Discount retailer Burlington recently inked a deal to lease close to 35,000 square feet at Lockwood Place bringing a Fortune 500 company to the struggling central business district, which has been rocked by office and retail vacancies. The national chain based in New Jersey will open in the coming few months on the third floor of 600 E. Pratt St. taking over the former Best Buy space that has been vacant for over a decade, a spokeswoman for Burlington said on Wednesday.

A proposed crossing over the Anacostia River that will connect Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens and D.C. neighborhoods east of the river to the National Arboretum is getting a $6.5 million federal grant, officials announced Wednesday. Among other projects, Prince George’s County is securing $4.5 million to advance work on 4.5 miles of trails that would link Capitol Heights to Largo along the Central Avenue corridor and connect to four stations on Metro’s Blue Line.

There’s no secret why there’s been a rash of legislative proposals across the United States in recent months aimed at transgender and nonbinary people. The various measures seek to restrict where individuals can go to the bathroom and whether they can receive gender-affirming care. Most recently, the legislation is aimed very specifically at banning transgender adults and youth from sports competitions that match their gender identity. It’s red meat for right-wing politicians seeking to win over Christian evangelicals and other social conservatives.

The city of Baltimore sued ExxonMobil and other petroleum companies in 2018, seeking compensation for environmental degradation attributable to climate change. That lawsuit is grinding its way through the judicial system. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was one of the first big higher education institutions in the U.S. to renounce coal power. The university offers a master’s degree in climate studies, and has taken many steps to reduce its carbon footprint. The university’s top donor, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is an international climate activist.

 

The office market is decidedly in favor of tenants these days but negotiations over lease terms and tenant requirements have a bit of nuance. Landlords are hard pressed to retain tenants as the threat of trillions in commercial real estate-backed loans set to mature in the coming years looms large, and values on office properties are taking a hit in the wake of rising vacancy, weak demand and higher interest rates.

The school system will accept a grant to expand prekindergarten despite concerns from the Worcester County Commissioners. Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) officials said this week the school system would accept a $600,000 Pre-K expansion grant. The decision comes after the commissioners declined to offer concurrence regarding the Pre-K3 funding.

 

The Frederick County Board of Education on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a $910 million operating budget for fiscal year 2024. The spending plan represents a 10.6% increase over the fiscal 2023 budget. It includes a salary resource pool that will equate to roughly 6% raises for all benefited employees.

 

The Maryland State Board of Education sided with Baltimore City Public Schools against seven charter school operators in a dispute over new funding from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan. In Baltimore City, the school district’s board of commissioners created a funding formula that allocates 75% of Blueprint funding directly to all public schools, a level set by state law.

With recreational cannabis set to be legalized in Maryland starting Saturday, state rules around whether and how police officers can use the substance while actively employed or before they are recruited are being called into question. The Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #3 on Wednesday made its position official: The Maryland Police and Correctional Training Commissions, which has wide latitude to issue directives around drug testing and recruitment policies, should order police agencies around the state to stop barring recruits with a history of cannabis use and discontinue “random” drug screenings for police officers.

Beneath a downpour of rain and intermittent rumbles of thunder, hundreds gathered outside Montgomery County Public School headquarters in Rockville Tuesday afternoon to protest the district’s no-opt-out policy when it comes to reading LGBTQ+ inclusive storybooks to young students in the classroom. Later Tuesday afternoon, multiple residents testified about the curriculum policy during the school board’s public comment period.