At the outset of his media briefing, West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said it was a terrible day. Justice begins each briefing by listing the latest available deaths in the Mountain State.  Monday’s list included 44, because several deaths which were under review were added over the weekend… Justice was upbeat when reporting the possibility of a vaccine rollout by the end of the month, saying that the National Guard would be a key part of the distribution.

Two Maryland counties will have their weather forecasts and alerts handled by a different National Weather Service (NWS) office beginning tomorrow (Nov. 10) in a move that will streamline forecasting and alerts west of the Chesapeake Bay and along the I-95 corridor in the state. Cecil County will move from the NWS Philadelphia Weather Forecast Office in Mount Holly, NJ, and Garrett County will move from the NWS Pittsburgh Weather Forecast Office, to the NWS Baltimore/Washington Weather Forecast Office in Sterling, VA. The move means that NWS Baltimore/Washington will now handle NWS forecasts and warnings for all Maryland counties west…

The Allegany County Health Department reports 77 new cases of COVID-19 in Allegany County since Friday, bringing the county’s total case count to 1,153. The latest cases include five children age 12 or under, six females and five males in their teens, six females and five males in their 20s, four females in their 30s, six females and two males in their 40s, six females and seven males in their 50s, six females and four males in their 60s, three females in their 70s, six females and three males in their 80s, and three females in their 90s. Allegany County’s…

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh today released the following statement after Paula Carmody announced her retirement as People’s Counsel of Maryland.  “From her years as an attorney with Maryland Legal Aid, as an assistant attorney general in the Consumer Protection Division, to most recently serving as People’s Counsel of Maryland, Paula’s career has been defined by her commitment to public service and to the citizens of Maryland.  She has been a tireless advocate for Maryland’s residential utility customers, and her expertise has been particularly essential during the pandemic.  We are grateful to Paula for her service to the State…

Following a sixth straight day of new coronavirus cases being reported in Maryland, the state's positivity rate is back above 5%, while nine more residents have died from COVID-19 related complications. 1,375 new cases were confirmed over a 24-hour period and the positivity rate is now at 5.05%, the highest it has been since late June.  The total number of deaths in the state attributed to the virus is now at 4,072. The numbers follow a general national trend of rising cases, more hospitalizations and increasing positivity rates.  

In response to the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Allegany County, the Mayor and City Council of Cumberland would like to re-emphasize the importance of continuing to wear face coverings and to practice social distancing in order to keep everyone safer and to prevent the numbers from increasing even more. According to the latest bulletin from the Allegany County Health Department, “The Allegany County case rate has reached 46.66 cases per 100,000 population and remains the highest case rate in the state. Maryland’s case rate stands at 15.54 cases per 100,000 population.” With the number in Allegany County three…

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan will hold a media briefing Tuesday at 5:00 PM to update the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The state is seeing a surge in cases,  Hogan has held about one briefing a month after the inital stages of the pandemic.  This is the first time he has held media brieifings in back to back weeks in severla months.  

Last week, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced the state would be locating a COVID-19 testing site at the Allegany County Fairgrounds. According to state health department sources, it will be a few days before the site is up and running. The testing location was announced in response to the spike in local Coronavirus cases, which have soared past the 1000 mark, with several hundred in recent weeks.

Following reports of another deportation flight to Cameroon scheduled for tomorrow, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) sent a letter on Friday to Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, urging the Administration to halt deportation actions on Cameroonian asylum-seekers until violence in Cameroon has abated. Senator Van Hollen recently led a letter with three of his colleagues outlining their deep concern around reports of ICE deporting Cameroonian asylum-seekers fleeing from extreme danger. “I was deeply troubled to learn of another flight that is scheduled to remove more asylum-seekers to Cameroon on Tuesday, November 10, 2020. I have been advised…

UPDATE 10.55AM: All lanes of National Highway in the LaVale area have reopened.   A two-vehicle accident on National Highway in the LaVale area blocked traffic in both directions for about 90 minutes earlier today. As of 10:30AM, one lane of the highway in both directions had since reopened.  Two people were taken from the scene by ambulance to a nearby hospital. The extent of injuries was not known. The cause of the crash is under investigation.