Forecast Right For Fall Colors to Shine Brightly
For the changing leaves to turn the richest colors in autumn, the region needs a particular blend of hot and cold weather.
“To have enhanced color, we need a dry fall, with cool nights and warm sunny days,” said Russ MacFarlane, a researcher with U.S. Forest Service.
With a forecast that calls for sunshine through next week, News4’s Veronica Johnson said conditions are “just perfect” to produce those bright colors.
In higher elevations of West Virginia and Virginia, reports have already been filed of foliage changing color. Some early change has already been spotted in the higher reaches of Maryland’s Garrett County.
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Rural Garrett County, Md., seeks exemption from state's proposed anti-sprawl regulations
Last Updated: October 05, 2011 – 2:13 pm
OAKLAND, Md. — A rural county in western Maryland is asking the administration of Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley to exempt extremely slow-growing counties from proposed regulations for curbing urban sprawl.
The Garrett County Commissioners adopted a resolution Tuesday recommending that counties with less than 1 percent population growth over the last decade be exempt from PlanMaryland. Such a provision would apply to Garrett and Allegany counties, according to the 2010 census.
The commissioners are also joining a number of counties in asking the state to defer the adoption of PlanMaryland for one year.
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O’Malley: Garrett should take caution with Plan Maryland
From Staff Reports Cumberland Times-News
OAKLAND — Garrett County commissioners are asking Gov. Martin O’Malley to take a cautious approach in implementing PlanMaryland.
The commissioners adopted a resolution Tuesday recommending that counties with less than 1 percent population growth over the last decade be exempt from PlanMaryland. Such a provision would apply to Garrett and Allegany counties, according to the 2010 census.
The state Department of Planning is scheduled to submit a final version of the regulations to the governor by mid-November.
PlanMaryland is O’Malley’s initiative to improve land development and create more cooperation between state and local agencies and was unveiled in April. Since then, a number of counties have voiced concern about the program, fearing that the authority of local planning agencies would be usurped.
In their resolution, approved Tuesday, the commissioners said, “The growth issues that Garrett County will face over the next few years are different than those faced in the urban and suburban areas of the state of Maryland and nationwide. The board believes that land management should be left to local jurisdictions as it is local jurisdictions that best understand their local growth challenges and needs.
“This proposed plan, as it applies to Garrett County, has the potential to stifle and suppress growth opportunities instead of incentivizing them. The board does not want to become an impoverished ward of the State of Maryland.
“Garrett County has resources that will allow the county to contribute to our own unique way. Embracing and acknowledging diversity gives our state and ultimately county and municipal governments strength and resiliency.”
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Redistricting: Maryland's cure for the blue state blues
The GOP controls the process of drawing Congressional maps in most of the nation, but not here
Thomas F. Schaller
12:36 p.m. EDT, October 4, 2011
Times are tough right now for national Democrats.
The Republicans recaptured the U.S. House in 2010 after just four years of Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Next year, Democrats will have to defend their huge 2006 Senate class. And, with approval ratings south of the critical 50 percent threshold, President Barack Obama’s re-election in 2012 is no sure bet.
As if the Democrats needed more reason to be glum, the 2010 election results gave the Republicans the upper hand in the decennial redistricting process in most states.
U.S. Senate Against this rather dark backdrop for Democrats, Maryland is a sunny exception. Democrats control every statewide elected office, solid majorities in both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly, both U.S. Senate seats and six of the state’s eight U.S. House seats — and now they’re looking to make it seven.
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Ambulances in Allegany, Garrett getting checkups
Inspection ensures vehicles are road worthy, properly stocked with supplies
Jeffrey Alderton Cumberland Times-News
CUMBERLAND — Allegany and Garrett counties are benefiting from a voluntary ambulance inspection program that ensures that the vehicles are roadworthy and properly stocked with necessary medical supplies.
Developed jointly by the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems, the Maryland State Firemen’s Association and the State Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council, the Voluntary Ambulance Inspection Program verifies certification that ambulances have received from the Maryland Department of Transportation.
The program also includes “verification of supplies and equipment inventory necessary to adequately care for patients in pre-hospital setting,” said Lt. Vince Pyle, the emergency medical services officer for the Cumberland Fire Department who oversees the ambulance operation along with Lt. Mike Kerns.
The city’s ambulance fleet consists of a 2011 and 2007 International model, 2000 and 2001 Freightliner and a 1996 Ford that is the only four-wheel drive ambulance in the department.
Logging nearly 5,000 ambulance calls annually, the ambulances hardly get a rest and three of the vehicles have recorded mileage above 100,000 miles. Industry studies indicate ambulance services typically get six years of service out of a new vehicle. City ambulance crews typically handle 13 to 14 calls per day. Most ambulance calls in the city take an hour from the time of the alert to the time of return to service to be available for the next call.
Plenty of preparation precedes the ambulance check-ups.
“We get all our DOT inspections, do a pre-inventory on ambulance supplies and hopefully have everything in place when the inspection occurs. For our citizens, it gives them a sense of security that our units are up to the accepted standard of care and that their tax dollars are being utilized in an effective and efficient manner.
“Our citizens are investing in the Cumberland Fire Department with their tax dollars and we are ensuring they get a quality product in return,” he said.
Pyle credits Kerns with being his right-hand man but the credit doesn’t stop there. “We have a great group of guys and gals that work hard to provide the necessary patient care and get back in service as quickly as possible for the next call,” said Pyle.
The ambulance inspections are being performed by Dwayne Kitis, MIEMSS regional director, and John Herath, Allegany County’s EMS chief. Sometimes the inspections include MIEMSS inspectors from Baltimore as is the case with this month’s inspections.
Kitis said, “The Voluntary Ambulance Inspection Program is not necessarily a requirement by the state, just strongly suggested to satisfy the medical director’s review of equipment. Some jurisdictions create their own ambulance inspection process that reflects their area needs and are less stringent than the state process. Maryland gives a seal of excellence when an Advanced Life Support ambulance, ALS Chase unit, or a Basic Life Support First Response unit has passed the inspection process.
“Citizens in the area should be reassured that both Allegany and Garrett County’s EMS/Fire Departments participate in this program. The VAIP Seal of Excellence is good for two years, however Allegany and Garrett counties are inspected every year, which reduces the occurrence of restocking errors or equipment failure. All types of vehicles get certified. BLS units include: chief utility vehicles, brush units, first-response vehicles and heavy rescue vehicles; ALS units include ambulances, ALS chase vehicles and ALS fire engines.”
Last year, Kitis inspected 47 ambulance units in Allegany County and 17 in Garrett County through the program.
Contact Jeffrey Alderton at jlalderton@times-news.com.
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Fall Concert To Be Given By WVU Symphony
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Sep. 29, 2011
Works by Julie Giroux, Percy Grainger, Joseph Willcox Jenkins, Gustav Holst, David Gillingham, and Walter Piston will be on the program of the WVU Wind Symphony Fall Concert, slated for Tuesday, Oct. 4. The symphony, under the direction of Mitchell Arnold, will present the program in the Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre of the Creative Arts Center, Morgantown, W.Va., beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Arnold, who is director of orchestral studies in the College of Creative Arts, is directing the wind symphony while John Hendricks is on sabbatical this semester. He will be assisted by conductors Dearl J. Drury and Christopher J. Nichter.
For tickets, persons may visit the Mountainlair in Morgantown, or the Creative Arts Center box office, or they may call 304-293-7469.
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Heritage on display
by Chris Brady
Published:
Monday, October 3, 2011 8:18 AM CDT
TURBOTVILLE — Cassandra Como makes the trek from Connecticut to Warrior Run-Fort Freeland Heritage Days each year, just as she has for 29 of the 30 years the event has been staged at the Hower-Slote House and Historic Warrior Run Church.
Her story is what makes Heritage Days a special event for the region, one of learning a piece of history, living it and keeping it vibrant for future generations.
Como went to Warrior Run High School, where she learned the craft of making apple butter under Al and Anne Reeves. She rose through the ranks, first as an apprentice, then as a journeyman, now a master….
…In the Indian Village, Elizabeth Huxford, of Garrett County, Md., was making a fishnet, using techniques the Iroquois would have used in the 1700s, prior to the Revolution.
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GFWC Civic Club Of Oakland Marks 100 Active Years Of Service
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Sep. 29, 2011
by Mary Sincell McEwen
A need to assist the people of the Mountaintop, as well as to beautify the areas in which Garrett Countians live and carry on with the business of life, was the initial spark that lit the long-lived candle of the GFWC Civic Club of Oakland. This spark was sent up 100 years ago, and has burned brightly for a century.
The Republican newspaper printed an article in 1932, just after a celebration of the club in observance of its 21st anniversary. Thekla Fundenberg (she later became a Weeks) was the guest speaker at the event, having been the founder and first president of the club.
In what is among literally thousands of Civic Club of Oakland reports in The Republican, Miss Fundenberg was quoted at the conclusion of the story:
“Always remember, no matter what you are called upon to do in any kind of service work, that you are more than repaid in seeing your object accomplished, making pleasant friends and happy memories.”
That sentiment does indeed seem to be alive and well 100 years on, as the members now thrive on the hard work they volunteer to do, and they enjoy one another’s company immensely. The club meets every last Tuesday of the month from March to November at the Will O’ the Wisp Restaurant at Deep Creek Lake. They share lunch at noon, and the business meeting follows.
The initial motivation to form the club was apparently the unsightliness of the town of Oakland in 1911. Rubbish piles, other scattered trash, muddy streets, and untamed grasses and weeds prompted a group of 23 women to act. They formed the club on March 31, 1911, and immediately engaged in a massive clean-up effort. According to the story in the paper, “their project ended in a rubbish parade in which wagon loads of dirt and trash were hauled away and disposed of.”
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Top Vacation Rental Values for Fall North American Travelers
Published by Ozgur Tore
Monday, 03 October 2011 19:52
Within several hours’ drive of Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., and New York City, Garrett County has long been a fall favorite due to its breathtaking foliage, which surrounds Deep Creek Lake with bright orange, red, and yellow mountaintop hues.
The area’s Autumn Glory Festival in October has been voted as the number one fall festival by MSN.com, featuring artisan demonstrations, car shows, a corn maze adventure, parades, German-style Oktoberfest and more.
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Dove Center Receives Grant From Mary Kay
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Sep. 29, 2011
The Dove Center has been selected to receive a $20,000 grant from the Mary Kay Foundation as part of its annual $3 million national domestic violence grant program. The Dove Center is one of 150 domestic violence organizations participating in the program. The grant will be used to support operating expenses of the agency’s domestic violence shelter, which houses an average of 125 women and children every year.
“We are so happy to have the support of the Mary Kay Foundation as we enter our 20th year in Garrett County,” stated Heather Hanline, Dove Center executive director.
“With the help of this grant and our new facility – which is the product of 10 years of planning, fundraising, and grant writing – we are fully prepared to provide comfort, safety, and healing to families in crisis.”
According to the Mary Kay Truth About Abuse national survey conducted last March, the current economic downturn has increased demand for the services provided by domestic violence shelters. The report also finds that the ability for these centers to raise funds and provide services will decrease in 2012. The survey also suggests that:
• 80 percent of domestic violence shelters nationwide report an increase in women seeking assistance from abuse, with most victims attributing violence to financial issues;
• 76 percent of domestic violence shelters indicate their funding has decreased;
• 65 percent of women in shelters can’t find employment due to the economy.
• 56 percent of shelters state that abuse is more violent than before the economic downturn;
“In light of the economic downturn and alarming increases in domestic violence, the Mary Kay Foundation’s mission is more critical than ever before,” said Jennifer Cook, MKF board member.
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