On Friday, Cumberland Police responded to an Arch Street residence for the report of a male that had forced open a door and entered the residence. When officers arrived, they observed damage to the front door and a witness advised that male was still inside. Officers entered the residence and located Michael Louis Fisher hiding upstairs. He was arrested and charged with malicious destruction of property, burglary, and trespassing. Fisher also had an active arrest warrant for failing to appear for trial back on March 25th, 2021 at District Court on an assault charge. He was taken before the District…

On Friday, Cumberland Police responded to a Union Street establishment for the report of an intoxicated male refusing to leave the business. When officers arrived, they made contact with the male who was still on the property. Dana Allen Scronce was arrested and charged with disorderly intoxication and trespassing. He was issued criminal citations and released pending trial at District Court.   Dana Allen Scronce, age; 57, Cumberland, Maryland.

On Friday, the Cumberland Police Department served a criminal summons on James Francis Urick charging him with assault. The summons was issued by District Court in reference to a complaint filed at the District Court Commissioner’s office that alleged that Urick assaulted the complainant back on April 1st, at a Paca Street apartment building.   James Francis Urick, age; 71, Cumberland, Maryland.

The Allegany County Health Department reports that 19,054 Allegany County residents have received their first dose of a two-dose vaccine against COVID-19 (27.1% of the population), with 11,117 of those individuals now fully vaccinated with their second dose (15.8 % of the population). Additionally, 852 Allegany County residents have received the single dose Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine (1.2%). By comparison, the state reported that 31.9% of all Marylanders had received their first dose of a two-dose vaccine, with 17.9% having had both doses and an additional 1.8% vaccinated with the single dose vaccine.  

The Cumberland Mayor and City Council will conduct a work session Tuesday afternoon. In addition to the upcoming agenda, council will receive updates on the Cumberland Gateway Project, the Baltimore Street Access Project, and the strategic plan of the Cumberland Economic Development Corporation. The session will start at 4:30 PM.

During the past week, Allegany County Public Schools reported five cases of COVID-19 in staff, and 14 in students. In addition, 12 staff members and 211 students were in quarantine this week due to close contact with someone who has tested positive for Coronavirus, or someone who developed symptoms during the period.

Maryland added 1,840 new COVID-19 cases, while hospitalizations and the state positivity rate increased slightly, according to data released Friday by the state Department of Health. Hospitalizations were at 1,249 Friday morning, up 33 from the previous day. Of those, there were 286 in ICU beds and 963 in acute care. Maryland remains in 2B of its vaccination plan, but all Marylanders ages 16 and up can get the vaccination at several mass vaccination sites around the state. The 7-day positivity rate is now at 5.59%, up 0.03% from the day before.  

A bill drafted to protect the firearms rights of medical cannabis users in Maryland was blocked in the House of Delegates Friday. SB190, sponsored by Senate Minority Whip Michael Hough, would remove medical cannabis usage as a reason to deny a person the right to purchase or carry a firearm. The bill was passed unanimously by the Senate but has been amended since moving to the House. The amendments added regulations to the manufacture and transfer of certain unfinished parts of a firearm in order to protect against the proliferation of untraceable firearms. The bill was then altered again with the adoption of an amendment by Del. C.T….

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan on Friday announced the formation of an Asian-American Hate Crime Workgroup. Former U.S. Attorney Robert Hur, who is Asian American, will serve as chairman of the workgroup, with the goal of addressing a rise in anti-Asian discrimination and violence. “Words are not enough,” Hogan said. “Which is why I immediately directed Maryland State Police and all of our state law enforcement agencies to increase enhance visibility patrols and provide additional protection for [Asian American community] members. We issued awareness bulletins in an effort to ensure the safety of AAPI against further attacks. And we’ve been encouraging anyone who is a victim…

During his Friday afternoon press conference, Maryland Governor Hogan said he was told by federal officials that the shortage of doses of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine likely will impact the state for the rest of this month… He said the situation is especially frustrating, considering Maryland's successful effort to provide an expanded number of outlets for vaccine distribution in all areas of the state… Last week, the public learned of issues at Emergent BioSolutions' Baltimore plant that led to the contamination and destruction of millions of doses of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine.