Around Maryland

Five men in graduation caps and gowns filed into front-row seats to cheers and applause. As University of Baltimore faculty sang the men’s praises, large loops of barbed wire were just visible through windows bookending the podium. It was graduation day. Time to celebrate earning bachelor’s degrees in what their valedictorian called the “worst environment possible”: prison. The students marched across the maximum security prison’s library, where they’d taken more than half of their college credits.

By the end of the year, Baltimore residents who don’t speak English will be able to communicate with 911 services in their native language, without waiting for an interpreter. Convey911, which currently provides text-based translation services for the city’s 911 calls, plans to implement a new, AI-backed service in the coming months to improve communication between residents who speak languages other than English and workers taking 911 calls.

On Tuesday night in Texas, the Orioles finished out one of their most successful seasons in recent history — albeit not how the team or fans would have liked — with a 7-1 loss to the Rangers in Game 3 of the American League Division Series. On Friday in Baltimore, fans can come together one more time sporting orange and black, at an event hosted by the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore.

Towson University incoming president Mark Ginsberg comes to the Baltimore County institution from a school that has accomplished much of what Towson aspires to achieve. Ginsberg previously served as provost at George Mason University, which has a higher national ranking for research and a higher graduation and retention rate.

Two days after the Orioles were swept by the Rangers in the American League Division Series, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias took full credit for how the season ended. Yes, the club won 101 games and captured the American League East. But they were not good enough when it counted, getting bounced from the playoffs in three games.

Gliding through Baltimore’s harbor in a 21-foot Bayliner, Anne McAvoy waved at other boaters as they passed by. Standing at the helm of the vessel she’d taken out for a spin from Freedom Boat Club on a late summer afternoon, McAvoy was the odd woman out in a sea of men. But if she felt any trepidation as the wind swirled through her hair and jostled her dangling earrings, she didn’t let on.