In late September, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning that largely went unnoticed. Some 200 children died from the flu during the 2023-2024 season, setting a record high. The overwhelming majority of those children who died — 83% — were eligible for a flu vaccine but did not receive one, according to the CDC.

On a brisk Saturday morning in October, amid the historic sites and small businesses of Gettysburg, Penn., 40 people were gathered in a small office space. All were from Maryland, but these weren’t tourists seeking Civil War tales or you-pick apple orchards. They were politically active voters who wanted to help tilt the election in perhaps the most important swing state of all, where polls show a toss-up in the presidential race.

The CEO and executive committee of the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts will hold a town hall online from 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, almost two weeks after the city announced the termination of its contract with the agency. The town hall is meant for BOPA leadership to “address the questions and concerns of our arts community and discuss a vision for the organization moving forward,” according to the event’s registration website.

The floodwaters brought by Hurricanes Helene and Milton have already done tremendous damage across the Southeast. In addition to the physical destruction, there’s another silent danger: the mosquitoes that will follow. As a scientist who has spent my entire professional career developing countermeasures like vaccines against mosquito-borne diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, we cannot ignore the danger posed by climate change and its effect on infectious diseases.

Maryland Rep. Andy Harris said during a Republican dinner that North Carolina legislators should consider awarding electoral votes to Donald Trump before the election because the state otherwise risks disenfranchising Trump voters affected by damage from Hurricane Helene. According to a video posted on X by a Trump supporter, Harris said in a question-and-answer session at a Talbot County dinner that the hurricane damage disproportionately affects Trump voters in 25 North Carolina counties.

After months of threats, Ocean City on Friday filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the siting of a massive wind farm a little more than 10 miles off its coast. The Maryland tourist town was joined in its suit by a large and eclectic group of plaintiffs, including Worcester County, a Delaware town, a host of community associations, a hotel management company, the Ocean City Marlin Club and a national group dedicated to protecting the endangered right whale.

If history is any indicator, the fate of six members on the Baltimore City Council might as well be written in stone. Voters filling out ballots this year are being asked whether to cut the City Council from 14 districts down to eight, eliminating nearly half of jobs on the legislative panel. Baltimore voters tend to approve ballot questions almost automatically — only one in the last 25 years has failed.

At a gathering in Annapolis, fishery managers from 15 East Coast states searched for a cure to the dwindling object of their affection, avarice and ire. What to do about rockfish? Six years of frighteningly low numbers in the Chesapeake Bay — where 75% of the fish, also called striped bass, spawn before heading to the Atlantic Ocean — and a year after new curbs were put on the recreational and commercial catch in hopes of a rebound, the science was murky. (Photo: Courtesy of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation)

Baltimore is Smalltimore; you can’t keep a secret in this town. So, in that tradition, I will jump right in and reveal the surprise that awaits those who gather this weekend for the 14th annual Harvest Fest in Reservoir Hill. The main event is the neighborhood’s celebration of the brilliant mural that Shawn James conceived and painted on the side of a rowhouse with the assistance of fellow artist Brian O’Rourke. It’s a real eye-catcher, mixing reality with mildly abstract imagery: Big black-eyed Susans and purple coneflowers, and hands holding a clear glass jar with three lightning bugs inside. The jar is ajar, the bugs about to flee.