For the 23rd time, the roar of motorcycles will be coming through Cumberland on Friday with the 911 Ride.  America’s 911 Foundation sponsors the ride each year to honor those lives taken in the September 2001 terrorist attacks.  More than 400 motorcyclists and escorts are expected to travel through town early Friday down Mechanic Street and out Frederick Street to I-68. Roger Flick of the Foundation tells WCBC children of First Responders benefit from the event through scholarships… Over $540,000 in scholarships have been given out with the program.

A growing sense of optimism has been building though city and county officials as of late. Construction projects, new businesses, plans for tourism all point to a brighter future for the area.  Recently, Allegany County Commissioner Bill Atkinson talked to WCBC about the different areas that are seeing changes and growing pains, calling it a great time to be a resident of the region…

On Wednesday August 16th, 2023, at approximately 10:00 pm officers of the Cumberland Police Department observed Joshua Beeman to be walking along the train tracks of the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad towards an area clearly marked with “No Trespassing” signage. Officers notified Beeman that he could not enter this area, but he continued to walk along the train tracks into the area designated as “No Trespassing.” Officers ordered him to stop, but Beeman began to flee around train cars, and was placed under arrest after a brief foot pursuit. Beeman was taken before a District Court Commissioner where he awaits…

On Wednesday August 16th, 2023 officers of the Cumberland Police Department responded to a business in the Ten block of Canal Street for a reported motor vehicle tampering complaint. As officers responded, the were provided with a description of the suspect, and upon their arrival they located Brit Redden matching the description. Officers continued their investigation, and interviewed witnesses who identified Redden as the individual tampering with vehicles and believed him to be attempting to steal items from the vehicles. Redden was placed under arrest and later released on a Criminal Citation, and awaits his trial at District Court. Arrest: Brit…

Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program testing results were the main subject of this month’s Board of Education meeting.  The tests show student proficiencies in English and Math, starting at grade three.  While students in the county are showing testing levels in 13 of 18 areas to be above the state average, there were concerns with some of the results shown to board members.  Math results were confusing, especially at the eighth grade level where it initially appears that only 6% of those students were proficient in math.  The math portion of the MCAP across the state is only showing eighth graders…

Improvements have continued at Cumberland’s Constitution Park including new picnic tables and grills, updates to the pool, and upgrades to the amphitheater.  Now, a new volunteer group has formed to further encourage citizens to take advantage of the area.  Ryan Mackey, Cumberland Parks and Recreation Director, tells WCBC that Friends of the Park has formed to help maintain the look of the park and encourage its use… Friends of the Park has planned a free swim event for this Sunday at the pool and will also have a presence at the Sunday in the Park concert series…

All eyes are on the Senator George Edwards Fund as the new board gets underway.  A board meeting is scheduled in the coming weeks at the offices of the Allegany County Commissioners.  A new round of funding for economic development projects will be available for projects across Allegany, Garrett, and Washington counties.  Allegany County Commissioner Bill Atkinson said the money is available now for such projects and the board will be discussing how to dispense the funding…

Downtown Cumberland residents have been bothered with noise from construction machinery since the redevelopment work began earlier this year.  Tuesday, the Mayor and City Council passed an item on their consent agenda allowing Triton Construction to begin work on the Baltimore Street project one hour earlier in the day at 6am. A downtown resident spoke at the council meeting to say that the workers were in fact starting at 5am and also questioned the council on the decibel levels of the machinery, especially bothersome that early in the morning.  Council replied they would be checking on the issue with the…

Parking rates in the downtown Cumberland area are slated to double come mid-November.  At Tuesday’s Mayor and Council meeting, one of the three parking rate action items was broken out and voted on separately.  While the council voted unanimously to raise the rates and contract with ParkMobile for on-demand parking transactions, the action item dealing with timing of the rise in rates was passed by a 3-2 margin.   Mayor Ray Morriss explained that the rate hike was needed as the parking authority is running a deficit annually of around $200,000… The Mayor emphasized that no parking spaces have been lost…

Amazon is locating another distribution warehouse within 90 minutes of Cumberland.  A new $120 million warehouse is being finished off in New Stanton, Pennsylvania, creating 600 jobs in the area where 180 trucks a day are expected to move product for the retail giant. Site developer SunCap Property Group had purchased the site for $10.5 million from Westmoreland County. This will be the 14th warehouse or fulfillment center Amazon has built in Pennsylvania. The project should be completed by the end of this year. Shipping company UPS also has a hub in New Stanton.