Published: June 25, 2007 01:53 pm         

Combs a fitting replacement?

With Terry Rephann poised to leave office as a Cumberland councilman, wouldn't it make sense to replace him with the runner-up from last November's city election?

Rephann, who is employed at Allegany College of Maryland, will eventually relocate to the Charlotte. Va., area. He has accepted a job there as a regional economist for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.

Once Rephann submits his resignation, the remaining elected officials will have 60 days to fill the vacancy by way of a vote, according to Mayor Lee Fiedler. The mayor said the city will seek letters from people who are interested in the city council job.

Jim Combs was narrowly defeated in last November's city election. Combs had 2,589 votes to 2,686 for Pete Elliott and 2,830 for Butch Hendershot. Only two seats were open, so Combs lost out.

Obviously, many Cumberland residents have faith in Combs since he garnered a substantial vote. Naming Combs to the vacancy would seem proper. Don't look for it to happen, though. Combs has been a thorn in the side of the Fiedler administration, frequently questioning city officials about spending and the municipal audit....

So you think people who talk on the cell phone while driving are dangerous? Well, it gets worse. Now some drivers are text-messaging while driving.

The Baltimore Sun reports that a recent Zogby poll found that 66 percent of drivers in the 18-24 age group said they swap text messages on their cell phones while driving. Washington state already has banned what is known as DWT, driving while texting. Look for Maryland to consider such a ban when the General Assembly meets again in January....

No offense to those involved in the arts, but surely the city can find a better reuse, economic-wise, for Memorial Hospital than as an arts venue.

The arts idea was one suggestion offered by The EADS Group, an architect firm studying possible uses for the building once it is vacated for the new Western Maryland Health System hospital.

Other possibilities include a multl-tenant commerce park or a medical/care-related facility.

While there is still another study to be performed, city officials should make it clear that they want ideas on how to convert the hospital into something that will create jobs and dollars. The arts community has been wonderful - and profitable - for downtown Cumberland. But somehow, the idea of an arts venue at old Memorial Hospital doesn't seem like a good fit....

With parking rates soon to be as high as $90 per month at the city's Frederick Street and Center City garages, many downtown workers will be looking elsewhere.

Although parking beneath the Crosstown bridge between Mechanic and Centre streets always has been plentiful, even that seems to be drying up. At mid-afternoon last Wednesday, fewer than 30 spots were open....

We received more than 850 ballots before the deadline ended for our annual Reader's Choice awards. A couple hundred more came in after the June 11 deadline.

Look for the Reader's Choice section in the paper on June 30....

In the More-Good-News-For-Newspapers Category: A study finds that most Web newspaper users also like print editions of the paper.

A telephone survey of adults who said they visited an online newspaper in the past seven days found that "crossover" users - adults who read both print and online newspapers - make up the largest segment. Eighty-one percent of newspaper Web site users said they also read the print edition in the last seven days.

"We were surprised by how high the crossover is," said Jason Klein, president and CEO of the Newspaper National Network, which commissioned the study....

Judging by traffic heard on the police scanner, coal truck speeding to and from the AES facility at Mexico Farms seems to be on the rise. Several times in recent weeks, police have received complaints about the trucks....

Seen on the Internet - More Mostly Useless Facts:

* In Vermont, the ratio of cows to people is 10:1.

* In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital suspended workers for betting on patients would die.

* Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

* The average person's left hand does 56 percent of the typing.

* "Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."

* The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

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