It has been said “Within crisis, are the seeds of opportunity.” The field of policing in Maryland, like policing throughout the nation, is in the midst of a crisis and within this crisis are the seeds of opportunity. The problem is twofold, the need to fill a record number of police officer vacancies and keeping the experienced officers we have, stemming the current tide of retirements and resignations.

Baltimore-area residents’ daily experiences and outlooks differ substantially by race — how they view neighborhoods, police, schools — according to a new survey from Johns Hopkins University researchers. Among the findings: Black residents of the Baltimore area were more likely to have lost a loved one to COVID and to experience issues with food insecurity and transportation.

Maryland pharmacies aren’t stocking enough of the addiction treatment drug buprenorphine, threatening efforts to stem the growing number of overdose deaths from opioids like fentanyl. The drug, also known by the brand name Suboxone, has been proven to reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms that can send people to buy untrustworthy street drugs.

CVS Health, the nation’s largest pharmacy chain with more than 9,000 locations, said on Tuesday that it planned to change the way its pharmacies are paid for the medications they dispense, in an apparent attempt to address widespread criticism from health plans and employers about high drug costs. The new model, which will begin to go into effect next year, involves a complex corner of the opaque world of drug pricing.

AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE: AZN) is doubling down on Montgomery County, adding another large facility to its already substantial footprint in suburban Maryland. The British pharmaceutical giant has inked a lease to take over a full building — 198,000 square feet — at 700 Progress Way in Gaithersburg. The property sits less than three miles north of AstraZeneca’s existing campus, a nine-story headquarters comprising 1.27 million square feet.

Several times a week these days, the woman who helped keep a roof over people’s heads during the pandemic gets a similar email from residents: “Do you have any rental assistance money? I need help.” Julie Peters, now the chief communications officer at SHORE UP Inc. and formerly the program manager for the rental assistance program at the Salisbury-based organization, helped her agency, in a few years, administer more than $8 million to more than 1,200 renter households on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The World Recycling Company has agreed to pay $200,000 as part of a settlement with the state over unauthorized disposal of solid waste at facilities in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County. According to the lawsuit, state inspectors repeatedly found illegally stored piles of trash at both facilities over the last nine years as litter and debris entered storm drains and polluted surrounding bodies of water.

At Charles and Lombard streets in downtown Baltimore, newly installed digital billboards flash images of art, ads and event promotions. The two video displays on office tower facades, unveiled Tuesday by the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, are the first in a digital sign network designed to enliven the business district north of the Inner Harbor and promote area artists, businesses and events.

At that time, Hall was in jail awaiting a trial. He was not able to go to the funeral of the woman he had been with for nine years. “With who I was and the things that I was connected to then, I didn’t get out,” he said. “(The judge) was scared to let me out.” When he was released from prison in January of 2015, Hall said he was determined to stay out of prison — and to be there for his son, K’Marion.

Not far from where another pedestrian was struck and killed just hours earlier, the state of Maryland announced the next phase of its Pedestrian Safety Action Plan on Tuesday, vowing to make changes that will make five sections of state-maintained highways safer for people to walk and bike through. Those five stretches of road are among more than 20 that state transportation leaders know need to be addressed.