Around Maryland

Diesel-belching trucks are rumbling down Maryland 550 in Woodsboro at high rates of speed. It’s a pretty remote stretch of highway in Frederick County, surrounded mainly by cornfields. Many of the trucks are stopping at Laurel Sand and Gravel, a massive quarry and mining operation off the main road, where 600,000 tons of small stones are ground into powder every year. The powder, known as aggregate, is sold to the concrete industry as a thickening agent.

The Howard County Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve legislation that puts in place additional procedures the county auditor is required to follow during certain special investigations, after a description of race in a February report published by the office sparked public protest and calls for the county auditor to be fired.

Last fall, following an unusually violent summer for teenagers, Mayor Brandon Scott announced an initiative aimed at intervening in school conflicts before they erupt into gunfire. Five months later, teenage gun violence in Baltimore has surged, even as nonfatal shootings and homicides in the city have receded. Scott’s school violence intervention pilot has yet to get off the ground — and likely won’t be fully implemented until the fall. Even so, the scope of youth violence — with its sudden surge — is outpacing the city’s capacity to respond.

Friday marks International Transgender Day of Visibility, and while anti-transgender legislation is being introduced across the country, Montgomery County experienced a week of vocal support for LGBTQ+ residents from the County Council, school board and a local grassroots organization. The Montgomery County Council adopted a resolution on Tuesday reiterating the county’s intolerance for anti-transgender acts and voicing support for LGBTQ+-friendly events such as drag story hours as “important and joyful ways to celebrate the diversity of our community.”

Former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) gave his support to the efforts of the FBI and United States Marshals to track down his former chief of staff, Roy McGrath, who failed to appear in court in Baltimore on March 13. "Governor Hogan fully supports local, state, and federal law enforcement efforts to resolve this situation," a Hogan spokesperson said. After McGrath failed to appear in court for his criminal trial in Baltimore, a federal arrest warrant was issued. Federal authorities are now offering $20,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

Some Montgomery County Public School staff say the district lacks willingness to more vocally support its LGBTQ-inclusive policies in the face of backlash. The school district recently revised its policy regarding the use of LGBTQ+ inclusive books in schools, saying families should not expect to receive prior alert when their student engages with these materials.

Frederick County career firefighters will see salary increases in the next fiscal year following an agreement between their union and the county that was announced on Wednesday. Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater and Stephen Jones, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 3666 president, signed a two-year contract on Wednesday on the agreement. It will take effect on July 1, a news release from the county said.

Marylanders are expected to vote in 2024 on whether to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution, following the House of Delegates’ passage of legislation championed by Speaker Adrienne A. Jones. The House voted 98-38 Thursday to pass Senate Bill 798, which was drafted to provide voters the chance to guarantee “every person ... the fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” including the ability to “prevent, continue or end one’s own pregnancy” without interference from the state.