Multiple units responded to a shed fire in McCoole overnight at 21st Bridge Road Southwest. The call came in at about 1:30 a.m. The structure was completely destroyed. No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

A citizen task force hoping to see a skate park facility constructed in Cumberland presented a lengthy overview of the proposal including possible locations; costs and planning and design.The skate park advocates recently presented city officials a petition with the signatures of more than 2,150 people who support the concept. The advocates have been consulting with Spohn Ranch, a skate park design firm based in California. Jenkins said concrete work costs about $45 per square foot. According to the group, a park in Cumberland would cost about $400,000. Location preferences would be in the downtown area. Mayor Ray Morriss  …

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan reiterated this week that the state is not considering reinstating a mask mandate. Hogan said, however, that the state's COVID-19 team met Monday and that it remains important to get vaccinated. The state is reporting that more than 77% of the population over age 18 have been vaccinated and the governor says those numbers are among the best in the nation…

Prior to the Allegany County Board of Education’s vote on masking policies for the upcoming school year- they had the opportunity to hear from the public. A number of people signed up to address the board during the regular monthly meeting and even more emailed comments and opinions on the controversial mask debate. If the board was hoping to hear a strong concensus of opinion to perhaps sway the vote- that didn’t happen. There were strong and clear divisions on the mask vs non mask question…   Board member Deb Frank…   The board ultimately voted to recommend, but not…

The moratorium on evictions in Maryland will end on August 15th as planned. U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, says the situation should never have reached this point. Cardin said some $47 billion in federal funds have been made available to help renters and landlords during the COVID pandemic, but to date only a small percentage of those dollars have been distributed by state and local governments…

The Allegany County Health Department will offer another walk-in COVID vaccination clinic on Wednesday, August 11 on the ground floor of the Willowbrook Office Complex (12501 Willowbrook Road, Cumberland, MD).  From 9 a.m. to noon both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccines will be offered for those age 18 and older.  Then, from 1 to 4 p.m. the Pfizer COVID vaccine will be available for those age 12 and older.  Anyone under 18 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian in order to be vaccinated.   As of August 3, 40.7% of all…

 Allegany College of Maryland’s nursing program will host a site visit by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing on Sept. 8. The public may share comments beginning at 2 p.m. in Room 208 of the Allied Health Building. ACM was named the top-ranked accredited online LPN to RN program in the nation for 2021 according to RegisteredNursing.org.  The program also was awarded this special ranking in 2019. The company did not provide a 2020 ranking of online LPN to RN programs.     

Biotechnology company Novavax, based in Gaithersburg, announced Wednesday it has finalized an advanced purchase agreement with the European Commission for up to 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine. The agreement covers the purchase of up to 100 million doses of the vaccine with the option of another 100 million doses through 2023, the company said. Novavax did not disclose the sum of the purchase. Novavax reported 90.4% overall efficacy in its Phase 3 clinical trial in the United States and Mexico. In its Phase 3 trials in the United Kingdom, the company reported 89.7% efficacy with 96% efficacy against the…

WBRE reports that 12-year-old Jordan Prushinski was victim of a suspected shark attack while vacationing with her family at the 119th Street beach in Ocean City, Maryland. But she never thought it would be the place where she would get attacked by a suspected shark while swimming in knee-deep water.  “I didn’t really realize what was going on until I was on the beach and I was bleeding everywhere,” stated Prushinski. “I was swimming and a wave had just crashed and I was right on the edge of the crash zone, I thought a horseshoe crab had got lifted up…

What's being described as a major gas leak occured near Shawnee Road at approximately 5:40 a.m. Wednesday.  Area residences have been evacuated. WCBC News will continue to follow this developing story.