The Cumberland Mayor and City Council has made official the purchase of the Fayette Street bridge- authorizing the execution of a Quitclaim Bill of Sale transferring ownership from CSX to the city. The city also approved a construction agreement with CSX outlining the terms for the removal and replacement of the bridge. The Fayette Street bridge is one of three West Side structures spanning CSX transportation rail lines- all three of which are in various states of disrepair and in need of replacement. . A two-lane bridge at Fayette Street is currently open to one lane only. During Tuesday’s work…

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the Democrats’ landmark climate change and health care bill- capping off a recent string of successes and encouraging news for his administration. Despite those recent achievements Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has called Biden’s presidency a failure. A Republican, Hogan says while November may not be the red wave that many are expecting, barring something unforeseen the mid term election should be a good one for the GOP…  

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice scoffed this week at a suggestion by Democratic lawmakers to let voters decide whether abortion should continue to be allowed in the state. During a legislative special session initiated by Justice last month, majority Republicans failed to pass legislation criminalizing abortion. Top Democrats last week asked Justice and leading GOP lawmakers to bring the Legislature back to consider a resolution to allow voters to consider a constitutional amendment for “reproductive freedom.” Justice said he wants no part of that and he once against chided lawmakers for playing politics…  

he Maryland State Board of Elections has voted to file an emergency petition in court that seeks an earlier count of mail-in ballots for the general election in November. The board voted 4-0 to seek a legal remedy in hopes of speeding up the vote count for mail-in ballots, which have become much more popular with voters in the state. Meanwhile the board also voted to certify the results of July's primary. Locally the final voter turnout for Allegany County matched the state average of 26%. Diane Liobel is the county’s election supervisor and said the numbers were not surprising……

Pinto water customers were still under a boil water advisory on Tuesday- five days following the initial notice. The advisory was issued after e coli bacteria was discovered in the water system. Although customers were first notified last Thursday with a 48 hour boil water advisory- the situation had not been rectified as of yesterday morning. One of those customers expressed her frustration to WCBC’s “Dave Norman Show”… General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by bacteria and other disease causing organisms are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

With the new school year set to begin a week from today- Allegany County Public Schools have new COVID protocols in place. During a presentation on the new guidelines during this month’s board of education meeting, Superintendent Jeff Blank asked for some clarification as to what constitutes an outbreak in the schools. Not surprisingly many parents have concerns when they hear there has been an outbreak at their child’s school. The new recommendation says a school outbreak is either at least three cases within a specified core group or multiple cases comprising at least 10% of students, teachers, or staff…

On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will join AARP Maryland for a telephone town hall with Maryland seniors. During the event, the Senator will take questions about the Inflation Reduction Act and other issues important to Marylanders age 50 and older and their families. The Senator will highlight how seniors will benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act, which he fought to pass and President Biden signed into law today. This historic new law enables Medicare to negotiate drug prices, caps out-of-pocket prescription drug costs in Medicare Part D at $2,000 annually, and caps co-pays for insulin at $35 monthly,…

This Friday, August 19, between 8:30 and 9:15a.m., America’s 911 Ride, sponsored by America’s 911 Foundation Incorporated is anticipated to arrive in Cumberland.  The America’s 911 Ride will enter Cumberland via the Narrows, Route 36, and continue south on Mechanic Street turning left onto Frederick Street.  The riders will then travel Frederick Street until reaching Naves Crossroads. Once the riders reach this intersection they will turn right onto Naves Crossroads, turn right again onto Christie Road, make a left turn onto Ali Ghan Road and continuing on Route 144 entering onto Interstate 68 East to Rocky Gap. The ride will…

Police and ambulance responded to a two vehicle accident at Springdale Street in Cumberland. One injury reported. 

Allegany County Government Finance Department wishes to remind county residents of their ability to pay tax and utility bills online. With the recent issuing of 2023 FY tax bills, the office expects an increase in the amount of payments being processed daily and urges residents to make use of this service in order to keep wait times low. The ability to make online payments to the county has been available to residents since 2014. Adoption of this payment method has grown over time, and experienced a large uptick during COVID. “We are pleased to see so many residents making use of the online payment option,”…