Perfect starter home! Price to sell! Updated 3BR, 2BA home in Mt Lake Park. Features include: open floor plan, stainless steel appliances, eat-in kitchen, finished basement + rec-room, metal roof, attached garage & workshop. Partially fenced, level backyard & patio along with updated decking. Walk to Wooddell Park (walking paths, playground & stream) & close to local schools & grocery store.
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Why did the bear cross the lake?
Video Here
We’re not sure what prompted this bear to swim across Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland, but he did reach the other side, as shown in the video captured by some recreational boaters on the water recently.
This particular bear couldn’t be reached for comment, but it certainly managed to get to the other side of the lake with energy to burn. Watch as the bear climbs ashore near a lake-side residence and jets off into the distance as boaters look on — shouting warnings to folks on land as the swimmer approached shallow water.
That video had 27,000 views as of Monday morning.
It’s not the first time a local photographer captured bears in the lake. Check out this video from 2016 here.
A bear presumably swam across the Susquehanna River last May when sightings were reported progressively more west in Cecil County before there was a report of one in Harford County.
In June of last year, there were 11 reported bear sightings in Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s County in a one-week span.
“You have a lot of young bears looking for territory to call their own,” Natural Resources Police spokeswoman Candy Thomson said at the time. “Male bears need a pretty big hunk of territory, females less so. They keep roaming until they find an area they can claim. It’s all territorial, trying to find a new home.”
But most of the bear sightings in Maryland take place in Western Maryland — where, according to the Department of Natural Resources, there is a breeding population in the four westernmost counties. That includes Garrett County, where Deep Creek Lake is located.
A few tips from DNR: Don’t feed bears. Don’t panic or approach a bear. Back away slowly. If you’re outside, get inside the nearest building.
If you’re in the lake, boating alongside the Michael Phelps of bears: just keep a safe distance. And maybe do the neighborly thing like these boaters did and warn the unassuming folks on land.
Oh, and capturing it on video doesn’t hurt.
Copyright © 2017, The Baltimore Sun
OAKLAND — The search for a new Garrett County Department of Economic Development director continues. Chairman Paul Edwards announced during the Board of Garrett County Commissioners’ meeting last week they were close to finding a replacement for former director Alex McCoy, but plans have changed.
A local selection committee, composed of representatives from a wide range of groups, including the Chamber of Commerce, Garrett College, the Farm Bureau, and municipal governments, recently reviewed 12 applications and narrowed the list down to three potential candidates.
“The selection committee did make a recommendation to the commissioners, after a round of interviews, for the economic development director,” Edwards said. “However, after the interview process, that candidate was no longer interested in the position. So, the board has reopened the search and is committed to finding the best person for that job.”
Commissioner Jim Hinebaugh, a former economic director, has been “helping out” department staff members Kim Durst, Cheryl DeBerry, and Cindy Sharon in the interim, Edwards noted.
“The staff over there has really stepped up and is filling the gap quite nicely,” Edwards added.
County administrator Kevin Null said the directorship opening has been re-posted on major websites, including Garrett County government’s, garrettcounty.org, and the Maryland Association of Counties’ (MACo), mdcounties.org
Hinebaugh added that the commissioners would be looking for possible prospects while attending MACo’s annual summer conference, scheduled for Aug. 16-19 in Ocean City.
“Maybe there’s a number two or number three person in another economic development office somewhere who might be interested in taking this on, in terms of upward mobility,” he said. “We’re going to try to do some networking while we’re there, to see if we can dig up some candidates on an informal basis, rather than just relying on advertising.”
Hinebaugh indicated during the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce’s recent Business Before Hours event that the county was in no hurry to hire a new director.
“We’re going to be very deliberate about the way we do this,” he said. “We’re not going to hire someone just to fill the position. We can afford to do that because we have a great staff in Economic Development.”
The commissioners began their search for a new director shortly after McCoy submitted his resignation in late April of this year, after accepting the CEO position of the Greater Lawrence County Regional Chamber of Commerce in New Castle, Pennsylvania.
He was hired by the Garrett County commissioners in April 2015. He was previously vice president of economic development for the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce in Palatka, Florida, and executive director of the Worth County (Georgia) Economic Development Authority.
Staff writer Renee Shreve can be reached at 301-501-8394 or by email at rshreve@therepublicannews.com.
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OAKLAND — Among the felines currently housed at the Garrett County Animal shelter are Milton, Molly, Munster and Minnie.
“Come and meet them,” said Lisa Baker, Garrett County Humane Society president. “They will rub their way into your heart.”
She said Milton is a lovable male Manx. Molly is a sweet female calico Manx and Munster is a neutered male who has a very loud meow. All three were left at the shelter after business hours, according to Baker.
Minnie is a pretty calico who was given up by her owner.
Persons are invited to call the shelter at 301-334-3553. Located along Oakland Sang Run Road, the county-operated facility is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Garrett County Humane Society is a nonprofit volunteer organization that has been helping abused, neglected and homeless animals since 1983. It is not affiliated with the Garrett County Animal Shelter.
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OAKLAND — The Garrett County commissioners and the Department of Public Works —Utilities Division held a public hearing Monday afternoon at the courthouse on water district boundary changes at Deep Creek Lake.
“We are proposing to change the Thayerville and McHenry water service boundaries to include a small section of Deep Creek Drive between the Rt. 219 bridge over Deep Creek Lake and Gravelly Run Road,” said Pat Hudnall, Utilities Division chief.
The county also wants to combine the two districts into one, which would be called the Deep Creek Lake Water Service Area.
Hudnall noted that ad valorem tax rates will be affected. McHenry customers are currently paying $.05 per $100 of assessed value on improved and unimproved property. For Thayerville, the cost is $.24 per $100 of assessed value.
“Once combined, the tax rate will be $.10 per $100 of assessed property value on improved and unimproved parcels across both service areas,” Hudnall said. “This would take effect in next year’s tax cycle.”
He indicated that combining the two systems, in part, was in preparation for the Hoyes Run Road project, which is two to three years from being constructed, and to provide an additional water source for McHenry.
“MDE (Maryland Department of the Environment) is going to view this as an alternative water source/supply for the McHenry system, should we run into issues with the Hoyes Run project down the road,” Hudnall said.
He stressed, however, that the new Deep Creek Lake Water Service Area would only be a possible backup for Hoyes Run, not a substitute for that project.
“It will only supplement what we need,” Hudnall said. “This won’t carry enough water to meet all of our demands in McHenry.”
Commissioner Paul Edwards indicated ad valorem rate changes, therefore, are inevitable.
Two people voiced their opinions at the hearing. Del. Wendell Beitzel asked that the county extend the proposed Deep Creek Lake Water Service Area boundary up to the intersection of Rt. 219 and Rt. 42. This would enable the Maryland State Police barrack and Northern Garrett Rescue Squad to connect to the system if they so desired.
“Please consider it,” Beitzel asked the commissioners.
McHenry water customer Robert Kelly reviewed the history of the original McHenry Water System expansion project. In 2011, he noted the ad valorem tax rate was expected to be between $.02 and $.04 per $100 of his assessed property.
“The residents were overwhelmingly opposed to the expansion of the system in 2011,” Kelly said, referring to a public hearing in which 200 people attended.
Kelly estimated that he is actually currently paying a $.13 ad valorem tax rate, or $717.47, a year. Under the new proposed rate, that would go up to $1,200 a year.
“We, the residents of McHenry, just get crucified,” he said about continual increases in water rates and other taxes. “It’s got to stop. There has to be innovate thinking to deal with this issue.”
He acknowledged that a $.02 to $.04 ad valorem rate was probably not realistic now. But he did suggest that a moratorium be placed on all Public Works projects until a financial study could be conducted by an independent company.
“I’m not opposed to this,” Kelly said about expanding the water system. “What I’m opposed to is my $717 going to a $1,200.”
He called conducting the independent study a “confidence builder.”
“I have no faith, and most people don’t have any faith, in the numbers thrown out, as you can see, by the Public Works department,” Kelly said.
The commissioners left the comment period open on the proposed McHenry and Thayerville water service boundary changes until Monday, Aug. 21. Maps of the areas are available for viewing online at garrettcounty.org.
The commissioners will hold their next public meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 22, at the Ryan’s Glade Community Center, Gorman, at 6 p.m.
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