Around Maryland

Niara Mollett found out about the shooting that killed her 16-year-old cousin on Instagram. Ray Mason keeps the funeral program for his 19-year-old sister in his car. Da’Quane Gilliam doesn’t like to go outside. All of them are under 21 and each understands the devastating toll gun violence takes on Baltimore’s young people. “You don’t really see how bad it is until it actually hits you,” Mollett, 16, said.

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board recommends that local health and social service agencies share names and contact information with local school systems for families with children who could be eligible to enroll in free prekindergarten. However, to be eligible under terms of the Blueprint plan, a family needs to apply for “economic services” and a child must turn 3 or 4 years old by Sept.1.

The hundreds gathered in Randallstown on Friday to remember a slain 20-year-old were not there for a funeral, the Rev. Pett Allen Jr. told Kylis Fagbemi’s grieving family and friends. “I didn’t come to a funeral. I came to a celebration!” Allen told mourners in the March Life Tribute Center’s sanctuary during Friday’s service for the quiet, hardworking young man who was shot just as he was beginning his adult life.

Before classes begin next month, Montgomery County’s school system could know whether it has to temporarily allow parents to opt their students out of lessons that include books featuring LGBTQ+ characters. Families suing the school system have asked a judge to issue the injunction while their broader lawsuit for a permanent exemption from the lessons works it way through court. A hearing on that injunction is set for Aug. 9. Attorneys for the families have asked the judge to rule on the temporary hold before the first day of school, Aug. 28.

When the people whom Henry Wong loved left him behind — sometimes willingly, sometimes not — the 19th century Austrian composer Franz Schubert came through for him. So did the Italian soprano Renata Scotto. As a child growing up in Hong Kong, Wong was raised by his grandmother while his parents lived in Japan. Overheard snatches of opera music evoked memories of his mother, who sang Chinese opera on area stages.

Tonya J. Webb wanted to make an impact on the way cancer was being addressed — particularly how it affected people of color. The associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who specializes in microbiology and immunology, gravitated to the field after several members of her family battled the disease. Now, she combats cancer while helping to inspire future cancer fighters.

The federal court for the District of Maryland is warning citizens not to fall for false jury service claims from scam callers. Officials said these callers are impersonating court administrators, U.S. Marshals and state and federal law enforcement officers who claim victims will be hauled off to jail if they don’t pay a fine for missing jury duty. “The callers insisted that their victims arrange to meet them with cash or prepaid credit cards,” the court said in a news release.

For two years, Mohammed Choudhury has been hard at work as Maryland’s schools superintendent, revamping what he says was “not a functional” department and implementing a historic $3.8 billion program to transform the state’s public education system into a national model of educational excellence and equity. The leaders of the board that hired him say he’s doing a great job — but as they debate extending his contract this summer, they are also defending him against accusations that his fiery management style has jeopardized the state’s agenda for its 900,000 students.

Anthony McCarthy, a regular around Baltimore City Hall and veteran of numerous political campaigns, sat in a circle of reverends in Ellicott City Wednesday evening. They prayed over him as his eyes welled with tears. “Right now, as we say farewell to our brother for the moment … God, we trust you. We believe you,” said the Rev. Jamie Washington. “We trust you and we believe you to cover and to keep him on this journey.”