Category: deep creek lake

Mayor Peggy Jamison has announced that Oakland has received a grant from the Maryland Department of the Environment that will partially fund new “radio read” or drive by” water meters. This project is expected to begin on Tuesday, April 2, and continue through July.

“It will be a long process, but should eliminate the need to estimate water readings,” the mayor wrote in a letter to Oakland water customers.

A crew from Vanguard Utility Services Inc. will be replacing and working around Oakland water meters over the next couple of months.

“Someone from the crew may be knocking on your door to notify you of the proposed replacement,” Jamison noted in the letter. “They will be working Monday through Saturday in most cases. Feel free to ask them for identification, which will show that they are working for Vanguard to change meters.

“For those of you who still have a water meter in your basement or home, please realize that the contractor will need to be able to access your meter in order to complete the replacement, and may contact you to make an appointment to complete the work.”

Jamison said the work may take a day or two to complete, depending on where a meter is located and how difficult the replacement is to finish.

“Every effort will be made to limit the time you may be without water for the replacement to an hour or so,” the mayor said. “When the meter is replaced, you will be notified, and you may be given specific instructions, such as ‘Let your water run for a few minutes’ in order to clear out any dirt or debris which may have accumulated in the water line.”

Additional information about the project is outlined in Jamison’s letter to customers.

Persons who have questions about the work may call Oakland City Hall at 301-334-2691.

More here.

Partners for Animal Welfare and Safety (PAWS) and HART for Animals are joining forces to continue efforts to save homeless animals in Garrett County and the surrounding area. For the past three years, PAWS has partnered with HART by providing discount vouchers to provide spay/neuter assistance to eligible pet owners in the community.

HART will continue the PAWS SNAP (Spay/Neuter Assistance Program) and provide spay/neuter vouchers to those who qualify. Funding for the program will be raised through events – such as the upcoming HART Guest Bartender Night at several local restaurants – and grants.

Applications for the SNAP vouchers will be available as of April 1 at the HART web page or by calling the HART clinic. Appointments may be scheduled at the HART Spay/Neuter Clinic by calling 301-387-SPAY (7729).

The SNAP Program is based on income: individual Garrett County residents with annual income of $25,000 or less, or families with a total annual income of $35,000. The program will continue to pay $60 toward the cost of neutering male dogs, $75 for dog spays, $55 for cat neuters, and $65 for cat spays. Proof of income is required to demonstrate financial eligibility. If a pet cannot be spayed/neutered at the HART clinic, HART will issue a certificate to the veterinarian selected by the owner.

HART for Animals Inc. is a charitable animal welfare organization founded in 2003 to improve the condition of homeless animals in the Western Maryland region. HART is a 501(c)(3) corporation, and all donations are tax-deductible. For additional information on HART, the HART Spay/Neuter Clinic or any of its programs, or to donate to the capital fund campaign for the HART Animal Center along Bumble Bee Road, persons may visit hartforanimals.org.

More here.

Doug Carroll, USA TODAY11:24a.m. EDT March 19, 2013

Housing starts gained momentum in February, rising 0.8% from January to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 917,000, the Census Bureau said Tuesday.

The rate is 27.7% above February 2012. Single-family starts were running at a 618,000 annual rate, up 0.5% from January.

In addition, building permits for future construction were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 946,000, up 4.6% from January and 33.8% above February 2012. Single-family permits were issued at a 600,000 annual rate, up 2.7% from January.

More here:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/03/19/feb-home-building/1998721/

Sow gives birth under Garrett porch, again

Michael A. Sawyers Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — When Harry Spiker found out this past fall that there was a bear under the porch at a home on Beckman’s Peninsula at Deep Creek Lake, he wasn’t surprised.

“It’s the same bear that was under a porch with cubs two years ago,” said Spiker, a biologist with the Maryland Wildlife & Heritage Service.

In 2011, the 327-pound sow spent the winter and gave birth to cubs under the porch of a home in the Stilwater subdivision, another Deep Creek Lake community about 2 miles away made up mostly of upscale vacation homes.

This year, the bear weighed 353 pounds and was recently drugged and moved, along with four new cubs, to her own second home, that being the nearby Savage River State Forest.

“The homeowner was at his place last November and heard something under the porch,” Spiker said. “We checked, discovered it was a radio-collared bear, and he agreed to let her stay there.”

Spiker applauded the decision.

“That meant we didn’t have to drug her twice, once to move her away and again this spring to check her and her cubs.”

Spiker and his crew are halfway through the bear-den checking season.

“We’ve worked four bears already and have five to go,” he said Thursday.

Besides the porch bear, bruins have been checked in Garrett, Washington and Frederick counties.

A 300-pound sow was checked near the south end of Deep Creek Lake, but had no cubs.

The Frederick County bear, near Myersville, was 225 pounds, 6 years old and had three cubs. “This is her third litter of three cubs each,” Spiker said.

Spiker said when that bear was first trapped six years ago it had a hunting broadhead in its shoulder. “That is totally healed now,” he said.

In Washington County, a bear was worked Wednesday on Sideling Hill. That sow also had three cubs. The 9-year-old female weighed 230 pounds.

The sows and the cubs are in excellent shape, according to Spiker.

“There were plenty of acorns to eat last fall so the sows went into the dens in great physical condition,” he said.

Dens this year range from under large rocks to beside large rocks to up against logs in the open woods, according to the biologist.

Three of the five bears remaining on the checklist are in Allegany County — one on the Green Ridge State Forest, one near Rocky Gap State Park and one high on Dan’s Mountain.

The other two are in Garrett County.

“We try to maintain collars on 20 bears at any one time,” Spiker said.

Currently, 16 female bears are collared, but others will be captured and fitted with the tracking devices this summer.

Spiker said there are some bears already out of dens.

“The usual progression is that male bears come out first, then the sows with year-old cubs and then the sows with new cubs,” Spiker said.

He expects the last of the emerging bears to be out and about by the first week of April.

Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.