Federal Community Project Funding totaling $16 million signed into law by President Joe Biden last week includes $1 million for renovations to the Carver Center in Cumberland and $500,000 for a new engine tanker for Lonaconing’s Good Will Fire Co., U.S. Rep. David Trone announced. “My job is to ensure communities across the country are equipped to serve and provide vital resources,” Trone, who represents counties including Allegany and Garrett, said via news release.

When Robert K. Hur testifies to Congress on Tuesday about his investigation of President Biden’s handling of classified documents, he is expected to defend a special counsel process created to shield fraught cases from political interference. But Hur’s testimony will also highlight how Attorney General Merrick Garland’s use of special counsels to handle the most politically sensitive cases has calcified tensions between the White House and the Justice Department.

Last week the Anne Arundel County Health Department finished installing vending machines throughout the county stocked with naloxone and other items to assist those experiencing opioid use disorder. The free vending machines are located in the Brooklyn Park Library, Deale Library, Eastport Community Center, Jennifer Road Detention Center, Severn Center and the Ordnance Road Correctional Center. The seventh is temporarily located at the county’s Health Services Building but will ultimately be placed in the Glen Burnie Health Center, which is under construction.

Maryland is on the hook for nearly $9.5 million as part of a settlement to resolve wage theft allegations within the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. The settlement is the second in a year totaling more than $20 million related to a federal investigation of time-keeping practices within the agency. The Board of Public Works is scheduled to take up the settlement at its meeting on Wednesday.

Maryland has always subjugated transit, walking and biking options to highways. Then, in 2015, Gov. Larry Hogan killed the Red Line, forfeited $900 million in federal funding and increased highway building even more. In fact, the Baltimore region’s Transportation Improvement Program for 2021-2024 allocated a mere $2 million versus $1.3 billion for road building and widening.

 

February was a big month for legalized sports wagering in Maryland, with $442.6 million, 30.4% more than a year ago, and the majority of wagers taken in were paid out in prizes. Of February’s total, $4.2 million goes to the state’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund, which supports public school programs. The state’s monthly take in February was almost 51% more than a year ago.

 

Montgomery County, Maryland’s need to compete has prompted the introduction of a $20 million package designed to give businesses incentives to come to and stay in the county while attracting employees to high-paying jobs. At a news conference Monday before leaders with nonprofit organizations, chambers of commerce and small business owners, County Council President Andrew Friedson joked if all the area leaders were in the room, “Who’s running the economy in Montgomery County right now?”

Baltimore’s Inner Harbor hasn’t always been the public space we recognize today, but the city and its residents have always been connected to the water. Here’s how the harbor transformed from an industrial hub a century ago to the beloved attraction developers want to revitalize.

Hagerstown Police recently expanded the hours of its Watch Center, a downtown Hagerstown office in which civilian employees monitor surveillance cameras to assist residents and police officers. The topic of the Watch Center came up during the mayor and City Council’s State of the City address on Tuesday at The Maryland Theatre. During the video presentation, it was noted that about 35% of calls for police service are handled by the Watch Center.

 

School buses are nothing new in Maryland. What is new, however, is a rapid rise in the use of electric school buses – a rise that is expected to continue. Increasingly, state authorities are concerned that the pollution from traditional buses is a danger, in particular to the 650,000 thousand children who ride to school on diesel-powered fuel every day that needs to be curtailed. Two years ago, the state set goals of trimming greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2031.