Around Maryland

With the school year underway, are you tired of sitting in worse traffic? Of course you are. The Maryland Transit Administration wants you to take transit instead. In honor of World Car Free Day on Sept. 22, the MTA won’t charge for rides on local and commuter buses, Metro SubwayLink, light rail, MARC trains and MobilityLink van service that entire weekend, the agency said in a press release Thursday afternoon.

When the Orioles debuted the Bird Bath Splash Zone in mid-May, the team also unveiled a new mascot: “Mr. Splash,” a hose-wielding, flamingo floaty-wearing hype man. But his identity has remained a mystery, his voice seemingly distorted and face obscured in a rare — and dramatic — video shared by the Orioles soon after his conception.

Maryland’s ban on the broadcast of court audio recordings will officially be history on Jan. 1 after the state Supreme Court on Tuesday approved new rules governing the release of the recordings to the press and public. The justices had little choice but to change the rule, known as the “broadcast ban,” after a federal court last year ruled that it was unconstitutional to prohibit the broadcast of legally obtained recordings of court hearings.

With his “really, really big heart,” Tre’on Hunt was a protector of his family. “He always had to be the big brother,” said Diesha Contee, Hunt’s aunt, “no matter what.” Having moved to Glen Burnie from the city where he grew up, Hunt returned to Annapolis on Friday for a job. He was scheduled to help clean the Naval Academy’s football stadium over the weekend as the team played its first home game.

The fastest corgis from across the country are preparing to face off in the Maryland Corgi Cup. It's happening next month during the MARS Maryland 5-Star at Fair Hill in Cecil County. It's an eventing competition, also described as an equestrian triathlon, that runs from Oct. 19 to Oct. 22. The Maryland Corgi Cup starts the morning of Sunday, Oct. 22, with qualifying race heats and wraps up that afternoon with the Maryland Corgi Cup Championship.

The shootings and violence at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill last month and in Frostburg near the university’s campus within the last year are having significant impacts on students’ ability to not only feel safe but perform well academically. As awareness for the importance of mental health continues to increase throughout the country, the impacts of potentially traumatic events are being more closely studied by mental health professionals.

Former state Del. Gerry Brewster, who is indelibly tied to the Maryland State Fair, is stepping down as its chairman in November — concluding a decades-long family legacy. Since taking the helm of the nonprofit that runs the fair in 2017, the north Baltimore County native has overseen renovation of fairgrounds facilities, including the Timonium racetrack grandstands and a brand-new Farm and Garden Building to start construction this fall.

Attention has swirled this year around the number of young people falling victim to or perpetrating gun violence in Baltimore, amid tragedies such as the Brooklyn Homes mass shooting and the fatal shooting across from Edmondson-Westside High School in January. But, Vincent Schiraldi, the state Department of Juvenile Services secretary, said it’s vital to put those instances in proper context.