Tag: mountain
State Panel Puts Fracking Regulations on Hold in Maryland
A panel of lawmakers in Maryland has reportedly asked the state Department of the Environment (MDE) to delay implementing rules governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking).
According to reports, the Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) sent a letter to the MDE last Thursday. Lawmakers on the committee said they wanted more time to study the agency’s proposed rules, which were scheduled to take effect the next day.
Only two western panhandle counties in Maryland — Allegany and Garrett — overlie the Marcellus Shale, a basin which the U.S. Geological Survey estimates could contain as much as 2.383 Tcf of technically recoverable natural gas.
The Maryland General Assembly, which meets for 90 days during its regular session, is scheduled to reconvene on Jan. 11 and adjourn on April 10. The session could also be extended until May 10.
The MDE submitted its proposed fracking regulations to the AELR last September. The proposed rules included a 2,000-foot setback for well pads from private drinking water wells and the surface water intake of public drinking water systems and springs; one year of baseline water monitoring; well integrity and pressure testing; and requirements covering air quality, emergency response, wastewater management, well plugging and bonding.
Fracking opponents are pushing for an outright ban. A two-year moratorium on the practice, which took effect after lawmakers passed SB 409 in 2015, is set to expire on Oct. 1.
“Our neighbors talk about putting their properties on the market if fracking is permitted,” Friends of Deep Creek Lake, an environmental group opposed to fracking, told the AELR at a hearing last month. “Such actions would be devastating to the local economy and in the long term would not be offset by fracking-related revenues.”
Supporters of oil and gas development in Maryland aren’t thrilled with the MDE’s proposed regulations, either.
“We are an industry that has a proven record of providing environmental and economic benefits,” Drew Cobbs, executive director of the Maryland Petroleum Council, said last month. “As written, a number of the proposed regulations are overly restrictive and would undermine our proven track record on safety proven through the development of millions of wells.
“We need policies that protect jobs and investment in Western Maryland, and these new regulations would take us in the wrong direction.”
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Family's dreams come true with opening of High Country Creamery, Market
Imagine a young couple, more than 60 years ago, traveling the roads of Grantsville talking about their future and the difference they could make in their communities.
Ruth and Olen Beitzel raised a family, welcomed grandchildren into the world and embarked on careers and business, yet they never lost that dream and desire to make a change.
“When we were just 16, I was riding with him in a milk truck to the creamery and while he was unloading the milk, Olen said to me, ‘Someone ought to make cheese in this area with all of the farmers we have.’ I must have heard him say that to me over a 100 of times since that day,” Ruth said. “Then a few years ago, just around the time he was turning 70 he mentioned it again and I asked, ‘Do you think the time is now?'”
To her surprise, he said yes and the couple, along with their family began to make plans to make that dream a reality — a reality that set to open on Saturday — High Country Creamery and Market in Grantsville.
Olen said he never forgot that dream. “I guess you could say I got busy doing other things. But after I retired from Beitzel Corp., I felt like I still had things to do.”
Encouraged by the show of support, the Beitzels began to put their plan into action and shared their plans with their daughter, Linda Kling. Olen and Ruth knew they needed to find a cheese-maker and they already had a candidate in mind — grandson, Brandon Kling.
“Brandon has always liked to create things and we asked if he would be interested,” Olen said.
“I had not thought of cheesemaking, but as we talked about what he had in mind, it got my gears turning. I had always liked to cook and I like to be creative,” Brandon said. “Cheese-making is both scientific and artistic.”
Seeing the unlimited potential in this plan, Brandon agreed and made contact with the cheese-makers at Firefly Farms in Accident. He worked closely with Mike Cooke at Firefly as an apprentice for two years to educate himself about the process. Once he completed the apprenticeship, the family opened up a pilot plant in neighboring West Virginia to get a jump-start on their business, while plans and work was completed on the Grantsville facility.
The West Virginia plant allowed Brandon to perfect his methods and soon the plant began soliciting businesses and restaurants to offer their cow’s milk cheese products.
“We do not put anything into our cheese that is not natural. Cheese is simple — milk, salt, cultures and natural flavorings, no preservatives,” Brandon said.
Their efforts were quickly rewarded and now High Country cheeses are offered at more than a dozen stores and restaurants. High Country products have also been offered at local Farmers Markets.
The new store, located at 97 Locker Lane, will feature a viewing area, where people can see first-hand how cheese is made. The store will be stocked with cheese accompaniments, local produce, including fresh meat and baked goods and a variety of gift items. An area will be se -up for tastings and a wide array of foods will be offered at the in-house eatery.
Ruth said the desire from the first day of planning has been to offer quality products made with quality ingredients, with a dedication to scratch-made foods.
“It’s all farm to table. That is how we ate growing up. It wasn’t called farm to table, but it was all natural, grown or raised locally and that is what we will have here,” she said.
“We like to say nothing will be served here that is frozen except ice cream,” Brandon said. “We also want to have a museum-like area, where kids can visit and see first hand where the food they try is made, with a understanding of its origin.”
Linda said the family plans to expand their product line to include preserves, canned items and pickles, all made with old family recipes.
High Country Creamery and Market will be open until 7 p.m. Saturday. Cheese-making days will be Monday and Wednesday. The business will be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 7a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
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Obituary: Jim Delligatti / Pittsburgh-area McDonald's franchisee who created Big Mac
Rest in Peace Jim Delligatti, a true Deep Creek Lake all-star. His family owns the Honi-Honi Bar, Uno’s, Arrowhead Market and the Garrett 8 movie theatre.
Before it became the single-greatest-selling sandwich in the history of the world; before it became an actual economic index scrutinized by professors and policy-makers; before it became a symbol of the American appetite; even before it became the subject of an unforgettable tongue-twisting advertising jingle, the Big Mac was the product of the ingenuity of a Western Pennsylvanian.
Michael James “Jim” Delligatti, 98, of Fox Chapel died Monday. He really was the local man who made it big — a big sandwich, a big American statement, and a big caloric load (550 calories — including the special sauce — roughly a quarter of the recommended daily allowance, in fact).
Mr. Delligatti also later came up with the concept of breakfast at McDonald’s.
“Jim was a legendary franchisee within McDonald’s system who made a lasting impression on our brand,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “We will remember Jim as an insightful franchisee, a knowledgeable businessman, and an honorable gentleman who left a legacy of four generations of family members running great restaurants in Pennsylvania and North Carolina.”
A native of Uniontown, he was an Army sergeant in the European Theater during World War II. When he returned home, he hitchhiked across the country, from Pittsburgh to California, where he worked at drive-ins and carhops. He eventually brought that experience back to Pittsburgh and, with business partner John Sweeney, in 1953 opened Delney’s — a drive-in on McKnight Road.
In 1955, he traveled to Chicago for a restaurant convention. Fatefully, it was the only year that Ray Kroc and McDonald’s had a booth at the show.
“He thought he could do better with some costs, so he signed up with them to open a franchise in Western Pennsylvania,” his son, Michael Delligatti, said. That first location also opened on McKnight Road, in 1957. In the same kitchen, at age 49, Mr. Delligatti created the signature sandwich that’s left an indelible grease stain on American pop culture and sated billions of hungry bellies the world over.
“He’d opened some restaurants at that point, and he was looking to improve and gain more sales,” his son said. “He wanted to create a larger sandwich that people would really like. He asked McDonald’s and they turned him down several times. Finally, they said OK.
“He was fooling around and came up with the Big Mac. But the buns he had wouldn’t work because the meat would slide around. So he went to a local bakery and got a double cut bun with sesame seeds, which was more visually appealing.”
He spent a few weeks developing the special sauce. “We’re all sworn to secrecy on that,” Michael Delligatti said with a chuckle.
Mr. Delligatti sold the first Big Macs (originally called “The Aristocrat” and the “Blue Ribbon Burger”) for 45 cents in 1967 in his McDonald’s in Uniontown. McDonald’s corporate officials liked it and did a test market in all Pittsburgh-area stores. The product went national a year later and since has reached sales in the tens of billions.
The famous advertising jingle — “twoallbeefpatties …” — was created in 1974 by Keith Reinhard, chairman of the New York ad agency DDB Worldwide.
In 1986, The Economist magazine created “the Big Mac Index” as an informal way to compare foreign currency values against the U.S. dollar. Based on the theory of purchasing-power parity, which says that exchange rates should equalize the price of a purchased item in any two countries, the index uses just one item — a Big Mac — because it is available in more than 100 countries.
Mr. Delligatti would go on to own 48 franchises, and although he sold most of them back to the company in 1982, his family still runs 21 in Western Pennsylvania. Though fast food has been maligned for its association with an unhealthy lifestyle, in 2007, on the 40th anniversary of the Big Mac, Mr. Delligatti told the Post-Gazette that he still ate at least one a week — at age 89.
That year the McDonald’s Big Mac Museum Restaurant opened on Route 30 in North Huntingdon; it features a 14-by-12-foot replica of the burger.
“He was an awesome dad. He liked to do a lot of different things. He was a great pingpong player. He liked to water ski and did some snow skiing. He was a real go-getter,” Mr. Delligatti said of his father, who continued to work regularly well into his 90s.
He was also a philanthropist. In 1979, he, along with Pittsburgh oncologist Vincent Albo and the Pittsburgh Steelers, helped co-found the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Pittsburgh, which provides lodging to the families of seriously ill children undergoing treatment at area hospitals. Today, the house is attached to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in Lawrenceville.
He is survived by his wife, Ellie Delligatti; sons James and Michael; and five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Visitation is from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today and Friday at the Devlin Funeral Home in West View.
The funeral Mass is at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph’s Parish in O’ Hara. Memorial contributions may be made to the Pittsburgh Ronald McDonald House or to Providence Connections, a North Side social services agency.
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Deep Creek Lake and Garrett County, Maryland Experience Highest Tourism Revenue in State
In the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 (July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017), Garrett County experienced the highest increase in the state in tourism sales tax revenues, nearly twice the tourism increases posted by the state of Maryland. The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, the designated tourism marketing organization for the county, attributes much of the increase to the Chamber’s aggressive marketing plan with concentrated efforts and new ad strategies.
According to the Maryland Office of Tourism, in the first three months of Fiscal Year 2017 (July, August & September 2016), Maryland grew tourism sales tax revenues 3.0%, while Garrett County grew tourism sales tax revenues 5.8% during the same time period. Maryland grew lodging sales tax code collections 5.5% in the first three months of FY17, while Garrett County grew lodging sales tax collections 7.8%.
Garrett County experienced similar increases in fiscal year 2016 (July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016). According to the Maryland Office of Tourism, in fiscal year 2016, Maryland grew tourism sales tax revenues 6.4%, while Garrett County grew tourism sales tax revenues 7.0% during the same time period. Maryland grew lodging sales tax code collections 6.3% in FY16 while Garrett County grew lodging sales tax collections 9%.
“We are very pleased to see a strong first quarter for FY17 as we approach the winter season that is extremely weather dependent,” said Nicole Christian, president & CEO of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. “It is exciting to be leading the state in tourism growth but we are very aware that we have to continue our robust and innovative marketing efforts to remain competitive. We hope the State Office of Tourism will continue their efforts as well and that the Governor will maintain his support of this important industry by increasing tourism promotion funding for the Tourism Development Board.”
2016 has been a record year for tourism in the Deep Creek Lake area and Garrett County, Maryland with a 6.3% increase in county accommodations sales, a 19.3% increase in heads on beds, a 2.3% increase in sales tax collections and a 23% increase in visitors to the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s website, visitdeepcreek.com.
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Check out some of the best views of Deep Creek Lake
Here are a few of my favorite views of Deep Creek Lake!
To see the homes I have listed on Highline Drive, click here or here.
To see the home I have listed on Grandview Drive, click here.
NEW LISTING: "Valhalla- Hall of the Gods"
Check out my new listing in Mountainside!
Valhalla.
This custom 5 bedroom masterpiece features some of the best views at Deep Creek Lake!
Filled with modern craftsmanship, towering stonework and elegant designs, the home boasts three fireplaces, sauna, bar, screened in porch, attached garage, extensive decking and much more.
Dock slip availability through HOA as Class A lot. Truly a must see! Established vacation rental, $51k YTD 2016.
This home is a Taylor-Made rental home. For a 3-D tour and more, click here.
For more information, click here.
Deep Creek area provides all types of good times
OAKLAND, Md. — It’s a big lake, largest in Maryland. It sprawls with fingers of water scooting off in at least two major directions.
Deep Creek Lake just celebrated its 90th year created as a hydroelectric project in 1925. The generator still works but today the lake is centerpiece of a bustling tourism industry although wilderness remains everywhere. It has virgin hemlock stands — the only ones in the state. Savage River State Forest land to the east of the lake area adds 54,000 more wilderness acres. And it’s all scarcely 90 minutes from the Eastern Panhandle.
We began our getaway visit with a plunge into wilderness, searching out the four waterfalls in Swallow Falls State Park located not on the lake but on the Youghiogheny River along with other forest areas. Unfortunately, it’s been a dry end-of-summer and only the highest of the four — Muddy Falls at 53 feet — was rushing in a spectacular fashion over the rocks. We wrestled with inadequate signage and maps to visit three of the four falls, and once we’d figured out how it all fit together, helped guide other hikers we met along the trails. Impressive boulders fill the various streams. The park was once a legendary pioneer hunting area and the virgin hemlock and white pine forests that we walked through to find the falls were magical.
Swallow Falls is easily identifiable by Swallow Rock, a marvelously weathered pillar standing adjacent to the falls. We bypassed Lower Falls, warned away by fellow hikers but did make the trek to Tolliver Falls, barely a ripple over rocks in this season.
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State introduces fracking regulations, one year ahead of ban's end
The Hogan administration has proposed rules that would prohibit the gas-drilling technique known as fracking within 2,000 feet of a private drinking water well, require steel casings around gas bores to a depth of 100 feet, and require energy companies to replace any water supply that is contaminated by the practice.
The Maryland Department of the Environment submitted the measures Monday to a legislative committee that reviews regulations, a year before a state ban on fracking ends.
The plan was unveiled five days ahead of the Oct. 1 deadline set by lawmakers for the rules to be formally adopted. Department of the Environment officials now expect the approval process to finish by the end of the year instead.
Secretary Ben Grumbles said the rules “will be the most stringent and protective environmental shale regulations in the country.”
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