Many people are familiar with Mt. Vernon’s major landmarks — Mount Vernon Place, the Washington Monument, the Peabody. Some residents know it for the 20th-century gay and arts revivals that nicknamed it Baltimore’s Greenwich Village. But fewer know Read Street and its 19th-century Black history. Read Street has become a vibrant community of Black-owned residences, buildings, and businesses with at least five Black-owned stores opening in the just two years since pandemic lockdowns abated. Many of them take in each other’s mail, clean each other’s garbage, collaborate on events and, just generally, look out for one another.

A voice called out to a man meandering past a line of rowhouses in Baltimore’s McElderry Park neighborhood: “Let us holler at you!” When he reached the group gathered on the sidewalk, its members made their pitch. They could help connect him with services or with his resume and getting a job — whatever he needed most to get on his feet. The man nodded, then said when the “time is right,” he would come to visit. As the group moved on, he called out, “Proud of y’all!”

 

Next November, Democrat Joe Biden may do what roughly two-thirds of incumbent party presidential nominees who ran for reelection have done: win reelection. In the U.S. House, court rulings in key redistricting cases, coupled with the political fallout from the Republicans’ internal chaos, gives Democrats a fighting chance to recapture the lower chamber. Because Democrats are playing defense in far more U.S. Senate seats, however, the GOP might flip the Senate.

Paisley Parsons is 10 years into his medical gender-affirming transition, and a majority of that time he’s spent looking for a good team of doctors in Maryland. Parsons, from near Hagerstown, had limited access to nearby care when starting his transition. Driving to Philadelphia, the District of Columbia or Baltimore were the best options to receive what he needed. “It took me probably six or seven years to find a team of doctors that I felt like was up to par, but prior to that, finding someone educated and competent was few and far between,” said Parsons.

With Mayor Brandon Scott’s announcement of a comprehensive plan to alleviate severe housing vacancies, Baltimore stands at the cusp of transformation with impending multibillion-dollar investments. But the mayor’s announcement might have unintended consequences. Working inside the housing market are a great many speculators who will aim to increase their holdings in neighborhoods with high vacancy levels. The risk from speculation threatens the very communities these investments aim to uplift.

The threat to global trade in the Red Sea remains high, even with efforts to protect commercial vessels from attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants based in Yemen. Danish shipping giant Maersk’s decision on Tuesday to pause Red Sea and Gulf of Aden transits until further notice underscores the difficulty for the U.S.-led initiative, called Operation Prosperity Guardian. U.S. Navy helicopters, returning fire, sank three of the four Houthi boats that attacked the Maersk Hanzghou over the weekend, the U.S. military said.

 

It’s the Monday morning before Christmas, and EcoMap Technologies’ new CEO starts the day alone in his new, private office. It can be lonely at the top. But for Sherrod Davis, especially so. He’s filling a role once occupied by Pava LaPere, his professional partner and friend, whose September death sent shock waves throughout Baltimore. This office, this job title, this moment: It was never supposed to be like this.

After news of major cuts in the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) budget were announced last month, Montgomery County’s elected officials are rallying to figure out ways to fill the gaps. “This is a massive blow, a massive hit,” Council President Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) said at a Dec. 11 press briefing. MDOT announced Dec. 6 that it will cut $3 billion from its budget under a draft proposal, including a $400 million reduction in contributions to local government transportation funding.

 

Your application for college or a mortgage loan. Whether you’re correctly diagnosed in the doctor’s office, make it onto the short list for a job interview or get a shot at parole. That bias can enter into these often life-altering decisions is nothing new. But today, with artificial intelligence assisting everyone from college admission directors to parole boards, a group of researchers at Morgan State University says the potential for racial, gender and other discrimination is amplified by magnitudes.

 

Marylanders have spent hundreds of millions of dollars buying cannabis since the drug was legalized for adult use this summer. Every month since July, there’s been at least $50 million of sales of adult-use cannabis, on top of more than $30 million per month sold for medical patients – a robust market for the fledgling industry.