Cumberland's Mayor and City Council recognized the Allegany High School boys class 1-A soccer team during Tuesday's City Council meeting. Allegany came in second for the state this year. Cumberland Mayor, Ray Morris was a guest on WCBC's Dave Norman program and talked about the presentation and a bright future looking forward…

Western Maryland Food Bank is coming off one of their busiest months in history by distributing 160,000 lb of food last month. The need locally continues to grow and the organization anticipates breaking last year's record of 1.3 million pounds of food. Amy Moyer, Executive Director of the Western Maryland Food Bank said they have a special opportunity to help. An anonymous donor is offering a $20,000 match to assist with building repairs…. You can make a donation online via their website at WMDFoodbank.org and select the donation button or call them directly at 301.722.2797.  

Comptroller Brooke Lierman announced that the State of Maryland collected more than $12 million in cannabis sales tax revenue between July and September 2023, the first quarter of sales. This revenue will be distributed in early 2024 to several funds as required by the Cannabis Reform Act of 2023, which legalized personal use of cannabis for adults over the age of 21.  The Western region made up of Garrett, Allegany, Washington and Frederick County generated $1,563,362. Under state law, the Comptroller of Maryland is responsible for collecting and disbursing sales and use tax revenue generated from the retail sale of adult-use cannabis in the state. Maryland law taxes…

All Allegany County Government Offices will be closed on Monday & Tuesday, December 25th & 26th, in observance of the Holiday. Offices will reopen on Wednesday, December 27th at 8 AM.

Maryland’s minimum wage is going up beginning January 1, 2024.  Beginning January 1, all companies in Maryland must pay minimum wage employees $15 an hour.  For companies that employ more than 15 people, this change wasn’t supposed to go into effect until January 1, 2025. However, under new legislation signed earlier this year, it will go into effect sooner. 

Maryland State Police beginning Friday are increasing patrols through Christmas weekend as millions of Marylanders are expected to hit the highways. State troopers from all 23 barracks will focus on impaired, aggressive and distracted driving while conducting saturation patrols on roads with high DUI incidents. Enforcement is bolstered by funds from the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office. The State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort (SPIDRE) team, a specialized unit of trained troopers who are focused on identifying impaired drivers, will also work this weekend. SPIDRE is funded by a grant from MDOT MVA Highway Safety…

The West Virginia Parkways Authority is gearing up for a busy Christmas holiday travel season. The West Virginia Turnpike is expecting 1.33 million transactions on the Turnpike over the 13-day travel period from Thursday, December 21, 2023, through Tuesday, January 2, 2024. The West Virginia Parkways Authority reviewed last year’s travel numbers and data from 2017, which had the same travel days for the week of Christmas and New Year’s Day as 2023, to formulate the travel forecast. Traffic volume is expected to be about the same as 2022 travel figures, or slightly higher.  

Gov. Jim Justice has issued a proclamation, declaring Friday, Dec. 22, 2023, as a full-day state holiday for public employees. “In recognition of the hard work accomplished by the public employees of this State throughout the past year, and in acknowledgement of the holiday season, it is fitting and proper that the public employees of this State be given this additional time off to spend an extended and enjoyable holiday with their loved ones,” Gov. Justice said in the proclamation.

Due to safety concerns, the Maryland Park Service has closed Casselman River Bridge State Park in Grantsville.  Fencing and signs are in place to prevent public access to the park, including a small portion of the Casselman River.  The closure occurred after the historic Casselman Bridge was inspected and engineers noted cracking within in the stonework and dislodged stones.  A scheduled restoration of the bridge is already planned for 2024.

Matt Miller of the Cumberland Economic Development Corporation spoke recently about some of the aspects of the new micro revolving loan program available through the City of Cumberland for small businesses.  Loans can be up to $10,000 at a low rate of 3% interest for a term of 24 to 60 months. Miller discussed some of the loan uses that would benefit a small business owner…