Around Maryland

Montgomery County Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to use $2 million in supplemental funding to help pay for installing vape detectors in the Maryland county’s public high schools. Ahead of the council’s 11-0 vote, members heard from community members who voiced their support and concerns regarding the issue of vaping and the reliability of the detectors.

The Carroll County Board of Education is set to approve construction plans and allocate funds for school projects that will span the next several years, at a public meeting Thursday. The school board typically holds a regular meeting on the second Wednesday of each month, but this month’s meeting was moved to Oct. 10.

The Annual Caw to Action event was focused on ways to help local communities across Eastern Shore Maryland. United Way partnered with local agencies to help give back. Victoria Stone, the Program Director for Diakonia, said this was all done to make sure the community gets the care it needs. “In partnership with the Baltimore Ravens and United Way, helping the community take action to help out other agencies such as ourselves, that need to help with resources in the community.”

Members of the region’s transit commission had been talking for more than two hours when an advocate asked Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold a question that got everyone’s attention. “Are we at risk — if the draft CTP [Consolidated Transportation Program budget] goes forward, do we have to give back the federal grant?” asked Brian O’Malley, president of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance.

Urban search and rescue task forces from the D.C. region, supported by National Guard helicopters from Maryland, have rescued dozens in North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, according to mission organizers. “We’ve been primarily conducting water searches, searching rivers and river banks and utilizing our canines,” said Maryland Task Force 1 scene commander Josh Kerwin from the team’s current assignment in Haywood County, North Carolina in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.

Montgomery County Council members will hold a public hearing on Tuesday before voting on a proposal to provide $2 million in supplemental funding that would help pay for installing vape detectors in the Maryland county’s public high schools. Council President Andrew Friedson told reporters in a briefing Monday that it’s “all hands on deck” when it comes to addressing the “vaping epidemic” in its schools.

At least 25,000 plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) are now on the road in Montgomery County, according to an analysis of state car registration data. The county is home to more EVs than any other jurisdiction in Maryland, the data also showed. Howard County has fewer electric vehicles overall, but boasts the highest percentage in the state, with 3.28% of registered vehicles being EVs.