Around Maryland

For decades, Maryland hospitals have sued patients with unpaid bills, amassing hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments since 2000. But this year, something curious happened. The judgments virtually stopped, according to an analysis of court data by The Baltimore Banner. Why is not entirely clear. Bad publicity could be a factor — hospitals have scaled back legal action in the past when under scrutiny for suing some of their poorest patients. There’s also a new state law requiring hospitals to offer payment plans patients can afford before they sue.

Harford’s annual “SOCKtober” event, held throughout October, collected more than 3,000 pairs of socks, mittens, gloves and scarves and hats, according to a county news release. These items were donated to local nonprofits serving families, veterans and individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The SOCKtober collection was organized by Harford County government in partnership with Harford County Public Library and We Cancerve Movement, LLC. Harford senior center groups contributed hand-crocheted and knitted items for the cause.

Carroll County’s Bureau of Roads Operations is preparing now for the possibility of snowy weather this winter. The bureau, housed in the Department of Public Works, began preparations last month, bringing together officials from various municipalities and public safety experts to discuss preparations in the event of inclement weather this winter, a county news release stated.

One female counselor in the 1990s would enter a specific girl’s cell in a juvenile detention center in Maryland when she knew her roommate was away, then sexually abuse her, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday. The counselor would threaten the girl with solitary confinement, blocking her release and a loss of phone call privileges if she tried to stop the abuse or told anyone about it, the lawsuit alleges.

Parents, teachers and administrators of six Baltimore County schools selected a map of reconfigured school zones Wednesday to send to the Board of Education for final approval. Committee members narrowed down over a dozen maps covering the county’s northwest area over a three-month process before settling on one Wednesday.

Money for Interstate 81 was in the plans of multiple governors, the Washington County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly said thanks, and the state’s new transportation secretary acknowledged both the “partnership” with local officials and their safety concerns. Yet millions of dollars, $68 million to be exact, has been scheduled by the state Department of Transportation to be reduced on the project, designed to widen a 3.5 mile stretch of the highway.

Michael Owen Jr., the first Prince George’s County police officer to be charged with murder for actions taken in uniform, was found not guilty on all the counts he faced in the fatal shooting of a handcuffed man, including second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. The case hinged upon whether Owen, who fatally shot 43-year-old William Green six times while the man had his hands cuffed behind his back, pulled the trigger in self-defense on the night of the Jan. 27, 2020, shooting.

Neighbors in south Baltimore are frustrated with recent carjackings and auto thefts and they have decided to fight back. Residents are installing license plate readers on certain streets. Three community associations worked together to get the devices. "Our team of volunteers know Baltimore Police Department is understaffed. Our volunteers know there have been over 10,000 cars stolen in our city this year," Federal Hill Neighborhood Association spokesman Brad O'Brien said.

City officials have been given a proposal: If they can’t eliminate vagrancy problems in a public park, why not make the area private? Cumberland Historic Cemetery Organization President Ed Taylor Jr. on Tuesday asked the mayor and City Council to consider renting Cumberland’s George Washington Headquarters cabin at Riverside Park along Greene Street to the Cresap Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution for $1 per year.