Around Maryland

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.

Black and Hispanic communities are underrepresented among university faculty at Maryland’s six largest in-person public universities, according to the 2021 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). IPEDS is an annual data collection system run through the U.S. Department of Education. This aligns with trends across the country, data shows.

The Mayor’s Christmas Parade returns Dec. 3 at 1 p.m., marking 50 years of local bands and holiday revelers marching down the streets of Hampden/Medfield in North Baltimore. The parade will feature Baltimore’s Marching Ravens as well as Morgan State University’s Magnificent Marching Machine. Neighborhood and high school bands, including the Calvert Hall Marching Band, which has been in the parade since the beginning, will also join the festivities.

Officials delayed a West Street project to allow for changes to the proposal.The Berlin Town Council on Monday voted 4-1 to table design of improvements for West Street. The delay will allow Davis, Bowen & Friedel (DBF) a chance to update their proposal to address additional stormwater issues raised by the council.

The Annapolis City Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the site plan for the new City Dock Park at a December meeting. This update and discussion of the overall project aimed at protecting the downtown area from frequent flooding and honoring the city’s maritime history was the subject of two city work sessions held Thursday for the City Dock Action Committee to update city leaders on waterfront plans.

Residents on the eastern side of Frederick County can weigh in on possible plans for a bicycle and pedestrian trail to connect Frederick, New Market, and Mount Airy. Officials from the county’s Division of Planning & Permitting will host a meeting on Nov. 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. at New Market Middle School to hear from the public about the plan.