Around Maryland

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.

Though Maryland isn't in the path of totality for the solar eclipse set for the afternoon of Monday, April 8, 2024, there will still be plenty of reasons to look to the skies in the Hagerstown area and beyond. Here's a look at when the eclipse is coming, then more on events all around to enjoy the big event.

A heightened law enforcement presence took effect in Ridgely, Caroline County, Monday as sheriff's deputies aim to enhance safety measures in the area more frequently. The entire Ridgely Police Department has been placed on suspension, prompting the Caroline County Sheriff's Office to step in and assure residents of increased patrols starting Monday.

As the arduous task of cleaning up the remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore continues, one environmental group said they are concerned about potential pollution impacts we could see from the process. Emily Ranson, the Chesapeake regional director for the advocacy group Clean Water Action, said some concerns include how any hazardous materials will be removed and sediment blooms caused by dredging.