PA Governor visits nearby Somerset County to laud wind energy development ..

Read more in the Cumberland Times-News. One quote I found interesting, and in direct contrast to the horror stories commonly repeated in the local letters to the editor, is that of Judy Pletcher who had the following to say:

“We are very proud, as landowners, to be part of the alternative fuel resources in our country. We had a very positive experience, and hopefully we’ll see more projects like this in the area.”

I also find it very interesting that again this week there are a number of letters to the editor in the Republican about the commissioner's approval of a comprehensive plan without specific protections against wind turbines. At the same time, however, there are zero letters about potential natural gas drilling all over the county and as I understand it 5-year land leases to conduct drilling are already in place. Maybe those who are only following the local media are unaware that this is even happening while fear mongering about wind turbines continues to be the issue de jour.

Don't forget to check back to Dan's Deep Creek Blog for future updates.

From reading this week's edition of the Republican newspaper ..

one might come away with the idea that a crisis in Garrett County far exceeds the magnitude of the crisis in the global financial markets. The usual cast of characters (the editor, Jon Boone and John Bambacus) have all weighed in to express their opinions in a single issue. The hyperbolic lamentations of Mr. Bambacus concerning the county commissioners decision to exclude a vague, ambiguous definition of "rigdelines" from the county's comprehensive plan summarizes the collective exaggerations of this imagined crisis by the usual cast of characters:

"Future generations will never forget their historical destruction of our very way of life."

This strikes me as odd considering all I read about this week was that the commissioners approved a new comprehensive plan. Perhaps Mr. Bambacus got advanced word that they secretly planned to poison the waters, denude the forests and generally pillage the entire countryside. For his part, the editor, also uses the fear of lost tourism dollars in an effort to further exaggerate the level of crisis. Gentlemen, don't we all have enough problems to deal with before we start dreaming up new ones?

Don't forget to check back to Dan's Deep Creek Blog for future updates.

Comprehensive plan expected to be approved today ..

The Cumberland Times-News is reporting that after much debate a new Garrett County comprehensive plan will be approved at a meeting later today.

Don't forget to check back to Dan's Deep Creek Blog for future updates.

County commissioners consider ridge top definition in comprehensive plan too vague to support ..

Sarah Moses reports in the Cumberland Times-News.

Don't forget to check back to Dan's Deep Creek Blog for future updates.