Maryland State Highways starts work on a slope stabilization project this week on a portion of MD935 near Lonaconing. MD935 between Lower Georges Creek Road and New Georges Creek Road will be closed daily between 7am and 5pm with a detour in place. SHA spokesperson Charlie Gischlar said the work should be done by mid-June…     “What we’re going to be doing is first going in there and knocking off any loose debris. And then what we will do is we will fill it with rock and also put some mechanical features in there that will prevent that slope…

Escalating water rates will be the topic Monday evening at the Cresaptown Fire Hall.  The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in what is being billed as a press conference regarding water rates in Bel Air, Pinto, Glen Oaks, and Highland Estates.  The Maryland Water Service is the target of the ire of the citizens with higher water and sewer rates.  The residents of the impacted areas have submitted a petition to the Allegany County Commissioners, the local delegation to Annapolis, Congresswoman April McClain Delaney, and both of the state’s U.S. senators. 

Maryland Governor Wes Moore continues to make the rounds on the Sunday talk shows which are broadcast nationally.  This Sunday the governor will be a guest on State of the Union at 9 a.m. on CNN.

CDS ARREST On Friday, March 28, 2025 at approximately 10:30 AM, officers of the Cumberland Police Department responded to a business on W. Industrial Blvd. for a male subject passed out behind the steering wheel of his vehicle.  Police contacted the operator who was identified as Andrew Viney.  Officers discovered that the registration plates on Viney’s vehicle had been stolen from another vehicle.  Officers also learned that Viney had an active arrest warrant through West Virginia.  Viney was placed under arrest and searched.  Viney was found to be in possession of suspected controlled dangerous substances and paraphernalia.  Viney was transported…

The Bedford County VFW has suffered severe damage in a Thursday night fire.  The blaze started around 11 p.m. along Business Route 220.  The fire was put out in 20 minutes and there were no injuries.

On March 27, 2025, Officers of the Cumberland Police Department served a Bench Warrant on Nellie Miller. The warrant was issued after Nellie Miller failed to appear on the original charge of trespassing. The original charge of trespassing occurred on January 28, 2025. Officers were dispatched to a residence on Baltimore Avenue for a trespassing complaint. The building was posted on June 24, 2024 as “unfit for human habitation and unlawful to occupy”. Miller was transported to the Allegany County Detention Center for his initial appearance before a District Court Commissioner.    Arrest: Nellie Ann Miller, age 61, Cumberland Maryland….

Senator Mike McKay has successfully passed SB455 dealing with the appointment of Special Police Officers. The bill allows a security guard agency to apply for the appointment of special police officers in order to protect property owned or leased by the agency’s clients. Evan Avnet from the Maryland Investigators and Security Association testified on behalf of the bill…   “If they work for a security agency, not only does the property have general liability but the security agency, by law, is required to have additional liability insurance, specifically, generally speaking, assault and battery insurance in addition to the property’s insurance…

West Virginia U.S. Senator Jim Justice spoke to Fox Business about the projected tax cuts the Trump Administration is working on. Whether through tips, overtime pay or just extending the tax cuts, which are in place now, Justice, says getting money back in to taxpayer pockets is critical…     “That will drive growth. The permanence of that will drive absolute growth. And absolutely – you know, just think, President Trump is pushing the right buttons and we got to help him. And absolutely I stand right arm in arm with him.”

The Maryland House of Delegates spent several hours debating amendments and wording in the budget bill that they passed this week by a vote of 93-46.  During that sometimes-contentious debate, House Minority Leader Jason Buckel and other Republican members offered cost-saving amendments but higher fees and taxes were the end result and Buckel reminded them…     “You’re raising more taxes than anyone who has ever sat in this room and you’re doing it because you cannot restrain the rate of growth in some programs that you promised people years ago that you couldn’t pay for.”

Allegany County Administrator Jason Bennett spoke in-depth with WCBC about the county’s budget issues on Thursday.  Bennett tells WCBC the county was already running a lean government from last year’s cuts, but the state has done damage…    “When we see another 5.7 million dollar potential cut from the state, that doesn’t work for us anymore. It leaves the commissioners in a really, really bad place of either  having to go raise revenue or having to make major, major cost reductions that are really going to affect service at this point.” The county is now in a waiting period to…