On a recent Friday afternoon, the scene outside the decades-old office buildings of Columbia Gateway is eerily quiet. Few people are strolling outside, and there are parking lots as far as the eye can see. The tired late-summer sun shines on the occasional car driving along the streets, which pass “For Lease” signs at almost every other building.

“TREASURES!” My 3-year-old niece shrieked in delight at the chest filled with gems, Slinkys, bouncy balls and slime. Decked out in an eye patch, gold earring and black pirate hat, Addie collected her riches with a gaggle of children who’d successfully followed the treasure map, solved the clues and found the X that marked the spot.

Most Highlandtown residents do not live in a food desert, otherwise known as a healthy food priority area, where access to food and other basic necessities are stifled, according to Baltimore’s latest Department of Planning data. So why is the neighborhood’s library branch opening a grocery store where everything — from fresh produce and cereal boxes to tampons and baby wipes — is free of charge?

Seventy-five-year-old Argo Duenas stood recently in front of a parking garage on Calvert Street in Annapolis, recounting with emotion how her childhood home once stood on that very spot. “My great-grandmother in 1944, built that house on West Washington Street, a single woman with two little boys,” Duenas said. “She worked at the Naval Academy. That speaks volumes.

It has been six months since Baltimore lost its iconic Francis Scott Key Bridge. The 47-year-old span toppled in seconds after the Dali cargo ship lost power and struck a support pier. This week also was the deadline to file responses to the Dali operators’ petition to limit their liability in the disaster. There’s a lot to catch up on.

A large nonprofit affordable housing group has secured $116.4 million in financing to build and update 313 low-income unitsin Baltimore and Annapolis. Enterprise Community Development is aiming to break ground and launch overhauls of the units by the end of the year. The three projects will be in Annapolis and in the Irvington and Park Heights neighborhoods of Baltimore and plan to seek seniors, homeless veterans and families as tenants, said Janine Lind, president of Enterprise.

Pava LaPere’s colleagues at EcoMap Technologies helped make one of her dreams come true on Tuesday. LaPere, an up-and-coming tech CEO, was remembered at the EcoMap SuperConnect Conference. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and LaPere’s colleagues had a lot to say. “Her loss was not only tragic, it was heartbreaking,” Moore said.

 

Baltimoreans can now apply for a voucher to help them buy electric bicycles. The application window for the pilot program opened on Tuesday and runs through Oct. 10, according to the city’s Department of Transportation. The city hopes the program will break down financial barriers to owning an e-bike and encourage more environmentally friendly transportation, as well as help alleviate traffic congestion.

A new proposal to add wind turbines off the coast of Ocean City caused some controversy Tuesday night. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is looking at a large area, but no decisions have yet been made about when or if new turbines will go up. In fact, they said the process is only in the beginning stages. “We have not proposed any wind development areas at this point.

The Anne Arundel County Council recently introduced an updated version of a bill that would require developers to allocate a portion of new units for moderate-income residents. The legislation, known as the Housing Attainability Act, was introduced Sept. 3 by council members Allison Pickard, Julie Hummer, Lisa Rodvien and Pete Smith, all Democrats, at the request of County Executive Steuart Pittman.