The Frederick County Board of Education is set to vote Wednesday on whether to change the current process for approving some health curriculum resources. Since May 2021, the board’s Family Life Advisory Committee — which is run by volunteers and includes health care providers, parents and district employees — has had the authority to approve the curriculum resources that come before it.
Joyce Gantt, 82, had been living at the Landing of Silver Spring for 13 days when management called a meeting to tell residents the assisted-living and memory-care facility would close in 45 days. Her family had worked hard to ensure the Landing would be a good fit for Gantt, paid the $3,000 community fee and rent through October, and spent thousands of dollars on moving fees to get her settled in what they thought would be her home for the rest of her life, until the news Monday, said her son, Derrick Gantt-Bey.
The week began with the release of the annual safety report at Morgan State University, the so-called Clery Report, which must be issued on Oct. 1 by all colleges and universities that receive federal funds. “When you review the statistics, you will note that Morgan State University is a safe campus,” Lance Hatcher, Morgan’s police chief, wrote. But two days later — before most people had even looked at the email that announced the availability of the report, let alone glanced at the document itself — Morgan officials were scrambling to assure students, their parents and a global media audience that “Morgan” and “safe” belong in the same sentence.
Sen. Melony G. Griffith (D-Prince George’s), the chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, will resign at the end of the month to become president and CEO of the Maryland Hospital Association. Griffith told Maryland Matters Friday that she accepted the job in the morning and will begin her new position on Dec. 18. “This has been a tremendously difficult decision,” she said. Griffith, who is in her fifth year in the Senate and previously served for 16 years in the House of Delegates, has worked as a health care policy expert and advocate for her entire professional career.
Former Maryland state Sen. Jennie Forehand, who represented Gaithersburg and Rockville in the General Assembly for 36 years, died Tuesday following “a long struggle” with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a family obituary. She was a prominent Democratic leader on health policy, reproductive rights and protections for survivors of domestic violence—and an early opponent of indoor smoking—and leaves behind a legacy of tireless advocacy and forward-thinking progressivism, according to her friends and former colleagues.
Classes at Bowie State University are canceled for Monday after two people were shot late Saturday night at the end of a week of homecoming festivities. Maryland State Police said Sunday morning they responded to an incident just after 11:30 p.m. and found two male victims, both 19, with non-life-threatening injuries in front of the school’s Center for Business and Graduate Studies.
We had almost completely forgotten that sound — the skull-rattling roar of 46,450 men, women and children inside Oriole Park when one of our guys gets a base hit or one of theirs strikes out. And it’s a bigger, brighter sound in October than in any other baseball month. We had almost forgotten what that’s like. The Orioles were last in the American League Division Series in 2014, but it feels longer-ago than that.
Recreational cannabis sales show no signs of slowing down in Maryland. They reached $92 million in August, up from the previous month, and state officials believe they will continue to increase in excess of a billion dollars by 2025. This trajectory shows cannabis has tremendous potential to help drive the state’s economy through job creation and by injecting revenue into neighborhoods. Also, as we’ve seen in other states, the tax revenue from cannabis can be immensely beneficial for community investment, education programs, and social services.
Montgomery County is ground zero in the education culture wars. However, the incursion by conservative activists has been so subtle that people may not see it. The battle is happening in the courts and in attempts by nationally-funded conservative groups to influence local public opinion in advance of the 2024 Board of Education elections. In 2023, three families filed suit against MCPS over a list of approved supplemental texts featuring LGBTQ+ characters.
Hundreds of medical professionals, language interpreters and community organizers joined forces on Saturday to provide free care and resources for the 16th annual Frederick Community Health Fair at Frederick High School. The fair was sponsored by the Asian American Center of Frederick and Frederick Health Hospital. Seventy-two groups, including Frederick County government agencies, nonprofit organizations, businesses and the U.S. Public Health service, attended.