UPMC Western Maryland President Barry Ronan has announced his plans to retire after 30 years with the local health system. Ronan joined WCBC’s “Dave Norman Show” Wednesday morning to discuss his career, his plans and the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Magno Roque, a prominent urologist in the area, has passed away in Reston, Virginia. He was 84. Roque was the husband of the late Barbara Roque, a former County Commissioner. He opened his medical prcatice in 1969, and served both Sacred Heart and Memorial Hospitals until his retirement in 2001. A private graveside service is planned by the family.  

The Mountain Maryland PACE committee has announced the cancelation of their annual event in Annapolis, previously scheduled for January of 2021. Due to concerns surrounding COVID, including ever-changing gathering size restrictions and travel concerns, the decision was made to err of the side of caution. Now in its 45th year, P.A.C.E. is an organization made up of Allegany & Garrett County community members committed to making Maryland’s political leadership aware of the needs and the specific requests of Allegany and Garrett Counties. A reception and legislative breakfast is held each January in Annapolis to showcase the region and lobby state…

The Opioid Operational Command Center and the Maryland Department of Health have released their report on the opioid crisis in Maryland for the second quarter of 2020. The second-quarter report outlines continued increases in opioid- and other substance use-related fatalities in Maryland. It is now clear that the coronavirus pandemic has created conditions that are driving increased substance misuse across the state and elsewhere. Western Maryland, which includes Allegany, Garrett, , and Washington Counties, reported a 48.1 percent regional increase, with 80 fatalities in the first six months of 2020. Washington County led the region with 57 reported opioid-related deaths. All…

The Baltimore City Council has passed a bill to change the name of an obelisk in Northeast Baltimore from the Columbus Monument to the "Police Violence Victims' Monument."  According to the Baltimore Sun, the council voted 10-4 at its Monday night meeting to approve the legislation. The bill still needs another vote and the mayor’s signature before going into effect. During the meeting, Councilman Leon Pinkett wondered if a new monument should be built instead of renaming an old one…    

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a heavy economic toll on Maryland, which has launched a new unemployment website. Last week,  Governor Larry Hogan announced the state added more than 24,000 jobs in August, and the state's unemployment rate is significantly lower than the national average. But many people are still out of work and rely on unemployment benefits to make ends meet. The Maryland Department of Labor launched its new unemployment website on Sunday for those seeking support. This comes after the old site had to go offline for four days in preparation for the launch of the new one. With…

Even as vaccines for the coronavirus continue to be developed, researchers at Johns Hopkins University are conducting a study on a possible treatment. WBAL reports Dr. Shmuel Shoham, an associate professor of medicine, is one of the leaders of the study, which will determine if patients who may have been exposed to the virus can be treated with the plasma antibodies from patients who have recovered. Shoham says the study continues to look for volunteers who have been exposed to the coronavirus…  

On  09.21.2020 at approximately 11:30PM Deputies of the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office were on patrol in the area of Interstate 68 in Cumberland.   Deputies observed a Pontiac passenger car traveling at a high rate of speed; the vehicle was also observed to have a registration display violation. A traffic stop was conducted and deputies subsequently requested a K9 scan of the vehicle. A Sheriff’s Office K9 handler responded with K9 Suma, who alerted to the presence of the odor of a controlled dangerous substance within the vehicle.   A search was conducted and deputies located a loaded 9 mm…

Halloween will need to be done differently this year in order to keep people safe amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to new guidelines issued Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Door-to-door trick-or-treating, indoor haunted houses, costume parties and "trunk or treating," where children go from car to car to receive treats, are among the traditional Halloween activities the CDC has deemed "higher risk activities" that should be avoided this year. In lieu of those classic Halloween activities, the CDC recommends people try what they describe as "lower risk activities" to celebrate the holiday this year…

The Opioid Operational Command Center and the Maryland Department of Health have released their report on the opioid crisis in Maryland for the second quarter of 2020. The report includes preliminary data for unintentional drug- and alcohol-related intoxication deaths during the period between January and June 2020. The second-quarter report outlines continued increases in opioid- and other substance use-related fatalities in Maryland. It is now clear that the coronavirus pandemic has created conditions that are driving increased substance misuse across the state and elsewhere. There were 1,326 unintentional intoxication deaths from all types of drugs and alcohol reported in Maryland…