Two area violence crisis centers receive funds
Cumberland, Oakland agencies allotted money for rape prevention programs
Eric Morris
The Cumberland Times-News Mon Sep 26, 2011, 10:11 PM EDT
CUMBERLAND — Two area violence crisis centers have been allotted funds this month through the Maryland government’s Community Sexual Violence Prevention & Awareness program.
Family Crisis Resource Center, of Cumberland, and the Dove Center, of Oakland, are two of 17 Maryland agencies that have received funding for their rape crisis programs.
The Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention awarded $300,000 in grants to organizations across the state in an effort to reduce rape and other forms of sexual violence through prevention.
“The money will be used to raise community awareness,” said Sara-Beth James, executive director of the Family Crisis Resource Center, who says 80 percent of the agency’s funding is through grants.
“It will fund ‘healthy relationship’ presentations at different community organization events, as well as provide workshops and fund materials given out at promotional events.”
Rape crisis centers provide educational seminars, hotline services, emergency shelters, training programs for professionals, and print materials and other resources. They aim to increase awareness regarding rape and sexual assault prevention.
Dove Center Executive Director Heather Hanline echoed James in stating that the funds will be used to further the organization’s public awareness initiative.
“The funds are already in place, as this is a continuation of a grant that we’ve had for 12 years,” said Hanline. “They will continue to be used for our brochures, newspaper ads, billboards, presentations, anything that will increase public awareness of sexual violence.”
According to the governor’s office, agencies will also use the funds to provide education, training and support services for victims, health professionals and the general public.
Family Crisis Resource Center, which has served Allegany County for more than 30 years, will receive $11,000, while the Dove Center, an Oakland-based organization that maintains four locations in Garrett County, will be granted $4,750.
The Dove Center also received a $20,000 grant Monday from the Mary Kay Foundation as part of an annual $3 million national domestic violence grant program.
The Dove Center, one of 150 domestic violence organizations participating in the program, will use the grant to support the operating expenses of its domestic violence shelter.
Family Crisis Resource Center helps between 800 and 900 domestic or sexual violence victims and their children each year, while the Dove Center sees approximately 525.
The two local agencies are private, nonprofit organizations that specialize in the intervention and prevention of domestic and sexual violence.
While violent crime is at historically low levels in Maryland, reports of rape increased by 4.9 percent in 2010, according to the governor’s office.
“We are very appreciative to the governor’s office for funding this need,” added James. “Prevention and awareness is the No. 1 way to combat the problem.”
Agencies must apply for the grant on an annual basis through a competitive grant application process. The grant’s amount, according to Hanline, is based on the population and Uniform Crime Reports of sexual violence in the area an agency serves.
Together, the 17 agencies serve all 24 jurisdictions of Maryland.
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More wind farms eyed in Western Md.
(AP) Garrett County officials said Clipper Windpower is considering a wind power project called Fair Wind on Backbone Mountain south of Oakland. It would be just south of a 28-turbine wind farm Carpenteria, Calif.-based Clipper built that is owned by Constellation Energy Group. Also, Annapolis-based Synergics is doing environmental and wind studies on Four Mile Ridge, southwest of Frostburg near the Little Savage River. The company said the project would be 60 megawatts, which is 10 megawatts more than a 20-turbine project on Backbone Mountain that Synergics built and sold last year to Gestamp Corp. of Madrid.
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Northern takes Garrett golf title by 1
SWANTON — Northern defeated Southern, 175 to 176, Thursday to win the Garrett County Golf Championship at Thousand Acres Golf Club.
Low individual scores turned in for Northern were by Caeman Feller with a 42 and Jeff Bittinger with a 42.
For Southern, Evan Friend turned in a 43 and Billy Gindlesberger a 43 as well.
Southern concludes the season with a 41-5-1 record.
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County funds set aside for gypsy moths
Bethany Rodgers
County funds set aside for gypsy moths
Originally published September 23, 2011
Frederick County is gearing up to battle gypsy moths in future months by setting aside funds for surveying and spraying.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture recently asked Frederick County officials to prepare to help combat the moths. Although the county hasn’t paid for gypsy moth surveying in the past two years, nearby Garrett County is planning to spray for the tree-damaging insect in the spring of 2012. The pattern shows the moth population in Frederick County lags Garrett County’s by about a year.
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Garrett bridge will be replaced
OAKLAND — The Swallow Falls Road Bridge that crosses the Youghiogheny River will be closed beginning Monday at 9 a.m. due to its continued deterioration, the Garrett County commissioners announced.
The county roads department will install a temporary bridge within the next six weeks that will accommodate loads of up to 40 tons.
The bridge is located about five miles outside Oakland. Questions can be directed to engineering director Dwight Emory at 301-334-7481 or County Administrator Monty Pagenhardt at 301-334-8970.
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Run For It Race Offering Grant Awards
Posted Wednesday, September 21, 2011 ; 05:58 PM
Updated Wednesday, September 21, 2011; 06:12 PM
It will be held Sept. 24
By Jeff Schrock
DAVIS — It’s still not too late to sign up for the annual Run For It Race in Tucker County.
The 2K and 5K are set for Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the Davis Fire Hall.
Organizers will award more than $34,000 in race day grant awards to non profits, community projects, and charities in North Central West Virginia and Garrett County, Md. The race is held during the annual Leaf Peepers Festival.
Call (304) 478-2930 for more information.
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Hundreds of acres of Garrett County farmland preserved
Easement on property owned by state delegate will protect Bear Creek
Matthew Bieniek
The Cumberland Times-News Wed Sep 21, 2011, 11:27 PM EDT
OAKLAND — The state Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved funding aimed at preserving hundreds of acres of Garrett County farmland through preservation easements. Those acres include land owned by Delegate Wendell Beitzel and his wife. Beitzel has always been a strong supporter of rural land preservation programs.
“I was a county commissioner when we started to get into the rural legacy program,” Beitzel said. He put one of his farms under a preservation easement years ago. Beitzel’s current 86.5 acres, which he bought some time ago from relatives, is in the Bear Creek watershed.
“Bear Creek flows right through the farm, about half fields and half woods. … Bear Creek is one of the best trout streams in the county,” Beitzel said.
All forest management on the property will be in accordance with a Forest Stewardship Plan, the primary objective of which is timber production in support of Maryland’s timber industry, state Department of Natural Resources officials said in a press release. The easements help “permanent forest buffer on 2,990 feet of Bear Creek and its tributaries and extinguish 28 development rights,” state officials said.
“This easement protects Bear Creek and its tributaries, which are natural trout streams regularly stocked by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and forestland, which is important interior-dwelling bird and black bear habitat,” said Chad Fike, Garrett County Rural Legacy administrator.
The grants will help continue an aggressive program of land preservation, said Fike.
“It allows us to preserve important farmland and woodland in the county,” Fike said. “They’re basically selling their development rights to the property,” Fike said. The programs and preservation process are actually pretty complicated, Fike said. The state board allocated the funding under two different programs aimed at rural preservation.
The owners can sell the land, but the easement remains on the property, preventing future owners from developing the property as well. The allocation for Beitzel’s land was $454,766. Before he began his application to the program, Beitzel cleared it with state ethics officials.
“Delegate Beitzel filed a Form B disclosure and Form D disclaimer with the Maryland General Assembly Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics relating to this acquisition. In a letter from that committee, dated July 20, 2011, Delegate Beitzel was informed that his disclosure and disclaimer fully satisfy the requirements set out by the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics for a legislator who is participating in the Rural Legacy Program,” read the DNR press release.
The exact amounts paid for the easements may vary once the process is finalized. Other county landowners entering the preservation programs have amounts in the hundreds of thousands allocated as well. The Public Works Board approved $179,069 for an easement of 72 acres with a provision allowing a dwelling on the property; an allocation of $277,611 for a 95.4 acre property; and $146,746 for a 50-acre property.
The Bear Creek Rural Legacy Area totals 31,437 acres of which 5,774 (18.36 percent) are protected, state officials said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
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Bald eagle killed in Western Maryland
Natural Resources Police investigating shooting of protected bird
By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun
4:17 p.m. EDT, September 19, 2011
Maryland Natural Resources Police is investigating the shooting death of a bald eagle that was found Friday in Allegany County near the Pennsylvania line.
The mature eagle was found by a farm caretaker along the banks of Evitts Creek, just west of Rocky Gap State Park.
“It was probably sitting in a tree when it was shot in the chest,” said NRP Sgt. Art Windemuth. “It couldn’t have been mistaken for anything else. It had the white head and tail and golden beak and talons. It was the American symbol in full plumage.”
A preliminary investigation indicated that it was shot with a rifle and that it had been dead less than a week, Windemuth said.
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2 more wind farms eyed in Garrett County, Md., home to state's first such projects
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: September 20, 2011 – 12:15 am
McHENRY, Md. — Wind-power developers are considering two new projects in western Maryland.
The Garrett County Commissioners are set to hear an update Tuesday.
County officials say Clipper Windpower is considering a project called Fair Wind on Backbone Mountain south of Oakland. It would be just south of a 28-turbine wind farm Clipper built that is now owned by Constellation Energy Group. The company, based in Carpenteria, Calif., didn’t respond to inquiries from The Associated Press.
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Garrett County Health Department sponsoring child safety seat checks
For the Cumberland Times-News
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Sun Sep 18, 2011, 11:13 PM EDT
CUMBERLAND — Is your child’s car seat among the nearly three out of four that are used improperly?
Despite the best intentions of parents and caregivers, many car seats are misused, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Free Child Passenger Safety Week educational events are being held at locations nationwide this week.
The Garrett County Health Department will be scheduling appointments to have a certified child passenger safety technician inspect car seats and provide hands-on advice and instruction.
The majority of parents do buckle their children in car seats, booster seats or seat belts. Yet every year, thousands of children are killed or injured in crashes. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 12 years old.
So what are parents and caregivers doing wrong?
For one, the harness straps may not be fastened tightly enough. The seat may not firmly be attached to the vehicle or a young child might be seated in a forward-facing car seat when she is still too young or could still be riding in the rear-facing position. Or worst of all, a child may not be seated in a car seat or seat belt at all.
For a car seat to do its job, it has to be the right one for a child’s age and size. Car seats also must be installed properly to provide adequate protection, and they must be adjusted to fit the child securely.
Appointments are available at the following Garrett County Health Department locations and times:
• Tuesday at the Grantsville Office (28 Hershberger Lane) from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
• Thursday at health department’s Oakland office from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m.
To make an appointment, call the health department at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-7730.
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