Had you crossed the Francis Scott Key Bridge just a few weeks ago, as millions of motorists did before a wayward container ship struck it in the early hours of March 26, you’d have passed below a familiar steel superstructure of triangulated sections about half a mile long, a sight that was part of Baltimore’s skyline for decades.

Maryland voters are increasingly concerned with the cost of housing, a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll finds. Nearly 1 in 5 registered voters cite affordable housing as the state’s top problem, up from 13 percent in 2019 to 19 percent in March. Roughly 3 in 4 voters say Maryland housing is “extremely expensive” or “very expensive,” including most voters in every region of the state.

A new video shows containers being removed from the Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the Key Bridge causing it to collapse on March 26. The Dali remains stuck in the Patapsco River. This process allows the Unified Command to prepare to clear the portion of the bridge that remains on top of the ship, and is also a crucial step in removing the ship and reopening the Fort Henry Channel.

 

As Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates announced charges Wednesday against juveniles involved in a carjacking and robbery spree last fall, he also cited the need to hold parents criminally and financially accountable in cases where parents know of their child’s crimes. Baltimore prosecutors accused 20 young people of a series of armed carjackings and robberies throughout the city in October and November.

Washington County’s fatal overdoses dropped nearly 22% in one year’s time based on recent data shared from the state of Maryland — something to celebrate, according to the Washington County Health Department. “Obviously a cautious celebration, but one nonetheless, since we’ve focused so many efforts on ending overdoses and working closely to help those with substance use disorders here in our area,” said Vicki Sterling, director of behavioral health services for the health department.

After several aldermen said that some of the programs are not what they had asked the city’s staff to provide, Frederick will take more time to consider more than $2 million in proposals to fund affordable housing projects and initiatives to help people in danger of losing their homes.

Some Marylanders reported feeling an earthquake Friday morning that was centered in New Jersey. The U.S. Geological Survey reported a 4.8 magnitude earthquake was recorded around 10:23 a.m. near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia. The quake even paused business at the United Nations in New York City.

Marylanders may be able to catch a partial glimpse of the total solar eclipse set to cross North America on April 8. The moon will completely block the face of the sun, darkening the sky for those in the “path of totality,” which includes some 31 million Americans across 15 states. “It will look like the sun is being cut into a crescent shape like a cookie with a bite taken out of it,” said Allison Youngblood, a research astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and a deputy project scientist for the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

 

BALTIMORE — If you’re a regular at Kitsch, Jackie Mearman probably knows your name. She’ll greet Johns Hopkins University students crossing the street for a pick-me-up at the cafe and neighbors dropping in for a pastry. And on Monday, as a woman loudly chatted up another customer by the front door, Mearman whispered to a reporter, “I know she’s going to talk forever.”