The Tri Towns EMS Building was struck by a pickup truck Saturday morning around 6:00 AM, resulting in two injuries to the occupants and the need for major repairs to the EMS building. Although Tri Towns had a basic life support crew and an Allegany County Department of Emergency Services medic on scene, the crash made their ambulance inaccessable for transporting the injured. Neighboring fire and rescue departments swung into action, as the county's building collapse team was called to assess the damage. Belt Construction was able to stabilize the building, the ambulance was eventually extricated, and Tri Towns EMS…

The Mayor and City Council of Cumberland will hold their regular public meeting on Tuesday beginning at 6:15 p.m. via video conference. Council will consider hiring a recruitment firm to assist in the process to replace retiring City Administrator Jeff Rhodes. The meeting will be live streamed and may be viewed through the city's website.  

US Route 220 near Hannah Plaza in Cresaptown was shut down in both directions for about an hour Saturday afternoon as a result of a vehicle collision. The shutdown was reported just before 5 PM, and the road was reopened at around quarter to six after the emergency response of police, fire and EMS units from the area.

Allegany County Emergency Services reports a vehicle accident at the Tri-Towns EMS building in Westernport. Two people have been injured and the collapse team has been called to the scene. 

On Friday officers of the Cumberland Police Department observed a vehicle to fail to stop at a stop sign exiting from I-68 West Bound, and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle. The officers contacted the operator of the vehicle, Jatanna Sue Miller, who had initially provided a false name, and passenger Anna Louise Miller. The officers continued their investigation and requested a K-9, which later indicated an alert on the vehicle. After a subsequent search items of paraphernalia were located inside the vehicle, belonging to Jatanna. A large amount of suspected Fentanyl was then located concealed on Anna’s person,…

Moving around the boardwalk — and dining and drinking outdoors — will all be more like they were pre-pandemic in Ocean City, Maryland, this summer. For starters, with a statewide mask mandate being lifted, signs on the boardwalk referencing mandatory mask use were set to come down Thursday, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said. The announced removal of restrictions on outdoor dining means people can be seated closer together, Meehan said. He added that outside bars can open and that people can stand at them as well. Also on the boardwalk, visitors will once again be able to ride the tram,…

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today announced a $300 million settlement with Indivior plc and Indivior Inc. (Indivior) to settle allegations that Indivior falsely and aggressively marketed and promoted Suboxone, resulting in improper expenditures of state Medicaid funds.  Suboxone is a drug product approved for use by recovering opioid addicts to avoid or reduce withdrawal symptoms while they undergo treatment. Suboxone and its active ingredient, buprenorphine, are powerful and addictive opioids.  Indivior will pay a total of $300,000,000.00 to resolve civil fraud allegations impacting Medicaid and other government healthcare programs, of which $203,735,800.00 will go to Medicaid.  Of that…

A judge in Maryland has ruled that an apartment company co-owned by Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, repeatedly violated state consumer protection laws by collecting debts without required licenses, charging tenants improper fees and misrepresenting the condition of rental units. Administrative Law Judge Emily Daneker said in her 252-page decision Thursday that violations by Westminster Management and the company JK2 were “widespread and numerous,” the Baltimore Sun reports. Kushner and his brother, Joshua, each held 50% interest in JK2. Westminster is the company’s successor. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, a Democrat, sued Westminster and 25 related companies in…

WEEKLY COVID-19 UPDATE: For the week of April 26-30, 2021, ACPS reports zero cases of COVID-19 in staff members, and four cases of COVID-19 in students who were within an Allegany County Public School.  These individuals will complete the required isolation period before returning to their school buildings. Close contacts at school were identified in all four of the student cases. Those identified close contacts will complete a ten-day quarantine before returning to the school building. Parents were notified through the ACPS Blackboard notification system if there was a positive case in their child's school.    ACPS had two staff members who were…

The Allegany County Health Department reports that 22,646 Allegany County residents have received their first dose of a two-dose vaccine against COVID-19 (32.2% of the population), with 17,310 of those individuals now fully vaccinated with their second dose (24.6 % of the population).  The number of residents who have received the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) vaccine stands at 2,134 (3.0 %).   By comparison, the state reported that 43.6% of all Marylanders had received their first dose of a two-dose vaccine, with 29.7% having had both doses and 3.1% vaccinated with the single dose vaccine.   Allegany County COVID-19…