An annual report put together by the Ocean City Police department shows arrests reaching a five-year low.  In 2024 Ocean City officers made 1,690 arrests compared to 1,944 in 2023.  A majority of the arrests came during the summer months, when tourism picks up.  Of the 2024 arrests, 99 of them were weapons related with 73 others linked to drugs.  That's a significant decrease from 2023, when 171 weapons arrests were made with another 127 for drugs.  With arrests down, so are officer uses of force and assaults on police.

On Wednesday, March 26th, 2025, the Cumberland Police Department arrested Darryl Lemar Powell Jr, 27, of Cumberland MD. Powell was arrested on an active Bench Warrant issued by the Allegany County District Court on March 19th, 2025. On that date, it is alleged that Powell failed to appear in District Court for previous charges that included assault, affray, and disorderly conduct. He was taken before a District Court Commissioner for an Initial Appearance where he was released on his own recognizance.  Name:    Darryl Lemar Powell Jr                           …

West Virginia is among just ten states whose prison population declined between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from the Prison Policy Initiative. Wanda Bertram with the initiative says that during 2022 and 2023, state prisons added more than fifty thousand people, undoing about a 25-percent decrease in incarceration sparked by the pandemic, and the nation’s total number of incarcerated people has jumped by two percent…     "That's an actually significant jump in size, although it's just 2%. The data suggests that there are more people in state prisons, local jails and federal prisons than there were…

National Park Service program manager Chris Stevens updated the Canal Place Preservation Board during their Tuesday meeting on the ongoing resurfacing project of the C&O Canal Towpath. The portion between Spring Gap and the Cumberland terminus is expected to be completed this year.  There’s only one restriction for users and that has to do with horseback riding…     “For each section that is paved, they have to close it to horseback riding for 30 days to allow the new material on the Tow Path to settle before exposed to heavy weight.  So, it’s looking really good.  I think the…

On Wednesday, March 26th, 2025, the Cumberland Police Department arrested Charles Jeffery Toles, 45, of Cumberland MD. Toles was arrested on an active Arrest Warrant issued by the Allegany County District Court for an incident that occurred on March 19th, 2025, in the 100 block of George St. On that date, it is alleged that Toles assaulted a female subject, striking them multiple times and attempting to strangle them. He was taken before a District Court Commissioner for an Initial Appearance where he was remanded to the Allegany County Detention Center. He is currently being held without bond. At the…

During budget debates in Annapolis, House Minority Leader Jason Buckel revealed what affects tax changes and mandates are having on Allegany County where program and service cuts are having to be considered. He shared details of a call with Commission President Dave Caporale…     “Because of the impacts of this budget and the impacts of the Blueprint and the impacts of our increased spending, we don’t have the money. When the mill closed and Hunter Douglas closed, and AES Warrior Run closed and they all left Maryland and they closed and I don’t have the money.” Caporale spoke with…

Cecil and Harford Counties Delegate Mike Griffith spoke about the large amount of program funding being pushed onto counties in Maryland’s budget including over a billion dollars more in spending for education, as well as $100 million dollars in teacher pensions with the caveat that counties can raise local taxes.  Griffith says no one is actually being asked about this plan…     “I hear a lot of conversation about we’re asking people to pay more. We’re asking counties to pay more. We’re asking other people to pay their fair share. I don’t see an “ask” in here, I see…

West Virginia’s minority party of Democrats is claiming a large victory in the rejection of a vaccine bill that would have opened up opt-out options for childhood vaccinations. While there is still an executive order to deal with on the subject, Democratic Delegate Mike Pushkin said the defeat was a grassroots effort…     “I think we could all agree that there was no other bill that we received nearly as many phone calls, and emails on. People coming to the capitol, people coming up in the white coats, people who are experts who were listened to. This is a…

An addiction recovery simulation took place Wednesday, including leaders from county and state agencies as well as law enforcement.  AHEC West and Leadership Allegany coordinated the immersive experience to put officials in the place of those seeking services for recovery help. Kim Folk, one of the Leadership Allegany Class 2025 class members, says the simulation uncovers barriers to recovery…     “A lot of times business leaders, government leaders, all of the types of people that we invited to participate are the individuals who are planning something like this and we wanted to kind of flip it and try to…

State leaders gathered Wednesday morning to remember the events of March 26, 2024 when the Key Bridge in Baltimore was hit by a freighter and collapsed. Governor Wes Moore recalled the six victims on the bridge when it collapsed, the heroism of responders and recovery workers and the state and federal government’s swift action to reopen the Port of Baltimore. He also voiced his optimism for the future of the critical transportation asset…     “And I know that soon, after accomplishing the first three objectives, we will accomplish the fourth. Which is Marylanders of this generation and the next…