Around Maryland

When a special educator in Baltimore County took leave for two quarters last school year, Beverly Folkoff’s caseload doubled. Relay Elementary School couldn’t find a substitute, so Folkoff, the county’s teacher of the year, and the only other special educator on her team, shared the extra six cases. That made it difficult to prioritize her teaching. “Am I going to teach the child in front of me or am I going to do this paperwork?” Folkoff asked herself. She always picked the kids, she said, but that meant spending extra hours after school to finish the paperwork.

In preparation for the 2023-24 school year, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) plans to hold free vaccination clinics throughout August. As required by Maryland law, students must be vaccinated and either show proof of vaccination on the first day of school or show proof of a scheduled vaccination appointment within the first 20 days.

In the Hagerstown area and neighboring West Virginia, where the eastern panhandle is experiencing explosive growth, there is a focus on small business driving the economy. Maryland State Comptroller Brooke Lierman has her finger on the pulse of commerce in both large and small communities. “I love hearing how much small business operators love doing business with their local customers,” she said. “We are a large region here in the State of Maryland so we always look forward to working with our neighbors in West Virginia and surrounding communities.”

A few minutes’ walk away from Kristian Herbert’s home on South Stricker Street in Southwest Baltimore, a vacant house caught fire in 2022, killing three city firefighters. A few minutes to the west, the area’s lone full-service grocery store closed at the end of last year. It’s been a tough stretch for Herbert, a mother of three small children who moved to Baltimore a few years ago. In April, her uncle was shot and killed in nearby Washington, D.C. And a few weeks later, her kids’ school, Steuart Hill Academic Academy, closed its doors for good. She plans on homeschooling Zai’Vion, 8, and Zurii, 7, this upcoming school year.

Following a three-year pandemic hiatus, Baltimore’s Artscape free arts festival set for Sept. 22-24 will feature Kelly Rowland as the headline artist. In addition to the Grammy-winning Destiny’s Child alum, Angelo Moore of Fishbone will perform with his band Dr. Madd Vibe on Saturday night. Iconic ‘70s superstar guitarist and producer Nile Rodgers & Chic will perform Saturday afternoon, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will headline on Sunday, officials announced Monday.

The mere mention of “artificial intelligence” inspires a lot of dread and wonder in the general populace. Yet it’s an overbroad subject. AI can mean anything from self-driving cars to facial recognition technology. Robots that perform unenviable tasks to new mashups of popular songs. Enhanced fraud detection at banks to deep video fakes meant to dupe the public.

Maryland Ensemble Theatre is ready to unveil its newest program, The Teen Ensemble, a pre-professional theatrical experience specially designed for aspiring young performers. This innovative initiative aims to nurture and cultivate the talents of young artists through a series of rehearsals, show stopping performances, Ensemble School courses and master classes. Frederick’s Arts & Entertainment district has grown substantially with audiences coming from across the Mid-Atlantic region.

While top United Nations climate scientists indicated last month could be the hottest ever recorded, University of Maryland Center for Global Sustainability Director Nathan Hultman has been working for years to help keep the planet cool. As the White House’s Deputy Associate Director for Energy & Climate Change during the Obama administration, he had a front row seat to the Paris Climate Agreement agreed to by over 190 countries in 2015 and 2016.

Over the summer, Maryland county coffers will grow by a collective $13.6 million — their second annual payout from last year’s landmark national court settlement against opioid industry giants — companies whose drugs, plaintiffs contended, helped fuel a nationwide addiction crisis. But Baltimore City won’t get a dime.