While last weekend’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration in downtown Cumberland was a success, it still served as a reminder that a public restroom in the Baltimore Street area is still badly needed.

Visitors and locals alike lament the lack of restroom facilities. With another Friday After Five season nearly here, the city will have to resort to porta-potties again this summer.

If a determined effort were made, local officials surely could come up with a location and funding for permanent restroom facilities....

The Allegany County public schools calendar for 2009-10 is now online at htpp://boe.allconet.org.

Schools will reopen Sept. 1 and the last day of classes will be June 8, 2010 — barring no snow makeup days. The Christmas vacation will begin Dec. 23 with a three-hour early dismissal and end Jan. 4. The Easter break will begin Good Friday, April 2, and end April 6....

Yard sale fans in our area — and there are many — would not like rules imposed by the city of Frederick. There, the number of yard sales per individual is limited to four per year, and each yard sale can last no longer than three consecutive days.

The town of Thurmont is considering a similar ordinance....

Justin L. Perry Sr. of Cumberland recently wrote a letter to the editor suggesting that the foundation of the old Warren Glass Works Company in South Cumberland be preserved for its historic significance. The building was located between the railroad and Queen Street near Springdale Street.

According to the Website Cumberlandglass.org., the company was founded by brothers Abram V., Lewis P. and Warren B. Whiteman after two of them visited Cumberland to see other glass works in operation. By 1880, construction of the Warren plant was under way.

The plant was eventually sold twice and was destroyed by fire on Aug. 7, 1913, while it was operated by the Eastern Glass Company....

The RG’s store at Maryland Avenue and the Crosstown Bridge closed for business last week. We also are hearing reports that the Bel Air RG store may be closing soon.

Attempts by the Times-News to learn more have failed because our phone calls were not returned. The same thing occurred several weeks ago when we attempted to learn information about the closing of the RG store on Bedford Road....

While residents in the Lonaconing and Midland areas are complaining about the dangerous highway conditions on Route 36, the same complaint is being heard in the Mount Savage area. Route 36 in that area is narrow and winding, causing concern for those who frequently commute on the road. Of special concern is school bus traffic....

Some federal stimulus money may be used to repair the Big Slackwater section of the C&O; Canal — the only gap in the trail between Cumberland and Georgetown.

The Hagerstown Herald-Mail reports that the area is downstream from Williamsport and forces hikers and bicyclists to use an unsafe 4.7-mile detour on public roads....

Watch your change for the first of four new Lincoln Cent designs to be released by the U.S. Mint this year.

The first new cent was released by the mint last month and should start turning up in cash registers and at banks. The new reverses depict four eras of Abraham Lincoln’s life and commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth. The designs feature his birth and early childhood in Kentucky, formative years in Indiana, professional life in Illinois and his presidency....

Seen on the Internet — Actual newspaper headlines:

• Florida electric chair unsafe

• Lack of water hurts ice fishing

• Milk drinkers are turning to powder

• Death causes loneliness, feeling of isolation

• Local high school dropouts cut in half

• Man steals clock, faces time

Jan Alderton is managing editor of the Cumberland Times-News. His email address is jpalderton@times-news.com.