The Allegany County Health Department reports four new cases of COVID-19 since Wednesday.  The latest cases include two males and a female in their 20s and a female in her 60s.  None of the new cases have required hospitalization.  The cumulative case count for Allegany County now stands at 464. To date, 17,807 Allegany County residents have been tested for COVID-19 and received their results.  Of those, 464 have been positive and 17,343 have been negative.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced Friday that the state Department of Education has began posting confirmed coronavirus outbreaks at public schools in the state. A confirmed outbreak is described as two or more confirmed COVID-19 cases among students/staff from separate households, within a 14-day period in a single classroom or core group. The link is available here. The current listing on the state agency's website shows outbreaks in Kanawha, Putnam, Grant, Marshall, Monongalia and Raleigh counties. The Kanawha cases listed three cases at Dunbar Primary and four at Mary Ingles Elementary. In Putnam County, West Teays Elementary had two…

Ballots are now being mailed to voters in Maryland, the state elections board announced Thursday. The board says almost 800,000 ballot packets will be shipped to voters over a five-day period — starting Thursday. The board also says it’s expediting the delivery process by entering them directly into the local mail stream as first-class mail. The first set of emails to domestic voters who requested a ballot by email were also sent Thursday. Ballots were mailed to military and overseas voters who requested ballots by mail last week, the board said. The board said emails were sent to military and overseas…

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen and Congressman David Trone (all D-Md.) today announced $2,786,000 in grant funding and a loan of $720,000 to repair and expand several water treatment plants in the Town of Lonaconing, in Allegany County, Md.  The funding was awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant.    Specifically, the funding will go toward rehabilitating and expanding the Gilmore and Koontz water treatment plants, upgrading the water line to the Pekin-Moscow service area, and repairing the reservoir to the Midland-Gilmore Dam.    “Clean drinking…

The Allegany County Board of Education will meet on Monday, September 28, 2020, 1:00 p.m.  At that time, it is anticipated that the Board will consider closure of the Open Session to meet in Executive Session to discuss personnel matters, consult with counsel, and conduct administrative functions.  The Executive Session will be followed by the Public Meeting at 2:00 p.m.  

Maryland’s Law Enforcement Bill of Rights could be in jeopardy amid nationwide demands for policing reforms.  A state Senate hearing outside of session concluded a third day of hearings Thursday, after discussing 15 bills directed at reform of police departments. The Law Enforcement Bill of Rights grants officers broad protections, which critics say stands in the way of disciplining and prosecuting officers who have abused their authority.  Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby has said the protections made her office’s job harder in a pair of high-profile cases: the death of Freddie Gray and the Gun Trace Task Force.  The American Civil Liberties Union has argued…

On Thursday, September 24, 2020, the Cumberland City Police responded to a business at Bedford Street and Naves Crossroads for a motor vehicle accident.  Upon arrival officers contacted the operator identified as Matthew Murray, age 53 of Frostburg, Maryland.  While investigating the accident, officers suspected that Murray was possibly driving impaired.  Officers further discovered Murray was in possession of controlled dangerous substances.  Officers conducted roadside test which further indicated that Murray was operating the vehicle impaired.  Subsequently, Murray was arrested and charged with three counts of possession of a controlled dangerous substance not marijuana. He was also charged with traffic…

West Virginia’s largest teachers' union blasted the governor this week for not reporting school-related COVID-19 cases. The state has been aggressive about pushing testing and reporting the results, but West Virginia isn't reporting individual COVID cases in schools. It provides that kind of data for nursing homes. The American Federation of Teachers-West Virginia claims the Justice administration has abandoned promised transparency in reporting school COVID cases. Gov. Jim Justice and state health officials fielded questions from the media at the most recent briefing about why school coronavirus infection data was not available on the DHHR COVID-19 Dashboard, and also why…

Fall sports practices at Maryland public high schools can begin October 7. That announcement came Thursday from Governor Larry Hogan and Superintendent Dr. Karen Salmon. Golf competitions can begin on October 7, with other fall sports starting competitions October 27.  Face coverings and social distancing guidelines must be enforced.  The October 7 date gives seven weeks of competition for fall sports- including cross country, field hockey, football, golf, soccer and volleyball. The last play date will be December 12, with the end of season competitions set to occur December 14-19, 2020. The governor was asked about the timing of the announcement…