On 12/19/24 Officers with the Cumberland Police Department, Allegany County Sherriff’s Office, and the Maryland State Police Cumberland Barrack participated in a joint operation attempting to apprehend individuals with open arrest warrants within Allegany County. The operation was worked in conjunction with the Allegany/Mineral County Crime Solvers. As a result of the operation the following individuals were taken into custody on active arrest warrants: Meredith Margaret Lynn Grimm, 24yoa, of Cumberland, 2 bench warrants for violation of probation on original charges of Assault and CDS Possession Daniel Monrose Jr, 39yoa, of Cumberland, Violation of Probation on an original charge of…

On Thursday, December 19th, 2024, officers with the Cumberland Police Department were flagged down by a subject in the 600 block of Columbia Ave. The subject advised they had located their 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt which they had reported stolen on December 17th, from their residence in the 400 block of Oldtown Rd. Officers confirmed that the vehicle was stolen and began to investigate the matter. Officers contacted a witness who advised they had seen a female subject park the vehicle. The witness advised the female stated the car was out of gas and she was going to return shortly. At…

The Allegany County Commissioners heard Thursday from several area residents about the lack of ambulance service in the Georges Creek area. The service ended earlier this year due to lack of volunteers and the county recently agreed to take over.  Residents questioned the county’s delay in restoring service.  Speakers included the Administrator for the Town of Midland, Craig Alexander, which also relies on the ambulance…    “It’s only a matter of time where a name and a face will be able to be put to the delay in treatment because the ambulance is not housed in Lonaconing. But at some…

A press conference held at the entrance to North Branch Correctional Institution on McMullen Highway Thursday drew attention to safety and critical staffing shortages at state facilities. AFSCME, the union representing over 20,000 state employees has crossed the state calling attention to issues endangering workers. Patrick Moran, President of AFSCME Maryland Council 3, says it is not easy to get a true account of work injuries in the unsafe facilities…     “You can’t have an accurate assessment of that because unless someone goes to the hospital, it’s often not counted as an injury, right? If people just say okay,…

The Senator George C. Edwards Fund has awarded one million dollars in support of the redevelopment of 71 Baltimore Street in downtown Cumberland. Kristin and Fred Timbrook, who have already made substantial investment in the building, are spearheading the effort. The Edwards funding is part of an $11.9 million project to convert the building into a multi-use property.  Edwards Fund Director Jake Shade shared with WCBC details on the project. “They will be consolidating some of their management of their regional dealerships so 30 to 40 jobs will be moving to downtown Cumberland as well as a restaurant on the…

Over $12 million in federal and state funding helped to revitalize downtown Cumberland. City government also had to pay a portion of those construction costs.  Mayor Ray Morriss talked to WCBC this week, saying what the city estimated they would be paying toward the project ended up higher than needed, giving them a bit of a savings…     “We did overestimate what we thought the city’s cost would be. As you know, we financed $3.5 million dollars for the city’s portion of it. The rest of it was coming in through federal and state grants, and so the city’s portion…

The Salvation Army of Cumberland provides programs and assistance to children and families including spiritual help, after-school programs, and disaster relief.  The familiar bell-ringers and red kettles serve as a reminder to give toward these programs. It’s the last weekend for Red Kettle donations before Christmas, but Lt. Resa Robinson tells WCBC that the funds collected are used all year round. “Any little incident can put somebody over that line of needing assistance, and so any little bit that we can get back from our community to help those in need is the most important to us.”

West Virginia State Treasurer Riley Moore is leading the celebration of ten years of the ABLE Act. ABLE stands for Achieving a Better Life Experience. The act provides a financial tool for eligible people with disabilities to save and pay for essential expenses without being at risk of losing federal needs-based benefits. Almost 1,000 accounts exist in West Virginia. Across the country, over 186,000 ABLE accounts are open, with more than $2.1 billion dollars saved by account holders.

The Cumberland and Frostburg locations of Big Lots will be closing.  The chain had tried to work out a deal with Nexus Capital to save the retailer, but it fell through. The Ohio-based chain said going out of business sales would start immediately though the store is still seeking a buyer. Big Lots had started Chapter 11 proceedings in September and had already closed several stores.