Gov. Jim Justice held a virtual ceremony today to award over $2.3 million in Transportation Alternatives and Recreational Trails Program (TARTP) grants for seven projects in cities and towns across West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, and to award $300,000 in TARTP grants for three additional projects in communities across Wood County. The 10 grants awarded are worth a combined total of $2,686,639 and include projects in five counties. “I am excited to announce that we are giving out yet another round of these grants today,” Gov. Justice said. “They end up making our cities and towns a lot more presentable and…

Allegany College of Maryland’s Teacher Education Club will host its third annual Scholastic Book Fair beginning on November 9 and ending on November 22. The store is available online at https://bit.ly/34GQUAG and is open to everyone. Club members will use proceeds from the Book Fair to purchase Scholastic books for donation to local charities, libraries and schools.

Today, U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) applauded the enactment of the America’s Conservation Enhancement (ACE) Act, a bipartisan package that includes the Chesapeake WILD Act, legislation introduced by the Senators to boost Chesapeake Bay conservation efforts by creating a new grant program within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support habitat restoration in the Bay region. This program is authorized at $15 million. The ACE Act also increases the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program authorization from $40 million to $92 million. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Van Hollen has also…

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Friday issued an order renewing the state of emergency that has been in place since March due to the pandemic. “While Maryland’s positivity and case rates remain lower than most states in America, we are closely monitoring increases in some of our key health metrics as well as rising numbers in states across the country,” Hogan said in a statement. “This crisis is far from over, and this virus does not recognize state borders. I want to remind Marylanders that the only way to keep our state open for business is to avoid traveling to hotspots…

For a second consecutive day, Maryland added more than 900 new coronavirus cases, according to data released Friday by the state’s health department. Ten more deaths were reported, bringing the total to 3,990. The state’s positivity rate also increased from Thursday to Friday, from 3.52% to 3.71%. On Thursday, Gov. Larry Hogan said that although Maryland wasn't one of the 42 states dealing with a more pronounced spike in new cases, the state's residents should not become complacent about following CDC and state safety protocols.

On Thursday, October 29th, 2020 a Cumberland Police Officer on patrol stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation in the area of Industrial Blvd.  Upon contacting the driver, the officer made the driver aware of the reason for the stop.  A records check through the MVA showed a registration discrepancy on the vehicle.  While the officer sorted out the issue with the registration, a K-9 officer arrived to assist.  A free-air-sniff around the vehicle was performed by the K-9 and resulted in a positive alert for the presence of CDS.  The driver and passengers were then subject to a search…

Frostburg State University has suspended in-person instruction until at least Nov. 4, in response to rising COVID-19 cases in the region and a steady increase in symptomatic cases monitored by the campus health center. In a news release, the university said access to Cordts Physical Education Center activity areas will be suspended but residence halls will remain open and food service will continue to be available. COVID cases in the region have risen steadily since early October.

Grow West this week held a groundbreaking ceremony that will lead to an expansion of operations and 60 additional jobs at its cannabis production facility in Cumberland. Wiliam Valois (French-Va-WAH) is the CEO of the firm, and says that it was always the goal to make the operation a true community asset…

With about 150 new cases of COVID-19 being reported by the Allegany County Health Department during the past two weeks, and Mineral County closing schools in the Frankfort District for a second day, there is no doubt the predicted fall surge of Coronavirus is upon us. West Virginia COVID Czar Dr Clay Marsh reviewed some of the sobering statistics at a briefing this week…

Maryland Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen Salmon says some districts in the state are being overly cautious in deciding to hold back on bringing students back, and that many teachers are, in fact, ready to return.  And while Salmon acknowledges that virtual learning has steadily improved over the past several months, she says it also has its limitations…. Speaking to WBAL this week, she also said schools have not been shown to be the biggest spreaders of the virus, despite concerns to the contrary.