Governor Patrick Morrisey and Attorney General J.B. McCuskey say they want to get to the bottom of how the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee chooses teams for the NCAA Tournament. The two held a news conference Monday afternoon after WVU was left out of the tournament. They were team 69. The tournament has 68 teams. Morrisey said the non-selection doesn’t pass the smell test.
West Virginia is among just ten states whose prison population declined between 2019 and 2023, according to a new report from the Prison Policy Initiative. In the Mountain State, around eleven thousand people are incarcerated and more than nine thousand are on probation or parole.
The Cumberland area could be gaining another fast food franchise. Jersey Mike’s has listed a Cumberland site as “in development.” The address is 320 South Centre Street next to Wendy’s. That is the former site of LabCorp., which is now located on Park Street.
The water department will be repairing a water leak on George Street on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. George Street will be closed to traffic from Baltimore Street to Dexter Place.
Maryland has the greatest risk for negative effects from federal job cuts and funding. Over 160,000 federal workers call Maryland home, so the state needs to think differently and act quickly on budget matters. Senate President Bill Ferguson feels a recession is likely, telling reporters lawmakers are doing all they can to keep Maryland from further decline… “We are cutting over two and a half billion dollars of the state budget and we’re at a point now in order to protect core functions of the social safety net in the face of what the Trump administration is doing,…
Allegany County Library Director John Taube presented updated budget proposals at a public meeting that would keep all six libraries open, but cut staffing. Trish Morgan of the Save the Westernport Library group said that 70% of the budget goes to staff when it should only be about 35%. The library board of trustees is asking Taube to make cuts in other areas to preserve staffing… “They tasked Mr. Taube to come up with some other kind of budgets that, number one, would keep all the other libraries open and, number two, how else can we cut the…
In the wake of the many wild fires across the country, including the devastating Palisades fire in California, a new “Fix Our Forests” bill is working through the U.S. Senate. The bill would revise forest management practices including forest health and fire-safety defenses for high-risk areas. West Virginia Senator Jim Justice sees the bill as an economic opportunity for the country to bring jobs back home… “Why don’t we say, I’ll tell you what we’re going to do, we’re going to create some kind of management funding or whatever, and we’re going to apply that towards labor back…
It is one of the busiest days in the Maryland General Assembly – Crossover Day is today – that means any bill that a chamber would like to see passed must be voted over to the other chamber for consideration. One bill with a large amount of attention is the Business Services Tax, adding 2.5% surcharge for different services. While doubtful it gets out of the house, House Minority Leader Jason Buckel says it is a bad deal for the state… “This bill, quite frankly, will create tremendous negative, adverse consequences for Marylanders. For job creators, for employees,…
The recent improvements that CSX has invested in the Cumberland yards are paying off for the railroad. A significant reconfiguration of the yards in Cumberland has allowed CSX to handle merchandise traffic that had previously been routed through New York. The railroad has reduced train starts by 1,000 per week, saving CSX about $4 million dollars a month. CSX says they have not seen any significant traffic changes due to tariffs imposed on incoming goods.
A non-profit that makes many prescription drugs more affordable has come to Maryland. Governor Wes Moore made the announcement late last week that Good Pill, a home delivery pharmacy will now be available in the state, offering prescriptions at just $2 per month. Good Pill is owned by SIRUM a company working to expand healthcare access… “SIRUM turns unopened, unexpired medicine into life-saving prescriptions instead of what they normally are – turning them into waste. They’re the nation’s largest redistributor of surplus medicines and they provide medications to families through their pharmacy service called Good Pill.”
