EPA officials want to spend about $45 million to clean up a section of Baltimore County’s Bear Creek that was contaminated by Bethlehem Steel. A 61-acre portion of the creek, located to the west of the Sparrows Point peninsula, officially became a “Superfund” site in 2022, joining a national list of other badly polluted hazardous waste sites eligible for federal cleanup aid. The creek’s sediment is laden with cancer-causing PCBs, arsenic, heavy metals and grease. The Superfund area sits at the foot of the Tin Mill Canal, where wastewater from steelmaking was dumped.

 

We will invest in industries of the future – with funding for life sciences, biotech, data centers, and cyber. We will cut red tape so Maryland is the friendliest state in the nation to start a business. We will make reforms to the procurement process so the State of Maryland can be a true partner to entrepreneurs. And we will engage in a robust debate on how Maryland funds transportation projects across the state.

 

 

Emphasizing the effects of the imminent budget deficit and spikes in certain crimes among Maryland’s youth, Republicans called Wednesday for immediate follow-through in response to Gov. Wes Moore’s second State of the State address. “The Republican Caucus is committed to advancing legislation that addresses the critical issues facing our state, from ensuring public safety and improving educational outcomes to revitalizing our economy,” Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a representative of the upper Eastern Shore, said in remarks delivered following Moore’s speech.

 

Laurel resident Elizabeth Clayborne, an emergency room physician and a mother of two, is attempting to more effectively treat a common frustration for children and elderly adults: nosebleeds. Despite the relatively low risks associated with nosebleeds, Clayborne said that there are a surprising number of people who go to the emergency room for them. “We actually see about 500,000 ER visits annually in the U.S. for nosebleeds, which is kind of hard for people to believe,” she said in an interview with Maryland Matters.

 

The Maryland Department of Human Services will now fully reimburse stolen food and cash assistance. The department made this change after a Baltimore Banner investigation last year found that the Maryland Department of Human Services has been failing not only to fully reimburse many theft victims, but also to properly inform them of their rights. This new policy applies to any thefts since January 1, 2021, including previously denied claims that are now eligible for reimbursement under the new guidelines, according to a DHS memo released yesterday. In addition, the department will start reimbursing for stolen Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) Program.

 

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced an ambitious plan to reshape state government and better measure the progress toward serving residents during his second State of the State address in Annapolis Wednesday. The Democratic governor said he’ll issue a “state plan” that will lay out performance goals for state government and how they will be tracked. He plans to hold a meeting with tens of thousands of state workers on Thursday to explain it, and eventually there will be an online dashboard for the public to view progress.

A day after City Council President Nick Mosby’s ex-wife was found guilty on charges that also implicated him, he said he is intent on running for re-election and argued Baltimore residents shouldn’t conflate mistakes he’s made in his personal life with his work in City Hall. Nick Mosby hasn’t been charged with any crimes, but claims made by federal prosecutors in open court that he committed perjury on his tax returns have clouded his political future just months out from May’s Democratic primary.

A company creating a new type of wood with the strength of steel plans to build an 88,971-square-foot manufacturing facility in Frederick. InventWood plans to move into its 5971 Jefferson Station Court headquarters by early March thanks to a $20 million grant from a U.S. Department of Energy program. The company will use the facility to start manufacturing its flagship product MettleWood in early 2025 and hire at least 50 to 60 employees. InventWood is currently located at the University of Maryland, College Park, where founder Liangbing Hu conducted most of the early research into how to turn normal wood into an strong construction material.

People in the south end of Worcester County face a significant journey of approximately 45 minutes to Ocean City, the sole early voting location in the county. It is why County Commissioner Caryn Abbott is advocating for a change. Residents in Pocomoke City express their enthusiasm for the prospect of a more conveniently located early voting center. Jessmin Duryea, a Pocomoke resident, highlights the importance of convenience.