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Route 135 Closes Due to Landslide, Unsafe Amounts of Debris

WESTERNPORT, Md. – The Maryland State Highway Administration closed down Route 135 on Friday, April 17, which stretches a half mile from Westernport to Luke, due to a significant landslide. SHA officials said it could get worse with the expected weather Sunday night.

Tony Crawford, SHA District Engineer, said landslides occur in the springtime, typically after the snow begins to thaw.

“Number one – remove the hazard of the slide on top of the mountain. Number two – get the road open as soon as possible,” Crawford said. “There’s still movement on top and it’s too unstable to get a piece of equipment any further out, so at this point were going to keep 135 closed.”

Crawford said they closed down the route for pubic safety due to large trees and big boulders falling, plus lots of loose debris. He said this is likely the second largest landslide to happen on the western side of Westernport.

Read More Here:  http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/route-135-closes-due-to-landslide-unsafe-amounts-o/16136/GnjJ-FdFFUma-bR59wVnzQ

House Bill 139 – Garrett County – Alcoholic Beverages – Sunday Sales

This bill repeals the requirement in Garrett County that a consumer order a meal simultaneously or prior to placing an order for an alcoholic beverage, or be entitled to a meal on the premises as part of a prearranged event, before the consumer is served an alcoholic beverage in specified establishments on a Sunday.

The bill takes effect July 1, 2015.

http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2015RS/fnotes/bil_0009/hb0139.pdf

 

BEACON STUDY FINDS THAT GCPS HAS LOCAL ANNUAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF $68 MILLION

The operation of Garrett County Public Schools generates an estimated economic impact of $67.91 million annually within the county, a study unveiled to the Board of Education today shows.
The study, conducted by the Business Economic and Community Outreach Network (BEACON) at Salisbury University, examined four factors: the economic and employment impact of school system operations, the economic value of degrees awarded, the impact of the school system on economic development, and the school system’s role in the reduction of public costs such as crime, healthcare, and welfare. Among its other conclusions, the study also found that every dollar in operational budget spending results in total local spending of $1.42, and every dollar in capital budget spending results in $1.41 in total local spending and $1.80 in total spending in Maryland.
In recent years, GCPS has annually graduated students who will realize an additional lifetime earnings of approximately $28.89 million (estimated total present value). The present value of the county income tax to be paid on these additional earnings is approximately $536,000 per graduating class.
“This study quantifies what we have long known – the Garrett County Public School System has an immense impact on the local economy,” Mr. Matthew Paugh, Garrett County Board of Education President, stated.  “While the value of an educated population and trainable workforce goes beyond dollars and cents, the report demonstrates that funding of our local schools provides a substantial return on investment.”

CSX Train Derails near Swanton, Md.

Garrett365's photo.

GARRETT CO., Md. – A CSX train derailed just after 4:30 a.m. in Garrett County.

Officials with the Department of Public Safety say the train went off the tracks two miles north east of Swanton, near Spring Lick Road.

They say 11 cars derailed, all were empty except one, which was hauling 126-ton of heating fuel.

Officials say that car did not overturn and was not leaking any of the fuel.

No evacuations were made, and no injuries were reported.

Fire personnel from Deer Park Volunteer Fire Department are on the scene investigating, along with CSX.

Garrett365's photo.

For More Information Click Here:  http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/csx-train-derails-near-swanton-md/36577/sbxgPGQijEOq28QKoTwt8g

Some of the top golf resort courses in Western Pennsylvania

………

Wisp

Located in McHenry, Md., adjacent to Deep Creek Lake, Wisp has two 18-hole courses with vastly different looks, none more dramatic than Lodestone, a man-sized, 7,507-yard layout with massive, undulating greens, mounded bunker complexes and breathtaking vistas. Designed by Todd Schoeder and Hale Irwin, Lodestone has three par 5s longer than 600 yards, and only one par 4 –the 349-yard 14th — plays shorter than 424 yards. But because the elevation is 3,000 feet and most of the approaches play downhill, Lodestone doesn’t play as long as the yardage might suggest. Lodestone is in drastic contrast to the crafty resort course designed 30 years ago by architect Dominic Palumbo of Upper St. Clair, requiring shots through a variety of tree-lined fairways.

For More Information Click Here:  http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/golf/2015/04/12/Some-of-the-top-golf-resort-courses-in-Western-Pennsylvania/stories/201504120104  

Famous Travelers: Edison, Ford, Firestone: Vagabonds Remembered for Work, but Loved Nature

By Francis Champ Zumbrun

It was true the Vagabonds, these “gentlemen campers,” were not exactly roughing it; but, it was also true these captains of industry did go without some of comforts that they were accustomed to at home. Anyone finding them camping at Muddy Creek Falls in the summer of 1921 would have found the Vagabonds carrying much more camping gear than when they first began camping together in 1915.

Their entourage, consisting of about 40 people, was much larger as this was the first time their wives traveled and camped with them. In addition to family members, six support staff traveled with them to drive trucks, cook, set-up and break-down their camping gear, and be a general camp “roustabout.”

Edison was probably the unhappiest of the group because their camping equipment was becoming more elaborate and cumbersome. Edison took great joy telling his friends stories about his adventures with the Vagabonds, his close encounters with nature, and toughing-it-out in the great outdoors each summer.

Now that their wives were camping with them, the Vagabonds were less likely to drive in the back woods along rough, dust-covered roads with little or no traffic, roads that Edison loved exploring.

 Interestingly, Edison overlooked the fact that he too brought advanced camping gear, the like never seen before at a campsite, including a battery-powered radio and several strings of electrically powered light bulbs.

Joseph Hinebaugh, with several other boys, who the Vagabonds bumped from their Muddy Creek Falls camping spot (discussed in a previous article), visited the famous men at their campsite and were amazed to see light bulbs strung all around the camp connected to and powered by an automobile battery.

Read More Here: http://dnr.maryland.gov/feature_stories/FamousTravelersPart6.asp

 

Famous Travelers: Edison, Ford, Firestone:The Vagabonds Camp at Muddy Creek Falls

By Francis Champ Zumbrun

“…we should be using nature’s inexhaustible sources of energy – sun, wind, and tide… I’d put my money on sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left!” – Thomas Edison (circa 1931) 

Note: This is the fifth in a series of articles covering a time in the summer of 1921, when Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone camped for two weeks in western Maryland. This article finds the vagabonds, a term the wealthy captains of industry called themselves when camping together, at “Camp Harding” along Licking Creek, about 6 miles east of Hancock, in Washington County, where they stayed from July 21 to July 27. From here they traveled to present day Swallow Falls State Park where they camped from July 27 to July 31.

Photo of Muddy Creek Falls courtesy of Roy Musselwhite.

On the afternoon of July 27, 1921, crowds of people, getting word that the vagabonds were in the area, started gathering along the streets of Oakland, Maryland, hoping to get a glimpse of the world famous men. The vagabonds sometimes caused a commotion when they arrived in a small town. One unknowing observer described the scene as the vagabonds entered Oakland as something like a circus coming to town.

Read More Here:  http://dnr.maryland.gov/feature_stories/FamousTravelersPart5.asp