When longshoremen walked off the job in Baltimore nearly 50 years ago, their target was clear: the shipping container. For centuries, workers went on ships and hauled out a mishmash of goods and packages, a backbreaking job that required many hands. The standardized container revolutionized the shipping industry, putting many longshoremen out of work.

The next session of Maryland’s General Assembly isn’t scheduled to start until Jan. 8, but Frederick officials are starting to plan for the requests and issues they would like the legislature to address when it convenes. City officials met Wednesday to discuss what topics they would like discuss in a meeting next week with the state legislative delegation from District 3 ahead of the start of the General Assembly session in January.

As the Prince George’s County Public School System celebrated National Energy Efficiency Day, school leaders and others from the Maryland community gathered at Ellen Ochoa Middle School in Landover Hills to see what the future of new school construction will be like. A new school that opened this fall, Ellen Ochoa Middle School, sits on a big plot of land. Underground there are 90 geothermal wells that run 400 feet deep, but at ground level, one can’t even tell.

A coalition of consumer advocates wants Maryland utility regulators to do away with a method of setting rates used by Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. that covers multiple years, saying the process has led to excessive rate hikes. So-called “multiyear rate plans” have been allowed since 2020 through a pilot program.

Cats are often said to have nine lives. Ruth Wang and Brendan Morrison may not have lived quite that many, but they decided to open a cat cafe together after wandering several other paths. Wang studied physical therapy before becoming a barista and then pursuing a career as an artist. Morrison spent a decade as a martial arts performer and YouTube personality before working in car sales.

 

Clark Construction has been selected to complete the first stage of construction services for the rebuild of Pimlico Race Course, putting the company in the driver’s seat for the state-backed building project. Following stop-and-start-efforts in recent years to renovate the dilapidated racetrack, the state has now budgeted $400 million in bonds to fund a two-part project: Pimlico will be rebuilt using at least $250 million, and a horse racing training facility will be constructed elsewhere in the state using at least $110 million.

Baltimore County Councilman Wade Kach, who has been in public office for nearly 50 years, said Tuesday he will retire at the end of his current term. “In January of 2025, I will have been in public office for 50 years, so at the end of this term will be 52 years,” Kach said. Kach’s current term ends in December 2026. He said he won’t run again, citing his health. (Photo: Wesley Lapointe for The Baltimore Banner)

 

As the anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing war approaches, people around the Washington region are mourning, praying, rallying and finding comfort in their communities. The nation’s capital has seen a steady drumbeat of vigils and protests since the conflict erupted nearly a year ago on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, prompting a devastating military response.

In 1978, thousands of Baltimoreans opposed a commercial development at Harborplace by James Rouse and his company. They tried but failed to stop the construction of Rouse’s “festival mall” on the public waterfront at Pratt and Light streets, and the rest is history. James Rouse was a white man. I point this out only because of Mayor Brandon Scott’s recent statement that 46 years later, opposition to the redevelopment of Rouse’s Harborplace is due to the lead developer, David Bramble, being Black.

Maryland’s health insurance open season starts on Nov. 1. The state is opening its exchange up for people to browse plans and prices in preparation for the 90-day period where people can sign up for insurance or change their plan. Open enrollment runs from Nov. 1 to Jan. 15, 2025 for coverage next year. The marketplace offers health plans to Marylanders who do not get plans through their employers or through Medicaid or Medicare.