Around Maryland

When Da’Quane Gilliam started thinking about dropping out of high school in 2019, Roger Shaw of the Baltimore City Public School System started showing up at his house to try to change his mind. The two first met when Shaw saw Gilliam walking across the street from Patterson High after school. Shaw had heard from teachers that he should keep an eye on the teenage ninth grader. Talking on the street that day, Gilliam told Shaw that school wasn’t for him. Shaw replied that he wasn’t going to give up.

Hours after the release of a much-anticipated, scathing probe into this summer’s mass shooting at Brooklyn Homes, Mayor Brandon Scott, public safety and housing officials admitted a series of failings across agencies that left the city unprepared for the gunfire that scattered a block party at the beginning of July.

Caryn York is returning home to lead Baltimore Corps, a social justice and innovation hub, as its next president and CEO. Co-founded by now-Gov. Wes Moore and Fagan Harris, the organization is nearing its 10th anniversary of placing adults and youth in full-time jobs. York, a Baltimore native, succeeds Harris, who became chief of staff to Gov. Wes Moore earlier this year.

The signs were there. The social media post three days earlier flagged by a police intelligence unit. A U-Haul truck loading in tables and other equipment on the morning of what would be the Brooklyn Day celebration. The growing crowd observed by city surveillance footage that CitiWatch employees viewed before gunfire claimed the lives of two young people and injured 28 other attendees.

Local law enforcement officials are hoping updates to operating procedures will have a positive impact at local schools. Worcester County Sheriff Matt Crisafulli said changes in standard operating procedures for his deputies will make local schools even safer. Following a recent agreement between the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office and Worcester County Public Schools, school resource deputies now have updated guidelines on how to respond in certain situations.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) personnel traveled over 4,000 miles to search for missing persons and recover dead bodies in Maui, Hawaii after raging wildfires killed over 100 people. More than 70 MCFRS members returned to BWI airport around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. After a debrief, they were released to go home around 4:30 a.m., said MCFRS Assistant Fire Chief David Pazos.

School bus headaches continued Tuesday in Howard County as 54 routes were canceled and parents of students at 34 elementary, middle and high schools were told they would have to find another way to get their kids to school for the rest of the week. On Monday, at least 27 Howard County schools experienced major busing delays. And six of those schools reported that at least one bus never showed up to take students to class.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says it has uncovered at least $40 million in federal Covid relief fraud in Maryland with some using pandemic funds for luxury goods, expensive vacations, cars and even illegal guns and drugs. Data released on Tuesday details what Maryland federal investigations have so far found while scrutinizing how Covid bailout funds were obtained and spent since late 2020. The money was offered to help businesses stay afloat and ward off lost revenue during mandated shutdowns and quarantines.