded in state history for the 8th consecutive month. The number of unemployed state residents decreased by 500 in May, while total employment grew by 1,700 over the month. The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has now decreased for 25 straight months…

President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months — a move meant to ease financial pressures at the pump that also reveals the political toxicity of high gas prices in an election year. The Democratic president also called on states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar relief. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot praised the president’s efforts and once again called on state lawmakers approve a gas tax holiday…

Cumberland City Councilman Eugene Frazier this week was not happy with suggestions coming from NAACP officers that the city is practicing systemic racism when it comes to the Carver Community Center project. NAACP President Tifani Fisher made the accusations during the public council meeting, accusing Carver Board chair, Mayor Ray Morriss, of hand picking the new board and not seeking input from the NAACP. Frazier, an African American and a member of the NAACP, is also on the Carver Board. He said the accusations are unwarranted… Efforts to contact the local branch of the NAACP and their officers via phone,…

Local basketball legend Steve Vandenberg has passed away. Vandenberg led Allegany High School to state championships in 1963 and 1964. After graduating in 1965  he played at Duke University, then for a short while with the Detroit Pistons in the NBA before playing internationally. After his playing career Vandenberg worked in local media.  His passing, just after midnight Tuesday morning, was announced on social media by family members. Funeral arrangements are not yet complete. Vandenberg was 75.

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced today that Maryland, along with 45 other states, has obtained a $1.25 million multistate settlement with Florida-based Carnival Cruise Line stemming from a 2019 data breach that involved the personal information of approximately 180,000 Carnival employees and customers nationwide.   In March 2020, Carnival publicly reported a data breach in which an unauthorized actor gained access to certain Carnival employee email accounts.  The breach included names, addresses, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, payment card information, health information, and, in a few instances, Social Security Numbers.   Breach notifications sent to attorneys general…

On Sunday, June 19, 2022, at approximately 4:30 PM, the Allegany County Sheriff's Office received a call about a body located in the Potomac River in the vicinity of the water treatment facility in Westernport. Deputies with the Sheriff's Office responded to the area, along with officers from the Maryland Natural Resources Police.               Upon arrival Deputies spoke with the caller and learned that the caller and family were kayaking the river when they observed a body. The father pulled to the bank and made the call to 911 at that time.               Once it was confirmed that…

Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder conducted a “shadow investigation” that sought to discredit former employees making accusations of workplace sexual harassment, hired private investigators to intimidate witnesses, and used an overseas lawsuit as a pretext to obtain phone records and emails, according to a document released by a House committee on Wednesday. The Committee on Oversight and Reform is investigating the Commanders' workplace culture following accusations of pervasive sexual harassment by team executives of women employees. It released the memo ahead of Wednesday's morning hearing at which NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell testified remotely. Snyder was invited to testify but declined,…

Governor Larry Hogan today issued the following statement regarding gas tax relief: “Nearly 100 days ago, Maryland became the first state in the nation to suspend the gas tax, and we proved that it can be done successfully to lower prices for working Americans. We have also been calling on President Biden to take action to suspend the federal gas tax, and we are pleased that he has now finally agreed to do so. With the pain at the pump only getting worse, Congress should act immediately to suspend the federal gas tax. “Today, we are also again calling on Democratic…

Local basketball legend Steve Vandenberg has passed away. Vandenberg led Allegany High School to state championships in 1963 and 1964. After graduating in 1965  he played at Duke University, then for a short while with the Detroit Pistons in the NBA before playing internationally. After his playing career Vandenberg worked in local media.  His passing, just after midnight Tuesday morning, was announced on social media by family members. Funeral arrangements are not yet complete. Vandenberg was 75.