Nate Balis wants you to know that kids make up just 4% of all arrests in Baltimore City. Four percent. The other 96% are committed by adults. So if you’re watching TV every day at 6 and 11 and have become convinced that Baltimore teens are the reason the city is on an unsafe if not outright deadly path, you might want to change the channel. Why? Because the numbers tell a different story, says Balis, director of the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group at the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

A Code Blue Extreme Cold Alert has been issued for Baltimore City with wind chill temperatures forecast to fall into the teens by Wednesday morning. The Code Blue will take effect on Wednesday morning. “With dangerously cold temperatures expected in Baltimore early tomorrow, I am issuing a Code Blue Extreme Cold declaration for Wednesday morning. I encourage residents to stay indoors, especially those most vulnerable to cold,” said Acting Baltimore City Health Commissioner Mary Beth Haller.

The Baltimore Orioles announced some changes coming to home games in the 2024 season. They released the schedule for their home games that will include changing start times for Saturday home games and weekday games. All Saturday games will start at 4:05 p.m., with the exception of a June 29 game against the World Series champion Texas Rangers. All games Mondays through Thursdays will now start at 6:35 p.m., with the exception of one game on Aug. 22. Friday night games will remain at 7:05 p.m. and Sunday games will remain at 1:35 p.m.

The 11-member Montgomery County Council on Tuesday expressed unanimous support for a zoning change that would allow developers to forgo parking spaces when building new housing near public transportation. Council members on Tuesday said the move is intended to encourage residents to go car-free and reduce the cost of new housing to tackle two of the county’s most pressing concerns: the climate crisis and the affordable housing shortage.

Maryland’s utility regulation commission has denied Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.’s effort to shield from the public an internal memo detailing an agreement it struck with Baltimore earlier this year following a request by utility watchdog the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel. In a ruling issued Monday, the Maryland Public Service Commission said it found no grounds for maintaining a confidential designation for the memo as BGE requested. The commission, which reviewed the document, said the memo included no commercial or financially sensitive information.

Test scores for Maryland students in grades 3 to 8 show English proficiency has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, while math scores for 2023 have shown some improvement and science scores have declined, state education officials say. The Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program tests are administered annually in public schools to assist educators in understanding student progression so that they can better tailor their methods of instruction.

Students at five Baltimore County middle schools will soon be able to call a hotline for mental health services, Superintendent Myriam Rogers said at a news conference Tuesday. The 24/7 hotline, called the Cigna Student Support Line, is expected to launch later this month and be available for students at Franklin Middle School in Reisterstown, General John Stricker Middle School in Dundalk, Northwest Academy of Health Sciences in Pikesville, Perry Hall Middle School in Nottingham and Stemmers Run Middle School in Essex.

A state board tasked with controlling prescription drug prices for Maryland workers said that they are likely to identify the first set of medications for cost reduction efforts in early next year, and the panel is finalizing procedures in order to get their work underway. The Prescription Drug Affordability Board put the final stamp on two rules outlining the initial procedures to start evaluating which drugs are not affordable for state workers during a virtual meeting Monday.

Wildfire smoke from Canada. Record-breaking summer temperatures. Sea level rise. More powerful storms and more frequent flooding. We are seeing the effects of climate change here in Maryland. There are other, harder-to-see impacts from climate change: an increase in pests and weeds as temperatures rise. Yet, in an ironic twist, some of the substances we use to kill pests and weeds are key contributors to climate change.

 

The Frederick County government is partnering with nonprofits The Safe Ride Foundation and the United Way of Frederick County to establish an affordable ride program for residents without access to a car. The new program, Rides for Good, was announced at a briefing on Tuesday. It is set to launch on Feb. 1. County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said the goal of the program is to provide another option when public transportation does not suffice, such as during off hours or when people are traveling between jurisdictions.