Around Maryland

Your application for college or a mortgage loan. Whether you’re correctly diagnosed in the doctor’s office, make it onto the short list for a job interview or get a shot at parole. That bias can enter into these often life-altering decisions is nothing new. But today, with artificial intelligence assisting everyone from college admission directors to parole boards, a group of researchers at Morgan State University says the potential for racial, gender and other discrimination is amplified by magnitudes.

Constitution Park recently received several upgrades, and more plans are set for the near future. The mayor and City Council at Tuesday’s meeting accepted a maximum $378,336.82 bid from Global Action Sports Solutions of Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, for a contract to design and construct multi-use mountain bike and pedestrian trails in the park. The concept plan includes 73.7 acres of proposed development space, is budgeted for this fiscal year, and will use city and Community Development Block Grant funds.

The Franciscan Center, a nonprofit ministry, Tuesday announced a gift of a $20,000 grant from the Johns Hopkins Health Plans’ Corporate Giving Program to fund staff salaries and purchase healthy ingredients, including proteins for its culinary services.The Franciscan Center offers a continuum of care that includes food, clothing, emergency health services, counseling and technology training to help clients become as self-sufficient as possible.

More than 900 people braved the chilly ocean waters off 91st Street this week to raise funds for Atlantic General Hospital. On New Year’s Day, 910 participants – sporting costumes and bathing suits – took a plunge into the Atlantic Ocean for the 30th Annual Penguin Swim. This year, the hospital reported a gross fundraising total of roughly $109,000. “It’s incredible what the community does to support this event,” said Ryan Kirby, Penguin Swim co-chair.

The installation of new smart water meters is now underway in Berlin. On Tuesday, smart water meter installation began in the Decatur Farms area. From there, crews will move on through the rest of town until all homes’ water meters have been replaced with smart meters. Crews will be doing installation during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Residents are advised they may notice a temporary disruption to water service as meters are being replaced. The process at each home only takes about 15 to 30 minutes, however.

Howard County’s long-range, visionary plan for development and conservation in the county through the year 2040 is now available online. “HoCo By Design advances a long-term vision for how the county will develop and grow alongside evolving land use, economic, environmental and social conditions over the next 20 years,” according to a news release from the county. “Since most of the county has already been conserved or developed, the plan focuses much of the county’s future growth into mixed-use activity centers.”

Maryland Humanities awarded the Marilyn Hatza Memorial SHINE (Strengthening the Humanities Investment in Nonprofits for Equity) Grants to five Harford County organizations. They will each receive $10,000 for general operating support. The recipients are: Harmer’s Town Art Center, The Havre de Grace Colored School Museum and Cultural Center, The Havre Grace Maritime Museum, Hosanna School Museum and Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway.

Principal LaWanda Wilson is an expert at making do at her tiny West Baltimore boys school. In the past year, she and her assistant principal have filled in as part-time guidance counselors, Algebra teachers and coordinators of special education when they didn’t have the money to hire them. But last January, Wilson sat down with her supervisor to confront her budget for the following school year, and she saw that Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy West would need about $1.4 million more than the city school system would give her based on her shrinking enrollment.