Around Maryland

Every day when Rev. Walter Sadler is about to leave work at Southern Bethany Baptist Church in Burtonsville, he looks out the front window to make sure nobody is lurking in the parking lot before he heads out to his car. After facing vandalism, theft of a van, and threats targeted at the historically Black church over the past few years, he and his parishioners don’t always feel safe. They lock the doors immediately after services, and he won’t let parishioners put up a “Black Lives Matter” sign in the church yard because he’s concerned it could make the congregation a target.

Baltimore City and Baltimore County were among three Maryland jurisdictions to lose population in 2023, according to newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. Net losses in domestic migration — more people left for another U.S. jurisdiction than moved from one — drove the declines. Each jurisdiction’s decrease from July 2022 to July 2033 was not as drastic as the prior year’s, though. Baltimore City declined 0.7% to 565,239 residents and Baltimore County fell 0.2% to 844,703. Garrett County in Western Maryland was the other Maryland jurisdiction whose estimated population fell.

The Harford County Council voted Tuesday to approve modifications to the county’s Agricultural Land Preservation program, which include reducing the number of acres required to be admitted into the program and setting a timeline for landowner applications to be accepted. Council President Patrick Vincenti and council members Tony Giordano, Aaron Penman, Dion Guthrie and Jacob Bennett voted to approve the updates; council member Jessica Boyle-Tsottles was absent.

Some things in life are certain: death, taxes and roadwork on Interstate 695. The next phase of an ongoing, multiyear construction project that aims to ease congestion and improve safety on I-695, the Baltimore Beltway, begins Monday, the State Highway Administration announced in a press release. The agency is warning drivers to expect “significant off-peak delays” along the northeast section of the Beltway as crews tackle shoulder work along a roughly 1½-mile section between White Marsh Boulevard and Lillian Holt Drive.

Carroll County school officials are weighing a ban on cellphones in the classroom. Students in the school district are allowed to have their phones with them and are permitted to use them at certain times throughout the day. School board members discussed at Wednesday's meeting a proposed cellphone ban for students, saying it is a distraction to their education. "I don't want to say we can't have cell phones but we need to have a certain time," Carroll County Public Schools board member Marsha Herbert said.

As part of Mercy Health Services/Mercy Medical Center’s ongoing efforts to expand health care services throughout Maryland, the Baltimore-based health care provider has opened Mercy Personal Physicians at Ellicott City, and several Mercy digestive health, liver, obesity and GI cancer specialists will see patients in Fredericksburg. Located at 3290 N. Ridge Road, Suite 220, 2nd floor, Mercy Personal Physicians at Ellicott City features primary care, specialized physician care and a variety of diagnostic and laboratory services.

A crowd of nearly 500 visitors gathered last week to celebrate the opening of the newly renovated East Columbia 50+ Center, which, at 29,000 square feet, is seven times larger than the previous center. First built in 1994, the center was approximately 3,800 square feet inside the East Columbia Library, according to a county spokesperson. Plans to renovate and expand the center began in 2014, with construction beginning in December 2021. It was completed shortly before the grand opening March 7.

A statewide bill that would extend more protections to Maryland households facing foreclosures and evictions due to tax sale has generated backlash from more than two dozen community groups that say the bill as written could backfire. The bill, introduced at the request of the state housing department, advanced Tuesday out of the Maryland House of Delegates and has been referred to the state Senate for review.

Federal Community Project Funding totaling $16 million signed into law by President Joe Biden last week includes $1 million for renovations to the Carver Center in Cumberland and $500,000 for a new engine tanker for Lonaconing’s Good Will Fire Co., U.S. Rep. David Trone announced. “My job is to ensure communities across the country are equipped to serve and provide vital resources,” Trone, who represents counties including Allegany and Garrett, said via news release.