Western Maryland

Gambling started Wednesday afternoon at the Rocky Gap Casino Resort right after the state approved the opening of its fourth casino, one that Western Maryland leaders hope will lure not only gamblers but also their families to a region eager for more tourist dollars. "It's open and jamming," said Scott Just, the general manager of the resort near Cumberland. "There's a couple hundred people in there. They were pressing up against the ropes. " The $35 million casino, located in what was the lakeside golf resort's conference center, will be open around the clock.

The Maryland Economic Development Corp. expects to fall short next year on payments to investors who bought the bonds that funded the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay, a state-owned golf resort hotel and conference center on the Eastern Shore. Known as default, a failure to meet bond payments may increase investor scrutiny of MEDCO, a company created by the General Assembly to aid economic development throughout Maryland, experts say, but it will not affect the state's credit rating.

WASHINGTON -- Republican Daniel Bongino, the former Secret Service agent who ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate last year, said Tuesday he is "95 percent" certain he will run in Maryland's 6th Congressional District in the 2014 election and recently filed federal paperwork allowing him to raise money for that race. Bongino, a 38-year-old Severna Park man, was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Maryland last year. He captured 26 percent of the vote against Democratic incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin, despite a spirited campaign that frequently landed him on national television and established the first-time politico as a rising star in the state party.

The state Board of Public Works' vote Wednesday to allow the privately operated Silver Oak Academy juvenile treatment center in Carroll County to double in capacity is regrettable not only because it violates the state's own policy of limiting such facilities to no more than 48 beds but because it sets a troubling precedent for how the state will handle future shortages of treatment slots for juveniles. If the goal is to help troubled youngsters get their lives back on track, the state would have done far better if it had accelerated long-delayed plans to build two new, smaller facilities in Baltimore City and Prince George's County.

If a tree falls in a Maryland forest, does anyone know its value? State Forester Steve Koehn threw back his head and laughed when asked that question. And then he jumped at the chance to shed some light on what he calls one of Maryland's best-kept secrets. "Forest products are a $4 billion-a-year industry in Maryland," he said. "For comparison, seafood is a $950 million industry. " Koehn stood on a gentle slope in the middle of a towering stand of poplar trees, their golden leaves electrified by a bright fall sun. Eighteen months ago, loggers harvested that private plot in western Baltimore County, removing about half of the trees.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will be campaigning in Western Maryland ahead of Tuesday's primary. Gingrich is scheduled to hold a rally at the Frederick Motor Company at 11 a.m. Monday and to speak at Hood College at 2 p.m. Hood spokesman Dave Diehl tells The Frederick News-Post that Gingrich's campaign called the college's director of student activities to schedule the visit. Gingrich will meet with student Republicans after his speech. Gingrich has conceded that Mitt Romney is the likely Republican nominee, and his campaign laid off one-third of its staff last week to save money.

It's a wet, snowy day in Western Maryland. The storm may not dump as much snow in Maryland as expected, or as much as has already fallen a bit further north, though. Traffic cameras show slick roadways and white on everything else. Forecasters are calling for 2-4 inches in Allegany and Garrett Counties, according to the National Weather Service. Two inches were reported in Frostburg as of 7 a.m., according to a weather spotter report to the National Weather Service.

Western Maryland residents may see snow overnight, as forecasters are calling for a possibility of snow mixed with rain. The National Weather Service forecast is calling for a possibility of snow in higher elevations in Garrett County. Temperatures were hovering just above freezing. Although the chance of precipitation was 100 percent, little to no accumulation of snow was expected. Andrea.siegel@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

All who hate mosquitoes and garden pests should be pleased with the news that the "Bike trail will spare bat refuge" (July 27). The last thing the best bat cave in the East needed to face was construction for a bike path and a steady stream of bikers. People can pedal elsewhere. Whole bat species are struggling to survive against the march of white nose syndrome. This fungus has decimated bat populations in the Northeast and is relentlessly spreading. Mortality is over 90 percent once a winter roost is infected.

Some weather models are predicting snow in Western Maryland on Monday, on the tail end of the rainy system expected to move through this weekend. But the chances are slim and variable, according to AccuWeather meteorologists. Moisture from a storm moving up from the Carolinas could meet cold air coming from the north, potentially producing the most snow in western Pennsylvania and New York, AccuWeather blogger Elliot Abrams wrote. But AccuWeather severe weather blogger Henry Margusity cautioned   factors including "the temperatures in the lower level of the atmosphere, the time of day the snow falls and the intensity of the snow" could determine whether it's something or nothing.

Henceforth, let there by a rule that nothing can be compared to Maryland's failed investment at Rocky Gap, located just outside Cumberland in Western Maryland, except for Rocky Gap and perhaps any other $55 million white elephant loss that comes along. We know Rocky Gap. Rocky Gap is an acquaintance of ours. Sorry, Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay resort in Cambridge, but you're no Rocky Gap. Incidentally, let us insert a reminder here. Even the infamous Rocky Gap hotel and conference center isn't Rocky Gap anymore.

WASHINGTON -- Republican Daniel Bongino, the former Secret Service agent who ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate last year, said Tuesday he is "95 percent" certain he will run in Maryland's 6th Congressional District in the 2014 election and recently filed federal paperwork allowing him to raise money for that race. Bongino, a 38-year-old Severna Park man, was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Maryland last year. He captured 26 percent of the vote against Democratic incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin, despite a spirited campaign that frequently landed him on national television and established the first-time politico as a rising star in the state party.

The National Park Service has announced that it no longer needs to furlough U.S. Park Police. The announcement came after Park Police officers — who patrol the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and several sites in Maryland — had served three of 14 planned furlough days. The National Park Service said savings from those three unpaid days off, combined with other cost-cutting measures and a thorough review of the budget, have "significantly improved" the agency's financial situation and made it possible to end the furloughs for the rest of the fiscal year.

What would the Sage of Baltimore say? The Barney John C. Calhoun Fife sheriff of far Western Maryland's Wild West has ruled on the constitutionality of the state's recently enacted gun law - and he's agin' it ("Sheriff won't enforce gun law," June 6). Meanwhile, 48 percent of the yokels who responded to The Sun's unscientific (to say the least) poll on "court-packing" say that President Obama is doing just that by filling existing vacancies. So the Republicans have finally won. They wanted to dumb down the population and have brainless serfs to tend their gardens, cook their food and shop at Walmart.

A growing revolt in rural counties against the state's new gun control law has spread to far Western Maryland, where the Garrett County sheriff declared the measure unconstitutional this week and said he would enforce only the provisions he believes are valid. The declaration by Sheriff Rob Corley follows the adoption of resolutions by the governing bodies of Carroll and Cecil counties saying those jurisdictions will not use any county resources to enforce the Maryland Firearms Safety Act, passed by the General Assembly this year and signed by Gov. Martin O'Malley in May. Among other things, the law bans the sales of certain guns classified as assault weapons, limits the size of bullet-holding magazines and requires new handgun purchasers to be licensed and fingerprinted to deter illegal purchases.

It was 21 years ago last month that Harvard-educated attorney Robert Wilkins was traveling in a car pulled over for going 5 mph over the posted speed limit on Interstate 68 in Western Maryland. But rather than receive a ticket, the group, all African-American and all members of the same family, were forced to stand by the road while their vehicle was searched and a drug-sniffing dog summoned to the scene. They had been returning from a relative's funeral, and the fruitless investigation caused them to be detained for 45 minutes.

An article in the March 1, 1913, edition of The Argus reported on the dreams of young runaways. James Rubin , 12 years old, Lakewood avenue; Louis Susosky , 11 years old, Hudson street, and John Noroacki , 15 years old, Hudson street, Baltimore, were locked up Saturday night at the Catonsville Police Station charged with being runaways. The boys were picked up by Patrolman Dennis Cavey near Ellicott City, where they were to board a freight train for Western Maryland. They had been reading dime novels and said they were going to the mountains for adventure.

MIDDLETOWN — Even some Democrats out here call this rolling country "Bartlett Territory," a respectful nod to the deeply conservative longtime congressman who routinely rolls up 20-point electoral margins in the most reliably Republican region of the state. But now the son of Western Maryland's favorite son is in trouble, facing questions from reporters, political challengers and some Republican colleagues about using more than $30,000 in taxpayer money to pay rent to his girlfriend in Annapolis.

Gambling started Wednesday afternoon at the Rocky Gap Casino Resort right after the state approved the opening of its fourth casino, one that Western Maryland leaders hope will lure not only gamblers but also their families to a region eager for more tourist dollars. "It's open and jamming," said Scott Just, the general manager of the resort near Cumberland. "There's a couple hundred people in there. They were pressing up against the ropes. " The $35 million casino, located in what was the lakeside golf resort's conference center, will be open around the clock.

The storms that have ravaged Oklahoma and other Plains states the past few days could reach Maryland and the mid-Atlantic by Wednesday and Thursday, albeit weakened, according to the National Weather Service. The region faces slight risks of severe weather Wednesday and Thursday as a cold front moves toward the hot, humid air that has been settled over the region this week. The weather is still going to get more muggy before the cold front arrives, with highs possible in the lower 90s Wednesday and dew points nearing 70 degrees in Baltimore.