Reading the long-awaited report detailing 80 years of child sexual abuse throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, as well as the impending news cycle, can bring mixed, complex feelings to victims reliving their trauma. But with preparation, the catharsis can outweigh the pain, victims’ advocates and survivors say.The report released Wednesday is nearly 500 pages long and tells how 158 clergy sexually abused and tortured more than 600 children and young adults, as  well as how the church covered it up and protected abusers.

Frederick County’s top law enforcement officer has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Baltimore with conspiracy and making false statements to acquire machine guns on behalf of a county shooting range, The Machine Gun Nest. Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Jenkins (R) faces five counts, along with Robert Justin Krop, a 36-year-old Frederick man who is the owner and co-founder of The Machine Gun Nest, an indoor shooting range just outside the Frederick city limits.

 

The future use of the former Columbia Flyer Building is up for grabs. The Howard County government issued a request for proposals Tuesday for the sale and either the demolition or redevelopment of thebuilding at 10750 N. Little Patuxent Parkway. Bids are due by 4 p.m. on May 26 and closing will take place within three weeks of the end of the due diligence phase, the request for proposals or RFP states.

The federal COVID emergency ends on May 11 after over three years, though it may end sooner if President Joe Biden signs a bill passed by the House and Senate. So what will that look like for you and how will local health departments respond moving forward? “For a lot of people, they may not notice a significant change,” said deputy chief for public health services, Sean O’Donnell with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.

Within an hour of Wednesday’s release of an attorney general’s investigation into abuse at the hands of priests in Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese, the Maryland General Assembly sent a bill to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk to allow more survivors to sue people who sexually abused them. Moore vowed to sign the Child Victims Act (House Bill 1), sponsored by House Economic Matters Committee Chair C.T. Wilson, a Democrat from Charles County and a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. This is the fourth legislative session that Wilson, who painfully related his own story of abuse to fellow lawmakers, has sponsored the bill.

Thousands of drivers in Maryland were charged more than they should have paid when traveling through the state’s tolled roads, bridges and tunnels, according to a new state audit that confirms reports of irregularities in toll transactions in recent years.  The Maryland Transportation Authority collected more than $1 million in “potentially improper” tolls from drivers who were charged twice for the same trip or were charged when they shouldn’t have been, according to the review by the Maryland General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Audits.

Anyone who cares about the future of downtown Frederick had to heave a huge sigh of relief when reading the front page of Monday’s News-Post. Jim O’Hare — the developer of a planned residential building and boutique hotel on the site of the old Visitation Academy — quickly assured the community that the fire that damaged the historic building over the weekend would not affect his project.

 

The Baltimore Blast will debut a women’s outdoor soccer team this spring as the organization looks to expand its audience. The Baltimore Blast Women’s Football Club (WFC) will debut in May at a brand new field on Towson University’s campus, to be named “Tiger Field.” Ed Hale, owner of the Baltimore Blast, said the move is part of a larger plan to grow interest in the sport locally, as the organization prepares to open new youth sports camps specifically for girls.

A weak City Council in Baltimore is a century-old tradition. Fed up with the machine politicians who controlled the council, state legislators voted in 1898 to rip budgeting power away from the body — leaving only the mayor the ability to both cut and add to the spending plan. That charter amendment was coupled with others that also strengthened the power of the mayor, cementing the city’s strong-mayor status for decades to come. The mayor-controlled Board of Estimates was created, and the mayor’s term extended from two years to four.

The timing was purely coincidental. But just a few hours before former President Trump surrendered to New York law enforcement authorities Tuesday to answer a state indictment, the Maryland House of Delegates bestowed one of its most prestigious awards on former state Attorney General Brian Frosh (D), who frequently sued the former president and his administration over policies and personal business practices.