The mere mention of “artificial intelligence” inspires a lot of dread and wonder in the general populace. Yet it’s an overbroad subject. AI can mean anything from self-driving cars to facial recognition technology. Robots that perform unenviable tasks to new mashups of popular songs. Enhanced fraud detection at banks to deep video fakes meant to dupe the public.
Deaf residents of Frederick County are a vital, important pillar of our community, and when they ask something of local business owners, they should be given close attention. Many deaf children come to Frederick to study at Maryland School for the Deaf, and many graduates of the historic school stay on or return after college to begin their careers. For deaf people, Frederick is a welcoming community. They in turn have enriched our county.
“Are you ready to do this?” my friend Chrissy asked me as a guide clipped me onto a zipline high above Panama’s Gatun Lake. Cables, a helmet and the giant version of the carabiner I hook my keys into were the only things protecting me from gravity and hitting every crunchy branch in the tree line below. “Well,” I replied, wondering if Chrissy and our guides could hear my heart pounding like a Questlove beat. “I guess I better be!”
The public has been waiting for Gov. Wes Moore (D) to end the Hogan administration’s ill-conceived toll lane plan and choose better alternatives for the I-495/I-270 corridor. The project’s original private partner, Australian toll giant Transurban, has walked away. A Washington Post poll shows majorities in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties oppose the toll lanes. The inherent inequity of the project conflicts with Governor Moore’s stated values.
It was not surprising that the CEO of the trade association that represents builders and developers in Baltimore County pushed back on my opinion that the county’s ordinance supposedly ensuring that public schools have adequate capacity to accommodate new residential development (APFO) needs revision (”Building association: Development not cause of overcrowded Maryland schools,” July 28). It also was unsurprising that the CEO implied that the current law is responsible for a decline in single-family housing starts in the county, even though the decline is part of a national trend that has nothing to do with the school APFO.
Storms wound down Monday night after a barrage of rain hit the Baltimore region, causing significant damage and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people throughout Maryland. The storm that started pouring rain on Baltimore at about 5 p.m. had slowed down after an hour, but some rain and thunder are expected to continue into the night. The weather service recorded that nearly 1 1/3 inches of rain had fallen at BWI Marshall Airport by 8 p.m. Winds reached 22 mph at BWI during the storm, when gusts reaching 43 mph were recorded at the airport.
Over the summer, Maryland county coffers will grow by a collective $13.6 million — their second annual payout from last year’s landmark national court settlement against opioid industry giants — companies whose drugs, plaintiffs contended, helped fuel a nationwide addiction crisis. But Baltimore City won’t get a dime.
A Baltimore County councilman wants to exempt a roadway off Route 147 from the county’s long-standing ban on parking along Big Gunpowder Falls. The proposal has the backing of the county executive. However, some who frequent the Gunpowder River corridor from Carney to Perry Hall doubt that reopening the 2.5-mile road to parking will improve hazardous conditions for pedestrians and drivers.
The ordinance to increase rates was introduced to the Town Council last month. If approved, the increases will take effect Sept. 1, for 3,200 water and sewer customers. The proposal calls for the flat fee charged to each customer connected to the water system to increase from $21 to $25; sewer service costs would rise from $21 to $28.
The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee owes approximately $14,000 in fines to the Internal Revenue Service for two years of unpaid federal taxes, a budget document shows — but committee leadership has kept quiet about the details, including where the cash was spent. According to a fiscal year 2024 budget proposal, the committee, which is a volunteer-run operation responsible for getting local Democrats elected to public office, nominating politicians for open seats in the state legislature and fundraising for the party, owes the federal government $13,608 in fines and fees for not paying federal taxes in 2017 and 2018.