A small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore has suspended its entire police force pending the results of an investigation by state prosecutors, a largely unexplained decision that has left residents shocked, skeptical and on edge. The unusually harsh crackdown on law enforcement in Ridgely suggests that even some of the country’s most rural communities are feeling the effects of the national reckoning on policing that unfolded in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

Our legislators have a chance this session to dramatically reframe the choices for more than 50,000 Maryland families coping with planning funerals each year. The “Green Death Care Options Act” — cross-filed as House Bill 1168 and Senate Bill 1028 — would respond to an estimated two-thirds of funeral consumers looking for new choices. It also carries a no-nonsense promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions without spending a dime of Maryland taxpayer money.

Lawmakers are evaluating what expertise is needed to lead the Maryland Board of Nursing, as they consider legislation that would remove a requirement that the executive director have a registered nursing license to qualify for the position. The board oversees nursing professionals across the state and ensures that nurses are complying with state and federal laws within the profession, according to the fiscal note for the bill. They also manage the licensing process for nurses.

Chaotic classrooms, cramped cafeterias and multiple assemblies to accommodate droves of students could become a thing of the past for Hampton Elementary School. vParents spent years advocating for change for their beloved but overcrowded Timonium school. Their calls for help led to what Baltimore County school officials have called their largest-ever redistricting process.

With just over two weeks until they adjourn for the year, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson and their respective chambers are battling over the budget and a few other major policy areas while — as usual for the fully Democratic legislature — largely agreeing on most of the thousands of bills moving toward the finish line.

Local school systems have less than four months to begin meeting new financial reporting requirements to ensure public school students receive the resources for a quality education, under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan. The Blueprint’s Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), which oversees the 10-year $3.8 billion plan, approved a policy Thursday that would require officials from all 24 school systems to ensure at least 75% of per pupil funding follows that person to the school attended.

A federal judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a coalition of environmental and preservation groups seeking to block a proposed expansion of the Capital Beltway and Interstate 270. U.S District Court Senior Judge Deborah K. Chasanow rejected a request for summary judgment sought by the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Friends of Moses Hall, National Resources Defense Council, and the Northern Virginia Citizens Association.

More mobile crisis outreach teams, or MCOTs, are getting ready to roll in Montgomery County, Maryland. The teams, generally consisting of a licensed clinician and a peer support specialist, operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.bCurrently, there are three MCOTs operating across the county — and a grant to add two more teams has been secured.

 

MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving handed out $36 million to 20 organizations based in Greater Washington this week as part of $640 million in pledges to small nonprofits across the U.S. The total amount of donations is more than twice what the billionaire philanthropist and author had initially said she would dole out when she opened the application process a year ago.

Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott was joined by several city agency leaders to participate in a community engagement walk Wednesday night. The mayor’s office said the walk is a “direct response to a recent uptick in violence in east Baltimore.” “Because of the violence, this isn’t the first time we walked in this community. In fact, I think my last cleanup was in this alley,” Scott told 11 News.