Published: July 02, 2009 08:34 pm      

Want help? Tell us more

While C3I investigators continue to maintain that the public may be able to help police solve the murder of Rose Marie Leyh, so few details about the crime have been released that it is difficult for the community to understand what kind of information may be helpful.

Obviously, investigators have to be careful about the kind of information they release to the media. But it would seem that some basic information, such as the approximate time of death, autopsy results and some general information about the victim, could be instrumental in someone from the public stepping forward with information.

Leyh was found bludgeoned to death in her home on Essex Place on Cumberland’s West Side on May 26. More than 50 people have been interviewed by C3I, but no progress in the case has been reported. C3I investigators said the case continues to be a priority....

Give President Obama a mixed score when it comes to following up on his campaign pledge for transparency in government.

The administration has ordered that more information be disclosed in Freedom of Information Act requests. It also has set up a number of Web sites allowing the public to track government programs, funding and how money is spent.

But the president is balking at releasing White House visitor logs to the meda. It also is refusing to release more photos documenting the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan....

Is there a more dangerous local intersection for pedestrians and motorists alike than the one in front of the Kensington-Algonquin where Washington, Baltimore, Greene and Cumberland streets all converge?

It would be money well spent to have a consultant come up with changes that would improve traffic flow and safety. Perhaps closing traffic to Cumberland Street, or at least making it one way, would help....

Motorists who regularly travel Interstate 70 must be wondering if the welcome center near Meyersville will ever reopen. The center closed last year for remodeling and expansion, but its scheduled reopening this September has now been delayed until April 2010.

In the meantime, Maryland’s tourism office let a lease for a temporary welcome center at Prime Outlets in Hagerstown expire. This, even though about 40,000 people stopped at the Outlets center over the last 12 months....

An Annapolis woman is crediting prayers to Blessed Francis X. Seelos for wiping out malignant tumors in her lungs, liver, stomach and chest.

Mary Ellen Heibel, a parishioner at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Annapolis, has been wearing a charm bearing a tiny bone fragment from Seelos, who served as a Maryland priest in the 1800s. Later this month, a committee appointed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore will begin examining 11 witnesses, including Heibel, in an attempt to understand what has happened. The findings may be instrumental in having Seelos canonized as a saint.

Father Seelos served at SS. Peter and Paul Church in Cumberland from 1857 to 1862....

No smiles, please. Departments of motor vehicles in Arkansas, Indiana, Nevada and Virginia require serious photo poses when drivers come in to renew their driver’s licensees.

The states say if a person smiles, it can throw off the computerized matching programs used to determine whether a license applicant has a license from another state....

In the latest example of government intrusion on our personal lives, California officials had been considering legislation that would ban the sale of cars painted black or other dark colors.

The state’s Air Resources Board said it believes dark cars have to use more air conditioning to stay cool. But in recent weeks, the idea of banning black cars was dropped. It’s a good bet the idea will be revisited in the future....

Seen on the Internet — More funny newspaper headlines:

• Squad helps dog bite victim

• Lansing residents can drop off trees

• Iraqi head seeks arms

• New housing for elderly not yet dead

• Complaints about NBA referees growing ugly

• Teacher strikes idle kids

• Miners refuse to work after death

Jan Alderton is managing editor of the Cumberland Times-News. Contact Jan Alderton at jpalderton@times-news.com.