A new nursing program at McDaniel College in Westminster, available starting this fall, is aiming to help address the nursing shortage in Carroll County, according to a college news release. Initial approval from the Maryland Board of Nursing was announced earlier this month. Approval from the other relevant state entity, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, was granted last April.

Gov. Wes Moore has backed off a bit from the draconian cuts he was threatening to transportation funding, and while the changes leave in place the worst reductions, there are still some things to like. First, what we dislike: There is still no construction funding for the widening of U.S. 15 through the city of Frederick, which remains the top priority for both the city and the county, as well as every person who needs to drive that dangerously overcrowded highway.

 

It’s been a whirlwind of a week at Montgomery County Public Schools after Superintendent Monifa McKnight refused to step down after the Board of Education asked her to resign. Many are wondering about the next steps for the embattled superintendent who has about two more years left on her contract. “I will defend my reputation and my decades-long commitment to the students and families of MCPS and will demand that any considerations of my role as superintendent are made through a fair, legitimate, and legal process — anything less would be unacceptable,” McKnight said in a statement Monday.

 

Gov. Wes Moore’s proposed fiscal year 2025 state budget, which was released on Jan. 18, includes the fourth largest cut to community colleges in the history of the Cade Funding formula, a $22 million reduction. According to the calculations in the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFA), Garrett College would receive a 21% reduction from the previous year and many other community colleges would receive double digit decreases as well.

The race to succeed outgoing U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger received its first Democratic primary challenger three days after Ruppersberger said he would not run for reelection. Del. Harry Bhandari, a Baltimore County Democrat, told The Baltimore Sun in an exclusive interview that he would run to succeed the outgoing Democrat in the May 14 primary. Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District encompasses parts of Baltimore and Carroll counties, and part of Baltimore City.

The Baltimore Department of Transportation has changed how it charges fees for some work permits used by tree-planting organizations in the city. The change comes about three months after the nonprofit Baltimore Tree Trust said it was suddenly charged permit fees it had not previously been charged. The fees, according to the group, could have been as high as $12,000 for a $22,620 project in Midtown and $10,680 on a $25,577 project in Greenmount West.

A program that used social workers, peer supporters and other wraparound services to work with police to help reduce crime along the Eutaw Street corridor near Lexington Market officially opened its first office space Friday. The Embrace Resource Center, a partnership between the University of Maryland, Baltimore and several community organizations and city agencies, is credited with reducing crime over a three-year period, but never had its own home until it moved into the building at 55 N. Paca Street.

Baltimore and Cleveland face similar challenges caused by the loss of jobs and decreases in population. Those challenges include a surplus of office space in the downtown business districts and a large inventory of vacant and abandoned properties. Cleveland, however, has done a far better job than Baltimore in meeting those challenges.

Maryland crabs, crab pies and Old Bay are on the line during the Ravens’ matchup against the Chiefs on Sunday with Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore wagering some of their hometown favorites against their Democratic counterparts in Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Scott, who has bet numerous times in the past on football games against his personal friend and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, has this year wagered two dozen crabs from Captain James Seafood, a can of Old Bay seasoning and a video of Scott in a Chiefs jersey.

U.S. Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger is calling it a career, announcing in a video shared Friday that he’s opted not to run for reelection to Congress this year after serving 21 years. “This election, my name will not be on the ballot,” Ruppersberger said at a news conference in his Timonium office after the announcement, adding he was looking forward to spending more time with his five grandchildren during his retirement. “I love my job, but it wasn’t really fair to my family.”