Cumberland

On April 26, 2007, EDITH ESTHER JOHNSON; devoted mother of three daughters, Angela M. Watkins, Betty E. Harrison and Mary L. Weeks. Also survived by a special niece Henrietta M. Walker; grandchildren, LaKisha Massenburg, Keith A. Roberts, Jr., Jalen C. Stewart and a host of other family and friends. Friends may call the WYLIE FUNERAL HOME, P.A., OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, 9200 Liberty Road, on Wednesday from 6 to 8 P.M. Services Thursday at Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, 601 Cumberland Street, 10:30 A.M. Wake.

Louis George Giatras, known to Cumberland residents as "Big Lou" and as proprietor of the landmark downtown restaurant, Curtis' and Coney Island Famous Weiners, died of an aneurism Tuesday at the Beverly Living Center in Cumberland. He was 80. Mr. Giatras was born in Cumberland, the son of immigrant parents from Sparta, Greece. His father, George Giatras, was a candy maker who launched a small conglomerate of downtown shops: George's Confectionary, then the Maryland Nut Shop, and finally Curtis' Confectionary.

On March 9, 2007, LEROY C0FIELD, beloved husband of Shirley Cofield. Visitation at THE DERRICK C. JONES FUNERAL HOME, P.A., 4611 Park Heights Ave. on Wednesday, March 14, 2 until 7pm and Thursday 10am until 1pm, at 3pm, Mr. Cofield will lie in state at Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, 601 Cumberland St. Family will receive friends at 4 with Funeral Service to follow at 4:30pm. Interment in Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery on Friday at 10am.

In the early hours of Jan. 13, 1964, phones began ringing at state police headquarters in Cumberland with callers reporting hearing loud explosions as a major blizzard was sweeping with a vengeance into the state from the Ohio Valley. Frances Green, a farmer's wife, told The Sun that she had been awakened by "a great rumbling, like thunder." "I looked out the window, and the sky was blood-red," she said. "I ran to the door and then light was dying down, and then there was another rumbling, not too loud, and a flash of fire."

On January 5, 2007 LOUISE B. JONES. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Wednesday after 8:30 A.M. The family will receive friends at Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, 601 Cumberland Street on Thursday at 5:30 P.M. Funeral Services will follow at 6:00 P.M.

ALLEGANY COUNTY Cumberland Defense jobs sought in business parks Allegany County hopes to bring defense jobs to business parks in the Cumberland and Frostburg areas, a county official said yesterday. Economic Development Director Matt Diaz said the Barton Business Park, about eight miles south of Cumberland along U.S. 220, would make a good location for businesses supporting the Allegheny Ballistics Laboratory, a federal weapons lab in nearby Rocket Center, W.Va., operated by Alliant Techsystems Inc. At the Allegany Business Center, a technology incubator at Frostburg State University, an unidentified company specializing in aircraft and office security is trying to land a defense contract, Diaz said.

CUMBERLAND -- Once known for being at the end of a famous canal, this city is ready to open a new pathway, one that civic leaders hope will make it a recreation destination and infuse downtown businesses with cash. Feet - hundreds of thousands of them - are expected to pedal and hike the Great Allegheny Passage, a 150-mile converted railroad corridor that connects here with the C&O Canal Towpath, providing a link between Washington and Pittsburgh. Trail advocates and government officials will celebrate completion of the East Coast's longest rail trail tomorrow with a ribbon-cutting along the banks of the Potomac River, where the trail and the towpath meet.

Admittedly, there will be no chartered jets. No golfing weekends in Scotland. Not even a Super Bowl luxury box to share with his friends on the Hill. But if Inmate No. 27593-112 likes hills, at least he'll be surrounded by them. Of course, that won't be the only thing surrounding Cumberland's newest and most famous resident, former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He's also got prison bars and razor wire. As of yesterday, Mr. Abramoff's new address is at the minimum-security camp next to FCI (that's Federal Correctional Institution to you civilians)

On October 29, 2006, JOANNA HILL. On Sunday. friends may call at Vaughn c. Greene Funeral Services, 4905 York Road where the family will receive friends from 4 to 8 P.M. On Monday, services will be held at Simmons Memorial Baptist Church, 601 Cumberland Street, where the family will receive friends from 10:30 to 11 A.M., with services to follow. Inquiries to 410-433-7500.

The publisher and editors at The Sun spend a lot of time these days thinking about readers - what can be done to keep them and what can be done to bring in new ones. Newspaper executives are worried because circulation figures have declined. When former subscribers are asked why they left, the majority say they are simply too busy to read. With that disconcerting situation in mind, The Sun recently launched an array of new features designed to connect with readers in personal ways - regular stories about nutrition, consumer issues, commuting, neighborhood problems and getting older.