Around Maryland

An outbreak of an unknown respiratory illness is affecting dogs in at least 14 states, including Maryland. Illness has been reported in Oregon, Colorado, California, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Washington, Vermont, Maryland, Idaho, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The illness has been classified as a canine infectious respiratory disease, or CIRD, which is a general term for known bacterial and viral causes of lung, trachea (throat), and nasal disease.

Stephanie Shonekan vividly remembers the moment she unwittingly violated an unspoken social norm of the art form she loved. It was 1996, and Shonekan, who grew up in Nigeria, had just attended her first classical music concert at Indiana University, where she was a graduate student. “The first piece was so amazing that I stood up and started clapping,” Shonekan told an audience last month at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, where she is dean of the College of Arts & Humanities.

Don’t be alarmed if you see airmen wearing gas masks and chemical warfare gear around the Martin State Air National Guard Base in Middle River. The Airmen of the Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Wing is participating in “Operation Frosty Strike,” a readiness exercise. “I think the big thing folks in the local area will hear is the giant voice sound yelling out ‘exercise, exercise, exercise’ and they’ll hear sirens and tones, and you might see flashing lights from simulated exercises, with our emergency services,” Major Ben Hughes said.

A request to move forward with code amendments that would allow habitable attic space turned into a deeper discussion this week about parking and rentals. On Tuesday, the Mayor and Council had before them a favorable recommendation from the Ocean City Planning and Zoning Commission to approve code amendments that would allow habitable areas in the attics of residential dwellings.

A new diaper donation program will distribute more than two million diapers over the next few months to families in Frederick County. The first set of 90,000 diapers arrived at Frederick Health Village on Wednesday morning. The program is a collaboration between Frederick Health, Family Connects Frederick County, the Frederick Rescue Mission and the Ausherman Family Foundation.

Of 10 Maryland properties chosen to receive financial incentives for improvements, two are in Allegany County. According to the state’s planning department, the Maryland Historical Trust awarded more than $20 million in historic revitalization tax credits for the projects. Eighteen applicants sought more than $55 million in tax credits for construction projects that total more than $305 million in estimated costs.

Druid Hill Park is turning into a holiday wonderland. Baltimore City Recreation and Parks will soon have a new attraction to get you in the holiday spirit. More than 250,000 lights on more than 200 displays will illuminate the mile-long path in Druid Hill Park to form Charm City Lights. The lights will be displayed from December 5 through January 1 from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. WJZ is a proud media sponsor of Charm City Lights.

A steady stream of sick babies and worried parents started flowing into Dr. Monique Soileau-Burke’s exam room in late October. Many were infected with respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, a common contagion that spreads in colder months and infects the lungs and can be dangerous for the very young and for older adults. While RSV has gotten off to a slower start this fall than last year, when hospitalizations from the virus in Maryland spiked by 200 in just one month, overwhelming health care centers and leaving parents frantic, the virus is still spreading faster and infecting more children than it did in a typical winter before the pandemic.

Downtown Annapolis, Maryland, floods a lot. Sometimes the flooding, classified as nuisance flooding, is just that, a nuisance that might get your shoes wet. But there are times when the waters can rise several feet, surpassing sandbags set up in front of doorways on Dock Street, where business owners have to pump the water back out of their stores. “I’ve been in my kayak and I paddled up to those businesses where we’ve had these big floods and looked in the window to see how many inches of water are the on the floors of Storm Brothers or Armadillos or Dock Street,” Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said