Around Maryland

As air quality declined to “very unhealthy” levels in the Baltimore area Thursday morning, many local groups canceled or modified outdoor activities for the second straight day amid a historic outbreak of air pollution. In the graphics below view recent Air Quality Index reports from across the United States and historical looks at peak daily readings for fine particulate matter in the Baltimore area.

Smoke from Canadian wildfires poured into the U.S. East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, covering the capitals of both nations in an unhealthy haze, holding up flights at major airports and prompting people to fish out pandemic-era face masks. While Canadian officials asked other countries for help fighting more than 400 blazes nationwide that already have displaced 20,000 people, air quality with what the U.S. rates as hazardous levels of pollution extended into central New York.

Pretty much every item in the modest Silver Spring apartment Baktash Amini shares with his wife, Maryam, and their two young kids has been donated: the table and chairs, sofas, bedroom furniture, even the television hanging from the wall. One notable exception: a white toddler-size Bentley sports car covered in stickers that sits on the floor next to one of the sofas.

Pastor Rod Hudson said the first time he came to Baltimore to visit Ames Memorial United Methodist Church in 2007, he was shocked by how much drug activity was going on in Sandtown-Winchester. But he felt called to work there, he said, and not only took the job at the church, but became engaged in efforts and ideas to turn the neighborhood around.

Resort officials this week agreed to install 28 new digital message signs on the Boardwalk, but not before a lengthy discussion on visual clutter. On Monday, the Mayor and Council had before them a request from town’s tourism department to purchase and install 14 double-sided, or 28, variable message signs (VMS) along the Boardwalk. Tourism and Business Development Director Tom Perlozzo said the total cost of $549,815 would be paid for with dedicated advertising funds.

Erica Brooks, a graduating senior at Overlea High School in Baltimore County, had a tough high school experience. She lost her dad as a freshman and she was forced to learn virtually her sophomore year because of the pandemic. But with the help of an academic resource center, she not only bounced back but finished her classes early. She’ll walk across the stage with her peers on Wednesday.

After a lengthy negotiation process to settle on a bill that would raise the debt ceiling in order for the U.S. government to avoid default, the bill now expands the age range in which a person needs to be employed, or in a work training program, in order to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.