A business featured on television’s “Shark Tank” has broken ground on a $35 million facility in Fairmont, West Virginia. Prime 6 upcycles hardwood waste to solid fuels such as compressed charcoal logs.  75 to 100 jobs will be created, paying around $60,000 per year. Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” was at the groundbreaking in Fairmont and said it is smaller businesses like Prime 6 that drive the country’s economy… “62% of jobs in America are created by companies between 5 and 500 employees. That’s not some of the economy, that’s the whole damn thing. That’s how it works. You gotta…

On Sunday, November 24, 2024 at approximately 1:34 AM, officers of the Cumberland Police Department were investigating an assault complaint in the 900 block of Bedford Street when they received an additional call for service regarding a suspicious male subject hiding in the bushes.  The suspicious subject matched the description of the suspect in the assault incident.  Police located the male subject and identified him.  During the investigation, officers learned that the male subject had provided them with false identification to avoid being arrested for an active warrant through the State of Indiana.  The male was later identified as Ben…

John Frederick Bartles, Jr., 89, of Frostburg, Md., a beloved father, cherished community member, and passionate entrepreneur, passed away Nov. 20th, 2024, at UPMC-Western Maryland. John was born March 22nd, 1935, in Cumberland, Md. He was the son of John Frederick Bartles, Sr. and Ruth A. Bartles. His survivors include daughters: Lisa Duvall (Mike), Kelly Borsuk (Scott) and Tracy Cullen (John); Grandchildren: Kristy Brown, Travis and Austin Jones, Mack and Bailey Cullen, Ian Beattie, Nick, Tony and Joey Borsuk, several nieces and four great-grandchildren. He was also survived by his dog and faithful companion, CoCo, who was always by his…

In October, the 53rd CROP Walk took place along the GAP Trail in Cumberland. CROP stands for Christians Relating to Other People – the organization holds an annual fundraiser walk benefiting area food pantries. Sandy Cowan, Cumberland Coordinator, tells WCBC this year’s walk raised over $5,000… “There was about 50 walkers this year at the walk, and we raised a total of $5,800 dollars which goes to help out the Western Maryland Food Bank, the Cumberland Interfaith Community Food Pantry, and the LaVale United Methodist Food Pantry as well. We just do the walk to make others aware of hunger…

Allegany County, along with Allegany College of Maryland cut the ribbon last week on phase one of the Willowbrook Outdoor Wellness Center. The outdoor workout space is just the beginning of what the county and college has planned. Allegany County Public Works Engineer Whitney Patterson says phase two will begin construction in the fall of 2025 and will include a football field, additional activity fields, a concession stand, restrooms, and parking.

A Celebration of Lights and Holiday Market will be held at Canal Place in downtown Cumberland on Small Business Saturday, November 30, starting at 2pm. A variety of food and holiday gift vendors will be set up starting in front of the Western Maryland train station and winding down through the shops at Canal Place. Marketing Director Kim Folk says the event has a variety of vendors… “We have over 35 vendors this year which is considerably larger than last year. We are going to have a considerable amount of food vendors so you can eat dinner here. We were…

Maryland State Senator Mike McKay welcomes anyone to make appointments with him to discuss ideas and project requests that could make their way to Annapolis in the next General Assembly session.  However, he is also cautioning that money for any projects in Allegany, Garrett, and Washington counties is going to be hard-fought because of the state’s growing deficit issues… “The idea that we’re going to get a couple million dollars to spend locally on capital LBI’s – those are local bond initiatives – is going to be really, really hard. I’ll be really happy if I get a half a…

Mid-Atlantic AAA has extended its annual Thanksgiving travel forecast to seven days, adding the Tuesday before and Monday after the holiday. This year AAA says they project the worst times to travel by car are Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon when holiday travelers will be on the road at the same time as evening commuters. Thanksgiving Day itself is the best time to travel when interstates are usually clear. Drivers returning home on Sunday should plan an early departure while those leaving Monday will see a mix of travelers and commuters on the road.

City residents may have seen screens on telephone poles around town recently that were gathering information on driver speeds.  Redspeed USA is working with the city to determine where speed cameras would be beneficial for creating safer driving environments.  Out of 18 areas checked, Redspeed found that 15 have significant issues with drivers going over the speed limit.  Councilman Rock Cioni is hopeful the cameras can be part of a solution…     “A pretty serious speeding problem in town that I think, anecdotally, people know about. But I hope that we’re able to do something about that because we’re…

Terrence Burke, 93, of Cumberland, Md., passed away at home on Nov. 21, 2024, surrounded by loved ones. He was born on April 6, 1931, to the late Robert and Mary (Gaughan) Burke. In addition to his parents, Terry was preceded in death by his wife, Jean (Bittinger); and his cousins, Jack Wambaugh and Ann Dicken. Terry served his country in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He was stationed on the Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Yorktown aircraft carriers. Terry was very proud of his military service and enjoyed attending ship reunions over the years. He worked several careers…