In Maryland, it’s easy to forget that the Chesapeake Bay is more than just the wide, glittering body of water that cleaves the state roughly in half. The bay watershed is in fact a complicated network of land and waterways spread over six states and the District of Columbia, through a variety of topography, taking in different cultures, economies and political dynamics.

A large group of Muslim and Christian protesters gathered outside Montgomery County Public School headquarters in Rockville on Tuesday morning carrying banners stating “religious freedom” as they chanted, “Protect our children!” On the other side of the street, a smaller group of counter-protesters waved rainbow flags and danced to Lady Gaga songs playing over a boombox as they chanted back, “Protect all children!”

 

A son of Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos appears to be testing the waters for a potential U.S. Senate run. Some Maryland residents over the weekend were invited to participate in a poll that floats John Angelos as a candidate in the Democratic primary race to succeed retiring U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D).

Families who say they’ve been denied tens of thousands of dollars in college savings from their Maryland 529 prepaid trusts were confounded after learning that, despite new oversight, the former executive director would still be responsible for administering the program. The State Treasurer’s Office assumed responsibility for the Maryland 529 prepaid college trust and investment plans on Thursday of last week.

The Upton neighborhood in West Baltimore is famous for its role as one of the city’s earliest and most vibrant African American neighborhoods. Many of Baltimore’s civil rights and cultural icons — including Thurgood Marshall and Cab Calloway — have lived among its historic row houses. One hundred years ago it was an economic, political and cultural center of the city’s Black community, and its architectural landmarks remain in proximity to jobs, schools, churches, subways and bus lines.

Constellation Energy is back on the Fortune 500 after more than a decade, becoming the only Baltimore-based company to make the prestigious list in 2023. Constellation (Nasdaq: CEG) came in at No. 162 on the list of the largest public companies with $24.4 billion in revenue. Constellation was the largest company in Baltimore before it was sold to Exelon Corp. in 2012.

Currently, teachers, administrators and parents are all worried about finishing this school year strong. Classes are almost over and summer is drawing near, but planning and funding is already underway for the next school year now, too. Last month. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore approved increased funding for the Maryland Meals for Achievement program, a decades-old program that offers free breakfast to students in schools where 40% or more of the student body is eligible for the federal free lunch program.

 

Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins appeared at a local gun firing range on multiple occasions and had opportunities to see demonstrations of the machine guns at the center of a federal indictment, according to a motion from his co-defendant’s attorney. Jenkins’ attorneys, however, said last week in their own motion that there was no evidence he ever saw the machine guns.

 

Over two weekends under a reinstated youth curfew, only two kids have come into Baltimore’s city-managed youth centers so far, a result that officials from Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration touted Monday night as evidence of the controversial policy’s effectiveness. Neither of the two kids who have come into the city-managed centers since enforcement began on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend have been transported in the city’s shuttle service, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement Director Shantay Jackson told council members nearing the end of an almost three-hour budget hearing Monday night.

The Maryland State Department of Education released an interim report last month to assess what hundreds of thousands of state students did months after graduating high school. The 154-page report from the American Institute of Research headquartered in Arlington, Va., shows that about 54% of Maryland’s students who graduated between 2017 to 2021 attended a two-year or four-year college or university the same year after completing four years of high school.