A Frostburg woman has been charged with malicious burning after she intentionally ignited a pile of wood fencing on fire that did not belong to her on Monday afternoon. Just before 4:00 p.m. on May 2, 2022, Frostburg Fire Department and Frostburg City Police Department were dispatched to 189 East Main Street for a reported fire. When police officers arrived, Darlene D. Szlama, 63, told them she intentionally lit the remains of her landlords' fence on fire after observing centipedes inside the wood and believed they would eat her dog. Szlama was later taken to UPMC Western Maryland by Allegany County…

Thursday is the National Day of Prayer with a number of activities planned in the Cumberland area. One of the annual events, the downtown mall prayer observance, has been moved this year. It will be held outside of Cumberland's City Hall beginning at 11 AM.

First Peoples Community Federal Credit Union Board of Directors announces that Chief Financial Officer, Randy Olsen, has been appointed Interim CEO. Mr. Olsen will be replacing previous CEO, Stacey Bingaman. “First Peoples is exceptionally well positioned strategically and has an extremely talented executive team. They are supported by a dedicated and customer focused work force and I expect that the Credit Union will continue to be successful in the future," says Board Chairman, Stephen Nelson. He continues, “the Board recognizes the considerable value that Stacey has contributed to First Peoples over the past eighteen years in establishing us as a…

The Cumberland Police Department is currently on the scene of a reported shooting incident on Memorial Avenue.  The suspect has been located and arrested, there is no current danger to the public related to the shooting. During the search, law enforcement officials placed South Penn Elementary School, Washington Middle School, and Fort Hill High School in a temporary lock down as a precaution due to police activity in a nearby neighborhood. The lock down has since been lifted, and school operations have resumed as normal. Investigators from the Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigation Unit along with Officers from the Cumberland Police…

Frostburg State University will celebrate student achievements of its spring 2022 graduating class with the 160th Commencement on Thursday, May 19, during two ceremonies in the Cordts Physical Education Center Main Arena.  University System of Maryland Regent Geoff Gonella will confer degrees, and FSU President Ronald Nowaczyk will present diplomas to graduates during the two exercises.  The Colleges of Business and Education ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m., and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences ceremony will start at 2 p.m. Featured student speakers for the ceremony include Sarah Robertson, College of Business; Quenten Demps, College of Education; and…

Potomac Edison, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), has kicked off its 2022 tree-trimming program with plans to clear vegetation along approximately 3,100 miles of power lines in Maryland and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to help enhance electric service reliability for customers. Maintaining proper clearances and removing dead or diseased trees around electrical equipment can help reduce the frequency and duration of power outages, especially those associated with severe weather. In 2021, the amount of time Potomac Edison customers experienced service interruptions due to trees dropped by 20% compared to 2019. Clearing incompatible vegetation under power lines…

The company behind the TurboTax tax-filing program will pay $141 million to customers across the United States who were deceived by misleading promises of free tax-filing services, New York's attorney general announced Wednesday. Under the terms of a settlement signed by the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, Mountain View, California-based Intuit Inc. will suspend TurboTax's "free, free, free" ad campaign and pay restitution to nearly 4.4 million taxpayers, New York Attorney General Letitia James said. In Maryland, more than 66,000 consumers are eligible for restitution, according to the state's attorney general's office. According to the Maryland…

On May 2nd, 2022 officers of the Cumberland Police Department served a Criminal Summons on Kira Seek. The Criminal Summons was issued stemming from an April 25th, 2022 for a reported assault. Officers conducted their investigation and learned that Seek had assaulted a child. An application for charges was completed and this Criminal Summons was issued. Seek signed for her Criminal Summons and was released pending her trial at District Court.   Arrest: Kira Seek, age 31, Cumberland Maryland. Charge: Child Abuse 2nd Degree.

Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss and the City Council spent part of a work session Tuesday afternoon pouring over a draft of the Fiscal 2023 budget. City comptroller Mark Gandolfi told the group that city government's work force will shrink slightly, and that the overall fiscal picture has been helped by American Rescue Plan Act funding…

Six Maryland Gubernatorial Candidates were on hand Saturday evening for a forum at Frostburg State University.  The event was rebroadcast on WCBC Monday, and we’ll be highlighting the remarks of each of the candidates. Robin Ficker is a former delegate and a Republican candidate.  Ficker says that the State of Maryland missed a great opportunity when it failed to land a major employer for this area…