Around Maryland

Carroll County’s Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services has hired 28 new employees this month, adding staff to Reese, Sykesville, Taneytown, Mount Airy and Westminster fire stations. The hirings are part of the county’s efforts to build its first combination paid and volunteer fire and EMS service. “This will take the department up to 157 positions by late November, and we are now planning for the next budget year, where we anticipate the seven remaining stations to come on board with county staffing,” Michael Robinson, director and chief of the Department of Fire and EMS said.

The Maryland department that oversees the state’s 13 correctional facilities showcases “local reentry agreements” with nearly half the state’s counties, but an investigation into those memorandums show the overwhelming majority of state prisoners are staying put. The local detention centers, tasked in the agreements to facilitate a state inmate’s societal reentry, have only occasionally performed that function.

Lead found in drinking water more likely came from domestic pipes than a public source, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment. During a random test last month, elevated lead levels were found in six of 21 water samples taken from Lonaconing homes.MDE requires all public water systems to collect and analyze water samples for lead and copper in accordance with a monitoring schedule.

Education officials maintain that schools are safe and cite a “gross failure” in communication as the reason for the current discord between the school system and local law enforcement. Following a trio of closed session meetings to discuss concerns shared by Worcester County State’s Attorney Kris Heiser and Sheriff Matt Crisafulli, Worcester County Board of Education President Todd Ferrante this week responded to law enforcement.

Lightbridge Academy, an early childhood education company, opened its 69th location with a grand opening for its newest facility in Timonium. The new center, located at 35-B East Padonia Road, was awarded to franchise owners and local residents Pratik Chandarana and Avani Patel. It will offer educational child care for ages six weeks through kindergarten.

The Jeremiah Program (JP) disrupts the cycle of poverty two generations at a time. In Baltimore, the program celebrates its one-year anniversary this week having impacted 43 single moms and 94 children, supporting both generations in their schooling with coaching, food, housing, and all the necessities needed to thrive.

State Labor Department officials are preparing for a potential uptick in unemployment insurance claims tied to a possible federal government shutdown next month. Congress narrowly averted a shutdown at the end of September with a 45-day resolution meant to provide extra time to cut a budget deal. Reaching an agreement is now complicated by an ongoing battle within the Republican Party to elect a new House Speaker.

The Maryland Department of Health is unable to document whether it received $1.4 billion due from the federal government, according to an audit of the agency released Tuesday that revealed weaknesses in its procedures for monitoring how funds are received and spent. If the department isn’t able to recover that money, the state may be on the hook for it, said Tuesday’s report, which was released by the Office of Legislative Audits — a subsidiary of the Maryland General Assembly’s Department of Legislative Services.

Thousands of miles from the epicenter of the Israel-Hamas war, a 20-year-old Maryland woman sat at her family’s dining table near a shelf of baby photos and her vocal dog Ziggy while envisioning her future as a soldier. Life thus far for Gabi, who asked The Banner to withhold her last name for safety reasons, always felt cleaved in two — one existence growing up in suburban Baltimore County with her parents, sister and schoolmates; the other visiting paternal grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends in Israel.