Around Maryland

While Tonii Gedin has only officially held the role of Anne Arundel County health officer for about two weeks, she already has some lofty ambitions. Gedin took over as acting health officer in March when Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman was tapped by the state’s health department to serve as deputy secretary for public health services. She was approved to be his permanent replacement last week in a unanimous vote by the County Council.

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts has agreed to pay its former executive director, Donna Drew Sawyer, an $83,232 settlement in exchange for her resignation as the leader of the city’s embattled arts council. Though Sawyer stepped down Jan. 10, four days after Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott called publicly for her ouster as CEO of the arts council known as BOPA, the settlement agreement wasn’t inked until May 11.

Perhaps the way Brooklyn came to be part of the city of Baltimore is symbolic of the way residents sometimes feel about their neighborhood today. Although there are many things they love about where they live, they say they sometimes feel shut off from the city and an afterthought to more known neighborhoods in the same district, such as Locust Point and Federal Hill, which tend to be more vocal and politically active.

A divided Anne Arundel County school board on Wednesday rejected a controversial proposal that would have restricted what flags could be displayed on school property — a measure that critics said was written to ban flags such as the rainbow Pride flag. The board voted 4 to 3 not to adopt the proposed policy, with one board member abstaining.

The 11 News I-Team obtained the most comprehensive data so far that details how many youths that curfew staff have interacted with each night since the curfew program began over Memorial Day weekend. While the numbers aren’t perfect — they don’t tell everything about how the team of social workers, school police and others are engaging with youths who are staying out past the permitted times — but they are the most substantive data made available so far.

Complaints were filed against 19.8% of Montgomery County police officers last year—234 out of a force of 1,181, according to a report from the department. The first-of-its-kind summary was discussed at a public hearing with the County Council on Tuesday afternoon. But members of the council’s public safety committee and an advocacy group want more information, saying the report doesn’t show the full story.

Thirteen local organizations working to combat food insecurity in the area received $350,000 in grants this month from The Community Foundation of Frederick County. The Community Foundation awarded one-year grants, financed by money awarded to the county by the U.S. Treasury Department, to local nonprofits whose programs alleviate food insecurity, according to a news release from the foundation on Wednesday.

Main Street is more than the center of business and local history in Mount Airy, Md. It’s where the Frederick-Carroll County line bisects the town and determines where children attend school and how much property taxes residents pay. That invisible demarcation dictates how businesses are licensed and how city officials apply for grants.

Unfortunately, there’s no Ctrl + Z for a street sign. The Baltimore City Department of Transportation acknowledged Wednesday afternoon in a Facebook post that it had committed an unfortunate spelling error on a street sign at the 1000 block of Orleans Street. It chided itself for the mistake. “Yes, we saw it. Yes, we messed up. Yes, we JUST replaced that sign. … It’ll be fixed by morning,” the department posted.