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…

The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) has posted the November 28, 2020, Saturday Education Map that determines which counties will hold in-person and blended instruction and directs the level of extracurricular activities permitted. The map is developed with information from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and vetted by the COVID-19 Data Review Panel. Governor Jim Justice has called for all schools to begin the week of Nov. 29, 2020, in remote learning, with those in green, yellow and gold able to return to in-person or blended learning models on Thursday, Dec. 3. The weekly…

All Allegany County Public School students will remain in a fully-virtual learning format for the week of December 1-4, 2020, as a result of county health metrics and the availability of adequate staff. Schools are still CLOSED on Monday, November 30, 2020, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Announcements regarding the learning format for the week of December 7th will be communicated to the public on Friday, December 4, 2020.

The Cumberland Times News reports that Allegany County received national attention this week for its rapidly growing COVID-19 case rates.  The New York Times reported that per capita, Allegany County “has the worst outbreak in Maryland, and the Cumberland region has the 14th-highest number of recent cases per capita of any metro area in the country.” Meanwhile, local obituaries stated that people died at UPMC Western Maryland due to complications from COVID-19. The Maryland Department of Health confirmed the virus has killed more than 60 people in Allegany County, and that number is expected to increase.

The City of Cumberland and the Downtown Development Commission, on Friday, jointly presented a virtual tree lighting ceremony in celebration of the holiday. Mayor Ray Morriss and special guests hosted the popular holiday tradition which was streamed live streamed via Allegany Media for all to view. The event, which usually draws hundreds to the downtown mall on Black Friday,  was virtual due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic

Allegany County Emergency Services reported a vehicle accident late Friday in the area of New Geroges Creek/Autumb Breeze. One lane was briefly shuit down as units cleared the scene.