Around Maryland

Baltimore’s policing consent decree was spurred in part by the death of Freddie Gray in 2015 following injuries he sustained while being transported in police custody. On Thursday, the department’s work fixing those issues became its first step toward exiting federal oversight. Federal Judge James K. Bredar, the chief judge for the U.S. District of Maryland, who is overseeing the city’s reforms, agreed with the city and federal government that the department had reached “full and effective” compliance with two sections of its lengthy consent decree: transportation of persons in custody and officer assistance and safety.

The CIAA basketball tournament will return in late February to CFG Bank Arena in downtown Baltimore, officials said Thursday. The 2024 tournament will be held from Feb. 26 to March 3. “The CIAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournament is a culmination of the hard work of our member institutions and our student-athletes, as well as a celebration of HBCU culture and community,” CIAA Commissioner Jacqie McWilliams Parker said in a statement.

Each year, thousands of Marylanders who are aging or have disabilities receive health care through a family member’s help, in nursing homes, or from at-home patient visits. But a coalition of health organizations believe that those types of health care workers are often not paid adequately for their service. Caring Across Maryland, the coalition which includes health care worker union 1199 SEIU, has announced its support for bills in the 2024 legislative session aimed to support home care, nursing home workers and family caregivers.

When Howard County schools officials presented the superintendent’s $113 billion spending plan last week, they repeatedly referenced a 600-page budget book. Wanting to be as transparent as possible, acting Howard County Public School System Superintendent Bill Barnes wondered how the school system could make the budget process easier to follow, particularly the massive spending plan. Schools officials came up with a digital toolkit.

Efforts to get the enabling legislation passed that would allow Ocean City to increase the room tax rate are once again underway. On Wednesday, the Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee held a hearing for SB 95, sponsored by Sen. Mary Beth Carozza, which would increase the maximum hotel rental tax rate cap from 5% to 6%. A hearing for the cross-filed HB 186, sponsored by Del. Wayne Hartman, is set for Feb. 1.

For years, John Lewis’ sister urged him to get an internet plan. He felt lost without it, he said, but he was stubborn and uninterested in learning to navigate something that felt so new. That changed in late November, when Lewis wandered into the community room of City View at McCulloh, the West Baltimore tower where he lives in public housing, and found officials from the housing authority signing up residents for home internet. Now Lewis has an Xfinity connection in his apartment. Soon, $30 of his monthly bill will be covered by the federal government.

More than 170 local students from 24 teams across 17 elementary and middle schools recently participated in the Allegany County FIRST LEGO League Qualifier at Allegany College of Maryland. Roughly 60 volunteers and 300 spectators supported and cheered on the student competitors. The event was organized by Robotics and Engineering in Allegany County Together.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman and members of the county library system handed out more than 200 Chromebook laptops at the Linthicum library location Wednesday as part of a program aiming to bridge digital and internet access gaps. The county will eventually hand out 7,000 laptops across 16 public library locations over the coming months. The program is expected to be complete by June.

The largest Maryland school district has significant shortcomings in how it handles complaints of employee wrongdoing. That’s what a second investigation into Montgomery County Public Schools found following another probe back in September, which looked into the alleged sexual misconduct by former middle school principal Joel Beidleman. Separately, the school system confirmed that as of Wednesday, Beidleman, who had been placed on leave since the allegations came to light, is no longer employed by the school system.