Around Maryland

The Baltimore Department of Transportation could be breaking state and city law by failing to notify residents about towing and then auctioning their cars, according to a report from the city auditor’s office. “Letting people know we have their vehicle and are going to auction it off is a basic service,” Comptroller Bill Henry said in a Thursday news release announcing the results of a biennial performance audit that evaluated the Baltimore Police Department and the DOT since towing is managed by both agencies. “No excuses — we need to do better.”

Did you really think the Harborplace redevelopment fight was over? A day after voters approved a crucial ballot question for the overhaul of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, opponents reiterated their plans to keep fighting. Protect Our Parks, the coalition that encouraged residents to vote “F-No” on Question F, said in a statement that it plans to block residential towers from being built on along the Inner Harbor promenade through its own appeal to voters — two years from now.

The Republican Party picked up several key wins on Tuesday, November 5th. The biggest one, of course, is the presidential race, and local officials believe that will impact offshore wind projects off our coast. Republicans Donald J. Trump and JD Vance won the presidential election. Republicans now hold the majority in the U.S. Senate, and it appears the U.S. House is trending in that direction.

The Novel Refuge, a newly established used bookstore in Laurel, is using books as a way to support refugees in the region. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to support local asylum seekers and refugees by selling books, games, puzzles and other literary-related items, and sending profits to an organization who can assist them.

Ed Leicht came to William Faber’s Holly Neck Road boarding house for the same reason everyone else did — he was out of options. The 76-year-old retired musician had been living with his wife at her sister’s home nearby. Last year, around Christmas, his wife died, and his sister-in-law immediately sold the house. The Leichts had funneled most of their savings into fixing up that house.

For Brittany Harvin and her daughter, housing instability ended Monday. That’s when she and a dozen other families moved into new 440-square-foot homes as part of an innovative housing initiative called Hope Village. Located at the intersection of Holbrook and East Hoffman streets, the colorful and tiny houses have been constructed in what was an old alleyway in Baltimore’s Oliver community.

Even with this year’s elections dominated by presidential politics and national storylines, Maryland voters made significant changes to their local governments Tuesday — though they weren’t as extensive as they could have been. In Montgomery County, voters overwhelmingly embraced a two-term limit for their county executive — meaning the incumbent, Marc Elrich (D), will be out of a job in two years.

One of the Facebook posts featured Gov. Wes Moore with a clown nose. Another showed three monkeys and sharp criticism of public financing for the redevelopment of Harborplace. The monkey post came from the account of former City Council member Anthony J. Ambridge and appeared on a private Facebook group with 1,200 followers.