Around Maryland

The number of child care providers, especially in-home child care providers, was on a steady decline before the pandemic. But the pandemic only exacerbated the problem, driving some out of business while dissuading others from starting new child care businesses, since no one wanted extra people inside their homes. In 2021, the federal government set aside $24 billion in stabilization funding to help keep child care providers in business.

The Berlin Town Council agreed this week to apply for federal funding that could be used for design of a pedestrian bridge over Route 113. On Monday, elected officials authorized an application for funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods for Community Planning Project. The funding could help the town plan for a variety of connectivity projects, including a pedestrian bridge over Route 113.

Despite years of efforts in Baltimore and around the country, Black women remain more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. But researchers at Morgan State University are pretty sure they know a way to reduce the disparities. They want to train more doulas from Black communities.

Darlene Taylor was standing on West Main Street in Crisfield the other day and shouted a greeting to a woman she knew coming out of the Crisfield Discount Pharmacy. Seeing Taylor, the woman bolted across the street, to say hello and ask a question. “What’s going on with the pigeons?” she wondered. Taylor is not an ornithologist. Nor is she a hobbyist who keeps homing pigeons on her roof.

More than half of the 50 Maryland schools showing the greatest improvement on the state’s English language arts test are in Prince George’s County. The Maryland State Department of Education on Tuesday released school-by-school results of the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, showing just how much — or how little — learning students have recovered since the pandemic.

This fall, Sonny Gwin and a few other Maryland watermen will trawl the coast of Ocean City for a new bounty: shrimp. Thanks, climate change. Pass the cocktail sauce. For the first time, a small group will be allowed to catch and sell the crustaceans from Maryland waters, as part of a pilot program. Fisheries managers suspect that warming ocean temperatures and changing currents could be drawing greater numbers of shrimp north along the Atlantic coast.

It was supposed to premiere last fall but was canceled due to unsafe weather from Hurricane Ian. Now, the Oceans Calling Festival is finally happening this weekend in Ocean City, Maryland. “I think the excitement from the last concert is still fresh in everyone’s mind,” city manager Terry McGean told WTOP last November.

Several months after opening its doors to the public, Frederick's second food bank location held a grand opening ceremony Tuesday. The Frederick Food Bank at Trinity, at 6040 New Design Road, provides a second food option for residents in need. Tuesday's event featured free flu shots and health screenings, and food collection and distribution, according to a city release.