Dec. 28—CUMBERLAND — The reopening of Baltimore Street was the Cumberland Times-News top story for 2024.
The newspaper’s staff recently compiled and ranked a list of the year’s 10 most popular articles.
The $17.2 million renovation, which kicked off with a groundbreaking ceremony in March 2023 and concluded at a ribbon-cutting celebration in November, created new underground infrastructure and replaced a pedestrian mall with a single-lane street for car and bicycle traffic.
Last month, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Jake Day called the city’s new downtown a “world-class” public space.
“It’s a historic period for Cumberland,” he said. “You’re in the midst of a renaissance.”
CTN reported on the project as it progressed, and produced nearly 50 articles in 2024 that included updates on construction and downtown businesses that at times coped with closed streets and sidewalks, water and power interruptions and bulldozer noise and dust.
In the end, more than a dozen new businesses opened in the Baltimore Street area since the construction project began, and seven more are slated for 2025, Downtown Development Commission Executive Director Melinda Kelleher said.
Second on the Top 10 list was a story about the county’s proposal to cut $2 million from its Emergency Medical Services department.
Steve Corioni, president of the Allegany County International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1715, in May said the budget decrease would eliminate roughly half the county’s emergency medical services staff and devastate an already diminished ambulance fleet.
The labor union represented 46 of the county’s full-time Department of Emergency Services employees.
“We feel this will create a public health crisis in the county and would like to rally community support to oppose these cuts,” Corioni said at that time. “Make public safety a top priority … let your voice be heard.”
After months of negotiations between the county and union, county officials in October offered to rehire six EMS crew members they had laid off.
Allegany County’s overall $13.1 million budget deficit for fiscal 2025 took third place on the list.
In October, county administrator Jason Bennett discussed factors that contributed to the financial troubles.
The county’s cut of a local resident’s lottery winning two years ago provided $15 million in revenue, but that later resulted in reduced state aid, he said.
Any revenue gains the county has incurred are weighed against inflation, Bennett said.
“Everything is through the roof today,” he said of rising costs and expenses. He talked of area residents who work for pay that’s well below a living wage.
Fourth was a story on Cumberland’s relocation incentive program that offered $10,000 to folks who move to the city and an additional $10,000 “dollar for dollar match” for approved renovations to an existing home or for a downpayment on a newly constructed house.
The Cumberland Times-News in August published an article about the opportunity and reports from publications across the country followed over subsequent days.
Ultimately, the pilot program attracted more than 1,000 applicants, four of which city officials reserved for the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.
Other stories on the list included:
5. Allegheny Wood Products closure to impact about 800 jobs — The company, headquartered in Grant County, West Virginia, would cease operations after nearly 50 years in business, CTN reported in February. At that time, Andy Malinoski, spokesperson for the Department of Economic Development and West Virginia Department of Commerce, said impacted employees were provided resources to explore “programs, support and services available from the state of West Virginia and federal programs.”
6. Fort Hill faces possible forfeitures due to ineligible player — The high school in October received an anonymous report that a player was ineligible because they were not a resident of Allegany County. In November, Fort Hill head coach Zack Alkire said the school and coaching staff had no knowledge the player wasn’t a resident of the county. “The investigation did not reveal any wrongdoing or lack of diligence by the Fort Hill administration or football coaching staff,” a press release from Allegany County Public Schools said at that time.
7. Maryland Department of Natural Resources cleared to buy Savage River Lodge — Despite the state treasurer’s warning that government isn’t “some Fortune 500 company doing a big business deal,” the Maryland Board of Public Works in September approved DNR’s purchase of the 42-acre Savage River Lodge in Garrett County from owners Jan Russell and Mike Dreisbach, of Russell-Dreisbach LLC, for $8.7 million. Gov. Wes Moore and Comptroller Brooke Lierman voted to approve the deal, while Treasurer Dereck E. Davis abstained after he said government can’t operate as a private business. “This is not DNR’s money,” Davis said. “This is the people’s money.”
8. UPMC surpasses 5,000th heart surgery — UPMC Western Maryland’s Heart and Vascular Institute in October performed its 5,000th open-heart surgery since the program’s inception in 2000. “It’s like running a fine-oiled machine,” said Mark Nelson, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital system. Nelson said folks should discuss health concerns and family history with their primary care provider. “Don’t ignore symptoms,” he said.
9. New Frankfort Elementary School opens to digital world — The nearly $30 million, 82,000-square-foot school opened in August, two years after construction began at the site adjacent to Frankfort Middle School and the Short Gap Little League fields. The new facility was created via merger of Fort Ashby Primary, Wiley Ford Primary and Frankfort Intermediate. “Our people in the community have been very helpful in the transition,” Mineral County Schools Superintendent Troy Ravenscroft said over the summer.
10. Burkey’s Furniture going out of business after 77 years — After nearly eight decades of operation in Allegany County, family-owned Burkey’s Furniture announced it would close its doors, and held a going-out-of-business sale that began in October. Owner Kathy Burkey, daughter-in-law of founders Ed and Mary Burkey, devoted her life to running the business since her husband, John, died in 2019. “My family and I are deeply grateful to all of our loyal customers and dedicated staff,” she said.
Top online stories of 2024According to digital traffic data from times-news.com, the top 5 stories for 2024 were:
1. PBS series “Finding Your Roots” films Jane Gates family in Cumberland
2. Logging truck driver killed in U.S. 220 crash at McCoole
3. Keyser man critically injured in U.S. 220 crash involving tractor-trailer
4. Two killed in Route 220 crash near Cresaptown
5. Fort Hill faces possible forfeitures due to ineligible player
Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.
Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or tmcminn@times-news.com.