U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Anthony G. Brown, Jamie Raskin, and David Trone (all D-Md.) announced that Maryland will receive $409,507,880 over the next five years to improve bridges and create good-paying jobs across the state. This historic federal funding is one the single largest investments ever made to repair and reconstruct our state’s bridges, including city and county-owned bridges. The lawmakers fought to deliver these funds through the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.   The Maryland Democratic Congressional Delegation voted to pass the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was…

Internet service provider Atlantic Broadband has been rebranded as Breezeline. The new name and logo were introduced to customers on Monday through a redesigned website, rebranded social media platforms and email announcements. Breezeline is in 500 communities, including Cumberland, Johnstown and Altoona and parts of Mineral and Hampshire counties, West Virginia. The company provides its residential and business customers with Internet, TV and voice services in 12 states including: Maryland,  Pennsylvania  and West Virginia.

The Allegany County Health Department has announced that its free drive-thru COVID testing clinic at the Allegany County Fairgrounds will be closed on Monday, January 17 in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and due to the extreme winter weather in the forecast for the region Sunday night into Monday.  Testing will resume on Wednesday, January 19 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. “The safety of the public and our staff is our highest priority when deciding whether or not to proceed with a clinic,” said ACHD spokesperson, Brenda Caldwell.  “Monday is a state holiday, and with the…

WEEKLY COVID UPDATE: For the 7-day period of January 7-13, 2022, there were no schools identified with a School Wide COVID-19 Outbreak.  Mountain Ridge High School, Westernport Elementary School, Cash Valley Elementary School, Allegany High School, and Fort Hill High School each had cohorts that met the definition of a cohort outbreak.   ACPS had 41 staff members and 231 students reported as positive for COVID-19 during this time.  ACPS had 15 staff members quarantined as a close contact.  264 students were reported as close contacts to a positive person and were required to quarantine.  This includes all staff and students reported as close…

Governor Larry Hogan today announced that, to address the rise in heating costs, recipients of the state’s utility and electric assistance will receive enhanced benefits during this home heating season. The state is also increasing funding for weatherization assistance programs to improve energy conservation. “The relief we are announcing today will help our most vulnerable residents keep up with higher energy costs and stay warm throughout the winter months,” said Governor Hogan. “This is all part of our commitment to devote some of our record budget surplus to helping Marylanders in need.” This assistance will be administered by the Maryland…

According to WBAL the Maryland Department of Health provided an update Thursday to state lawmakers that included a timeline of issues surrounding a COVID-19 vaccine vendor. MDH said 873 people, including more than 100 inmates, may have received tainted COVID-19 vaccines from vendor TrueCare24. MDH said became aware in July 2021 of problems associated with TrueCare24 that included no documentation on the storage of its vaccines to confirm they were kept at the right temperature. In August 2021, Maryland Health Secretary Dennis Schrader said TrueCare24 was unable to address the issues. In September 2021, MDH terminated the vendor's Maryland ImmuNet account and…

Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of perjury related to a COVID-19 financial hardship withdrawal and a false statement on a loan application. WBAL reports a federal grand jury returned the indictment Thursday charging Mosby on federal charges of perjury and making false mortgage applications, relating to the 2020 purchases of two vacation homes in Florida. A federal grand jury returned the indictment Thursday charging Mosby on federal charges of perjury and making false mortgage applications, relating to the purchases of two vacation homes in Florida. According to the four-count…

A Winter Storm Watch has been issued for the listening area until 7:00am Monday morning Heavy snow will be possible, snow accumulation of 6 to 12 inches with wind gust 40 miles per hour.  Event will take place Sunday afternoon and run through early Monday morning. Travel could be difficult as you this conditions will have an impact on the morning commute. Snow is expected to fall 1 to 3 inches per hour late Sunday into Sunday evening resulting in nearly impossible roads. Weather Command meteorologist Diane Clarke. Monday morning will certainly be a snow watch tune to WCBC for…

On January 13th, 2022 officers of the Cumberland Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the area of Decatur Street. Officers contacted the occupants, Charles Parker and Stephanie Faith. The officers observed criminal indicators from the occupants, and requested a K-9 to scan the vehicle. The K-9 indicated a positive alert on the vehicle and after a subsequent search of the vehicle a quantity of controlled dangerous substances; US Currency and ammunition were located. Through the officers investigation they also learned that Stephanie had an active Arrest Warrant. Both Stephanie and Charles were placed under arrest and…

Although the Allegany County Board of Education meetings have not been nearly as acrimonious as they were just a few years ago- split votes this week on the election of officers at least suggests that some dissention may remain. Heated arguments and split votes were a common occurrence in 2019- a year which saw one member kicked off of the board for misconduct. Since that time- and with the COVID-19 pandemic dominating much of the board of education’s focus- public disputes have largely disappeared and unanimous votes have become the norm. During this week’s meeting however there was a split.  Two candidates-…