Around Maryland

Less than a quarter of Marylanders are interested in gambling their money in the state’s still-growing sports betting industry, according to a new poll. Among 800 people surveyed by Goucher College Poll in partnership with The Baltimore Banner, 23% said they were likely to place a bet on sports over the next year, either in person at a casino or online.

Frederick County Public Schools officials on Wednesday presented Superintendent Cheryl Dyson’s recommended maps for a redistricting project that could see nearly 2,500 students switching schools. The project is referred to as the Crestwood Area Redistricting Study, because it’s being prompted by an upcoming addition to Crestwood Middle School that will boost capacity there by 300 seats.

The Baltimore City Board of Estimates approved a contract from the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts on Wednesday that is expected to improve the emergency system at the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office. The Administrative Office of the Courts is looking to upgrade its early alert “panic button” system to improve the sheriff’s office response times to emergencies for circuit court and the Juvenile Justice Center.

The Board of Estimates on Wednesday approved new Tasers for the Baltimore Police Department. The $5 million contract for the Tasers was required by the Justice Department consent decree. The previous Tasers expired after five years. “We have been successful in achieving initial compliance on our consent decree on all paragraphs related to the use of what’s called a controlled electronic weapon,” said Eric Melancon, deputy commissioner of the Compliance Bureau.

In a significant step toward eliminating toxic air pollution, Maryland lawmakers have approved a measure requiring that, year by year, manufacturers ensure that zero-emission vehicles make up a growing share of the trucks and buses sold in the state. Yet some public health advocates fret that the wording of the legislation will allow the state to drag its feet for a year or more if it finds that the infrastructure for electric vehicles is inadequate.

Katie Windle is a mother of two living in suburban Odenton, in Anne Arundel County. She does remote work for a university in the Pacific Northwest while her husband commutes to his federal law enforcement job in Washington, D.C. She’s a self-professed adherent of “wine culture” and has signs and coasters decorating her home that say things like: “I make wine disappear. What’s your superpower?” She considers herself a law-abiding citizen.

Baltimore Police are requesting new Tasers for the department’s officers at a cost of roughly $5 million over five years. The requested contract with Taser maker Axon Enterprise Inc. will be considered Wednesday by the city’s Board of Estimates. It’s on the board’s non-routine agenda, meaning it likely will be discussed prior to a vote.

A historian of the African diaspora in Latin America who heads academic operations at a research university in Cleveland will become the next president of Howard University at a time of expanding influence for one of the nation’s most prominent historically Black institutions. Ben Vinson III, provost at Case Western Reserve University and a former administrator at universities in D.C. and Maryland, was announced Tuesday as Howard’s 18th president since its founding in Washington shortly after the Civil War.