Around Maryland

The six construction workers who fell to their death when Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed were all Latino immigrants ranging from ages 26 to 49. They were described as hardworking, humble men, dedicated to their spouses, children and families in their homelands. Foreign embassies have confirmed the men to be from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico.

The dispatch calls from the Maryland Transportation Authority Police show just how close the Key Bridge collapse came to being an even worse disaster. The transcripts of the audio from early Tuesday morning show the police only had a few minutes to shut down the highway as the bridge was on a collision course.

When a nearly 1,000-foot-long container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, its bow appeared to cut directly into one of the concrete supports holding up the structure, skirting above the modest protective barriers at its base.

By a single-vote margin, the Maryland Supreme Court has decided to continue conversations regarding the adoption of mandatory continuing legal education for Maryland attorneys. The 4-3 vote reached by the justices on Wednesday afternoon after an hour-long virtual meeting reflected the split nature of opinions on mandatory CLE held by attorneys and Maryland legal organizations who previously submitted written and verbal comments on the matter.

As drivers search for new routes, the disaster is sure to increase congestion around Baltimore’s two harbor tunnels and westbound Interstate 695, transportation experts say. The bridge carried more than 12.4 million commercial and passenger vehicles in 2023 — nearly 34,000 trips a day — according to a Maryland Transportation Authority report issued last fall.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, a massive container ship struck the Key Bridge, causing the structure to collapse in moments. But could it have been prevented? Engineering experts told The Baltimore Banner that this will be the main question for investigators in the wake of the tragedy and raised similar concerns about what little we know about the 47-year-old bridge and its subsequent collapse so far.

Frederick County could feel the effects of supply chain delays due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning. Rick Weldon, the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO, said everyone will be affected — from those with Amazon orders to manufacturing and construction companies waiting for materials to complete projects.

As multiple parallel projects seek to reimagine Druid Hill Park for a better future, Baltimore’s Department of Transportation plans to make it friendlier to pedestrians, cyclists and public transit by eliminating the highway-like characteristics of some of the roadways that encircle it.

The Washington County Division of Emergency Services Public Safety Training Center project has been selected for Fiscal Year 2024 Congressionally Directed Spending funding by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The project funding, requested by Senators Cardin and Van Hollen and Congressman Trone, was included in the first FY24 spending package, recently passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, securing an allocation of $1,000,000.