Around Maryland

A new proposal to add wind turbines off the coast of Ocean City caused some controversy Tuesday night. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is looking at a large area, but no decisions have yet been made about when or if new turbines will go up. In fact, they said the process is only in the beginning stages. “We have not proposed any wind development areas at this point.

The Anne Arundel County Council recently introduced an updated version of a bill that would require developers to allocate a portion of new units for moderate-income residents. The legislation, known as the Housing Attainability Act, was introduced Sept. 3 by council members Allison Pickard, Julie Hummer, Lisa Rodvien and Pete Smith, all Democrats, at the request of County Executive Steuart Pittman.

Newly released data from the Frederick County Suicide Prevention Coalition shows that deaths by suicide have continued trending slightly up in the county. As part of the 2023 Interim Community Health Assessment, the suicide prevention coalition released a deeper analysis of suicide deaths in Frederick County, revealing that the number of deaths from 2010 to 2021 has been increasing.

The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration, in partnership with the Maryland Department of Agriculture and Maryland Farm Bureau, is reminding motorists to share the road with large farm equipment as the fall harvest season is beginning in the state. “As the days get shorter and farmers across the state begin to harvest their crops, motorists should expect to see large farm equipment along our rural roadways,” said State Highway Administrator Will Pines.

The cost of clearing the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the Patapsco River in Baltimore has risen roughly 42% since July, to more than $71 million. Maryland officials initially awarded a $50 million contract to Skanska, a Swedish construction company with a U.S. headquarters in New York, for clearing large sections of highway bridge trusses, steel girders, the main bridge deck and concrete parapets. (Photo: AP Photo/Matt Rourke via The Daily Record)

For sailors, the Francis Scott Key Bridge has always been a waypoint, marking the beginning — or the end — of journeys. It is the symbolic entrance to, and exit from, Baltimore, its waterborne threshold. Even as wreckage, it still is. Six months ago, the span collapsed as the Dali cargo ship lost power and struck a support pier. But the Key Bridge’s powerful symbolism to sailors remains.

With students back in the classroom, and fall and winter ahead of us, Baltimore health leaders are urging children to get vaccinated from COVID-19 and the flu. Baltimore City’s health department has the latest updated COVID-19 booster shots available for residents. “There’s a new dominant strain, and this particular vaccine is going to prevent that from being apart of your household, if you get it done today,” said Rebecca Dineen, the assistant commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department.