Representative David Trone (MD-06) applauded the passage of the Responsible Education Mitigating Options and Technical Extensions (REMOTE) Act, which he introduced alongside Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano (CA-41) and Economic Opportunity Subcommittee Chairman Mike Levin (CA-49). The Act will protect education benefits for veterans amid the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.   By law, the Department of Veterans Affairs is required to make significant cuts to the housing benefits afforded to student veterans who are taking classes remotely. As student veterans transitioned to online coursework during the pandemic, many remained in campus housing during shelter-in-place orders. Nonetheless, under…

The Maryland General Assembly voted Tuesday to override Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a measure that bans local jails from being paid by the federal government to detain people on immigration matters in Maryland. Separately, the House approved a new congressional map in a special session on redistricting, sending it to the Senate. WBAL reports the House and Senate, which are controlled by Democrats, also overrode the Republican governor’s veto of a bill that requires state employees to deny inspection of records or use of facial recognition technology by any federal agency seeking to enforce immigration law unless provided with…

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, John Sarbanes, Jamie Raskin and David Trone (all D-Md.) today announced federal funding to support critical infrastructure improvements to some of Maryland’s regional airports, including operations, runway repair and cleaning and sanitization efforts to stop the spread of pathogens.   “Maryland’s regional airports are essential to our economy, supporting businesses, tourism, and public safety,” the lawmakers said. “This federal funding will provide updates for day-to-day operations at our airports to ensure they can run effectively as air travel continues to increase. Team Maryland remains committed to securing federal funding…

On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, at approximately 5:25 PM, officers of the Cumberland Police Department responded to the wooded area behind Wineow Street in reference to an assault.  An officer arrived in the area and announced his presence.  The officer then heard the victim yell for help.  The victim told the officer that her boyfriend, James West IV, had assaulted her.  The officer observed West standing in the woods a short distance away.  West fled the scene on foot after the officer ordered him not to leave.  A short foot pursuit ensued.  Officers were able to catch up to West…

During the special session of the Maryland General Assembly underway this week in Annapolis, as many as 20 bills vetoed by the governor may come up for consideration including a number of crime bills. When it comes to the parole bill Delegate Jason Buckel said he wants to make sure that dangerous criminals, more specifically, murderers are kept off the street. Buckel acknowledged that with Democrats holding a super majority in the House and Senate- getting those bills into law won’t be easy…

It has been an up-and-down battle to bring sports gambling to Maryland, but it appears, by the end of this week, the first wagers could be made on this weekend's games. The Horseshoe Casino in downtown Baltimore is putting the finishing touches on its sportsbook as it is one of a number of casinos in Maryland hoping to start. John Martin, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, said that  in order to pass, casinos will have to show they're complying with all lottery regulations and provide efficient and fast service, accurate accounting of bets and no technical…

In a 12-1 decision, the Maryland State Board of Education voted to allow individual school systems to lift mask mandates under certain conditions. Those conditions are either an individual school has at least 80% of its students and staff fully vaccinated, a school's home county has 80% of residents fully vaccinated, or a school's home county's transmission rate falls to moderate or low for at least 14 days. The vote followed hours of public comment. A local vaccination update was provided during Tuesday’s meeting of the Allegany County Board of Education by Superintendent Jeff Blank… As has been a common occurance at recent public meetings,…

Almost a year after a ground breaking ceremony was held on the site- significant progress can down be seen on the Cumberland Gateway project. Often referred to as the Rolling Mill project, the proposed commercial center will be constructed between Maryland Avenue and Park Street and will contain a hotel, restaurants and shops. The developer  is Ed Scott, a partner with Kline Scott Visco Commercial Real Estate of Frederick. The project has experienced any number of delays in 2021 ranging from simple permitting issues to COVID related shortage of contruction materials. During Tuesday’s City Council meeting,  Mayor Ray Morriss provided…

The Cumberland Police Department is attempting to locate Robert Kyle Hickey Jr., who was reported missing. Hickey is a 56-year-old white male who is approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs approximately 250 pounds. McDaniel was last observed in the Cumberland area in the early morning hours of December 7, 2021. The Cumberland Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating Hickey, and anyone with information as to his whereabouts, please call 301-777-1600. Callers can remain anonymous.

Amazon Web Services suffered a major outage Tuesday, the company said, limiting service at many key and popular sites. The company provides cloud computing services to many governments, universities and companies, including The Associated Press. Amazon said in a post an hour after the outage began that it had identified the root cause and was “actively working toward recovery.” It did not disclose more about the cause. The outage also affected Amazon’s ability to provide updates, it said. The outage began midmorning on the U.S. East Coast, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik Inc, a network intelligence…