On 11/29/2020 at approximately 7:00 PM the Cumberland City Police Department responded to the 400 block of Virginia Avenue for a robbery. Upon arrival officers contacted the victim. The victim advised Mikayla Elizabeth Holliday pushed them and then stole their cell phone from their hand. Ms. Holliday then fled into a residence on Virginia Avenue.  Officers contacted Ms. Holliday at the residence and located the victim’s cell phone. Ms. Holliday was placed under arrest without issue. Officers then learned that Ms. Holliday had an active arrest warrant through Mineral County, WV. Ms. Holliday was taken before a District Court Commissioner…

Although social media has been lighting up for several months now with accusations and reports of alleged violations of COVID-19 restrictions by businesses and customers alike, Cumberland Police Chief Chuck Ternent told WCBC News recently that the department has been receiving relatively few complaints. Mayor Ray Morriss believes that is probably because many people choose to air their concerns with those violating the safety guidelines on Facebook rather than by contacting local law enforcement or health department officials.  The mayor said that while Facebook may provide a useful platform for citizens to voice their concerns, it won’t accomplish much else when it comes to…

With Allegany County COVID-19 numbers continuing to spike and the death toll on the rise, local health officers are warning residents to “stay home as much as possible” to slow the spread of the disease. The county’s number of positive cases have doubled in November, and the case rate is by far the highest in the state.  In recent weeks, the Allegany County Commissioners have been subject to harsh criticism on several levels, with the governor suggesting the county’s initial response to adopting COVID safety protocols was lax.  Now, some citizens are arguing that county officials should be doing more to address the…

Maryland restaurants, bars and other establishments were ordered last week to close their dine-in services by 10 p.m. under new COVID-19 restrictions. That followed an earlier announcement from Governor Larry Hogan cutting restaurant capacity from 75% to 50% in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. The governor said that while most Maryland businesses are complying with the various emergency orders, more than half of the complaints being handled by law enforcement have been related to bars and restraurants.  Marshall Weston, president of the Maryland Restaurant Association, said with new restrictions in place, it is more important than ever for people to continue to…

West Virginia Governor Jim Justice last week once again stressed the importance of students participating via in-person instruction and keeping schools open, noting that there may not be a place as safe as school buildings amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With 24 outbreaks and 106 confirmed cases in West Virginia public schools, according to the West Virginia Department of Education outbreak report, Justice said it is clear that schools are proving to be safe. While some families may be able to succeed at virtual learning,  Justice said the method is largely failing across the state and the country, and an overwhelming majority of West…

On Saturday evening, at approximately 11:30 PM, Cumberland City Police responded to the 400 block of Pennsylvania Avenue for a disturbance. Upon arrival officers located a subject involved in the disturbance. The subject advised Jonathan Daniel Hershiser had gotten into an argument with them and damaged their vehicle. Officers went to speak to Hershiser about the incident and he became uncooperative.  Hershiser yelled at the officers involved and then is said to have hit one of the officers with a door. Officers attempted to place him under arrest but he began to resist arrest. Officers were eventually able to arrest Hershiser without…

Early Sunday, at approximately 1:30 AM, Cumberland City Police Department responded to the 600 block of Maryland Avenue for a theft complaint. Upon arrival officers learned the suspect had taken a taxi service from Frostburg to a residence on Maryland Avenue and did not pay the fare. Officers contacted Jakeenan Corderay Jennings and advised him he needed to pay the fare. Jennings requested to be taken to a nearby business to utilize an ATM. The taxi service agreed and he was escorted to a business in the 400 block of Virginia Avenue. While inside the business, Jennings was unable to obtain…

The Allegany County Health Department did not do a COVID-19 update on Friday due to the Thanksgiving holiday, but we were able to get the latest numbers from the Saturday morning update from the Maryland State Health Department. Using those figures, it appears that Allegany County had recorded another 445 cases of Coronavirus since Wednesday, and reported another eight deaths. That takes the local cumulative total over the 3,000 mark…to 3028…with the total deaths from the virus now set at 69. If you test positive for COVID-19 in Allegany County, you have a 2.3% chance of having it listed as…

The infection rate for COVID-19 in our local West Virginia counties has been at very high levels for the month of November, and that trend is continuing according to the latest statistics released by the Department of Heath and Human Resources. State officials tell WCBC News they are watching Mineral County with extreme concern. The latest state report says Mineral County has 774 active cases, with 234 testing positive in the past week, and another 28 with suspected cases of Coronavirus. The good news is that there has been an improvement in Mineral County during the past week. After reaching…

Friday morning, a listener called into the WCBC Morning Show with information that Allegany County Transit had several staff members test positive for Coronavirus. That report was confirmed Saturday evening when Allegany Transit reported that due to the effects of COVID-19 on it staff, all bus routes would be discontinued effective immediately. On the positive side, Alltrans will continue to offer transporation to medical appointments, and JARC will continue to operate as well. Repeating, all Allegany County Transit bus routes will not operate until further notice due to the rise of COVID-19 and affects on staff. Alltrans will continue for…