Officials from around Frederick County scrambled Saturday to determine how anticipated state transportation funding cuts could affect the fate of a project to widen U.S. 15 through the city of Frederick. The $121 million project to add one lane in each direction from Interstate 70 to Md. 26 has been expected to begin construction in 2026. But with the state’s Department of Transportation facing budget shortfalls and billions of dollars in cuts, the project — which has been the county’s top transportation priority for years —suddenly appeared in jeopardy Saturday.

I came to Baltimore as a medical student in 1995 in the midst of a raging deadly syndemic of substance use (heroin and crack cocaine), syphilis, hepatitis C and HIV infection. Toward the end of my four years of medical school, early, effective antiretroviral treatment “cocktails” became available, and the near certainty of death became less the norm and more an exception. For nearly two decades as an adult and pediatric infectious diseases specialist, I have provided HIV care to a majority Black patient population, spanning from infants to seniors, in Baltimore.

During his end-of-the-season news conference, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said it was too early to discuss ins and outs of the club’s plans for the offseason. Just two days before, an Orioles team that won more games than any other in the American League was bounced from the postseason without a victory. Elias was peppered with questions about his starting rotation, bullpen and other roster-related questions, almost all of which he deftly punted to the future.

On the eighth floor of a northern Baltimore apartment building that has lost a good bit of its luster since its ornate 1920s revival heyday, things haven’t been going well for the Razie family. Samim, 23, had his car stolen at 8 in the morning in Mount Vernon. He was delivering a package as part of a job with Amazon Flex, which provided a badly needed income stream for this family of nine, when he stepped out of the doorway and saw an empty space where his car used to be.

Maryland’s leading Democratic Senate candidates met in a public forum for the first time Sunday afternoon, broadly agreeing on a range of topics, including immigration policy, LGBTQ+ rights, education spending and economic priorities. But the 90-minute discussion generated some surprising heat, as Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks took issue with U.S. Rep. David Trone’s frequent and not-so-subtle digs at “career politicians” and also pointed out that Trone, a wealthy businessman, has made campaign contributions to “dangerous Republicans” in the past.

Rite Aid Corporation announced Tuesday that customers in Maryland and four other states can now receive prescribed hormonal contraceptives by Rite Aid pharmacists at most store locations after completing an in-person private consultation. Pharmacists in Maryland, as well as California, New Hampshire, Nevada and Oregon, have gained the authority to prescribe hormonal contraceptives depending on each state’s laws and regulations.

Members of the Western Maryland legislative delegation voiced opposition Friday to the idea of switching to a miles-driven basis to raise money for roads instead of the current gas tax method. Discussion on the proposed mileage-based tax took place at the annual Pre-Legislative Breakfast hosted by the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce. The event was held at the Rocky Gap Casino Resort which, along with Verizon, sponsored the breakfast.

The time for public input on County Executive Marc Elrich’s proposed Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) closed this week, and environmentalists and developers have been vocal about their support of or opposition to the new rules. “Efficient building electrification will be one of the most effective ways to reduce energy demand and carbon pollution from the built environment as the County tackles its ambitious climate change goals,” Elrich wrote in a press release announcing the standards earlier this month.

 

“We don’t accomplish anything in this world alone… and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one’s life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.” Noelle Newman said she distinctly remembers first hearing that quote from Sandra Day O’Connor, reminding her to embrace the help of others. O’Connor died Friday at 93 of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness, according to the U.S. Supreme Court in a news release.

Reclaim the Records, a nonprofit organization focused on using the law to acquire vital records, began the work to file a Maryland Public Information Act request in October 2022. Their goal was to obtain and digitize over a 100 years of Maryland birth, marriage, death and naturalization documents, a project they dubbed The Maryland Motherlode. The records can now be viewed on the Internet Archive.