Around Maryland

A handful of new security cameras and a shot-spotter detection system could be on the way to Pocomoke. The city's police chief asked the city for the additional help at Monday night's city council meeting. The hope is the additional technology could help, in part, with the departments challenges to recruit. "As every agency in America is finding this with a manpower shortage, you have to be creative and inventive on how you're going to be proactive," said Police Chief Arthur Hancock. "Technology, you know, it's a big part of it in todays world."

Over the last few months, Ginger Gilmore, 46, has watched the value of her food stamps decrease. She was getting $725 a month, which dropped to $600, then $500 and now $430, she said. She also has a limited income, since she receives disability checks and can’t work due to health problems, something she’s dealt with her whole life.

The Howard County Public School System is seeking public input on the national search for a permanent superintendent of schools. An online survey will be open through April 5, Board of Education President Jennifer Mallo announced at the school board meeting Monday evening. “We are looking forward to massive amounts of data collection for that,” Mallo said.

Have a buck? Then you may soon be able to afford a vacant rowhome in many Baltimore neighborhoods. The offer sounds like a steal, reminiscent of the famed 1970s Dollar House program that helped rebuild Baltimore neighborhoods like Otterbein. But city housing officials have stressed that their plan today is narrower — applying to a small fraction of Baltimore’s thousands of vacant properties.

A three-year United States Department of Justice investigation released Monday found that University of Maryland Baltimore County knew about allegations of sexual assault, harassment and discrimination by a former head coach and failed to protect the students on his team. The investigation found that the university did not devote enough resources to comply with Title IX, the law that prohibits sex discrimination in education, which allowed Chad Cradock, who coached the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, “to do as he pleased without consequence, including engaging in physical sexual assaults” against students between 2015 and 2020.

Part of Nicole Ranoull’s job as Maryland Access Point information and assistance manager at Carroll County’s Bureau of Aging and Disabilities is to help grandparents and older relatives who are faced with being the primary caregiver for young children. Though the bureau does not keep statistics on how many older residents are caring for young children in Carroll, Ranoull said about 20 individuals regularly access the Family Caregiver Support Program. She believes there are many more people who are not taking advantage of resources offered by the program.

A $504,000 study of a proposal to widen Route 97 between Route 140 and Bachman Valley Road in Westminster is expected to be completed soon, Mary Lane, bureau chief of Carroll County’s Bureau of Comprehensive Planning, said last week. Lane spoke at a meeting of the Board of Carroll County Commissioners on Thursday and said the bureau expects the study, which looks at the widening of the road from three to five lanes, including a new intersection at Meadow Branch Road, is slated to be complete this spring.