A layout plan was presented for the old Allegany High School neighborhood project during last night’s Allegany County Commissioner meeting.  The plan that is being considered consists of 65 units which includes 35 town homes, 9 villa homes with an aging in place model, as well as detached single family homes.  Commissioner Bill Atkinson said the agreement with developer DR Horton would be to build 10 units at a time, and as they sell, the process will continue… “We think we’ve come up with a fairly good plan.  Again this is just to show you what it is as we…

Maryland’s Board of Revenue Estimates announced a $280 million dollar reduction in the estimated General Fund balance on Thursday. Board Director Robert Rehrmann said uncertainty around the federal government was a main driver in the downcast…     “Even though there are court challenges, we do believe there is a determination to significantly reduce federal spending and employment and that is going to be a negative shock to our economy. That’s going to harm Marylanders, businesses, our economy, our non-profits, and our state revenue structure.” The reduction draws attention to how much the state is tied to federal contracts and…

Allegany County’s Attorney, Lee Beeman, testified before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee on Senate Bill 979. This bill changes collection of hotel/motel taxes from short-term rentals in the state to an intermediary, relieving the county’s costs and responsibility.  Beeman says the county has missed out on $150,000 in revenue…     “To paint the picture, currently in Allegany County we have 135 short-term rentals. We pay for a subscription to AirDNA to get that information, those statistics. Of those 135 rental units that we have, less than 10 of those units voluntarily remit to the county government.”

Rolling out across all school systems in Maryland is the “Handle With Care” program. Working with law enforcement, schools are notified when they encounter a situation where a child has been involved in a sensitive issue.  A simple message is sent to the child’s school or child care with their name and “handle with care.” This alerts the school to implement special curricula and if more help is determined to be needed, onsite trauma-focused mental healthcare can be made available.

The former location of the HRDC Senior Center at 19 Frederick Street continues to be rehabilitated by developer Clock Tower Ventures out of Hagerstown. Built in 1902 and once a federal building, work is progressing on event space, a restaurant and short- and long-term apartments.  Mayor Ray Morriss says the work inside is coming along…    “They’ve got just about everything framed out so they’re doing a really nice job.  So, you can’t really tell from the outside yet. I mean they did some nice cleanup work here two or three months ago on the outside.  They did some pressure…

Maryland’s six casinos combined to generate $155 million in revenue from slot machines and table games in February. The revenue was down 2.6% compared to last February.  The state collected $65 million in tax revenue from the casinos for the month and $47 million was added to the Education Trust Fund.  The only casino with a year over year increase was MGM National Harbor that brought in almost $67 million. Rocky Gap Casino generated $3.8 million in February, down over 10% from 2024.

The Mountain Ridge Miners mounted a furious fourth quarter comeback to send the game into overtime but Fort Hill was victorious, 59-56, Thursday night at Fort Hill.  The teams had split their regular season games.

Declining enrollment and finances have led to this being the final year for Hope for Hyndman Charter School.  The Bedford County school's enrollment has fallen from 305 in 2011 to just 123 in 2025.  Ninety per cent of the studen body is from the Bedford School District with other students from the Somerset and North Star districts.

The Roman Catholic Church in Baltimore has set a new age for reception of the sacrament of Confirmation.  Following the urging of Pope Francis to make sure young people stay more engaged in the Church, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori has lowered the age to receive Confirmation to nine.  Previously the sacrament was typically administered to 14-16 year olds.  Archbishop Lori hopes the younger age will afford a deeper connection to the Church at a formative age.  The change will be accomplished in stages throughout the Archdiocese with full implementation by 2028.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are once again working to avoid a government shutdown. Without an agreement by both houses, a partial shutdown would occur on March 14. The House of Representatives is hopeful for a vote on Tuesday to fund the government through September. The continuing resolution would then go to the Senate, where West Virginia Senator Shelly Moore Capito says a shutdown is never a popular subject…     “A government shutdown is a road to nowhere. Nobody’s happy. What happens when the government shuts down? You have to reopen the government. And it really causes a lot of…