Maryland’s new director of rural economic strategy is scheduled to start the role this month in the state’s Department of Commerce, taking on a portfolio that includes 15 counties across the state. During a July 17 interview at the State House in Annapolis, Del. Carl Anderton Jr., R-Wicomico, cited his love of home and conversations with Gov. Wes Moore as reasons why he is resigning his seat of nine years in the Maryland General Assembly to join the administration of the Democratic governor and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller.

The first day of summer in Maryland came with a warning: Code Red—Extreme Heat. Across the state — from the panhandle to Montgomery County to the Eastern Shore – residents endured temperatures above 90°F. This heat wave caused more than 1,600 emergency room visits in one day throughout the mid-Atlantic. Since then, the Washington metro area has endured weeks more of temperatures above 90°F, peaking at 104 degrees in both D.C. and Baltimore.

 

The region’s largest transit agency says it is still experiencing delays in some of its services — including its website — as it deals with the impact of a global computer system outage. In an updated post on X at 5:45 a.m. Friday, WMATA said all its Metrorail stations opened on time and service will be running as scheduled. It added that bus service is operating as scheduled and only five routes are experiencing delays unrelated to the outage.

More than half of states are registering “high” or “very high” levels of the coronavirus in wastewater testing, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Nationally, emergency department visits due to covid are increasing. On Wednesday, the White House announced that President Biden tested positive with his second coronavirus infection. As with his first bout, he is experiencing mild symptoms and has started Paxlovid treatment.

A worldwide Microsoft outage that’s grounded planes and impacted banks and other businesses appears to be bringing flights to a halt at BWI Marshall Airport Friday morning. BWI was packed around 5:30 a.m. as lines were at a standstill and major airlines grounded flights, citing communication issues. Many gate screens said flights were “on time,” but a Delta agent said, “We can’t do anything right now.”

On a sweltering Thursday in July at the So What Else food pantry in North Bethesda, Chris Yonushonis is directing staff and volunteers as they unload pallets loaded with packs of SmartWater bottles in preparation for the pantry’s weekly outdoor distribution of food and necessities to an estimated 1,000 families. On Saturdays, the line of cars for the distribution at the nonprofit’s Wyaconda Road pantry usually snakes around the block and throughout the surrounding neighborhoods, said Yonushonis, the Rockville nonprofit’s Montgomery County deputy director of hunger relief.

After heart palpitations sent him to the hospital in summer 2020, Joyson BaLisamore began thinking about ways to address what he saw as a major — and suddenly personal — problem in the Baltimore region: heart disease. Last August, he founded Jay’s Watermelonade, a Baltimore start-up that focuses on promoting watermelon and what it says are its heart benefits as an alternative to sugary drinks.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, an influential member of Maryland’s Congressional delegation and a national Democratic voice, has asked President Joe Biden in a letter to weigh his future carefully, writing that the nation’s future is on the line. He’s the highest-ranking Maryland Democrat to suggest that stepping down could be a consideration for Biden, whose campaign has struggled in recent weeks.

 

Baltimore’s Inspector General visited nine Department of Public Works sites on Tuesday. It followed an investigative report about poor working conditions at the Cherry Hill location. The report found the site did not have a working ice machine. Temperatures inside a cooling trailer reached 85 degrees, and locker rooms did not have AC or working fans, causing the temperature to reach 100 degrees.

 

Baltimore’s 40th Artscape festival, set to take place Aug. 2-4, will feature former RuPaul’s Drag Race competitor Naomi Smalls, fashion shows by emerging and professional designers, public art installations, and more. Artscape has been held nearly every year since its start in 1982, with the exception of 2020, 2021, and 2022. Traditionally held in the middle of summer, the festival was moved to the first weekend of fall in 2023, after returning from its three-year hiatus.