The Humane Society of Wicomico County (HSWC) is at a tipping point with an influx of rescues and is asking pet-loving neighbors for their help in homing a rapidly growing number of animals. According to the Humane Society, they are currently over capacity for dogs and at capacity for cats. Kim Nock, director of the HSWC, tells WBOC this is the most animals they’ve ever had and attributes the influx to economic and medical surrenders, as well as landlord rules.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield has consolidated six office locations across D.C. into one new headquarters at the recently renovated Met Square building located at 655 15th Street in Northwest. The new headquarters does not reduce CareFirst’s footprint across D.C. but does incorporate the not-for-profit health care company’s hybrid work model, allowing employees from different locations to use the space as needed.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. appointed a high school classmate and real estate agent to the county ethics commission in 2020, the same year her boss, former county firefighter Philip Tirabassi, received a secret $83,675 settlement from the county. Tirabassi also helped handle Olszewski’s personal real estate transactions.

Transylvania County, North Carolina, tried to solve its child care shortage by spurring the development of small in-home day care facilities — but the effort ended up creating only two of them. In the mountains of western Colorado, Mesa County’s attempt to create 8,000 child care slots stalled at the 5,000 mark. And in Iowa, the state has crafted a program for publicly funded, privately operated day care centers that has alleviated — but not ended — the child care shortage in the state.

 

The to-do list before the school year tends to sprawl. It can be hard enough to pick up school supplies, but a medical evaluation, required for school sports, might linger down the agenda. Baltimore-based apparel company Under Armour is attempting to bridge that gap, setting up an ambitious one-stop shop this weekend at their Tide Point campus.

 

On its final voyage, a 51-year-old naval vessel named the Denebola experienced a steering issue near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on Thursday afternoon, prompting a temporary closure of the dual-span structure. The 946-foot ship regained steering ability, safely transited under the bridge and moored south of Annapolis, awaiting Coast Guard inspection.

Nearly 1,000 Marylanders have ended up in the emergency room for heat-related illnesses so far this summer and 14 people have died, as brutal temperatures lead to dangerous heat exhaustion, heat stroke and death. The hospitalizations are the highest since the Maryland Department of Health began publishing that data in 2019, and come with two months left in the “heat season” that runs from May through September.

Orioles general manager Mike Elias should be more empowered than ever, but he continues to take a cautious approach. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)
What does it look like when Mike Elias is freed from the constraints of his previous bean-counting owner? Don’t let the crazy influx of eight new Orioles sway you. So far, things look fairly similar.

Before the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March that halted Port of Baltimore vessel traffic, the port had long topped the nation in automobile shipments. But after losing business in the nearly three months before the Patapsco River’s main shipping channel fully reopened, the port’s top ranking in autos and light trucks going forward isn’t as sure a bet. Though final numbers won’t be available until the end of December, shipments of autos and roll-on, roll-off machinery, which includes agricultural equipment, are down year-over-year.

 

The Frederick County community donated thousands of school supplies to the 16th annual Stuff the Bus campaign, which began collecting donations June 17. Distribution of the supplies this year will take place in individual schools instead of a central distribution location, a contrast with how the campaign previously took place.