The Cumberland Mayor and City Council made it official on Tuesday, awarding the Baltimore Street Access project to West Virginia based Triton Construction for $14.6 million. The project includes replacing underground utility lines, reinstalling Baltimore Street through the pedestrian mall and creating a new streetscape with parklets, trees and shrubs. With construction tentatively set to begin in April, Council woman Laurie Marchini said that informing the business and property owners downtown of how they will be impacted during the process is a priority… While construction might start early next year, the project isn’t expected to be complete until late 2024…

New rankings released this month finds that Maryland has gotten more hostile towards business while neighboring West Virginia is showing improvement. This according to the Tax Foundation’s 2023 State Business Tax Climate rankings. The rankings use five major taxes: corporate, income, sales, property and unemployment insurance. Maryland ranks in the bottom ten coming in at number 46. Pennsylvania is ranked 33rd. West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, who has been working toward eliminating the state’s income tax, said he wants to see his state avoid the path that some neighboring states are taking…

Input from students to help solve problems was one of the panal discussions at this year’s Annual Maryland Association of Boards of Education Conference. The event, held in Annapolis,  drew nearly 180 attendees, focused on school board members and leaders, superintendents, agency officials and other key education stakeholders from across the state. Allegany County Board of Education member Tammy Fraley, MABE Past President, said it was encouraging to see student board and council members providing their take on problems that are being experienced in schools statewide…

A new poll from the Baltimore Sun and the University of Baltimore found that over 80 percent of voters have decided on the ballot question of legalizing marijuana. The poll found that 63 percent favored the legalization of marijuana. That is more than double the 25 percent of people who said they plan to vote no. Statewide referendum question No. 4 is on the ballot for Election Day Tuesday. It was a question posed to the candidates running for a seat on the Allegany County board of Commissioners during last week’s forum on WCBC. Incumbent David Caporale admitted that he…

Some Democrats criticized Republicans after the assault on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, accusing their colleagues across the aisle of failing to sufficiently condemn violent rhetoric targeting lawmakers. Maryland 1sts District Congressman Andy Harris, the state’s only Republican Representative, condemned the assault and said that it’s time for the political rhetoric to be turned down… Harris is facing Democrat Heather Mizeur for the seat in next week's election.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, the investigation into a deadly shooting witnessed by children at a school bus stop in Hampshire County last week remains under investigation and no charges have been filed.  The sheriff released new information from the Oct. 26 incident at the intersection of Mack Road and St. Peter Lane near Augusta, including identifying the victim, Shawn Davis, and alleged shooter, John Dulaney. Following an altercation between the two men,  the sheriff reports Dulaney shot Davis twice in the upper chest in quick succession with a 9 mm handgun. No one else at the bus stop was…

On Saturday, the Mountain Ridge High School Marching Band competed at the Maryland Marching Band Association West Regional Championships hosted by Urbana High School. During the preliminary round, the group earned 2nd place in their class and received awards for Best Percussion and Best Musical & Visual Effect. Based on their first performance, the band also earned the opportunity to perform a second time that evening in finals, along with the other eleven top-scoring bands. Ultimately, Mountain Ridge's marching band earned the 2nd highest score out of all 22 bands and improved their score to 91.6. The band will compete in…

On October 31st, officers of the Cumberland Police Department served an Arrest Warrant on Samuel Resnik. The Arrest Warrant was issued by the District Court when Resnik failed to appear for his trial on October 28th, 2022. Resnik was taken before a District Court Commissioner where he was released on an unsecured $1,000 bond. Arrest: Samuel Stuart Resnick, age 41, Cumberland Maryland. Charge: Failure to Appear. Officers of the Cumberland Police Department served an Arrest Warrant on Norman Cromwell. The Arrest Warrant was issued by the Circuit Court stemming from a Grand Jury Indictment. Cromwell was remanded to the Allegany…

On 10/31/2022 at 8:09 PM, the Hagerstown Barrack was notified of a single vehicle collision in the area of US Route 40 just east of Beaver Creek Road, Washington County, MD.   Upon arrival the troopers found a 2013 Nissan Altima on its driver side in the creek.   The troopers found that the two passengers were out of the vehicle and that the driver was deceased in the driver’s seat.  The driver of the vehicle was identified as Seth Bowman, 20 year old male, from Hancock, MD.  The passengers were identified as Hailey Blotner, 18 year old female, from Hagerstown, MD…

One week before voters go to the polls- and in Maryland the Gubernatorial campaign has heated up with Democrat nominee Wes Moore bringing in Vice President Kamala Harris and other top Democrats for a rally in Baltimore over the weekend. Before introducing the vice president, Moore shared his ambitions and vision for Maryland… At the same time, Republicans gathered in Owings Mills for an event called the Freedom Rally. Speakers included attorney general candidate Michael Peroutka and Republican gubernatorial nominee Dan Cox. Cox called to slash regulations, rejuvenate the economy and keep kids safe in schools – all topics he…