On Wednesday evening, 09/29/2021, at 7:29 PM, the Cumberland Police responded to a private residence in the 500 block of 4th Street in Cumberland for a reported deceased person. When first arriving officers entered the residence they discovered the body of the 83 year female resident. It was obvious that the victim had suffered several serious inflicted injuries. Investigators with the Allegany County Combined Criminal Investigation Unit (C3I) responded to the scene to assist in the investigation. The scene was processed by Evidence Collection Technicians with the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division. Numerous items of evidence were collected during…

On Wednesday, September 29th, 2021 the Cumberland Police Department responded to a Park Street business for the report of a shoplifter that had been detained attempting to leave with unpaid merchandise.  When the officer arrived, the shoplifter was identified as Caylee Natasha Meade.  She was arrested and charged with theft.  Meade was issued a criminal citation and released pending trial at District Court.   Caylee Natasha Meade, age; 22, Cumberland, Maryland.

There are big changes to leadership at the U.S. Postal Service in Maryland. This comes after months of problems with post offices across the state including Cumberland.  There have been reports of mail delivery issues for more than a year now.  People have waited in long lines at post offices looking for bills, prescriptions, cards and paychecks that never came or did — weeks or months later. It is been a problem in areas across the state but reports surfaced Wednesday suggesting major leadership changes within the USPS in Maryland. Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger called the leadership changes welcome news…

Cumberland Mayor Ray Morriss, during a recent appearance on WCBC’s “Dave Norman Show”, provided an update on the city’s search for a new city administrator. Jeff Rhodes, who served for 11 years, retired from the position effective June 1. Interviews with the finalist list that has been narrowed to three have been conducted in the past two weeks- and the mayor says a leading candidate has been identified. Initially the hope was to have an administrator in place by November 1st- but that schedule could be moved up with a hire apparently close at hand. Due to the sensitive nature…

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said Wednesday he believes there is light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to the latest COVID-19 surge- but at the same time he cautioned everyone to continue to follow every safety protocol… Once again the governor was asked about possible mask mandates- and once again he said those calls should be made at the county level…

Comptroller Peter Franchot Wednesday announced that the State of Maryland closed its books on Fiscal Year 2021 with an unassigned balance of the State’s General Fund of $2.5 billion, which represents more than five percent of the state’s $48 billion operating budget for FY21. The massive fund balance is driven by much larger-than-expected revenue growth that is a direct reflection of federal stimulus funding, which significantly increased personal and business income and expanded consumer spending. Franchot tells WCBC News that even with this great financial news- there remains a tale of two Marylands. While some people have prospered in the…

Maryland has a huge $2.5 billion fund balance in the state budget, largely due to federal stimulus aid during the pandemic, the state’s comptroller announced Wednesday. Comptroller Peter Franchot made the announcement as the state closed its books for the last fiscal year. The $2.5 billion fund balance represents more than 5% of the state’s $48 billion operating budget for fiscal year 2021. The unusually high amount of fund balance now is driven by much larger-than-expected revenue growth from federal stimulus funding, which increased personal and business income and expanded consumer spending. The comptroller’s office said a significant share of the…

The Cumberland Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with the City of Cumberland is announcing the publication of a request for proposal (RFP) for the re-use and redevelopment of a city-owned asset located at 19 Frederick Street. An RFP is an open request for bids to complete a project proposed by the organization who issued it – in this case, the City of Cumberland. The process is meant to open up competition and encourage a variety of alternative proposals that might be considered by the deciding body of officials. The building at 19 Frederick Street is located in the Central Business…

Seven students were arrested and two were taken to hospitals after a fight involving a knife broke out Wednesday morning at a Maryland high school, county police said. Annapolis High School was locked down after the fight, which stemmed from a neighborhood dispute, Anne Arundel County Police spokeswoman Lt. Jackie Davis said at a news conference. The injuries, which included cut and puncture wounds, were not considered life-threatening, she said. During a transition between classes, school resource officers spotted the fight at the top of a stairwell and rushed to intervene, Davis said. A teacher alerted the officers that one student…

More state and local officials are calling on Sen. Paul Pinsky to reverse course and add more diversity to the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), which will be charged with implementing the new Kirwan education overhaul statewide, and overseeing tens of billions of taxpayer dollars. Sen. Pinsky’s plan calls for representation from residents from just four of the state’s 24 jurisdictions and only from Central Maryland: Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County. This plan means no Latino representation, in addition to no representation from Prince George’s County, Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore, or Southern Maryland. There…