The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development has awarded more than $16.2 million to support small businesses and local revitalization projects across the state, Gov. Wes Moore announced Tuesday. “Community growth and business growth are inextricably linked,” Moore said in a news release. “When we invest in our small businesses, we invest in the neighborhoods they serve and the Marylanders they employ.”

More than two years after Cafe Hon closed on The Avenue in Hampden, there are signs that a new restaurant may be close to taking its place. The Baltimore Liquor Board recently posted a notice in the front window of 1000 W. 36th Street, where Cafe Hon operated for 30 years, saying that the board has received an application for a new restaurant license and will hold a public hearing in City Hall sometime “on or after” July 4.

Maryland will be able to access more than $267 million in federal funds to help expand broadband access across the state, after federal officials recently approved the state’s plan to do so, The money is part of the Biden administration’s $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) plan, which is designed to help states and local governments bring high-speed internet service to remote or underserved areas.

A widely anticipated inflation report on Thursday may solidify expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in coming months. The consumer price index, or CPI, report for June is due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Recent economic releases have suggested that inflation and economic growth are both cooling, including last week’s report that unemployment in June ticked up to 4.1%.

The Middle Shore is set to receive a brand-new University of Maryland regional hospital after a state hospital-regulating agency Wednesday approved a plan to replace the aging Shore Regional Medical Center in Easton. The Health Services Cost Review Commission unanimously approved rate increases for the Easton medical center on Wednesday to help fund a total replacement of the hospital that currently serves about 170,000 residents spread across five rural counties.

A hearing to examine Baltimore’s opioid overdose crisis was abruptly canceled Wednesday morning as a dispute between Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council member who’d called the meeting boiled over and became public. The hearing was to be the first of four planned in response to an investigation from The Banner and The New York Times that revealed the city is suffering from the worst drug crisis ever seen in a major American city. Top officials were expected to discuss overdose statistics and potential solutions.

Johns Hopkins University is renovating its School of Education to modernize an over 100-year-old building and integrate artificial intelligence into education. The renovations will cost approximately $40 million, according to a Hopkins spokesperson. The upgrades to the building at 2800 N. Charles St. were designed by Hord Coplan Macht, with construction kicking off this spring.

With $960,000 in a federal funding grant, Howard County will be better connected to Baltimore suburbs with two heavy-duty transit buses, which will allow for more accessible local transit options for commuters, according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin. The Maryland Department of Transportation and Howard County will be able to use the funds to purchase the new buses, which will be used to extend Route 409 by 5 miles from its existing endpoint in Elkridge in Howard County to Lansdowne Station in Baltimore County.

In the seconds Major Gen. Paula Lodi took to pass a burgundy command flag to the man facing her in Fort Detrick’s auditorium Wednesday morning, she completed her first act as the new commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command and Fort Detrick. The action represented the trust Lodi places in incoming Command Sgt. Major Michael Dills II as the two begin their tenure.

Conducting a surprise visit to the Cherry Hill Solid Waste Yard this morning, Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming found employees exposed to hazardous working conditions, including no functioning air conditioning, broken thermostats, inoperable water fountains and no ice. Cumming said about eight crews had already left the facility without access to cold water, ice or Gatorade to start their shift when she arrived.