Three years ago, termite damage convinced the arbiters of public art in Annapolis that it was time to end the nine-year run of Bobby Donovan’s cedar sculpture, “Shoal,” at the center of Westgate Circle near downtown. Always intended as a temporary installation atop the grassy center of a traffic roundabout, the work was meant to evoke the ribs of a ship in a boaty town.

The Frederick County Planning Commission voted 4-2 on Wednesday to approve a site plan, with conditions, for two buildings on 125.66 acres in Monrovia, despite opposition saying it would exacerbate traffic problems. West of the site plan is a Costco distribution center, which has many trucks coming and going. Some trucks, despite numerous warnings and prevention efforts, drive south on Md. 75, and get stuck under a railroad bridge that runs over Md. 75.

 

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins “regretted” signing a letter that allowed a local machine gun business owner to obtain a combat-style machine gun, according to a motion federal prosecutors filed Wednesday. The motion outlines how undercover federal investigators tried to confirm that Jenkins’ co-defendant, Robert Krop, had illegal machine guns at his Frederick business, The Machine Gun Nest.

The $100 million redevelopment of a long-troubled North Baltimore block just got another fresh start. MCB Real Estate has renamed and rebranded its Madison Park North project to Reservoir Square, a new identity for a long-needed redo of a part of Baltimore once known as the “Murder Mall.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore made a splashy announcement in West Baltimore on Thursday that he’s re-starting the effort to build the Red Line, a transit line that will cross the city from east to west. The announcement was greeted warmly by political and community leaders still smarting from then-Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision to cancel the project and forfeit $900 million in federal money.

New data shows Maryland is seeing a sharp increase in the number of school-aged children receiving mental health services. In response, the Harford County Health Department, in partnership with Harford County Public Schools, is stepping up its efforts to provide even more assistance to families. These mental health services are being offered even on the very last day of classes. Students will still be able to tap into HCPS’s services over the summer. Those services have been expanded thanks to a $150,000 grant.

 

 

Mckayla Wilkes announced Thursday that she will run again for the Democratic nomination to represent the 5th Congressional District. Veteran lawmaker U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), who turned 84 on Wednesday, has overseen the district that includes all three Southern Maryland counties of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s and a sliver of Prince George’s for almost 42 years.

I am writing to express my frustration with the lack of transparency surrounding the future of Harborplace. Baltimore’s approval of a lease amendment earlier this year to transfer Harborplace to developer MCB Real Estate only adds to the suspicion that town halls, such as the one June 3 at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, are not truly meant to involve the public in the decision-making process. M

Admissions and amusement taxes are so ubiquitous in Maryland these days, most people in Frederick County probably thought they were already paying some kind of small levy on movies, sporting events and other entertainment events or activities here. But they haven’t been.

Baltimore is on track to reverse its most deadly trend. If the current pace of fatal shootings holds, it would be the first year since 2018 that the homicide rate went down, not up, and the first year since 2014 with fewer than 300 people killed in the city. The promising development comes despite a troubling and continuing rise in youth gun violence.