The City of Cumberland Engineering Department, on behalf of Triton Construction, would like to notify the public that N. Liberty Street will be closed to thru traffic between Frederick Street and Pershing Street from 6:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Tuesday, October 24th. Signage will be in place to detour passenger vehicles around the road closure. Pedestrian traffic will also be re-routed around the construction at the intersection with Baltimore Street. Additional information will be released in the event the closure duration needs to be extended.

Maryland’s sports betting is quickly eclipsing the more traditional lottery and casino gambling in terms of revenue.  The state department of Legislative Services believes the year will end somewhere around $4 billion dollars in wagers placed in the state.  As with casinos, part of the revenue from the sports betting goes to the Blueprint for Education Fund, but it does not contribute to the Problem Gambling Fund. The Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling hopes legislators will address that inconsistency in the coming Assembly session.

Allegany County’s recycling efforts need a bit of tweaking to help them pay off better.  County Commissioner Bill Atkinson was on the Dave Norman show recently and said that there have been some issues that citizens can help to rectify by sorting recyclables correctly…  

Several streets in South Cumberland will be closed during the Annual Halloween Parade on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. The parade begins at 7:00 p.m.; however, street closures and detours will be in place prior to the start of the event. All of the following areas and streets, to include alleys, leading to them will be closed at 5:30 p.m. Those areas are: Virginia Avenue, East First Street from Virginia Avenue to Wempe Drive, South Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, Seymour Street, Grand Avenue, East Second Street and East Third Street are all included within the formation areas. Buses carrying students and vehicles…

Baltimore Street Bridge will be closed to thru traffic on Monday, October 23rd, at 8am through Friday, October 27th, at 5pm in order to perform necessary construction in the area. A detour will be in place to direct vehicles around the site.  

Keyser Police have been able to take a large amount of drugs off the street with recent warrants and traffic stops.  A warrant in early October uncovered a number of different drugs, cell phone, scales, and a gun.  Another search warrant revealed suspected fentanyl and marijuana along with scales, phones, and cash.  A traffic stop garnered over 500 fentanyl pills and suspected cocaine.

Peanut butter politics isn’t something that Maryland’s Governor Wes Moore seems interested in – he has said on more than one occasion that his administration is data-driven.  Recently at a Bloomberg CityLab event, Moore talked about possible push-back from those in the state who are used to every area getting something. Moore wants to change that thinning of resources by using data and driving investments to where they are needed…  

Citizen push-back against the Allegany County Commissioners at their recent public meeting regarding the choice of developer for the former Allegany High School site.  D.R. Horton was chosen for the project but members of the West Side Neighborhood Association are still pushing for their choice – Live Together. Three citizens, including Dr. Nancy Giunta spoke at the meeting, quizzing the commissioners on their due diligence, community input, and lawsuits against Horton.    Commissioner Bill Atkinson said the county was surprised that D.R.Horton would even consider the Allegany project, but he looks forward to seeing what the developer has planned for the…

Six grants totaling over one million dollars to demolish blighted properties and other work were awarded to Cumberland, Barton, LaVale, and the Garden City Mobile Home Park at last Thursday’s Allegany County Commissioner’s meeting.  Economic Development Representative David Nedved explained the details of the Community Enhancement Program…  

The Casper R. Taylor Bridge, also known as the Baltimore Street Bridge, is still a work in progress.  The bridge is scheduled to be closed through Friday, October 28th for construction work that will not permit traffic.  Bobby Smith, Cumberland City Engineer, recently talked about the bridge project and hopes of when it will be open again to two-way traffic.