U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen (both D-Md.) today introduced U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Boardman and U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Lydia Griggsby to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The committee held the confirmation hearing today for both nominees.   “Judges Deborah Boardman and Lydia Griggsby will bring a tremendous diversity of experience to the courtroom as our newest judges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland,” the senators said.  “We are confident that these nominees will faithfully follow the law and meet the highest standards of integrity, competence, and temperament.  We look forward to their favorable recommendation from the Judiciary…

A public meeting of the Local Development Council for Allegany County will be held on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. at the Allegany County Office Building, 701 Kelly Road -Allegany Room 100, Cumberland. All interested individuals are invited and encouraged to attend.  The Board of County Commissioners of Allegany County is the recipient of 3. 75% of the state's portion of the proceeds from the video lottery terminals at Rocky Gap Casino Resort. This is in the form of a local impact grant. The Local Development Council is comprised of 15 individuals who are appointed by the Board…

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan will provide a coronavirus update at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Earlier this week, Maryland achieved its lowest positivity rate since last October, currently at 2.74%. 

On May 11th, 2021 officers of the Cumberland Police Department served an Arrest Warrant on Melvin Eugene Mumma. The Arrest Warrant was issued by the District Court when Mumma failed to appear for his trial. Mumma was placed under arrest and taken before a District Court Commissioner where he was released on his own recognizance.   Arrest: Melvin Eugene Mumma, age 74, Cumberland Maryland. Charge: Arrest Warrant for Failure to Appear.

The Cumberland Mayor and City Council was presented with a balanced budget during Tuesday’s work session and city officials expect to adopt it at the first meeting in June. The budget contains no increase in tax, trash, water or sewer rates- and does not include any significant budget cuts. Debt refinancing helped- but the biggest assist goes to the American Recovery Act federal stimulus money. During the presentation it was noted that bond ratings agencies have the city ranked with an A. While the “A” grade is a  stable ranking- it is well below the AAA bond rating local governments…

WBAL reports a Federal Communications Commission commissioner is out with a stern condemnation of Baltimore's State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s complaints about the coverage she gets from a Baltimore TV station. Last week, the office of Baltimore City State's Attorney filed a formal FCC complaint against news station WBFF, requesting an investigation into the network's broadcasting and media practices. The complaint said that WBFF’s coverage of the office “could reasonably be categorized as blatantly slanted, dishonest, misleading, racist, and extremely dangerous.” Such accusations are becoming common place- but are hardly a new development. For several years members of the Allegany County Board of…

Three Allegany County Public School students were selected as 2021 recipients of the WCBC/Frostburg State University annual High School Student Salute Program scholarships. Jada Jones, Fort Hill High School, will receive a $5,000 one-year scholarship to Frostburg State University for the 2021-2022 academic year. Richard Day, Allegany High School. A third winner- Emily Lease, Mountain Ridge High School- has decided to pursue a nursing degree at Allegany College of Maryland. The Education Committee has selected another student to receive the scholarship and will be idenitifed in the near future. The students were recognized during Tuesday’s meeting of the Allegany County…

Mary Lenore "Polly" Taylor, the wife of former Speaker of the House Casper Taylor, passed away Friday at the age of 86- ssed away on Friday, May 7 at UPMC Mercy Hospital, Pittsburgh  the result of injuries sustained in a vehicle accident.  Born on June 23, 1934 she was the daughter of the late Lenore (Lippold) and Arthur Young. Polly was a 1952 graduate of Ursuline Academy, in Cumberland. Polly's husband, Cas, and her sons, Dane and Brendan, graduated from the University of Notre Dame. Adrienne Ottaviani is a longtime family friend…

With the search for the next city administrator still in the early stages- there is a chance the Cumberland Mayor and City Council could retain Jeff Rhodes on an interim capacity until his replacement can be indentified. Rhodes announced last November his plans to retire- with June 1st the target end date. However with a search committee failing to attract a strong pool of candidates- the council agreed last week to hire a recruiting firm- putting the search back to square one.  Rhodes told WCBC News that, if asked, he would have no problem continuing to serve until the search…

FEMA is providing support to families who have had to pay for funerals during the COVID-19 pandemic. The money will reimburse coronavirus-related funeral expenses that happened after Jan. 20, 2020. FEMA will cover up to $9,000 per funeral. They began  accepting applications on April 12 and families can apply for several deceased loved ones.  The money is coming from the American Rescue Plan.  The owner and funeral director of Upchurch Funeral Home, Wendy Upchurch, provided details about the program during an appearance on WCBC’s “Dave Norman Show”…