Bob Blubaugh

Carroll saw 36 new community cases for the week of Aug. 23. That was one fewer than the previous week. Carroll had seen 54 prior to that and 61 the week before that after hitting a high of 110 for the week beginning July 26.

While Colin Kaepernick's protest was unsuccessful, perhaps he changed the landscape enough that these players can make an impact a la Muhammad Ali or Bill Russell before them.

After the number of community cases rose for five consecutive weeks beginning the week of June 28, the number has dropped in each of the past three weeks. Last week’s total of 37 was the lowest Carroll had seen since the last full week of June. The first three days of this week have produced only nine positive tests. There were 17 at this point last week.

Carroll reported 37 new community cases from Aug. 16 through Aug. 22, although the weekly numbers changed slightly in each of the past two weeks from the initial reports as more data became available. Assuming the total remains at 37, it is the fewest new community cases in a week for Carroll since the last full week in June.

Because there was such a shortage of commercially made masks, we were told, wear whatever, just cover up. Thanks to that advice, I saw a guy in a local big-box store with a pair of boxer shorts wrapped around his face. I’m not sure that was a particularly healthy choice.

Carroll County Public Schools officials have worked on ways to improve remote learning, and that has resulted in plans for more real-time instruction.

On Monday, [McDaniel College] noted two “newly confirmed positive COVID-19 cases of our on campus population over the previous seven days,” out of 489 “Wellness Center administered tests, including the number of surveillance tests.”

What fun is it to concede that the Earth is round? Or that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone? Or that Neil Armstrong took his one small step for man anywhere but on a movie soundstage?

Carroll County’s top health official briefed Board of Education members Wednesday night on what measures should be taken into account when they are deciding whether to reopen schools. He also gave them some homework.

According to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, the fire originated in the bathroom and caused approximately $10,000 in damage. The cause is under investigation.

Should Carroll County teachers be required to be in school buildings, instructing from their classrooms, while students are at home learning virtually this fall? That question was debated at length during a marathon Board of Education meeting.

Carroll County’s top health official told the Board of County Commissioners last week he had been expecting this to be a breakthrough year when the county would make significant progress in the opioid epidemic.

The number of new community cases reported for the week ending Aug. 8 was 60 after Carroll County saw a record 109 the previous week and 97 the week before that.

No, not everything about this pandemic is black and white. It will actually take some common sense if we’re going to navigate through it.

Six new cases of COVID-19 were reported Wednesday by the Carroll County Health Department, continuing a weeklong trend of fewer positive test results than in the previous two weeks.

Of the 36 new cases, 18 of them were reported Friday or Saturday, contributing to the 109 community cases for the week beginning July 27. That broke the record of 97 set the previous week. No other week has seen more than 60. By comparison, the 109 community cases were the same number Carroll County saw during the five-week stretch from Monday, May 31 through Saturday, July 4.

The incident took place shortly after noon on Friday, July 31 as the 2017 Chevrolet Caprice police patrol vehicle was traveling on Liberty Road when the deputy who was driving heard a pop from the rear of the vehicle.

Fifty-nine new coronavirus cases over the past 72 hours were announced by the health department, the most new cases in a single data report since late March. Of those, 20 were between 10 and 19 years old and 17 were in the 20-29 age group

We’re at a point where simply having an opinion is enough to incur the wrath of a mob. The aim of those who wish to cancel others is not just to express disagreement, but to suppress dissenting opinion and destroy the purveyor of alternate ideas.

With the Nov. 3 presidential election looming, Carroll County is facing a shortfall of about one-quarter of the election judges that would typically be needed, as the fear of contracting COVID-19 is proving to be a “challenge,” the county’s election director says.

Two residents of Brinton Woods Health and Rehabilitation Center at Winfield and one resident of Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mount Airy have died of COVID-19, according to data released on Monday afternoon by the Carroll County Health Department.

While groups of people shouldn’t become nicknames, at least “Braves” and “Chiefs” can have positive connotations. The same absolutely cannot be said for “Redskins.”

One resident of Copper Ridge, in Sykesville, and one resident of Pleasant View Nursing Home, in Mount Airy, brought to 118 the number of resident or staff member deaths at congregate living facilities in the county, based on data reported by the Carroll County Health Department on Friday afternoon.

Outbreaks at Brinton Woods Health and Rehab Center at Winfield, Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mount Airy and Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville are considered closed by the Carroll County Health Department. That means those facilities have seen no cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 14 days.

The county’s positivity rate, or the rate at which tests of Carroll residents return positive, is 3.71% through July 6, according to the Carroll County Health Department. That’s down from the 4.55% reported the previous day, which was, the highest rate the county had seen since June 5.

Carroll’s positivity rate, or the rate in which tests of Carroll residents return positive, is 4.56% through July 6, the highest rate the county has seen since June 5 but also nearly identical to the state rate of 4.53.

The 20 community cases are more than Carroll’s reported community cases for the full weeks beginning June 7, June 14 and June 21. Carroll saw 34 community cases last week, the highest number since the week beginning May 24.

We pulled together, stayed home, somewhat flattened the curve and then decided we were tired of the tremendous sacrifice and declared victory. Masks off, back to the bars and beaches.

A resident at Birch Manor Healthcare Center in Sykesville and a resident Brinton Woods Health and Rehab Center at Winfield died, according to the health department. Birch Manor has now had 16 fatalities attributed to the novel coronavirus and Brinton Woods has had seven.

Gov. Hogan has either knocked it out of the park or struck out with his leadership. To some, Dr. Anthony Fauci is the MVP, but to others he has committed error after error. One thing should be universally agreed upon, however: When discussing winners and losers during the crisis, Major League Baseball goes directly to the bottom of the standings.

Six of the cases Monday were from congregate living facilities as two residents at Longview Nursing Home in Manchester, and one resident each at Birch Manor Healthcare Center in Sykesville, Brinton Woods Health and Rehab Center at Winfield and Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mount Airy tested positive, as did a staff member at Longview. The person who died was from Brinton Woods.

Isn’t it possible that maybe now’s the time to hold onto your opinions and counterarguments and statistics and, instead, pay a little attention?

Five new cases of COVID-19 in Carroll County announced on Friday by the health department brought the total for the past week to 26, the county’s lowest weekly number of new cases since March.

Carroll County Health Department data released Thursday afternoon showed that Carroll had four new positive tests, following five on Wednesday, five on Tuesday and seven on Monday. Carroll averaged 12 new coronavirus cases per day in April and 15 in May. As recently as June 2, the county had 35 cases reported in one day.

Five new positive tests brought the county’s total to 1,001 cases, according to the Carroll County Health Department. Carroll is the eighth county in Maryland to reach that number, based on state health department data.

All five new cases came from elder care facilities with three new positive test results among residents at Longview Nursing Home in Manchester, one new positive test by a resident at Pleasant View Nursing Home in Mount Airy, and one new positive test by a staff member at Brinton Woods Health and Rehab Center at Winfield who lives in Carroll.

Carroll County saw only seven new positives tests for COVID-19 on Monday, down significantly for the first report following a weekend over the past two months. There were, however, three deaths.

Biden is a walking gaffe. Trump is inappropriateness personified. Good luck to us all.

The Central Maryland Correctional Facility has now seen two coronavirus deaths. Five inmates and one staff member have had positive tests. It was unclear whether the latest death was an inmate or staff member.

I’ve learned I don’t know it all, but along the way, I did learn something really important: Even if you don’t know it all, you can probably find the answer on Google.

Psychologists call it negativity bias. We simply pay more attention and dwell more on bad things than good things. Insults loom larger than praise. Traumatic events make more of an impression than happy ones. And we respond in kind.

Pleasant View, the first facility in Carroll to see a COVID-19 outbreak, has had 84 resident cases with 27 deaths and 42 staff cases with one death. But as of Monday afternoon, Pleasant View is no longer listed as the site of an active outbreak, meaning at least 14 days have passed since the onset of a case.

The Complete Count committee is made up of over 40 representatives ranging from county government, local towns and municipalities, media, library, business, nonprofits, religious, and education. It is a very impressive group of people that work well together and above all want Carroll County to have the highest count possible.

It’s one thing if people do stupid things and it costs them their hard-earned money. It’s another if people do stupid things and it costs someone else their health or their family’s health.

Data released Friday afternoon by the Carroll County Health Department shows 540 total COVID-19 cases in Carroll County, a one-day increase of 14, with 68 deaths.

The Carroll County Health Department announced Wednesday that four fatalities, including one community and three facility fatalities, were reclassified as not being attributable to COVID-19. Carroll County has now seen 516 coronavirus cases, a one-day increase of six, and 65 deaths.

There were no new community cases of the coronavirus announced Tuesday by the Carroll County Health Department. There were, however, seven deaths and five new cases among elder care residents.

The two people who died were both residents of Westminster Healthcare Center, an elder care facility in Westminster. One-quarter of the new positive tests (11) were residents of Fairhaven, an elder care facility in Sykesville.

Not surprisingly, President Donald Trump is the most oft-written name in letters to the editor. Also not surprisingly, none of the letter-writers seems to be on the fence about Trump, the most polarizing figure since, well, anybody got one?

Then came Thursday. The NFL draft. The first sports I’d watched in more than a month without already knowing the outcome. Somehow seeing Commissioner Roger Goodell was affirming.