Has your local school recovered from pandemic learning loss? Statewide, it’s a mixed bag, according to a Banner analysis of test pass rates released by the Maryland State Department of Education Tuesday. The Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, the state’s annual test for students in third through 10th grades, showed that achievement has largely stalled in English and math.

It happens with such frequency it’s almost become a cliché — a terrible disaster occurs, and in the following weeks, it’s revealed that alarm bells were ringing for years before the tragedy, warnings that went unheeded until it was too late. Officials knew before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that New Orleans’ levees would be unable to withstand a devastating storm. NASA in 1986 overruled engineers who insisted the space shuttle Challenger was unsafe for launch.

More than 200 Republicans who worked for President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) or the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, warning in a letter that a second Trump presidency “will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.” The open letter with the endorsement was first published Monday in USA Today, with 238 signatures.

This story is part of CNBC Make It’s Millennial Money series, which details how people around the world earn, spend and save their money. In 2007, Alex Smith had no designs on building a multi-state restaurant group that brings in nine figures annually. He just wanted to open an ice cream shop. Smith, now 40, was right out of college and eager to build something of his own after growing up in a family of ultra-successful entrepreneurs.

Thousands of students across Maryland and D.C. began the 2024-2025 school year Monday morning. In Maryland, public schools in Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Howard County and Anne Arundel County welcomed students — some for the first time. Public schools in D.C. did the same, after making progress in last year’s standardized tests.

 

Larry Hogan knows what he’s up against in his campaign to become Maryland’s next U.S. senator. Sure, the Republican won statewide elections twice and remained popular through his two terms as governor. But voter registration and voter behavior present a significant challenge for Hogan in his Senate campaign. Not only does Maryland have a significant registration edge favoring Democrats, but voters across the nation very rarely elect senators from the opposite party from the one that dominates their state. Just five of 100 senators represent states that chose a different party’s candidate for president.

Supporting affordable housing is a key element of the city’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan, and the mayor and Board of Aldermen recently delved into what that support should look like. Proximity to schools, parking and — in the case of a development that the mayor and Board of Aldermen considered at workshops this month — grocery stores are considered crucial factors, along with rental costs, that make a housing project accessible and affordable.

An adult from the Baltimore area tested positive for West Nile virus, the first confirmed human case in Maryland this year. According to the Maryland Department of Health, the patient has recovered from the infection. West Nile is transmitted to humans through mosquitoes infected by feeding on birds that have the virus, the state health department said. In rare instances, the virus may be spread from person to person through organ donation, blood transfusion, breastfeeding or from pregnant mother to fetus.

Baltimore-based LifeBridge Health Monday announced a partnership with Amsburg and the Woodholme Group to open the EndoCentre of Westminster, a gastroenterology outpatient surgery center. Located at 535 Old Westminster Pike, the 5,400-square-foot center contains two procedure rooms. EndoCentre of Westminster is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care and provides same-day procedure care, including diagnostic and preventive procedures.

Paul McCartney and Al Pacino aren’t the only octogenarians with no intention of retiring. Older workers are increasingly postponing retirement, often because they simply don’t want to quit. As a result, the U.S. workforce is now packed with five generations — from the silent generation down to Gen Z. There are benefits to having so many experienced workers still active, but for younger people, it can be a major hurdle.