Around Maryland

In Baltimore, Black residents tend to be hit the hardest by public health crises, but results from a community survey released Tuesday by Johns Hopkins University show that income level and educational attainment are more powerful than race at predicting whether a Baltimorean has lost someone close to them from a drug overdose.

Unionized sanitation workers at Ecology Services, a company contracted by Anne Arundel County for recycling and yard waste collection, remain on strike this week with no end in sight. Dozens of employees who are part of Teamsters Local 570, the union representing Ecology Services workers, went on strike Sept. 4 over the company’s refusal to address unsafe working conditions and unfair wages.

Nathaniel Jordan was a private man who many hadn’t truly known. Aside from his humor and love for Jamaican music, his daughter Yasmeen Jordan didn’t know much else about him. But she knew about her father’s drug use all too well. “I had to grieve the fact that I didn’t have him around,” Yasmeen Jordan said. “He was funny, he stole, but I feel like, if he had the proper help, the proper assistance, I feel like he would have [still] been here.”

The Baltimore County Council on Monday night passed legislation to tax vacant structures and direct the revenue to funds that help find housing and fix up vacant buildings. The law will take effect July 25. Baltimore County has about 500 structures that are registered with the county as vacant, and 31 that are deemed unfit for habitation or other authorized use.

The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) implementing the Maryland Action Plan to prevent suicides within the school system. MDH announced a new comprehensive guide for schools, which includes extensive training for school admins, mental health professionals, and even parents. Director of suicide prevention and problem gambling, Dionne Bowie, said this new plan will take Maryland schools to the next level in offering support to students.

As the county executive, Johnny Olszewski is used to running things. But, when Baltimore County’s top official walked into the kitchen at Bykota Senior Center, he knew to let the assembly line of paper plates and diced carrots proceed without his signature. “I do not want to complicate what is already a well-oiled machine,” Olszewski said as he and his communications director, Erica Palmisano, wheeled a silver cart of chicken-and-gravy lunches to an adoring crowd this week for No Senior Eats Alone Day.

A Maryland nonprofit is helping people with disabilities find jobs and other opportunities by hosting a boot camp in partnership with tech company Enabled Intelligence. For decades, Melwood has aimed to provide employment, training, and supportive and recreational services to people with disabilities. Employees at Enabled Intelligence input data that helps artificial intelligence systems, including those run by the federal government.