Around Maryland

Republican state legislators are criticizing a recent change in how the state reports school test score data, saying that obscuring a small number of student results is masking failures at low performing schools. State education officials say their actions are intended to comply with a federal student privacy law and have vigorously disputed a news station’s allegations that they were intentionally hiding data about failing schools from the public.

A coalition of business groups on Thursday launched a campaign to increase long-distance service at Reagan National Airport, arguing that rules limiting the number of flights and the distance they travel are outdated and are hurting consumers and the local economy. The effort, led by the Capital Access Alliance, is the latest salvo in a long-running battle over control of National, whose unique status as one of two airports owned by the federal government — alongside Dulles International Airport — means Congress has the power to make changes to how it operates.

When Valerie Sheares Ashby first visited University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2012, she had no idea, nor intention, to be the campus’s next president. But Freeman Hrabowski, a president who took the university to new heights, knew Sheares Ashby was destined to do the same thing. After chairing a chemistry department, becoming a college dean and overcoming imposter syndrome, Sheares Ashby will be inaugurated Thursday — in front of the campus community and Gov. Wes Moore — as the sixth president of UMBC following Hrabowski’s 30-year leadership.

Administrators at Morgan State University’s proposed Maryland College of Osteopathic Medicine — the first medical school to open at a historically Black college or university in nearly 50 years — have a long to-do list ahead of them. They plan to demolish the old Montebello Hospital Complex on Morgan State’s campus to make room for a roughly 130,000-square-foot facility to house the school.

Some Marylanders who had their food and cash benefits stolen from their EBT cards by fraudsters using “skimming” devices are now able to reclaim even more of their stolen benefits. The office of Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced Wednesday that the state is expanding efforts to replace funds stolen from EBT cards. The expansion allows EBT holders in Maryland to reclaim benefits stolen as far back as Jan. 1, 2021. The previous cut-off was Oct. 1, 2022.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced in his State of the City address that city residents would be eligible for a one-time 5% discount on water bills for enrolling in paperless billing. City residents have until May 31 to sign up for the program, and after enrolling, they will see the one-time 5% discount, capped at $150, applied to eligible water bills within two billing cycles. Customers who already have paperless billing will automatically qualify for the discount.

After hearing concerns from local seniors, the Prince George’s County Council moved to block retaliation from landlords seeking an end-run around rent stabilization legislation that became effective April 17. The emergency action, taken Tuesday, clarified elements of the bill, such as who constitutes a “preexisting tenant,” after council members heard reports that some landlords — upset by a new 3 percent cap on rent increases — were attempting to oust renters.

Larry Zarzecki, a resident of White Marsh, has Parkinson’s disease. Over the span of three years, he went through his IRA and sold his house in order to cover the out-of-pocket costs for his drugs. “Each year, prescription drugs became more and more and more expensive,” Zarzecki said. “Over the past few years, it’s gotten so out of hand with the cost of the other prescription drugs that I take to function.”