Allegany Communications News

08/20/2025

08/19/2025

NOTICE FOR AUGUST 20TH: Please be advised that demolition of the Au Petit Paris building is scheduled for Wednesday, August 20, 2025, with work beginning at 6:30 AM. Safety remains our top priority throughout this process.

To accommodate this work, Main Street in Frostburg will be closed to vehicle traffic from Depot Terrace to Water Street. Detours will be in place to help maintain traffic flow. Please allow yourself additional commute time and follow all detour signs. Pedestrian access will remain open, with the exception of the sidewalk directly in front of Au Petit Paris—from the upper side of Independent Ink to Uhl Street, which will be closed for safety reasons.

Demolition activities are expected to be completed the same day. The roadway will be reopened as soon as it is deemed safe. Should any additional closures become necessary, we will make an update.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your cooperation during this time.

Please contact Frostburg's Public Works Department with any questions. Thank you.

08/18/2025

Not the kind of fun O’s want to be having

MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports
Sunday must have been Mike Elias’ dream come true, as eight of the nine position players who started the Orioles’ 12-0 rout of the Houston Astros were drafted by the Orioles and have come all the way through their player development system – Adley Rutschman, Coby Mayo, Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Dylan Beavers, Colton Cowser and designated hitter Samuel Basallo, who made his major-league debut.
The only two players who weren’t so-called products of the system, only because they were not drafted by the Orioles, are, in fact, products of the Orioles system – starting pitcher Dean Kremer, who was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Manny Machado trade, and right-fielder Jeremiah Jackson, who was signed by the Orioles as a minor-league free agent.
It makes one wonder if eight of nine completely homegrown position players in the same lineup had ever been done before in club history. Maybe in the late 1950s and early 1960s when Paul Richards built the Baby Birds into perennial contenders (or so we thought), but in those days there were only eight so-called position players (sans the pitcher) as there was no designated hitter until 1973.
Even more exciting is that the oldest of the players who started for the Orioles on Sunday was Rutschman, the former No. 1 draft pick who is just 27.
Since May 24, ,the Orioles are 41-33, a .554 winning percentage that plays to a 90-win pace. Only four MLB teams have more wins than the Orioles have in that span.
Despite every bad thing that could happen to a team happening to the Orioles this season, right now seems free, fun and easy. They’re playing good baseball, they’re getting previously injured players back, they’re grinding and they’re cutting loose.
Under interim manager Tony Mansolino, who has done an admirable job through an unadmirable situation, the Orioles are playing entertaining, determined and winning baseball. It’s been more or less what Orioles fans had expected to see from the beginning.
On top of that, games such as Sunday provide an exciting glimpse of the future. It offers promise 124 games into a completely lost season that opened with such promise.
It is a comfort zone for the Orioles, as they are playing loose and free and, clearly, enjoying themselves. But, of course, there is no pressure, because through 124 of 162, the Orioles are still 10 games under .500, making it the kind of comfort zone the Orioles don’t want to be in again.
With one invaluable season in the championship/free-agent window for this group having been deprived, there’s too much at stake for this to happen again.
There should be no comfort zone for Elias this offseason, because what he allowed to happen over the previous offseason through perceived Ivy-League arrogance, took a chunk out of the many positive things he and his front office have created.
Most of what has been created will not change, but in this arbitration/free agent era of MLB, time is not the friend of any franchise legitimately trying to contend for a championship. An entire season has been wasted.
It was a big weekend in Houston for the Orioles through a three-game series win they could have swept if not for some poor decisions and even more poor hitting with runners in scoring position.
Starter Brandon Young, the organization’s top pitching prospect, nearly threw a perfect game on Friday. Outfielder Beavers, the organization’s overall No. 2 prospect debuted Saturday and had hits in his first two games, and Basallo, the organization’s top prospect and a top-10 MLB prospect debuted on Sunday and also got his first big-league hit with a two-run single, having been robbed of a home run earlier in the game.
It’s finally fun and enjoyable to watch this year’s Orioles. They’re playing good baseball and the possibilities seem endless.
Just as they did just three seasons ago.
The Orioles have been there, done that … And not very long ago.
To hell with this peaceful, easy feeling. Baltimore baseball fans need anxiety and tension in their late-August baseball, because Baltimore baseball fans have not seen a postseason win in 11 years or a championship in 42 years, the notion of which, I assure you, was laughable in Baltimore 42 years ago.
Well, who’s laughing now? Maybe Elias, the prospect collector, but not many Orioles fans – and, hopefully, an owner – in Baltimore.
The heat is on for a certain Ivy Leaguer on 333 West Camden Street. At least it should be.

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X

08/15/2025

NOTICE: Lane closures will occur next week on Monday, August 18th and Wednesday, August 20th on Main Street/Route 40 between Depot Terrace and Water Street. Please allow yourself additional commute time and follow all detour signs. Thanks for your cooperation!

* Dates subject to change due to weather and progression of work.

08/15/2025

Yep, NIL is here – do the right thing

MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports

Won’t lie. Amidst my ongoing battle to stave off old-guy fuddy-duddyism, seeing the headline, “WVSSAC has an NIL policy in place for the 2025-26 school year” in Thursday’s Cumberland Times-News not only caught my eye but prompted a “What the …”
But then it didn’t take long for a younger sense of reality to strike, because why wouldn’t West Virginia, or every other state, have an NIL policy for middle school and high school athletes? As it turns out, most states do, including Maryland, with, according to Sports Illustrated, North Carolina’s first high school NIL year including a $1.2 million deal for a high school quarterback (always the damn quarterback).
Makes sense. Makes perfect sense, because this is where we have arrived and this is who we’ve become. Don’t see a thing wrong with it, either, given the times. It’s smart. It protects the athletes from screwing up their eligibility under amateur athlete rules. If a kid can make a buck off of his name, image and likeness, more power to him – just as long as he follows the guidelines of his state’s policy.
For instance, in West Virginia, school employees, including coaches, are not permitted to be involved in a student-athlete’s use of their NIL. Students are prohibited from making any reference to their school or wearing their school’s logo when engaging in any NIL activity, including their high school sports or cheerleading uniform while participating in a local television commercial. Neither can students reference the WVSSAC, which I don’t know why they would, but it’s a good rule to have.
“They have to keep it independent of their school and athletic life,” said Wayne Ryan, executive director of the WVSSAC. “Honestly, they have received notoriety for that, but they can’t use that as part of their advertisement.”
So it can't be Johnny Jackson, quarterback of Community HIgh School, in the ad. It’s gotta be good, old Johnny Jackson from down the street trying to sell you something you probably don’t need anyway.
Hey, isn’t that kid our paper boy?
Not anymore.
Naturally, neither can student-athletes engage in NIL activities to advertise for products such as alcohol, cannabis, weapons, prescription drugs and more.
In Maryland, according to the policy set forth by the MPSSAA, off-limits for NIL deals include anything related to adult entertainment, alcohol, to***co, cannabis, controlled substances, prescription pharmaceuticals, gambling and weapons.
Schools can prohibit NIL activities during official team activities and may restrict the use of school intellectual property in NIL deals. NIL collectives, which pool funds for athletes, are prohibited at the high school level in Maryland.
High school athletes can hire agents in Maryland as well as other representatives to assist with NIL deals, but any NIL agreements must be disclosed to a designated school official.
While Maryland has a state law related to NIL, the MPSSAA, as with everything else, provides specific guidance and can adjust its policies as it deems necessary.
NIL activity at the high school level in Maryland, West Virginia and most other states is still relatively new, so anticipate many gray areas ahead as states navigate an entirely new situation. Also, the possibility of athletes transferring to states with more favorable NIL policies is a concern.
The state of Maryland's NIL law, as it currently stands, does not cover middle-school sports. So, while Maryland does allow student-athletes to earn compensation from NIL deals, this applies to college and high school athletes, according to the Maryland General Assembly.
Goodness knows how, or if, we’ll see it in play in our area, in either West Virginia or Maryland. You just have a feeling, though, that someone outside of the school system, no matter how well intentioned, is going to stretch the rules, or not bother to check the rules, and end up causing even more headaches for high school coaches.
Just one more thing they have no control over for them to worry about.
So, as dear old Sergeant Phil Esterhaus of the 15th Precinct on Hill Street used to say, “Let’s be careful out there.”
Please consult your local school officials before trying to do a conceivably nice thing.

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X

08/14/2025

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓-𝟐𝟔 𝐁𝐮𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

The Garrett County Public Schools (GCPS) Transportation Department is pleased to announce that bus pass information is now available for the 2025–26 school year. Student bus passes will remain unchanged from last year. meaning families do not need to update their child’s bus pass unless there is a change in transportation needs for the coming school year. If a change to a student’s bus pass is needed, parents/guardians should use the following link as soon as possible to allow for timely updates: https://www.gcps.net/page/parent-forms.

“We’re excited to welcome students back to school and want to ensure that transportation is as seamless as possible,” said Mr. Ronald Bray, GCPS Supervisor of Transportation. “Keeping the same bus passes for returning students helps simplify the process for families and our staff.”

In addition, bus stop information for all GCPS students is now available. Families are encouraged to review their child’s stop location and time to ensure a smooth start to the school year.

For more information or to review bus stop details, visit the GCPS Transportation webpage at https://www.gcps.net/page/transportation or contact the department at 301-334-8907 or [email protected].

08/14/2025

MORE FREE PRODUCE AT CITY PLACE!

We have not one, but TWO free produce giveaways at City Place this month! The first will be next Tuesday, Aug 19th starting at 10am courtesy of the Nourishing Neighbors initiative through the University of Maryland Extension - Garrett County and it's partnering organizations. They will also do it again in September!

Our usual monthly free produce giveaway at City Place will take place on Thursday, Aug 28 at 11am.

08/13/2025

If you don’t have to be there, why go?

MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports

Fall sports practice in West Virginia high schools has been underway for over a week. Maryland practice begins today, meaning the new school year is here, as the first day of fall sports practice has long marked the beginning of time in places such as ours.
In the day, come hell or high water in Maryland, it was always August 15, the date that remains burned into our psyche, having followed us around for entire summers at a time when school always started the day after Labor Day.
If you were involved with football (there was no soccer in Cumberland then … seriously) the starting point for your summer planning was August 15 and you worked backwards. No vacations were taken after August 5.
The reason for waking up on August 15 was to begin the journey, as the beginning of summer practice provided more zeal and purpose than the previous day had – not for the football players who were actually practicing, but for the older guys who stood along the fence or along the sideline watching them practice. Every single day.
It was a good thing that so many adults took such an interest, and that kind of interest remains a big part of what makes high school football here everything that it is – including not perfect. But as my old friend Kevin Royce, who was a pretty darn good football player, once told me, “The only thing I can think of more boring than football practice is watching football practice. I don’t get it.”
Certainly, with Kevin’s old high school football coach Charlie Lattimer running the show, practice was usually anything but boring. Still, watching a scrimmage I always understood. Watching grass drills and conditioning I never understood.
Sure, most high school football coaches are likely grateful for the interest and the support of the communities, but neither do many of them welcome the added attention (other than Mike Calhoun), for in well over 50 years of being around them, I have found football coaches to be innately suspicious by nature (other than Mike Calhoun); one having said to me at the very start of my career, “I wouldn’t be paranoid if everyone wasn’t out to get me.”
And he meant it.
And he was probably right.
While I was the statistician and a student manager for the Fort Hill teams Royce played for, part of the job entailed finding out, in the words of Coach Lattimer, “who the hell that guy is and what he wants.”
Coach Lattimer’s suspicions were never directed toward the regulars who stood along the backside of the press box taking in the day’s drills, though he barely tolerated the presence of a few of them.
No, the security checks and debriefings that we (teenagers at the time) had to conduct were usually saved for the over-30/40 guys Coach Lattimer didn’t recognize, who would invariably be standing 100 yards away from the actual practice, which is likely what made Coach suspicious to begin with.
“Excuse me, sir,” we were instructed to say, “Coach Lattimer would like to know how you are affiliated with Fort Hill and the football team.”
Most of the time, the guy would simply turn around, get in his car and drive away without saying anything because Coach Lattimer’s card sense was extremely good. One time, though, the object of the inquiry dug in.
“Tell Lattimer,” he said repugnantly, “it’s none of his damn business.”
Right. To this day I have a picture of saying that to Coach Lattimer.
“Just tell him I graduated from Fort Hill.”
At this time, as practice had been stopped until I could run the 100 yards (and not very fast) to the suspected enemy agent, then back to Coach Lattimer to file my report, a voice from afar came booming through the summer humidity.
“Well!!?? We don’t have all day!”
Coach Lattimer, of course.
Deciding it would be much quicker to yell back than to run back, I yelled, “He graduated from Fort Hill, Coach!”
From 100 or so yards away came “Hell’s fire, son! So did George Stimmel. Get him the hell out of here!”
George Stimmel, of course, was the Allegany football coach at the time, while I, a junior or senior in high school, was between a rock and a hard place. So I turned to the man on the other side of the fence and merely said, “Help me. Please?”
To which the man shook his head, called Coach Lattimer an unflattering name, got in his car and drove away.
And it was at this moment I decided that for the rest of my life, I would never attend a high school football practice I didn’t have to.
At the same time, it’s very cool that it’s all going strong again.

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X

08/12/2025

Explosions at Clairton Coke Works, a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh, left one dead, two missing and at least seven others in hospitals, with emergency workers searching for victims.

08/12/2025

America’s 911 Ride



On Friday, August 15, 2025, between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., the America’s 911 Ride sponsored by America’s 911 Foundation, Incorporated is expected to arrive in Cumberland.

The ride will enter the city via Route 36 through the Narrows, proceed south on Mechanic Street, then turn left onto Frederick Street. Riders will continue along Frederick Street until reaching the Naves Crossroads intersection. From there, they will turn right onto Naves Crossroads, right onto Christie Road, then left onto Ali Ghan Road before merging onto I-68 eastbound toward Rocky Gap State Park. A brief rest stop is planned in the Rocky Gap State Park parking lot.

To ensure the safety of participants, traffic will be temporarily halted along the main route and intersecting roads from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. to allow the ride to pass through without interruption.

Residents and commuters in Cumberland should anticipate travel delays in certain areas during this time.

08/11/2025

O! How did yesterday come suddenly?

MIKE BURKE
Allegany Communications Sports

A lot of old friends returned to Baltimore for a nostalgic long weekend of sports, beginning with the Colts, the football team that held Baltimore’s heart for 31 years before breaking it that nightmarish March evening 41 years ago.
The Ravens, entering their 30th season in Baltimore, hosted the Colts in their NFL preseason opener at M&T Bank Stadium.
On Saturday, right next door at Oriole Park, it was Orioles Hall of Fame day as the Orioles and the Orioles Advocates welcomed outfielders Adam Jones and Joe Orsulak and broadcaster Tom Davis into the club’s official Hall of Fame.
The day provided fun, emotion, laughter and a sniffle or two for two of the most popular Orioles players of their respective times – not to mention two outfielders, who at ages 63 and 40, are still better than any outfielder on the current Orioles roster – as well as for the popular native broadcaster who has been describing Baltimore sports since 1971.
Jones, one of the best players and leaders in Orioles history, helped the club to three postseason appearances in his 11 years in Baltimore. Most importantly, the San Diego native made Baltimore his home after Baltimore welcomed him and his family with open arms. He is currently a special advisor to general manager Mike Elias and a community ambassador for the Orioles.
Much of the same can be said for Orsulak, the gritty New Jersey guy, who was as blue collar as the first two cities he played for in the big leagues, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. He played five of his 14 seasons with the Orioles and led the team in hitting three of those years, and was one of the best outfielders in team history, still holding the club record for outfield assists of 22, set in 1991.
Since coming to Baltimore in 1988 when, as he said Saturday, he “led the Orioles to 21 losses in a row to start the season,” Orsulak still lives there and is very active in the Orioles and Baltimore community.
Tom Davis’ selection caught some of us by surprise, but is a good thing because he’s always been very good at his job that he has clearly loved, and on top of it all, is a household face and name in Baltimore.
Hungry Tom, as the Hall of Famer Jim Palmer began calling him years ago on the great Home Team Sports broadcasts when Davis was the roving in-game reporter throughout Memorial Stadium and then Camden Yards, was presented with his green Orioles Hall of Fame jacket on Saturday by Palmer.
Hopefully, his induction will open the door for the induction of former Orioles play-by-play callers Jon Miller and Gary Thorne, the two best in Orioles history this side of Ernie Harwell, Chuck Thompson and Bill O’Donnell.
I mean, Miller is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame along with Harwell and Thompson, but not the Orioles Hall of Fame?
The ceremony attracted a guest list that included Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr., former manager Buck Showalter, former coach Wayne Kirby, Chris Davis, Nick Markakis, Tippy Martinez, Bud Norris, Melvin Mora, Al Bumbry, Tommy Hunter, Mike Devereaux, Edwin Jackson, Jim Johnson, Dave Johnson, Xavier Avery and LJ Hoes, as well as recently-inducted Hall of Famer CC Sabathia, who is friends with Jones.
Showalter received the loudest ovations of the day other than Jones, after his introduction and again as he presented Jones with his green jacket, as many in the crowd of 30,078 clearly had visions of Showalter’s return as manager dancing in their heads.
It is a nice thought, but highly unlikely. Though, given all that’s gone down this season that no one dared dream could take place, who really knows anymore?
Then there was Chris Davis, the former slugger who hit over 250 home runs in an Orioles uniform, who also received a warm ovation from the fans, which was also a happy thing to see given how quickly and severely his career in Baltimore cratered. It was a nice moment for Davis as well as for the fans on Saturday, and one day Davis should be in the Orioles Hall of Fame as well.
There has always been something magical about the connection between former Orioles and Baltimore fans – call it Orioles Magic. Saturday was a wonderful reminder that it’s not to be taken for granted.
Everyone was having such a wonderful time, catching up with old friends, laughing, crying, cheering and revisiting misty, water-colored memories of the way the O’s were.
Then reality crashed the party, as it has done so often this season, and the game started – an 11-3 Orioles loss to the vagabond A’s.
When the Orioles, who did not make any friends last week with their new tickets policy, put a group of players such as this group on the field, these are the results they are going to get the majority of the time.
Orioles ownership and the front office would be wise not to take the still-magical connection between the Orioles and their fans for granted.
By the way, the Ravens beat the Colts, 24-16.

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X