Around Maryland

Virginia has been known for having more Confederate memorials than any other state. After all, Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, and the most major Civil War battles were fought in Virginia. The monuments were protected by state law until 2020, when a General Assembly controlled by Democrats passed a measure allowing localities to consider removing Confederate statues.

Garrett County and Maryland officials are “totally ignoring” regulations crafted to protect the state’s only Wild-designated river, Donald Sebold said. Sebold is chairman of the Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River Advisory Board, which met Monday to discuss issues, including the Swallow Falls Road bridge project. The board wants to be notified before any actions are taken that could impact the Scenic and Wild Yough corridor.

The city of Frederick is seeking $11.8 million in funding for local projects in the next state budget, city officials said while meeting with state delegates and senators on Monday. The 2024 General Assembly session is scheduled to begin Jan. 10. Gov. Wes Moore must introduce his proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 to the General Assembly by Jan. 17. Aside from continued investment in the U.S. 15 widening project — which remains a top priority for city and county officials and the state delegation for Frederick County — the city's largest request is $7 million for new amenities at Westside Regional Park.

The Maryland Transit Administration offered a closer look Friday at the ongoing work to inspect and repair its fleet of Light Rail cars. "Teams have been hard at work to assess each rail car, identify any issues and undertake the repairs needed to ensure the system's safety and reliability," MTA administrator Holly Arnold said. As of Friday, MTA said it has inspected 41 vehicles for high-voltage conduit damage, 29 of which required repairs to one or more of the high-voltage cables. Workers have completed 17 repairs. They have also completed the replacement of inter-car cables on two vehicles.

Running the fire and rescue agency in Maryland’s most populous jurisdiction is an enormous job. Montgomery County yields an average of 300 emergency medical calls a day plus another dozen for fires. The agency employs about 1,250 career firefighters and medics, has a large volunteer force and runs dozens of stations across 500 square miles of land. Now, with the retirement this year of Chief Scott Goldstein, who’d served since 2015, County Executive Marc Elrich has nominated another agency veteran to take his place: Division Chief Charles Bailey.

After a Stoneleigh Elementary School student was hit by a vehicle this week, residents renewed calls for speed bumps and cameras to be added to Regester Avenue to force drivers to slow down. Officers responded to the intersection of Regester and Kenleigh Avenues where they found a 10-year-old boy who had been hit while crossing the street. A preliminary investigation determined that a 2014 Ford Fusion struck the boy while traveling westbound and was not speeding at the time of the crash, Baltimore County Police said Friday.

Frederick County is helping 28 households work with a state commission to investigate claims that those using housing vouchers were charged more than other tenants in the same complex. The county's Human Relations Department is working with the 28 households to file complaints with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights, the county said in a press release Friday. The county Human Relations Department did an initial investigation in the case, but the state's process requires that individual tenants file complaints with the state commission, county spokeswoman Vivian Laxton said in an interview Friday.

Budget cuts recently announced by state officials totaling $3.3 billion in Maryland’s 2024-2029 Consolidated Transportation Program may not have as devastating an impact on local projects as first thought, according to local officials. One of the largest cuts felt locally is $26 million in the effort to upgrade U.S. Route 219 from Old Salisbury Road to the Pennsylvania line in Garrett County.