Around Maryland

It’s been a week since the stunning and sudden collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. In the days immediately following the disaster, social media was awash with myths and conspiracies that were widely shared and sadly, remain part of the discussion about one of the most significant events in the city’s history. Here are a few of the false narratives and claims that have sprouted in the wake of the tragedy. (Photo Credit: Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun Staff)

Maryland gained two more “million-dollar” cities in the past year — areas where the typical home is worth $1 million or more — according to a research report released Tuesday by Zillow, the tech real estate marketplace company. The state now has 10 cities with typical real estate prices of $1 million or more in data collected in February, compared to eight in February 2023.

A second temporary passage was cleared Tuesday for commercial and essential ships in the Patapsco River following the collapse of the Key Bridge. The 14-foot channel along the south of the disaster site will allow marine vessels access to the Port of Baltimore. An 11-foot channel, 264-feet wide, opened on Monday on the northeast side.

Baltimore Police began a new traffic enforcement Friday initiative that will run through mid-August as part of an effort to reduce accidents and fatalities across the city. The initiative is focused on areas where the department has seen the highest concentration of accidents resulting in injuries and fatalities over the last three years, according to a news release.

Tuesday, April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. In light of that, we visited two programs on Maryland’s Eastern Shore that work directly with special needs students and adults. At the Cedar Chapel Special School in Snow Hill, technology plays a huge role in building critical communication skills. “Because of the communication gaps, sometimes students are trying to tell us the best way they know how, in whatever they’re trying to share with us,” said Principal Belinda Gulyas.

Incumbent Middletown Commissioner Chris Goodman and former Commissioner Larry Bussard captured the two seats available in the town’s election Monday. Burgess John Miller ran unopposed for a sixth term, after three terms as one of the town’s commissioners, and finished with 325 votes out of 350 ballots filed. Monday’s race had three candidates vying for two seats on the town’s five-member Board of Commissioners.

Montgomery County Public Schools is on the hunt for a new superintendent. This comes after the recent departure of former Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight. WUSA9 has learned that McKnight will walk away from Montgomery County with $1.3 million as part of the district’s separation deal.

A $13 million shortfall in Cecil County’s education budget has pitted its Republican county executive against the district’s superintendent and continued in the form of battling news releases. Cecil County’s school communities have been in an uproar since Superintendent Jeffrey Lawson warned in February that hundreds of staff and programs like band and sports would be cut without additional funding from the county.

Ships that typically move cargo in and out of the Port of Baltimore have been forced to use other ports along the East Coast following last week’s deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which means Baltimore port workers have been constantly traveling, retrieving containers from other states and driving them to Baltimore.