Cumberland

CUMBERLAND -- Cumberland voters overwhelmingly approved yesterday a bid to lift the city's decade-old ban on fluoridating its water supply, signaling a major shift in Western Maryland's traditional hostility to the widely accepted cavity-fighting chemical. By a vote of 2,525 to 1,633 in unofficial returns, residents opted to repeal a charter provision barring the addition of fluoride or any other "substance" to the city's drinking water. Thirty-three percent of the city's voters cast ballots in the referendum, which was voted on with a general election for mayor and City Council of the economically struggling Allegany County seat.

Harry Stegmaier Jr. celebrated teen-age birthdays with rides on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from Cumberland to Grafton, W.Va. -- trips that awed passengers with Potomac River crossings, long tunnels, sharp curves and steep grades up and down the Allegheny Mountains.Nearly 40 years later, Mr. Stegmaier, professor of U.S. military, diplomatic and transportation history at Frostburg State University, relives those "incredible" trips of his youth on once-a-year excursions during Maryland Railfest.

Thanks to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the people of Allegany County will receive expanded services for trauma and heart cases.By the end of the year, doctors at the Maryland Shock Trauma Center will see patients, speak with physicians and aid with diagnoses through a telecommunications link to Cumberland's Sacred Heart Hospital.Cumberland physicians send many of their worst trauma cases by helicopter to Shock Trauma in Baltimore. With the new equipment, they will be able to confer with the more experienced team of doctors in Baltimore and make better decisions about when to move patients to Shock Trauma.

CUMBERLAND -- As dozens protested outside in the pouring rain, leaders of a local hospital voted by secret ballot to continue its 2-year-old merger with a cross-town Roman Catholic rival.Hospital leaders hope this vote -- apparently the final one on the matter -- will heal a bitter feud over possible job losses, cost cutting and Roman Catholic doctrine in the secular Memorial Hospital."We have to stop fighting each other," said Don Alexander, head of the Memorial board of directors after it voted 9-6 to continue the merger.

Just days ago, the Army's 372nd Military Police Company, based near Cumberland, was the source of unabashed pride in the city, the reason yellow ribbons are tacked to tree trunks and fences, and why the Wal-Mart posts pictures of the unit's young soldiers near its doors. That changed somewhat Wednesday when the country found out what Cumberland-area residents had been whispering for weeks - that members of the unit, deployed in Iraq, have been accused of committing crimes against Iraqi prisoners in their custody.

CUMBERLAND - After decades of debate, an engineer will turn on a small electric pump this week or next to begin fluoridating this city's water - an event that is being welcomed by dentists but will be hard to swallow for a steadfast citizens group still wary of science's leading answer to cavities. "I won't drink it," says Cumberland retiree Mel Collins, who has purchased a water distiller to remove the offending additive. The federal government calls fluoride "safe and effective" and credits it for the steady decline of tooth decay during the past half-century.

NEW GERMANY - Hampered by freezing temperatures, high winds and blowing snow, a search team failed to find a Cumberland man who was missing from a deer-hunting trip early Saturday in a wilderness area of Garrett County. Robert Halley Sr., 65, was reported missing about 12:45 a.m. yesterday by his son, said Heather Lynch, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. "He came home from work and realized his dad was not at home," Lynch said. Halley left his home between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Saturday to hunt in New Germany State Park, Lynch said.

AS THE U.S. Surface Transportation Board wades through the 15,000-page, 79-pound application of CSX and Norfolk Southern to take over Conrail, one point is abundantly clear: This business deal provides enormous benefits to Maryland communities.Of primary importance is the entry of a second rail giant into the state that should give CSX a run for its business. Such intense competition can only aid Maryland companies that ship by rail, which should see lower rates, more reliable service to far more destinations and shorter transit times.

Get your kicks on Route 144" may not be catchy enough for a song lyric, but the trip from Baltimore to Cumberland and beyond has a lot to offer people who are happy when the drive is the destination. Following a scenic route that uses mostly Route 144 and Route 40, travelers can retrace the National Road, which was recently named one of the country's 20 All-American Roads by the U.S. Department of Transportation for its historical and scenic value. The government authorized the first federally funded road from Cumberland to Vandalia, Ill., in 1806, and Maryland joined forces with private interests to build an extension from Baltimore to Cumberland around the same time.

CUMBERLAND -- As the 1916 locomotive pulled up, smoke billowing and brass bell clanging, the crowd at the station watched in a kind of solemn wonder. Little boys in Thomas the Tank Engine sneakers stood on tiptoe. So did white-haired men. Rail fans took photos. And Zachary Overfield, 5, tugged at his mother to get a closer look at the full-size steam engine. "He's been dying to ride a real train," said Chandra Overfield of Morgantown, W.Va. For 17 years, this historic coal-fired train has taken tourists on breathtaking trips through the Allegheny Mountains.