Confession: I was one of those day care parents. You know, the one that picks up their kid — usually the only one left by then — two minutes before the 6 p.m. deadline and the racking up of extra fees. I wasn’t trying to be neglectful or delay the irritated but professional staff from locking up and going on with their lives. I was just a single mom with a busy job.

As members of the faith community, we appreciate that the General Assembly is taking the concerns of the community regarding public safety and the reduction of crime seriously. We understand the fears that have been amplified in the media and at conversations around dinner tables. Yet, we also believe that most of the new juvenile justice legislation (House Bill 814/Senate Bill 744), as it is currently written, will do more harm than good.

A controversial bill that would allow qualifying terminally ill patients to prompt their own death with the help of a physician might be in trouble again, after Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) indicated Friday the legislation may not have enough support. Advocates have been hopeful that 2024 would be the year that the Maryland General Assembly would pass medical aid-in-dying, after several unsuccessful attempts in previous sessions.

Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller put her weight behind two road safety bills in the General Assembly this week, including one that would significantly raise fines for speeding in work zones and another adding potential jail time for motorists that crash into users of dedicated bike lanes. Transportation and road safety are key issues for the former Montgomery County Delegate and civil and transportation engineer for her home county’s transportation department.

 

Baltimore businesses are waiting with open arms for thousands of fans who will come to the city for the CIAA Basketball Tournament this week. The conference of historically Black colleges and universities is bringing its men’s and women’s tournaments to CFG Bank Arena from Feb. 26 to March 2. It’s the third year Baltimore is hosting the event in person, and the conference committed last year to keeping the contest in town until 2026. After last year’s tournament brought more than 38,000 fans to CFG Bank Arena, hotels and restaurants are expecting a similar boost in business this time around.

Deborah Haskins used to think that homicide happened to other families. Then in 2013, Haskins’ son, Joseph, 20, whom family members called “JoJo,” was fatally shot during a home invasion in Baltimore. Her nephew, Reuben, 24, was then killed in 2014 in Baltimore County. When she was at the grocery store, Haskins said, she ran into a mother she knew who’d also lost a child. She let her know that there was a victim compensation fund in Maryland.

 

The buck stops with Michael Higgs. That is the message from Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) when it comes to who is responsible for the State Department of Assessments and Taxation missing a mailing deadline for 107,000 properties. “To me, if you’re the head of an agency, it’s your responsibility to make sure that the responsibilities of that agency are executed effectively,” Ferguson said Friday.

On Friday, the Baltimore City Fire Department held its first recruit graduation ceremony of the year. The department added nearly forty EMT/Firefighter and EMT/Paramedics to the ranks of the department. As many as two-hundred fifty family members, friends, colleagues and well wishers attended the graduation ceremony to offer expressions of encouragement and support the members who were graduating at the Baltimore City Fire Academy.

 

The Frederick Community College Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted to approve a $72.4 million draft operating budget for fiscal year 2025. The $72.4 million operating budget would be an increase of $5.6 million, or 8.4%, over fiscal year 2024. Included in the budget discussion was a proposal to increase tuition rates and scale back a planned renovation to save costs. The proposed tuition adjustment would raise costs for students by about 2%.

 

Excitement and cheers rang through the front lobby of the new Silver Spring Recreation and Aquatic Center on Saturday as the facility finally opened to the public nearly five years after construction on the 120,000-square-foot building began. “I have not been this excited since the Washington Nationals won the World Series,” County Councilmember Gabe Albornoz told an eager crowd during the morning’s grand opening ceremony at the center at 1315 Apple Ave. in downtown Silver Spring.