Board Of Ed. Holds Elementary School Closure Hearings
Jan. 26, 2012
The Garrett County Board of Education recently held its public hearings for the potential closings of Kitzmiller and Dennett Road elementary schools. The hearing for Kitzmiller Elementary was held last Thursday (Jan. 19) in that school’s multipurpose room, while the hearing for Dennett Road Elementary took place on Tuesday in the gymnasium of Southern High School – a venue chosen to accommodate the large crowd expected by the board.
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Both events began with a presentation by Sue Waggoner, interim superintendent of schools. Those presentations showcased the fiscal problems faced by the county and the BOE, namely the trending loss of enrollment and Maryland’s wealth formula, which ranks Garrett County as the state’s fifth-wealthiest county despite its large number of students who qualify for free and reduced meals.
“This is like a grieving process as we’re dealing with the potential loss of our schools,” Waggoner said. “We’re looking at every aspect of this situation while trying to make tough decisions.”
Waggoner also talked about trying to attract some of Garrett County’s 294 homeschooled students into the system through the use of technology and offerings in advanced-placement courses. This addition of students would potentially increase state funding, though, as Waggoner explained, this would require some support from lawmakers in Annapolis, as Maryland currently does not permit funding for part-time students.
More here.
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Edwards, Beitzel Seek Increased School Funding
Jan. 26, 2012
Sen. George C. Edwards (R-Dist. 1) and Del. Wendell R. Beitzel (R-Dist. 1A) announced yesterday that they will pursue a statewide legislative effort that would cap losses of state funding for K-12 education incurred by Garrett and Allegany counties.
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s fiscal year 2013 budget includes a 5.5 percent cut in funding for Allegany County and an 11.8 percent cut in funding for Garrett County. This is on top of the approximately 6 percent cut that these two jurisdictions took in funding during the FY 2012 budget.
“The state really needs to look at how the wealth formula is computed,” Edwards said. “This bill would be a benefit to Garrett and Allegany counties and potentially others if we can get it passed. It would also give the state time to study how we compute wealth for K-12 education and look at appropriate various changes to the formula.”
This is the second year in a row that Garrett and Allegany counties have received the largest cuts in K-12 education funding for the state, the senator noted. The state’s portion of education funding is based on a formula commonly referred to as the “wealth formula” and student enrollment. These two factors are used to calculate the money that is distributed statewide for the educational needs of the counties.
“The futures of the children of Garrett and Allegany counties are being jeopardized due to massive losses in state funding for education,” said Beitzel.
During the 2011 legislative session, Edwards and Beitzel led legislative efforts to cap the losses a local jurisdiction receives in education based on the wealth formula. That bill was met with opposition from the O’Malley administration.
The western Maryland legislators, however, convinced other lawmakers to include extra education funding for Garrett and Allegany counties in FY 2012. This funding was included the passage of the alcohol tax. That funding, however, was good for only one year.
More here.
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No smoking
Businesses finding Clean Indoor Air Act is helping
Cumberland Times-News
Employees from the Allegany and Garrett counties health department frequently inspect restaurants, taverns and other appropriate businesses to see if the non-smoking provisions of the state Clean Indoor Act are being violated.
A Garrett County establishment was fined $100 recently for having done so a second time. A third offense would draw a $500 fine and subsequent offenses would result in a $1,000 fine.
Garrett health officer Rodney Glotfelty said such violations aren’t often found.
That doesn’t surprise us, because businesses seem to be taking the law seriously.
One reason this is so is that patrons who do not smoke are appreciative of being in a non-smoking environment. Being in the presence of tobacco smoke can be offensive to non-smokers, and the dangers of inhaling secondary smoke are proven.
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The owners of one restaurant have told us that when the smoking ban was imposed, they thought their business would suffer.
What happened, they said, was that their business actually improved.
So, we believe, did their own health prospects and those of their employees and patrons. Whether smokers agree with it or not, the law is a good one, and it works.
More here.
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!
School officials make case for new Allegany
Kristin Harty Barkley Cumberland Times-News
CUMBERLAND — The Allegany County Board of Education won’t find out until this spring whether it will receive funding to begin designing a new Allegany High School.
But officials, who pitched the project to Gov. Martin O’Malley and other members of the state’s Board of Public Works on Wednesday, believe they’re making a good case.
“I feel like it went pretty well. They were very interested,” said Superintendent David Cox, who showed state officials poster-size photos of conditions at the 87-year-old building, including its antiquated boiler room and dilapidated auditorium.
“We just wanted to show the age of the building and to support what the architects have told us about it being beyond its useful life.”
Cox, who traveled to Annapolis on Wednesday with all five members of the local Board of Education, as well as several county officials, had about 10 minutes to tell state officials about the Allegany High School project.
The Board of Public Works — made up of O’Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp — heard requests Wednesday for building projects from school systems across the state.
The typically long day of presentations has become known as the “beg-a-thon” because so many school officials plead for funds.
O’Malley announced earlier this month that he plans to ask the Maryland General Assembly to approve more than $370 million in school construction funding in the fiscal year 2013 budget — the second-highest single-year funding level in state history.
Last year, lawmakers approved $250 million for school construction. The General Assembly’s annual 90-day session started Jan. 11.
In December, local school officials pitched the AHS project to the state’s Interagency Committee on School Funding, describing how the BOE, Cumberland City Council and Western Maryland Health System signed off on a land swap deal to allow a new Allegany High School to be built on the site of the former Braddock campus of the hospital.
The cooperative effort has impressed state officials, Cox said.
“I feel positive about it,” said Cox, who planned to stay overnight in Annapolis to attend today’s PACE reception with local legislators. “I don’t take anything for granted though. I think we’ve done about everything we can.”
Members of the Western Maryland Delegation, who are supporting the Allegany High School project, announced Wednesday that they are also taking steps to assure that school systems in rural counties aren’t crippled by state funding cuts this year.
Sen. George Edwards and Delegate Wendell Beitzel said they’re pursuing statewide legislation that would cap funding losses for Allegany and Garrett county school systems, which suffered the biggest state cuts last year.
O’Malley’s FY 2013 budget includes a 5.5 percent cut in funding for Allegany County and an 11.8 percent cut for Garrett County, which is considering closing up to three elementary schools to make ends meet.
“The citizens from these areas have made it clear that these schools are at the heart of the community and closing them would cause irreparable harm for the students and their families,” Beitzel said of Friendsville, Kitzmiller and Dennett Road elementary schools.
Last year, Edwards and Beitzel led legislative efforts to cap a jurisdiction’s funding losses due to the so-called “wealth formula.” But that funding was only good for one year.
“The state really needs to look at how the wealth formula is computed,” Edwards said. “This bill would be a benefit to Garrett and Allegany counties and potentially others if we can get it passed.”
Cox said that school officials appreciate the legislators’ efforts to minimize state funding cuts, which was on the Board of Education’s list of “legislative priorities” for 2012.
Contact Kristin Harty Barkley at kbarkley@times-news.com
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Maryland Realtors plan to fight O’Malley proposal to cap mortgage tax deduction
By Associated Press, Published: January 25
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland real estate agents expressed alarm Wednesday at Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposal to cap state income tax deductions for people who make more than $100,000, a change that would have a big impact on mortgage interest deductions.
Patricia Terrill, president of the Maryland Association of Realtors, said the proposal was just about the only thing that members of the 22,000-strong group were talking about during their annual legislative day in Annapolis.
“Let’s face it, the homeowners have been beat up enough,” said Terrill, wearing a “Save Maryland’s Interest Deduction” sticker. “We need to protect our homeowners.”
Under O’Malley’s plan, a single Maryland taxpayer whose federal adjusted gross income is more than $100,000 would see a 10 percent reduction in the amount they could claim in state income tax deductions. A single earner making more than $200,000 would see a 20 percent reduction.
The governor says while he doesn’t like reducing the deductions, he has said changes in his budget plan would affect only about one in five Maryland taxpayers. O’Malley, a Democrat, says new revenue is badly needed after years of budget cuts due to the recession.
More here.
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Relying On An Agent
by Carla Hill
The latest NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed a growing trend among recent buyers.
The latest figures show that 89 percent of buyers purchased their home with the help of a real estate agent or broker. This is a sharp increase from a decade ago in 2001, when only 69 percent of buyers enlisted the help of an agent or broker.
Why do today’s buyers buyers choose to work with an agent? Let’s look at just a few of the many reasons an agent can be your biggest ally.
More here.
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!
Investors buying with cash pressure home prices
by KERRI PANCHUK
Monday, January 23rd, 2012, 7:51 am
Investors are gobbling up residential real estate with cash, pushing national home prices lower, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey.
The overall proportion of cash buyers in the housing market soared to a record 33.2%, compared to 29.6% a year earlier.
Meanwhile, the investor class relied heavily on cash to buy homes, with 74% of investors using cash to buy homes in December.
Investors represented 22.8% of home purchases in December alone, up slightly from 22.2% a month earlier.
More here.
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!
Dogs Saved After Falling Into Lake
Two dogs fell through the thin ice on Deep Creek Lake on Sunday, and a number of professional rescue personnel came to their rescue. A call came into 911 at about 6 p.m. reporting a dog having possibly fallen through the ice, and that the animal had been barking for some hours. The dog fell in around the Patterson Marina in the North Glade Cove, according to the report. Rescue personnel responded and found not one but two trapped canines barely keeping their heads above the frigid water.
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Ice water rescue technicians from both the Deep Creek and Deer Park volunteer fire companies were deployed onto the ice and into the water to save the dogs. The animals were retrieved and immediately taken to the Pineview Veterinary Hospital for treatment. One of the animals is pictured above being cared for. Also responding to the scene were the Southern and Northern Garrett rescue squads. Rescue personnel urge pet-owners to be alert when their animals are near the ice, as it can obviously lead to perilous situations. Photo courtesy of Matthew Krause, area firefighter/paramedic.
More here.
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!
Governor Earmarks $150K For Local Trail Construction
Jan. 19, 2012
Gov. Martin O’Malley on Friday announced nearly $23 million in the proposed FY2013 capital budget for state park and other public land projects. Included in the budget is $150,000 for trail construction for state parks located in Garrett County, and another $150,000 for western Maryland recreational access and trail restoration.
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“Today, we’re proposing to invest $22.7 million from our capital budget to make much-needed improvements to our state parks – an investment that will support nearly 300 jobs in our state, help us make our parks more sustainable, and support our thriving tourism industry,” O’Malley said when he made the announcement at Sandy Point State Park. “Our state parks are tremendous economic engines in our state, with a $650 million annual impact on our local economies, a great resource for Maryland families, and a big part of why our tourism industry remains so strong even in tough times.”
The funding includes more than $14 million in enhancements from the governor’s capital budget, in addition to $8.7 million derived from the Department of Natural Resources annual transfer tax allocation for a diverse set of projects to improve infrastructure, “green” the state’s parks, and protect the Chesapeake Bay.
“I applaud Governor O’Malley for making this critical investment in our public lands during these difficult financial times,” said DNR Secretary John Griffin. “This improvement effort recalls the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which built many of Maryland’s state parks, creating jobs, ‘greening’ public lands as conservation models, and inspiring millions of visitors with better places to enjoy our state’s natural beauty and unique heritage.”
Under the leadership of O’Malley, the Maryland Park Service has embarked on a system-wide commitment to green its 66 state parks – which host more than 10 million visitors each year – as models of sustainability and conservation best practices. Strategic actions to date have focused on energy improvements, new state-of-the-art green building design and construction, sustainable trails, and recycling, as well as environmental restoration, including reforestation and stormwater management improvements to help the bay.
In addition to providing recreation opportunities for citizens and visitors, state parks provide summer employment and green jobs training for at-risk youth through the Governor’s Conservation Jobs Corps, which has graduated 820 young people since 2008. In 2010 their work on maintenance, landscaping and construction jobs saved the state an estimated $2.7 million, according to the governor’s office.
More here.
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As Temperatures Drop, Stay Smart, Stay Safe
As temperatures drop to near-freezing, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reminds everyone to stay smart and stay safe during the winter months. Cold weather safety hazards are hard to see, especially at night, and even a small mistake can lead to serious injury or worse.
“We encourage everyone to go out and enjoy all of the recreational opportunities this season brings,” said Colonel George F. Johnson IV, Superintendent of the Maryland Natural Resources Police. “However, be mindful that there are cold-weather dangers that require increased preparation and awareness.”
More here.
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