Write-in Candidate Elected County Commissioner in Garrett County, Maryland
November 11th, 2010
At the November 2, 2010 election, Garrett County, Maryland voters elected a write-in candidate to seat 3 of the County Board of Commissioners. The election is partisan. The county was elected three at-large commissioners. Write-in candidate Bob Gatto received 4,112 votes; Democratic nominee Bill Welch received 2,824; Republican nominee Dennis Glotfelty received 1,947 votes. Two other declared write-in candidates received 170 votes.
Glotfelty had won the September 2010 primary but then had died of cancer only twelve days before the election. Before he died, he asked voters to write-in Gatto, whom Glotfelty had defeated in the Republican primary.
Soldier secured nukes at B-52 crash in 1964 - Garrett County
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By DAN DEARTH
November 10, 2010
dan.dearth@herald-mail.com
Army Sgt. 1st Class William D. Ramsey was sleeping in the early morning hours of Jan. 13, 1964, when he received an emergency call to report to his unit at Fort George G. Meade, Md.
“All they said was to come to the unit to be briefed,” said Ramsey, who now lives in Hagerstown. “When we arrived, they told us what we had — a B-52 down with nuclear weapons.”
It was 3 a.m., when Ramsey and two other soldiers in the 28th Ordnance Detachment jumped into a jeep and began driving west in a blizzard toward the crash site on Big Savage Mountain in Garrett County, Md. As explosive specialists, the 28th’s job was to secure two nuclear bombs that were aboard the aircraft and render them safe.
Ramsey said the snow was so deep on U.S. 40 that they had to stop at the Maryland State Police barrack in Frederick, Md., to put chains on their tires.
Synergics gives notice of W. Md. wind farm start
OAKLAND, Md.
An Annapolis company has notified state regulators that it plans to begin producing electricity at a western Maryland wind farm.
Annapolis-based Synergics filed the notification with the Maryland Public Service Commission on Monday for the Roth Rock wind farm in Garrett County. Synergics said in the filing that operation is expected to begin in December at the wind farm atop Backbone Mountain near Oakland in Garrett County.
The company is required to give two weeks’ notice before electricity production begins at the site.
Homeowners who live near the site had complained to utility regulators, saying the impact on their safety had not been adequately considered.
School board reviews feasibility study for construction projects
Officials name Outdoor School after Fred Sloan
Matthew Bieniek
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Thu Nov 11, 2010, 07:48 AM EST
— CUMBERLAND — It will be two or three years before any of the three school building projects being considered by the Allegany County Board of Education actually are ready for shovels and perhaps bulldozers, according to Vince Montana, the school system’s director of facilities.
At a board meeting Tuesday night, members heard an update from Montana on the first stage of any school building project in the state, a feasibility study. Schools being considered for repair or replacement are Allegany High School (estimated cost $45.6 million) and Braddock and Washington middle schools (estimated at $28 million each). The study is required by state law for plans to build a school or demolish part of the existing school.
The board is requesting proposals from companies interested in preparing the feasibility study. After that study is completed, the board can begin working with the state on funding for the projects. Once a contract is awarded, current timetables call for the study to be completed in May 2011, school officials said. The board has already committed to retaining two high schools and two middle schools in Cumberland, Montana said.
The study will contain information and recommendations to help school officials develop a capital improvement plan for the schools, said Mia Perlozzo Cross, public relations specialist for the school system.
“The evaluation of this study will measure the condition of the buildings based on current standards, regulations and how well the facility supports the educational program,” said Montana.
Proposals for the study are due at the Board of Education by Dec. 15. The proposals will then be evaluated by a committee appointed by Superintendent David Cox. The school board will consider the committee’s report and make a final contract award for the study, Cross said.
In other action, the board voted to honor C. Frederick Sloan by renaming the Allegany County Outdoor School Program after him. Sloan died in December after a long illness. Sloan began a career with the school system in 1971 and served as a teacher, vice principal, principal and elected school board member.
“Dr. Sloan wanted every child to be able to experience the beauty and wonder of the outdoors, and all that our students could learn from nature. I am very happy that we are able to honor and remember Fred this way,” said board president Karen Treber.
Allegany County’s outdoor school program was reinstated three years ago after a more than 20-year hiatus due to a lack of funding, and Sloan was instrumental in bringing this residential outdoor school back, school officials said. The program allows all fifth-graders to attend camp at the Western Maryland 4-H Center, located in central Garrett County.
Two elementary schools at a time attend the camp in one-week sessions. The 4-H camp staff members are responsible for teaching classes, and regular classroom teachers in attendance assist with lessons, all of which are created to align with the state curriculum standards. The program is free to students and parent volunteers, school officials said.
Contact Matthew Bieniek at mbieniek@times-news.com
State business and education leaders to create new tool for teachers
By Liz Bowie, The Baltimore Sun
9:24 p.m. EST, November 10, 2010
Second-year chemistry teacher Mark Wilcox has never had a lot of colleagues at Patterson High School who could help him think up lesson plans or new approaches to a topic.
But he has imagined the benefits of reaching across the city and state to those who might have created a better way to teach a chemistry concept.
State education officials and business leaders put Wilcox and 29 other teachers in a room and asked them to dream up an online network that would help them be better teachers. The result will be STEMnet Teachers Hub, an initiative announced Wednesday, the same day a major new report revealed that the U.S. ranks 31st out of 56 countries in the percentage of high school graduates who have advanced math skills.
Read the rest here.
October 2010 Real Estate Market Update - Sales Stats
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Again, 9 ‘newer’ homes that sold in October (less than 5 years old)
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820 Holy Cross was a $2 million+ sale, showing again, that the lakefront market still has a lot of value
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It appears that 25 or so of these sales were vacation homes
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13 homes sold under $300,000 (last month was 24)
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21 homes sold under $400,000
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1 house sold over $1million
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2 homes sold for full price
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One house sold for 75% of asking price
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There was a cabin on Old Chestnut Rd (off Glendale) that is 70 years old – WOW.
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The average age of the homes that sold was 18 years
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2 sales at Wisp Resort – one at Kendall Camp (full price $740,000) & the other at the Wisp Hotel
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5 condo’s/townhouse properties sold, same as last month
Here are the statistical breakdowns:
Average Sale Price: $398,117 (last month $317,014)
Average Days on Market: 127/167 (last month 187/226) (days on market with current broker/total days on market)
Based on the recent stats, I think it’s safe to say that it’s getting better! We still have a long way to go, but we are on our way!
How Railey Realty fared in the coming days…
Maryland coast opened to offshore wind development
By TIMOTHY B. WHEELER
The Baltimore Sun
Related:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/
The federal government on Monday invited bids from wind power developers to place turbines off Maryland’s coast, taking the first step toward what could be the nation’s largest offshore commercial wind project to date.
The Department of Interior identified a 277 nautical-square-mile area off the state’s 31-mile coast for possible leasing, largely accepting the recommendations of a state task force that has been studying offshore wind prospects since early last year. The nearest to shore turbines could be placed would be 10 nautical miles off Ocean City, Md., and 20 nautical miles off Assateague National Seashore.
The announcement by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement was hailed by Gov. Martin O’Malley, who has made developing offshore wind a centerpiece of his administration’s energy policy. His administration has proposed developing one gigawatt of electricity-generating capacity off Maryland’s coast, erecting more than 300 commercial turbines in phases.
O’Malley issued a statement calling the federal move “another step forward for Maryland’s new economy.” His administration has said developing one gigawatt of power offshore could support 4,000 manufacturing and construction jobs, plus 800 permanent jobs to operate and maintain the turbines and related infrastructure.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/08/2408720/maryland-coast-opened-to-offshore.html#ixzz14zKVQDhL
FireFly Farms Win Major Awards At ADGA Conference
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Nov. 4, 2010
FireFly Farms, producer of artisanal goat cheeses from Maryland’s Allegheny Plateau, received top honors for four of its aged goat cheeses at the American Dairy Goat Association’s annual conference. The ADGA held its annual conference Oct. 15 through 23 in Tucson, Ariz.
FireFly Farms’ aged goat cheese, Merry Goat Round, was honored as the 2010 Reserve Best-in-Show at the competition. Merry Goat Round also took a first place ribbon competing in its class against other unflavored surface mold ripened cheeses. These two new awards bring Merry Goat Round’s total individual award count to eight, including international recognition at the World Cheese Awards in 2004, 2007, and 2008.
FireFly’s aged goat cheese, Mountain Bleu, received the first place ribbon competing in its class against other unflavored blue-veined cheeses with exterior molding. This new award brings Mountain Top Bleu’s total individual award count to 13, including its 2005 selection by Saveur Magazine editors as one of their 50 favorite American cheeses and its international recognition at the World Cheese Awards in 2004, 2006, and 2008.
FireFly Farms’ aged goat cheese, Black & Blue, received the first place ribbon competing in its class against other unflavored, rindless, blue-veined cheeses. This new award brings Black & Blue’s total individual award count to five, including consecutive first place finishes in the ADGA Competition for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.
The Last Hues Of Fall
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Only spots of subdued color remain in the landscape now, as the brightest red and orange leaves have long since dropped from branches and lie in piles of rust and brown. November definitely gives a new look — that of pending winter, of which residents will get a taste this weekend, with a few inches of the sometimes-dreaded snow in the forecast for Friday and Saturday. But then the temp is to go back up next week, with next Wednesday predicted to be sunny and 60. Photo by Lisa Broadwater.
A Photo? Not Quite....
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Nov. 4, 2010
At first glance, a viewer may think this is a nice photograph of the Casselman Bridge, but upon further examination, one may be surprised to realize it is an acrylic painting. Local artist Joseph N. Miller created the work, and it is now on display at the Art Gallery of Garrett College. An exhibit of several of Miller’s recent acrylic paintings will run through Nov. 23 at the gallery, which is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and during special events on weekends and evenings. The public is invited to a reception for the artist on Saturday, Nov. 6, from 7 to 9 p.m.
A native of western Pennsylvania, Miller’s ancestors were among the first to settle in the Springs, Pa., area. He said while he was growing up there, his parents fostered his interest in nature and the outdoors. His early attempts at painting while in middle and high school were encouraged by Laura Brown and Greg Bobick. The artist, who is largely self-taught, began to seriously pursue painting in 2006. “The [acrylic] medium’s flexibility is liberating – allowing me to match the qualities of oil painting while offering advantages in drying time, toxicity, and variety of technique,” Miller said. He holds a bachelor of science degree in biology, and masters’ degrees in ecology and landscape architecture. This exhibition is made possible in part by a grant from the Garrett County Arts Council and the Maryland State Arts Council. For more information, persons may contact the art department at 301-387-3024 or e-mail ron.skidmore@garrettcollege.edu
