Around Maryland

There have been at least 12 school shootings in the United States so far this year, as of February 16. Three were on college campuses, and nine were on K-12 school grounds. The incidents left seven people dead and at least 19 others injured, according to CNN’s analysis of events reported by the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and Everytown for Gun Safety.

On the eve of the second anniversary of the state’s temporary takeover of the Back River sewage plant in 2022, Baltimore City is calling on a private company to manage its key facilities. The so-far-unannounced, no-bid contract with Operations Management International (OMI) will start at $50 million and could increase to $100 million over an eight-year period.

Marylanders have an opportunity to see how sap was tapped from trees over time to make maple syrup. Brittany Roger, the manager of school programs at the Irvine Nature Center in Owings Mills, gave 11 News a demonstration of how tribes would tap for sap in the Northeast thousands of years ago. "We can only tap in a time of year when the night temperatures are below freezing and the daytime temperatures above 40," Roger said.

Industry groups and clean-energy advocates have hailed a multimillion-dollar partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the states of Maryland and Massachusetts and leading research institutes to establish a center of excellence for offshore wind energy. The announcement comes as multiple states struggle to implement offshore wind projects and ensure that the clean energy transition is reliable and equitable.

The noon sky above the Chesapeake Bay shoreline in Annapolis was dull gray Thursday. The water was gray, too. Together, they stretched the flat five miles east toward the dreary gray smudge of Kent Island visible on the horizon. A tiny gray house stood behind the eroding shoreline. Maybe it was once white, but it isn’t much to look at now — a ramshackle collection of sagging rooflines, tilting chimneys, peeling paint and torn screens.

The Howard County chapter of Moms for Liberty wants sexually explicit books off school library shelves, and they’re enlisting the “mastermind” behind Carroll County’s successful book-ban campaign to help it do that. Howard’s chapter of the conservative parents group announced its campaign to challenge school books on its website in an advertisement for a Feb. 26 event featuring Jessica Garland, the vice chair of Carroll’s Moms for Liberty chapter, as the guest speaker.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Thursday announced more than $2.8 million in awards to public housing agencies and PBRA owners in Maryland as part of $128 million in grants through the 2023 Renewal and New Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) Program. The FSS program is a voluntary initiative offered to families in HUD-assisted housing. Participants receive coaching, referrals to services, and establish a family escrow savings account.

The city of Frederick is looking for feedback from residents on designs for renovations to two parks in the city. The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation is conducting online surveys to gather information on the redesigns of Hill Street and Mullinix parks. The plan for improvements to Mullinix Park includes $500,000 for construction in fiscal years 2024 and 2025. There will be renovations and improvements to restrooms, paths and seating, landscaping, and playgrounds. New amenities will be added.