On October 11th, 2021 and October 12th, 2021 officers of the Cumberland Police Department began an investigation into threatening messages sent through social media to students in the school system. During the investigation a 15-year-old suspect was identified and arrested. The incident remains under investigation, and additional charges are pending at this time.

The idea of a major north-south highway through Allegany County continues to move forward with the U.S. Route 220 corridor remaining one of the focal points. In addition to moving traffic north on Route 220, advocates hope for a four-lane, divided Route 220 that, in a southerly direction, would travel through Allegany County into West Virginia at Keyser and through New Creek. In Maryland, highway engineers are looking for a possible route to connect Interstate 68 at LaVale to Route 220 in Cresaptown. With Route 220 (south of Cumberland) in Bowling Green and a portion of Cresaptown lined with homes and businesses. Delegate Mike McKay, during a recent meeting with state…

Allegany County is establishing a cost-sharing program to help residents in remote areas obtain broadband internet service. The cost of the broadband access effort will be covered by federal dollars through the American Rescue Plan Act.  During the most recent meeting, the county officials approved making $500,000 available to internet service provider companies who can run last-mile broadband fiber to various remote neighborhoods. An additional $50,000 will be available for households to apply for financial assistance to complete the connection to their homes. To help offset the cost to homeowners, the county will pay half the cost for wiring the…

With many Americans who got Pfizer vaccinations already rolling up their sleeves for a booster shot, millions of others who received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine wait anxiously to learn when it's their turn. Federal regulators begin tackling that question this week. On Thursday and Friday, the Food and Drug Administration convenes its independent advisers for the first stage in the process of deciding whether extra doses of the two vaccines should be dispensed and, if so, who should get them and when. While the final go-ahead is not expected for at least another week- when it is…

UMPC Western Maryland is hosting a prescription drug “Drive Up Take-Back Day” today between 11 am and 3 pm at the hospital campus on Willowbrook Road in Cumberland. The event provides an opportunity to safely dispose of unused or expired prescription medication. According to the latest data, 75 percent of opioid misuse starts with people using medication that wasn’t prescribed for them – usually taken from a friend or family member. Simple steps, like properly disposing of medications, can help prevent that misuse. Jen Thomas is manager of Community Health at UPMC Western Maryland…  

The Allegany County Board of Education on Tuesday received a COVID-19 update from Health Officer Jenelle Mayer and while the county’s numbers are still lagging behind the state- there was some encouraging news concerning quarantining students.  The latest data shows cases per 100,000 population in Allegany County at 53.76 compared to the state rate of 17.63. The positivity rate in Allegany County stands at 10.41% compared to Maryland’s 3.88%. And the vaccination rate of 45% remains 20 points lower than the rest of the state. Despite those trends, Mayer said that the county health department is now providing a shorter…

Clinical laboratory jobs, 50 at WVU Medicine and 139 at UPMC, are on Allegany College of Maryland’s Medical Laboratory Technology Program Director Stacey Rohrbaugh’s mind. She is currently accepting applications for the college’s next cohort of Medical Laboratory Technology program students. The priority deadline is November 1.    “We invite more students to choose this field of study. Our graduates are in demand and COVID-19 has only magnified the existing shortage. The impact on patient care is clear: When you lack in-house laboratory technicians, phlebotomists and scientists to do blood draws and conduct testing, institutions could be forced to send out their testing or…

A 25-year-old inmate of the Western Correctional Institution was taken to UPMC Western Maryland after being stabbed Monday night, according to the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. A Cresaptown Volunteer Fire Department ambulance was dispatched to the maximum-security prison in Cresaptown at about 8:20 p.m. for a report of an inmate who suffered multiple stab wounds. The inmate, 25, reportedly suffered injuries that were not life-threatening in nature, according to DPSCS spokesperson Lt. Latoya T. Gray. The stabbing reportedly took place in a housing unit and remains under investigation by DPSCS detectives and WCI officials.

The Joine Communications Center of Allegany County reported a tractor trailer brake fire just before Interstate 68 at exit 43 D early this morning.  Interstate 68 was closed for a short time  

According to the Cumberland Fire Department, six adults and a child were displaced early Tuesday when fire broke out in a ground-floor apartment of a two-story residence at 619 Baker Street. No injuries were reported in the 5:07 a.m. blaze where first-arriving firefighters found smoke and flames coming from the first floor apartment occupied by three adults and a child. The Cumberland Times News reports those occupants, plus three adults who resided in a second-floor apartment, escaped the fire without injury — thanks to a smoke alarm that activated in the apartment where the fire originated in the living room….