The Maryland Port Administration has tapped Matthew Wypyski, a 33-year veteran of the maritime industry, maritime as deputy executive director for commercial development. Wypyski oversees and manages all revenue activities associated with the MPA, including the departments of trade development and also maritime commercial management and strategic initiatives, the port announced Thursday.

Bottled water has become a familiar sight in some schools in Maryland, where officials have found the drinking water tainted with lead, known to cause brain damage in children. The bottles may begin rolling out in more schools. This time the culprit is something called PFAS. Ahead of new federal regulations that go into effect in 2027, state environmental officials have begun looking for the insidious contaminants more commonly known as “forever chemicals,” highly toxic substances used for decades in food packaging and water- and fire-proofing materials. (Photo: Shan Wallace/The Baltimore Banner)

Federal Reserve officials will get the latest look at their favorite inflation indicator Friday, a data snapshot that could influence the September rate decision even as policymakers appear to have their focus elsewhere these days. The Commerce Department at 8:30 a.m. ET will release its personal consumption expenditures price index, a sprawling measure of what consumers are paying for a variety of goods and services as well as their spending preferences.

We welcomed our sassy, goofy, energetic boy Bailey Bernard Bullock to the world on Jan. 14, 2005. May 12, 2021, was the day we lost our beautiful, respectful, humble Bailey to cardiac arrest after a track event at the age of 16. As one can imagine, these are big dates in our family. Days when we remember and honor the impact that Bailey made on his family, his friends and his community in his short time on this earth. But it’s not just two days a year when Bailey’s memory motivates me to turn my grief into action.

Hundreds of high school seniors in Anne Arundel County wrestled with the decision to attend the brand-new Severn Run High School over returning to their previous school. Severn Run High was built to offset overcrowding in Old Mill, North County and Meade high schools. The new facility boasts plenty of windows, state-of-the-art athletic amenities and 3D printers.

It’s a wonderful time to be a Democrat. President Joe Biden stepped aside as the nominee, opening the door for Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The Democratic National Convention ended and Dems left Chicago on a buoyant cloud of joy. Be forewarned. This is a Dougie Downer kind of column. What goes up must come, well, the opposite of up.

Carroll Community College will soon provide educational opportunities for adults and juveniles coming out of the criminal justice system. A new pilot program called the “Justice System to Careers Initiative” will soon offer career training to individuals before they re-enter society from the justice system as a preventative measure for adults and juveniles coming out of incarceration to avoid drug use or low-level crimes.

Two proposed ballot questions, one that would reduce Baltimore’s taxes and another that would offer payments to new city parents, were struck down Thursday by Maryland’s highest court, which found in separate rulings that both violated the state constitution. The Supreme Court of Maryland took up the two cases after separate Baltimore Circuit Court judges found that each question should not appear on ballots for city voters to consider this fall. Each judge ruled that their respective question was outside the scope of changes that citizens are able to make to the city’s charter.

Vice President Kamala Harris said she was “deeply touched” by a photo of her young grandniece, in pigtails, watching her speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago last week. Though Harris hasn’t emphasized it — she said she is running to be president for “all Americans” — the photo captured the potential of her candidacy to make history.

Maryland environmental regulators proposed new restrictions Thursday on operations at a massive coal export terminal in South Baltimore, a long-awaited decision that comes after community members and activists have called on the state for months to shut the facility down. Among the most significant changes proposed by the Maryland Department of the Environment for CSX Transportation’s coal piers in Curtis Bay is a requirement that the company erect large physical barriers to prevent coal dust from wafting off the open-air site and polluting the surrounding neighborhood.