Around Maryland

Wings tossed in honey and suya spice, jollof rice and spinach-efo riro are some of the options on their menu that you won’t find in every restaurant and their social media presence gives a special view of just how their food is made and served. On top of the restaurant’s personal take on West African cuisine, the Spice Kitchen team advertises both restaurant humor and delicious previews of their menu through TikTok and Instagram. Their TikTok account has nearly 50,000 followers and over 1.5 million likes.

Talk of litigation is among responses from folks and organizations that reject a decision the Maryland Department of Natural Resources issued Friday. DNR granted conditional approval for Garrett County and the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration to replace the bridge on Swallow Falls Road in the state-designated Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River Corridor.

The hallways of Tuscarora High School were crowded and noisy by 7 a.m. Wednesday morning. Outside, administrators directed traffic and spoke urgently into walkie-talkies while students laughed and mingled on their way into the building. The same scene played out at more than 60 schools around the county on Wednesday, the first day of the academic year for Frederick County Public Schools. From Catoctin to Brunswick and from Middletown to Walkersville, summer break officially ended for more than 46,000 children.

As part of a comprehensive approach to protect students and staff from gun violence, Baltimore County Public Schools will add a cutting-edge layer of precaution to thousands of security cameras starting in September — software trained to detect guns. Superintendent Myriam Yarbrough on Wednesday announced the decision and the Board of Education’s approval during a news conference. The Gun Detect platform, made by Virginia-based Omnilert, plugs into existing indoor and outdoor cameras and searches image frames for people and the objects surrounding them. If the system detects a gun, an alert gets sent to professionals trained to identify guns.

After 25 years of planning, the first construction phase of the highly anticipated new office for the Carroll County State’s Attorney’s Office began last week. On Aug. 16, crews began demolishing county-owned buildings at 207 and 209 Greenwood Ave., in Westminster, as well as an old billboard at the property as part of a $58,600 contract between the county and HTI Contractors, of Finksburg.

Montgomery County, Maryland, is still hiring teachers with days to go before the start of the new school year. But, Montgomery County Superintendent Monifa McKnight told reporters, “I am really happy to say that we are nearly fully staffed for teachers,” a change from last year. According to data from MCPS spokesperson Christopher Cram, there are 168 teacher vacancies left, and 68 of those are special education positions.

Coppin State University announced Wednesday that new full-time undergraduate students admitted to the university from more than 30 states and U.S. territories will be eligible for in-state tuition. The proposal, which will take effect next fall, was approved by the University System of Maryland Board of Regents during a meeting at Coppin State University earlier this year, the school said.

A judge has ordered the release of most of the names redacted in an attorney general’s report on the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s history of child sexual abuse, according to court records unsealed Tuesday. The order allows for the release Sept. 26 of 43 of the 46 blacked-out names, including those of five high-ranking church officials who contributed to the cover-up, and nine of 10 alleged abusers.

With less than a week until the first day of school, Baltimore City Public School System has hired a record number of new teachers, a win in light of a persisting, nationwide teacher shortage. The district reported that it had hired 821 new teachers from March through Tuesday, the most the system has ever brought on during spring hiring. At the Board of Education’s Tuesday night meeting, staff said the number will continue to grow until the first day of school Monday.