Around Maryland

Officials in Berlin are expected to consider a two-cent property tax rate increase as the budget process moves forward. Following discussion at this week’s work session, Mayor Zack Tyndall instructed staff to include a rate of $0.835 per $100 of assessed valuation in the tax rate ordinance to be considered by the council following a public hearing April 24. While council members have mixed feelings on an increase, Tyndall said it would help balance the budget.

Baltimore County will have a new police chief this afternoon. Robert McCullough is returning to lead the force where he spent 35 years in uniform before he retired in 2020. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski told C4 and Bryan Nehman on Tuesday that even before last night’s unanimous council vote to confirm him, McCullough had already hit the ground meeting with community groups and laying the groundwork for his first day as chief.

Tucked away on a quiet street, Frederick’s Overlook Park is easy to miss. With a pavilion, a basketball court, tennis courts, and a sloping asphalt trail, the park off Himes Avenue has many of the amenities of other parks in the city. But behind the tennis courts, six brown rectangles sit near the tree line.

The Baltimore County Police Department collected over 200 guns during Saturday’s firearm buyback event. Police partnered with the NAACP, Baltimore County chapter to host the event. Participants exchanged the guns for gift cards. Officials said the goal was to make communities safer. “It doesn’t matter if the guns come from any other state, any other county, we just want to get the guns off the street because guns can travel to Baltimore to kill individuals. We just want them off the street,” said Danita Tolson, president of the Baltimore County NAACP branch.

The Baltimore County Public Schools Board of Education once again finds itself missing a member. The incomplete board will be charged with selecting the district’s new superintendent. BCPS swore in its three newly appointed board members, Tiara Booker-Dwyer, Tiffany Frempong and Emory Young, on Friday and Monday. All members were recommended by the school board nominating commission, headed by Cindy Sexton, and selected by Gov. Wes Moore’s office.

Maryland has began to stockpile on the abortion pill “mifepristone” after the Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a court decision that prevents patients from obtaining the drug. Gov. Wes Moore, Lt. Gov Aruna Miller and the Maryland Department of Health announced a partnership for the purchase of a “substantial amount” of mifepristone.

Outside of Common Market Co-op’s Buckeystown Pike location on Saturday, local businesses captured the attention of shoppers and passersby with sweets, seedlings, flowers and sustainability techniques. At one table was a representative from South Mountain Creamery, dishing out scoops of fresh ice cream, and at another was the director of a Frederick County-based environmental education center, speaking with interested parents about the school’s programs.