Around Maryland

The official end to the COVID-19 federal public health emergency was Thursday, but the Carroll County Health Department announced last week that it will continue to provide related resources and information. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced in February that the emergency would end May 11, and said since the peak of the Omicron surge at the end of January 2022, daily COVID-19 reported cases were down 92%, COVID-19 deaths had declined by more than 80%, and new COVID-19 hospitalizations were down nearly 80%.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman signed an executive order last week creating a food council to devise solutions to food insecurity in the county. As residents struggle to recover financially from the pandemic and federal assistance launched during the public health emergency comes to an end, hunger experts encouraged Pittman to bring together people who are affected by food insecurity and those who work in food assistance to come up with creative, longer-term remedies to the county’s food access gap.

Erica Johnson talked of workers in temporary and travel positions who left their Allegany County jobs this year because they couldn’t secure housing. Some traveling nurses, equipment operators and construction workers reside at local campgrounds because they “can’t find a place to stay,” she said. A lot has changed in the area’s real estate market since 2019, said Johnson, executive of the Historic Highlands Association of Realtors that represents more than 150 real estate professionals and individuals in related businesses that impact the industry across the tri-state area.

The Baltimore County school board has narrowed the superintendent search to four finalists: Myriam Yarbrough, Baltimore County’s deputy superintendent, Robert Taylor, a former North Carolina deputy state superintendent, Kenny Rodrequez, superintendent of Grand View Consolidated School District No. 4 in Missouri, Jason Glass, a commissioner at the Kentucky Department of Education.

Much of UpSurge Baltimore CEO Jamie McDonald's job is to keep track of the startups and venture capital firms that make up Baltimore's tech ecosystem. Yet even she can't keep track of everything happening in the industry right now.n "I'm thrilled when we hear about a company that we haven't heard of," McDonald said.

Brenda McCartney will return to Garrett County Public Schools as interim superintendent for the 2023-24 academic year, following action taken by the Board of Education at its May meeting. The appointment is contingent upon the mutual agreement of contract terms and approval from the state superintendent of schools.

Metro is planning for a more open design for its next generation of rail cars that will better accommodate wheelchairs, strollers and bicycles, while giving passengers the ability to switch cars when trains get crowded. Transit officials recently traveled to New York to see subway cars that use the “open gangway” style, which provides enclosed walkways between cars to allow for the movement of passengers while in motion, much like an Amtrak train.