Around Maryland

Juvenile justice stakeholders told state lawmakers Wednesday to hold the line on reforms they passed one year ago amid public concern and amplified media attention on rising youth gun violence and a spike in auto thefts. During the second in a series of briefings, the powerful House Judiciary Committee opened the year-old Juvenile Justice Reform Act to dissection.

Morgan State, Coppin State and the Johns Hopkins universities are partnering with the Baltimore City Public School System to provide pediatric nursing services in city schools, the school system confirmed Wednesday. The programs aim to help alleviate a nursing shortage. Previously, BCPSS has worked with the city health department to provide nursing assistants and licensed practical nurses in schools.

Maryland officials have approved a $235,000 settlement to resolve all claims in a lawsuit over how the state medical examiner’s office handled the autopsy of Anton Black — a 19-year-old whose death after being restrained by police on the Eastern Shore led to calls for police reforms and a new state law. The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland called it a “landmark settlement” that will also require the Maryland Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to implement policies that will, for the first time, outline how medical examiners handle deaths in police custody and how transparent they are about the results.

Three researchers at Johns Hopkins University and one at the University of Maryland, College Park were awarded a total of $759,733 as part of a landmark $100 million investment by the Alzheimer’s Association into research initiatives. The award is largest single-year investment since the organization’s founding in 1980.

The city’s new skatepark is expected to be built this spring. Connecticut-based Rampage, LLC, a skatepark design firm, has been consulted about the project, which probably won’t include a bowl-shaped component because some skaters indicated they’re not interested in the feature, Cumberland Administrator Jeff Silka told the mayor and City Council at a work session Tuesday.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced Wednesday the completion of the county’s draft Transit Development Plan (TDP) 2023, a short-term plan that serves as a guide for its local transit system development and funding requests that provides a roadmap for implementing service and organizational improvements, including potential service expansion, in the next five years.

Over the last 50 years, Montgomery County’s Ride On bus system has turned itself into the region’s second busiest bus network, only behind Metrobus in terms of ridership. Prior to the pandemic, Ride On carried 68,000 people over 81 routes every day, about 18% of regional bus ridership; currently, ridership is at 60,000 daily according to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT). And while Ride On has grown dramatically over the past half-century, much of its routing has remained untouched.

The Frederick County Health Department will host two community meetings this month on how to improve the Black birthing experience in the county and gather input for its Black Maternal Health Strategic Plan. One session will be in person on Nov. 13 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the C. Burr Artz Public Library Programming Room at 110 E. Patrick St. in Frederick. The second session will be virtual on Nov. 18 from 10 to 11:30 a.m.