Howard County officials revealed plans Thursday for a new lakefront library in Columbia that they expect to become the planned city’s crown jewel and a model for other communities. The new library — at 100,000 square feet — will be at least twice the size of any other facility in the county library system and will include an auditorium, a literacy classroom, flexible community space and a digital lab. It will host speakers, author talks and other public events. The building was designed by English architect Thomas Heatherwick and construction is expected to begin as soon as 2026.

A 17-year-old boy was killed and a man was injured in two separate downtown Towson shootings in the space of eight days, sparking fears that big-city crime was taking root in the rapidly growing heart of the suburb north of Baltimore. But new data from the Baltimore County Police Department shows crime in downtown Towson rebounded last year to 2019 levels after a dip during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic, when many businesses and retailers initially shut down.

With the end of the 2023 legislative session fast approaching, the Maryland General Assembly should move quickly to finalize timely legislation to update and improve EmPOWER Maryland, the state’s energy efficiency program. EmPOWER, launched in 2008, has saved ratepayers more than $4 billion on energy bills and reduced Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 9.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equal to taking 2 million cars off the road for a year.

A showdown between the House and Senate chambers over education funding intensified Thursday when House budget negotiators showed up for an afternoon meeting, while senators stayed in place across the street. The Budget and Taxation Committee remained in a voting session in the Miller Senate Office Building as legislative staffers, ­administration officials and advocates crowded the House Appropriations Committee room, where earlier budget negotiations had been held.

When a stubborn pain in Nick van Terheyden’s bones would not subside, his doctor had a hunch what was wrong. Without enough vitamin D in the blood, the body will pull that vital nutrient from the bones. Left untreated, a vitamin D deficiency can lead to osteoporosis. A blood test in the fall of 2021 confirmed the doctor’s diagnosis, and van Terheyden expected his company’s insurance plan, managed by Cigna, to cover the cost of the bloodwork. Instead, Cigna sent van Terheyden a letter explaining that it would not pay for the $350 test because it was not “medically necessary.”

Maryland voters will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution next year, the General Assembly decided Thursday, placing Maryland in a wave of deep-blue states erecting defenses around abortion access as other states restrict or criminalize the procedure. The 2024 referendum — expected to pass because of broad public support for abortion rights in Maryland — is among protective measures being advanced this session by lawmakers spurred to act by restrictions on abortion approved elsewhere.

I’ve been commuting from Annapolis to Baltimore a couple of days a week for several months now. We’ve got traffic in Annapolis, and, sure, sometimes it’s maddening. There was that one time a sailboat mast got caught in a powerline on Forest Drive. But I have to ask you veteran Baltimore Beltway commuters a question. Is it always this bad? Is it as dangerous as it seems to a new commuter like me?

Some Montgomery County Public School staff say the district lacks willingness to more vocally support its LGBTQ-inclusive policies in the face of backlash. The school district recently revised its policy regarding the use of LGBTQ+ inclusive books in schools, saying families should not expect to receive prior alert when their student engages with these materials.

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater on Thursday announced the appointment of a new county chief administrative officer. John Peterson, who most recently was an assistant administrative officer in Howard County, will serve as acting chief administrative officer starting April 10, according to a Frederick County press release. His appointment will need to be confirmed by the Frederick County Council.

John Waters — the beloved Baltimore director best known for the movies “Hairspray” and “Pink Flamingos” — almost won a Baltimore Business Journal Family-Owned Business Award this year. If it wasn’t for that decision he made decades ago to not go into the business started by his grandfather, he would have scooped up an award that surely rivals any Grammy or Oscar. (OK, I’m biased.)