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Fracking commission named

Posted: July 19, 11:25 am

Gov. Martin O’Malley has picked members of a commission that was formed to study whether a gas drilling technique called “fracking” should be allowed in Western Maryland.

The Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission includes:

•Chairman David Vanko, geologist and dean of the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics at Towson University.
•Sen. George Edwards, who represents Western Maryland.
•Del. Heather Mizeur, who sponsored an unsuccessful bill that would have put a moratorium on fracking.
•James Raley, a Garrett County Commissioner.
•William Valentine, an Allegany County Commissioner.
•Peggy Jamison, mayor of Oakland.
•Shawn Bender, president of the Garrett County Farm Bureau.
•Steven M. Bunker, director of conservation programs at the Maryland office of the Nature Conservancy.
•John Fritz, president of the Savage River Watershed Association.
•Jeffrey Kupfer, senior adviser, Chevron Government Affairs.
•Dominick E. Murray, deputy secretary of the state Department of Business and Economic Development.
•Paul Roberts, Garrett County resident and co-owner of Deep Creek Cellars winery.
•Nick Weber, chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Council of Trout Unlimited.
•Harry Weiss, attorney and partner at the Ballard Spahr law firm.

The first meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 4 at the Lakeside Visitors Center at Rocky Gap State Park.

More here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
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June housing starts at 6-month high, permits up

By Lucia Mutikani

WASHINGTON | Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:59pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Groundbreaking for homes scaled a six-month high in June, partly reflecting growing demand for rental apartments, a government report showed on Tuesday.

The Commerce Department said housing starts increased 14.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000 units, the highest level since January, as ground breaking for multi-family units soared 30.4 percent.

Confronted with plummeting home values, Americans are shunning homeownership, pushing up demand for rentals and helping construction to stabilize.

The report also showed an unexpected increase in building permits and a sturdy gain in the construction of single-family homes. It offered a glimmer of hope for the distressed housing sector, which is struggling under the weight of a glut of for-sale properties and plummeting prices.

More here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

Mortgage applications see biggest increase in 4 months

NEW YORK | Wed Jul 20, 2011 8:33am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Applications for home mortgages surged last week, racking up the biggest increase in four months on a flood of refinancing demand as interest rates remained low, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, spiked up 15.5 percent in the week ended July 15. It was the largest increase since early March.

“Ongoing turmoil in the financial markets primarily due to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe has brought mortgage rates back to their lowest levels of the year,” Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. “Refinance applications have surged in response.”

The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications soared 23.1 percent, but the gauge of loan requests for home purchases dipped 0.1 percent.

More here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

Bear Crawl July 23rd – Deep Creek Discovery Center

Bear Crawl July 23rd from 8:30am to 5pm.

The Bear Crawl is a one day 8:30-5pm quest to find all 20 painted bears.

People participating in the crawl pick their dated and stamped trail guide at the Discovery Center between 8:30 and 10. Visit all 20 bears and return to the Discovery Center by 5pm. Refreshments await all participants and all completed guides will be entered in a chance to win a table top carved bear!! Vendors hosting the bears will be offering incentives, coupons and specials for people on the crawl.

So get out there and find all 20!

For more information email Caroline at the Discovery Center. cblizzard@dnr.state.md.us

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>"Come Back Again Soon!"

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“Come back again soon!” might be what this young black bear was thinking when he spotted Michaela Moore – and she spotted him – in her back yard along Cranesville Road on Independence Day. Michaela was able to take this photo from a safe distance, catching this particular pose as the bruin seemed to be waving to her. Michaela’s mom Sandra submitted it for publication.

More here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>GC Commissioners Hear Update From DCL Organization

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Jul. 14, 2011

Friends of Deep Creek Lake – a nonprofit community group dedicated to the watershed’s protection, preservation, and restoration – presented an update report to the Garrett County commissioners last Tuesday morning. Executive director Barbara Beelar stressed the importance of the county’s role in revitalizing the 86-year-old man-made, state-owned lake.

“Our taxes are your revenue,” Beelar told the commissioners about DCL users and property owners. “We have a relationship, and I don’t think that’s been fully understood or explored.”

She noted the lake’s natural aging process is evidenced in the amount/types of submerged aquatic vegetation, invasive species, and sediment build-up in many of Deep Creek’s 20+ coves. The ramifications of not addressing these problems quickly, she reported, include declining property values, the loss of tourism tax revenue, and increased restoration costs.

“The faster we move on this, the less sediment we’re going to have to remove, and the less negative impacts we’re all going to experience,” Beelar said.

She reported that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently completed Phase I of the Deep Creek Lake Sediment Plan/Study and is expected to publish the results in the next few weeks.

Funded by the DNR, the $100,000+ study looked at sediment build-up in 10 specific coves, included a survey characterizing existing sediment throughout the lake, and compared past/current data and samples.

As noted by DCL manager Carolyn Mathews in an article titled “DNR Selects 10 Coves For Sediment Study” in The Republican’s Oct. 28, 2010, issue, the chosen coves represented areas where DNR did not have sufficient data. In addition, some coves were selected because they represented different drainage basins, soil types, slopes, or land uses.

The results of Phase I will determine if DNR should move to Phase II of the study/plan, which will quantify and characterize the accumulated sediment and identify “reasonable, feasible, and sustainable” alternatives to address that issue, Mathews noted in the article.

During last week’s meeting with the commissioners, Beelar indicated that Phase II could begin as early as Sept. 1 if funding can be secured.

“They (DNR) want you guys to pay for Phase II,” Beelar told the commissioners.

She asked the commissioners to fund the $180,000 project. Possible revenue sources, she noted, include dock permit fees, the state “flush tax,” state/federal coffers, and through establishment of a public/private restoration fund.

Beelar also asked the commissioners to lobby lawmakers to establish watershed implementation programs to address lake issues.

Commission chair Gregan Crawford indicated he was well aware of the importance of Deep Creek Lake and has contacted the DNR about the need to make a commitment to address the problems.

“But it’s very hard to get the DNR’s attention,” Crawford said.

More here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>Constellation celebrates launch of W. Maryland wind farm

>By Scott Calvert, The Baltimore Sun

7:54 a.m. EDT, July 19, 2011
Constellation Energy is throwing a party late Tuesday morning in Garrett County to celebrate the launch of Maryland’s first electricity-producing commercial wind farm. The project’s 28 massive turbines rise along an eight-mile stretch of Backbone Mountain and can be seen for miles.

Although Baltimore-based Constellation began producing power from the turbines in January, the ribbon-cutting ceremony is a formal acknowledgement that the $140 million renewable energy project is up and running, a company spokesman says.

“It was an opportunity to reach out to the people and groups and communities that helped us achieve this,” Constellation spokesman Kevin Thornton said. “It is the first wind farm that’s gone commercial in the state of Maryland.”

Read more here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>Broadwater Earns Medals in Italy

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While the United States women’s soccer team is one win away from capturing the gold medal in the 2011 World Cup, Garrett County native Jesse Broadwater, now a resident of Jennerstown, Pa., and two teammates have already landed an international gold by winning the compound bow title in the World Archery Championships in Turino, Italy. The USA women’s team also brought home a gold in that division. Individually, Broadwater garnered a silver medal. Pictured from left above are Broadwater and teammates Braden Gellenthien and Reo Wilde. On the individual winners’ podium at right are Broadwater (silver medal), Chris Perkins of Canada, who won the gold medal, and USA’s Wilde, who captured the bronze.

More here.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>Youth working green jobs this summer

>Stephanie Weaver, Times-News Intern
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sat Jul 16, 2011, 11:06 PM EDT

CUMBERLAND — Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development is showing low-income youth that going green is more than a decision, it’s a job opportunity.

Youth from six different counties in Maryland — Allegany, Anne Arundel, Frederick, Howard, Garrett and Prince George’s— are working green jobs this summer under the Community Service Block Grant program.

The program awarded a total of $188,973 to the Maryland Community Action agencies allowing students to work summer jobs in their own communities.

“This is an excellent opportunity for our young people to learn to become good environmental stewards in their communities while perhaps getting their first exposure to future career opportunities in Maryland’s green economy,” Secretary Raymond Skinner said.

The program in Allegany County employs 12 youth and two college student supervisors, according to Courtney Thomas, executive director, of the Allegany County Human Resources Development Commission. The group works four days a week for eight weeks in Frostburg, Westernport and Lonaconing on projects that include groundskeeping, recycling and waste management.

This summer job goes beyond working; on Fridays, the students have “in-service” opportunities including touring local colleges, and seminars on budgeting and tax withholding.

The program focuses on the environment to “highlight the green job sector,” Thomas said, which emphasizes the future employment opportunities for the youth by “offering education exposure” to these areas.

This is the first summer program the HRDC has headed on its own. “We hope it’s the first of many,” Thomas said.

The Garrett County program employs seven students and two supervisors to work on “trail maintenence and development,” Paige Teegarden of Garrett County Community Action said.

The group has been specifically working at Fork Run, in collaboration with Garrett Trails and Garrett College, on the mountain biking trail. The students have helped with construction and maintenence, which Teegarden claims is a growing need in the community and work force.

“Sustainable trails are part of the economic development in the county,” she said. The trails aren’t only used by tourists and locals, but also for educational purposes through Garrett College.

Much like the Allegany County program, the Garrett County students work four days a week throughout the county. Community Action has open positions for the program.

“It’s a terrific opportunity to be outdoors,” Teegarden said.

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!

>Legislators keep busy when out of session

>Local lawmakers spend summer responding to constituent emails
Matthew Bieniek
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sat Jul 16, 2011, 11:20 PM EDT

CUMBERLAND — The legislative off-season, which includes the long, hot days of summer, isn’t a walk on the beach for local legislators.

Instead, it’s a languorous wade through hundreds of emails, a chomp through fire hall dinners, and the inability to go out to the grocery store without being cajoled by constituents about one matter or another.

“My schedule keeps me hopping,” Sen. George Edwards said. Edwards, though, said he enjoys talking to constituents.

“People expect you to be out there,” said Delegate Wendell Beitzel, who said he’s been at several picnics recently organized by political and civic organizations. It might be a picnic, parade or public forum like the one he recently attended on Marcellus Shale.

“Sometimes I look at my schedule and I’m completely booked,” Beitzel said. The forums can spawn ideas for legislative action, so they are valuable, he said.

“Believe it or not, most of my time is spent responding to emails,” Beitzel said when asked about his work when the legislature is on break. One recent email asked him to explain the cable issues in Garrett County. As an “orphan county” Garrett viewers can’t get many television stations from the Baltimore-Washington area.

There’s also a good measure of constituent service work thrown in, Edwards said. Edwards credited his staff with doing much of the work associated with the pleas for help dealing with the government and one bureaucracy or another. He has one full-time staffer based in his district office in Cumberland and a full-time staffer during the Maryland General Assembly session who is part-time when the legislature isn’t meeting.

“I have a great staff, Kim (McMillan) and Victoria (Clark) do a great job,” he said.

Delegate Kevin Kelly and Beitzel were equally effusive in their praise of staff members, who do much of the grunt work associated with constituent service.

“My secretary has worked for me for 28 years. I would be lost without her,” Kelly said.

All the legislators like to keep their hands on the work, though, and Kelly said he dictates all the letters he writes to assist constituents.

Kelly has a specific procedure in handling constituent work. He asks the citizens to write a letter describing their plight, then he writes a cover letter. He then mails the two letters together to the appropriate state official and asks for a follow-up report. Kelly said he handles about five constituent requests a day. Often, citizens just need to get in touch with the right person and Kelly can direct them.

“I help my constituents with their problems, no matter what they might be,” he said. Often, Kelly performs work similar to the work he’d do as a lawyer. Of course, he doesn’t charge, it’s all part of constituent service, he said.

There are, of course, some committee meetings and preparation for the next General Assembly session, but the focus is on spending time with constituents and working on their problems.

“I try to keep abreast of things,” Beitzel said, meaning keeping up with news and reports on statewide issues. And there are the committee meetings down state — he’ll be heading to an interim meeting on the 26th.

All three legislators now get far more emails than letters. Phone calls remain common, though, and Beitzel said he takes about an equal number of calls and emails.

Emails are simple for the constituent, Edwards said. Unfortunately, he does get a lot of emails generated from advocacy websites, which all read the same way.

“I try to respond to each letter or email from constituents, or from Washington County,” Edwards said. Since his district includes part of Washington County, Edwards feels obligated to respond to residents concerned about Washington County issues.

Some concerns require legislation, and ideas for legislation sometimes come from meetings with constituents, the legislators say.

Constituents appreciate it if Edwards can get some kind of answer to their concerns. “Even if it’s not the answer they were looking for,” Edwards said. It’s satisfying when a constituent problem is completely resolved.

“Of course, you feel good about being able to help someone with their problems,” Edwards said.

Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com

If you or someone you know is considering buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! I take great pride in referrals, and I assure you, I will take great care of your friends, family & colleagues! As member of the Garrett County Board of Realtors, I can assist you with ANY listed property, regardless of the listing broker.

877-563-5350 Questions about ANY listed property? I can help! Call me!
Visit the ‘I Love Deep Creek & Garrett County group’ on Facebook! News, events, photos, real estate, community, info, more! 1,750+ members & growing!