Price of Ellicott City flood prevention project balloons to $130 million
The price of a flood prevention project in Ellicott City which saw two major flooding events in 2016 and 2018, has skyrocketed by nearly $50 million. According to Howard County officials, building the “extended north tunnel” is now expected to cost $130 million, compared to the $82 million price tag that was initially announced along with the project in 2019. County Executive Calvin Ball (D) put much of the blame on inflation. “While we understood the sizable investment required when we began this project in 2019, we could not foresee the present inflationary pressures,” Ball said. According to Ball, construction and building costs in Maryland over the past year have increased by nearly 15% and more than 21%, respectively.
Educators craft, promote Black studies as other states limit how it’s taught
The 15 students in Damien Ford’s class at the Baltimore School for the Arts were glued to the clip of the late Toni Morrison artfully discussing the “white gaze” — the assumption that a reader is white and writing from a Black perspective. None of the teens had been born when the 1998 interview with broadcast journalist Charlie Rose aired, but the author’s words still resonated with them .“I think she ate him up,” said Sydney Tugnor, a 15-year-old sophomore in the African American Literature class. “She wasn’t aggressive or rude. She said what she had to say and he didn’t say anything back.”
Maryland joins U.S. Climate Alliance, commits to climate goals
Maryland has joined the U.S. Climate Alliance and is supporting efforts to address climate change, including reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, land preservation, and other actions, Gov. Wes Moore announced last week. Moore’s $63.1 billion budget proposal, released Jan. 20, includes $422 million for environmental protection in Maryland. The investment would be made through programs funded by the transfer tax supporting land preservation, operations, and capital projects for state parks. It would accompany $129 million in general funds for the Great Maryland Outdoors Act’s revision of the transfer tax repayment provision.
Parent to college savings plan board: ‘This is not a technical error’
An unofficial spokesman for account holders of Maryland 529, the state’s troubled college tuition payment fund, told the agency board Monday that its recent explanation about problems with the program to the Maryland General Assembly fell short of being completely accurate. Brian Savoie, one of more than 30,000 account holders in the Maryland Prepaid College Trust, told the board that errors in their account balances were not merely an “earnings calculation issue,” as described to lawmakers, but the result of a board-approved policy change in June 2021 to pay additional “earnings” to accounts and then a subsequent reversal.
Sunstone Credit lands $20M Series A funding round
Baltimore-based Sunstone Credit Inc., a technology-enabled clean energy financing platform that helps businesses go solar, Tuesday announced an oversubscribed $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by an affiliated fund of Greenbacker Capital Management LLC, which provides flexible capital and best-in-class guidance for growth-stage clean energy companies. Sunstone is on a mission to help more businesses go solar by providing simple and cost-effective loan financing. Even as a confluence of factors drive business demand for clean energy, including tax incentives, customer preferences for sustainability, and a need for resilient power access, most companies have not had access to loan financing for solar installations in the past.
Bed Bath & Beyond to close 87 more stores, including three in Md.
Anger, aftermath and hope: Following threads of violence in Annapolis
Inside an American Legion hall, angry moms asked for better security four days after a killing in their neighborhood. They also sought help with cramped living conditions during agonizingly slow renovations. Across town, artists gathered in Maryland Hall to celebrate the opening of an exhibit inspired by death. And at a community rec center, a group of interns relaunched a program aimed at helping their community deal with violence. These three gatherings in Annapolis on Thursday night might seem like unrelated events linked by a coincidence of calendar. But they also were tied by the thread of gun violence, by people striving for change. I followed that thread in hopes of finding some meaning. Here’s what I found.
Gov. Moore to tap new Baltimore County school board members after budget season
The Baltimore County Public Schools community shouldn’t expect new board members until after the budget season that wraps up by the end of February, according to the governor’s office. The county board of education has four appointed members whose terms have already expired but are staying on until the governor appoints their replacements. “To avoid making decisions that could disrupt that time-sensitive [budget] process, the Appointments Office and the Board’s Nominating Commission have agreed to hold on new board appointments until after that time,” said Carter Elliott, press secretary for Gov. Wes Moore, in an email on Tuesday.
Lawmakers will consider changes to compassionate release in Maryland
As a nurse practitioner, Marian Grant recalled how she cared for a man with serious health issues in the hospital who was incarcerated at the Maryland Correctional Institution – Jessup. The man, she said, was 74 and suffering from kidney failure. He was unable to walk or care for himself. And he was so confused that he could not answer her questions. Grant said his medical charts indicated that he’d been back and forth in the last few weeks between the prison infirmary and the hospital. He was shackled to the bed, while a corrections officer sat in the room looking at his cellphone.
What to know about Gov. Wes Moore’s first State of the State speech Wednesday
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will hit another key milestone in his nascent administration when he delivers his first State of the State address to the General Assembly — and the people of the state — at noon on Wednesday. Here are key facts about the State of the State and what to expect.
