The Allegany County Chamber of Commerce has announced its 2021 Outstanding Business Award winners.  The awardees are UPMC Western Maryland, Business of the Year; Donny and Kristan Carter, Entrepreneurial Spirit; and DelFest, LLC., Community Service.  The award winners will be honored at the Chamber’s 33rd Annual Outstanding Business Recognition Dinner on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 at the Ali Ghan Shrine Club.  Cocktails will begin at 6:00 pm, followed by dinner at 7:00 pm.  The 2021 Western Maryland Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) Outstanding Young Professional, Andrea Lowery, will also be recognized at the event.

During Friday’s briefing, Gov. Justice announced that West Virginia grandfamilies with grandchildren ages 5-11 are now eligible to receive a $150 school voucher for getting vaccinated against COVID-19 through the Healthy Grandfamilies vaccination incentive program.

­On November 5,  at approximately 0656 Hours, deputies with the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office responded to a LaVale residence after a male was reported to be trespassing and in violation of an active court order. Deputies arrived on scene, located the male on the property, and identified him as Jason Wormack, (34) of Cumberland Maryland. After the Sheriff’s Deputies on scene investigation, Wormack was placed under arrest. After being told he was going to be transported to the Allegany County Detention Center, Wormack identified himself as a law enforcement officer which was found to be false. Wormack was then placed…

UPMC workers, union organizers and others gathered outside the health system’s corporate headquarters Downtown Friday to announce a strike on Nov. 18 for better wages and benefits. The one-day walkout will include transporters, dietary workers, housekeepers and others, at UPMC, a SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania spokeswoman said, but it was unclear how many employees would participate. UPMC employs some 92,000 people including UPMC Western Maryland

Governor Larry Hogan today accepted the final certified legislative and congressional maps submitted by the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission and transmitted them to the Maryland General Assembly. The governor also signed a proclamation calling for a special session of the General Assembly beginning Monday, Dec. 6 for the purpose of acting on the commission’s maps. The new maps were formally presented to the governor by the commission’s three co-chairs, Judge Alexander Williams, Jr., Dr. Kathleen Hetherington, and Walter Olson. “This is a great day for the State of Maryland and for democracy,” said Governor Hogan. “On behalf of all the…

Weekly COVID Update: For the 7-day period of October 29-November 4, 2021, there were no Allegany County Public Schools identified with a School Wide COVID-19 Outbreak.   Washington Middle School and Westmar Middle School each had one cohort that met the definition of a cohort outbreak.   ACPS had three staff members and 36 students reported as positive for COVID-19 during this time, and zero staff members and 95 students were identified as a close contact to a positive person. 

Roy McGrath, Gov. Larry Hogan's former chief of staff is shared texts were Hogan apparently supported McGrath over allegations he illegally demanded a nearly quarter-million dollar severance payment from another state agency.  In the texts shared with the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post, Hogan told McGrath “I will support you" and offered him help from top aides to respond to the allegations.  McGrath later resigned. Last month he was indicted on fraud charges and is also accused of illegally recording conversations with Hogan and others.  Hogan's communications director Mike Ricci told WBAL that McGrath's statements are dishonest. "These are the falsehoods and…

On 11/04/2021 the Cumberland City Police Department served an Arrest Warrant on Belen Marie Waybright. Waybright failed to appear in District Court on 11/02/2021 for CDS charges. Waybright was taken before a District Court Commissioner and remanded to the Allegany County Detention Center on a $5,000.00 bond. Arrested – Belen Marie Waybright (36) Cumberland, MD Charge – Failure to Appear   On 11/04/2021 the Cumberland City Police Department served two Arrest Warrants on Timothy Dale Ryan. Ryan failed to appear in District Court for assault charges. Ryan was taken before a District Court Commissioner and released on his personal recognizance….

Allegany County Commissioner Jake Shade has requested Maryland’s Superintendent of Schools to return authority on masks mandates to the local board of education. In a letter, read by Shade during Thursday’s public commissioners meeting, he tells Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury that statewide mandates and arbitrary quarantine rules are creating a school year that is “anything but normal”. He urged the superintendent to stop shifting the “goalpost” and to establish a transparent timeline for masks and other COVID related matters. In talking with WCBC News following the meeting, Shade said he hopes the superintendent presents a more clearly defined strategy when the…

The CDC formally this week authorized the use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in children ages five to eleven, opening vaccination to roughly 4,000 Allegany County schoolchildren.  On the heels of that decision, the Allegany County Health Department has announced that it is partnering with Allegany County Public Schools (ACPS) to offer after-school vaccination clinics at various schools throughout the county.  Registration information for those pediatric clinics has been sent to parents through local public and private schools.  Maryland Health Secretary Dennis Schrader…