Around Maryland

As a young teacher, Tara Ebersole trembled whenever she reached for the flat wooden paddle she was supposed to use to discipline students in her junior high school classroom in east Tennessee. Even then, in 1980, she could hardly believe corporal punishment was still expected in public schools. “I shook every time I put a paddle in my hand,” she recalled. “For me, philosophically, intentionally causing pain to another person is not how you can guide and teach them.”

Allegany County officials received a list of 17 projects being recommended for a total of $1 million in grant funding under Program Open Space. The state program provides financial and technical assistance to communities for the planning, acquisition, and/or development of recreation land or open space areas. Adam Patterson, director of public works, presented the list of projects for 2024 at Thursday's meeting of the Allegany County Board of Commissioners. "We have a very nice funding package this year from the state," said Patterson. "Our available funds are $993,046."

A Frederick County Board of Education member thinks the school district should examine and possibly alter its approach to homework assignments. Board member Jason Johnson gave a presentation on the philosophies and research underpinning homework to his colleagues at the board's work session on Wednesday afternoon. Johnson said he has long had an interest in the topic and wanted the board to consider it.

The family of Henrietta Lacks filed a lawsuit Thursday against a California-based pharmaceutical company in a continuation of her descendants’ efforts to recoup profits from companies they say are making money off the HeLa cell line. The new lawsuit, against Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, a publicly traded company specializing in treatments for rare diseases, comes just over a week after the former Turner Station resident’s family settled their first case against a biotechnology company under undisclosed terms.

Maryland’s higher education officials Thursday said they will review their decision to approve a new Towson University doctorate program that has come under fire from Morgan State President David K. Wilson and supporters of the historically Black institution as unfairly duplicative of their own program. With seven out of 12 members present, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, which establishes statewide policies for public and private colleges and universities, voted 4-3 in a closed-session meeting on June 14 to allow Towson University to establish a Ph.D. program in business analytics, prompting renewed calls for transparency and reform.

The Preakness Stakes could be run at a later date due to horse safety concerns. 1/st Racing & Gaming has considered to move the date of Preakness to four weeks after the Kentucky Derby. It was normally held two weeks after the derby. Aidan Butler, Chief Executive Officer of 1/st Racing & Gaming, said the possibility of a schedule shift with the Triple Crown was nothing new and that it would give the horse a better chance to be ready in-between races.

The state’s top court has sided with the Maryland Department of the Environment in a dispute over airborne pollution from chicken farms, a ruling that frustrated environmental activists who say local waterways and communities are not being adequately protected. In a 6-1 decision, the Maryland Supreme Court found that the department’s permitting scheme for animal feeding operations (AFOs) does enough to regulate ammonia, an irritating gas that is emitted from animal waste and causes nutrient pollution.