In honor of Banned Books Week, Anne Arundel County announced the first book sanctuary in the state. The public library joins 12 other library systems across North America, offering access to banned materials. The Anne Arundel County Public Library hopes that by doing this, it ensures all stories and perspectives are protected.

A few winters ago, as a viral petition calling for a snow day circulated, Christian Pensiero recognized some of the names attached to it. As a fifth-grade teacher at Veterans Elementary School in Ellicott City, Maryland, Pensiero noticed that not only had she taught several of the students who signed the document, but several of her former students were among those who helped create it.

Quarterly state revenue from cannabis sales recently increased 52%, representing the largest quarter-over-quarter increase since the drug became legal for recreational adult use in July 2023, according to a report that Comptroller Brooke Lierman’s office released Tuesday. The market growth resembles what “all states that have legalized adult-use cannabis have experienced,” a spokesperson for the Maryland Cannabis Administration said in a statement.

Lieutenant Governor Aruna Miller made a special appearance at the Crisfield Crab and Clam Bake. The Lieutenant Governor met with local politicians and officials from local universities, like the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Salisbury University. She said events like this help bolster the state of Maryland, and personally connect with people who are most effected by issues, such as flooding.

All Baltimore City School Police officers will wear body cameras by next academic year. At a school board meeting Tuesday night, school police officials said officers will record arrests, interviews, uses of force, and instances when officers stop cars, bicycles or people. “They provide clear documentation of our officers’ interactions. They play a crucial role in evidence collection,” Nick Smith, the director of school police systems, said at the meeting.

Baltimore’s long-stalled Superblock project on downtown’s west side is facing another delay, and city officials said Wednesday they are considering ending an agreement with the developer. The developer countered that it has made significant progress over two years, including building momentum to create “a truly transformative anchor in the Bromo Arts District and for all of downtown,” said Chris Janian, president of joint venture partner Vitruvius, in a statement.

Southwest Baltimore is undergoing a peacebuilding revolution thanks to Father Mike Murphy and the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In coordination with the Baltimore Police Department, Father Mike’s two archdiocesan gun buybacks removed 646 unwanted firearms from our community, including 281 handguns and 314 rifles and shotguns. Some voluntarily turned over had been stolen. (Image: Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun Staff)

If you wake up early enough to get to the gym with Zach Orr — few people do — you’ll see the 32-year-old doesn’t lift like a former NFL linebacker. He does a lot of stretches. Many of his lifts aren’t heavy, an anomaly in a weight room dominated by stacking plates for Olympic-style lifts. But, even though it’s apparent Orr is in good shape, you won’t see him doing barbell squats.

The Maryland Department of Health has agreed to renew Kaiser Permanente’s contract as a Medicaid provider, averting an outcome that one prominent health care advocate said would have amounted to a blow to public health. Gene Ransom, CEO of the independent Maryland State Medical Society, said Tuesday that a tentative decision made by the state health department last week to remove the health care giant from its list of managed care organizations (MCOs) that provide care through Medicaid would have left about 110,000 Marylanders without health care coverage and seeking new doctors with little time to adjust their status.

 

When former Gov. Larry Hogan, now the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin, sat down with The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board on Tuesday in downtown Baltimore, one of the issues he made crystal clear to all was his continued disdain for building the Red Line, the proposed 14.1-mile-long east-west light rail line running from Woodlawn to Johns Hopkins Bayview and possibly beyond.