Principals of two West Baltimore public schools asked the Baltimore school board Tuesday to merge into one high school because of low enrollment and diminished funding. LaWanda Wilson, who leads Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy West, said the all-boys middle/high school has seen a 63% drop in middle school enrollment since 2019. The school, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and math, had just 42 middle schoolers and 98 high schoolers this year, a 37% decline overall.

The Anne Arundel County school board will vote on proposed redistricting plans on Wednesday, a move that would redraw attendance zones at 48 schools and establish them for two new schools in the northern part of the county. Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell proposed redistricting this summer, and the school board unanimously moved the process to public hearings. If approved, the plan would take effect next school year and result in a change of schools for approximately 6,400 students at some point in the educational process.

Resort officials this week got a better understanding of how long it would take to transition the town’s transit system from diesel to electric. In an Ocean City Transportation Committee meeting Tuesday, Transit Manager Rob Shearman presented members with an estimated timeline for transitioning its diesel fleet to electric. While a state committee has recommended local transit systems convert by 2025, he told the committee the town could not meet that mandate.

 

Whether you’re rooting for a Snowmageddon sequel or praying for a mild winter, weather experts say Marylanders should pay extra attention to forecasts this winter. The National Weather Service is expecting both above-average temperatures and rainfall in the coming fall and winter months, said meteorologist Kevin Witt with the Baltimore/Washington forecast office. Still, conditions in Maryland have the potential to bring about snow, ice or a wintry mix this season.

High mortgage rates, rising prices and low inventory have limited home sales transactions throughout Maryland and the mid-Atlantic so far in 2023 as housing market activity is tracking closely to 2022 levels, according to the October Housing Report released Monday by Bright MLS, a North Bethesda-based multiple listing service.

The state is advancing its American Legion Bridge and 270 Corridor Program–a project aimed at improving traffic congestion and transit in the region and replacing the American Legion Bridge–and Monday the Maryland Department of Transportation is hosting its first open house to gather public feedback on the project.

 

If you received an auto insurance renewal notice in July with higher rates, you weren’t alone. Car owners across Maryland saw their premiums soar. Rates in the state are going up, in part, because of a surge in car thefts. National data shows half a million vehicles were reported stolen in the first half of the year — a 2% increase compared to the first half of 2022. In Baltimore, the number of vehicles stolen this year has tripled to rates not seen since the mid-’90s.

Back-to-school vaccine clinics got off to a rocky start in some Maryland counties this year after the state health department did not renew a statewide contract with a Baltimore-based nonprofit that supports such immunization efforts. Without the help of nurses from the Maryland Partnership for Prevention or PrepMod, the nonprofit’s scheduling and vaccine documentation software, at least three county public school systems did not hold their usual flu vaccination clinics.

After months of delay, a pair of bills that would require — and incentivize — developers to build more affordable housing units will be presented before the full Baltimore City Council Tuesday, and could be called for a vote. The bills are part of a package of what’s known as inclusionary housing legislation because they would require all new developments exceeding a certain size and value to reserve a portion of units for people earning below the Baltimore-area median income. Another bill would allow developers to apply for a property tax credit.

When a federal grand jury indicted Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby on perjury and mortgage fraud charges, she railed against the allegations during a defiant appearance in front of the powerful office she’d held then for seven years. Mosby claimed that day in January 2022 that she was being persecuted for disrupting the status quo as a progressive prosecutor.