Wednesday, December 3, 2025 | Baltimore, MD
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51. Healthcare Today With Damian O’Doherty, Nicole Stallings, and Ed Lovern

Hospitals Launch @JoinMDHealth To Address Workforce Crisis. As we near the three-year mark of COVID-19 in our state, Maryland hospitals and health systems are experiencing the worst workforce crisis in recent memory. The Maryland Hospital Association’s Executive Vice President Nicole Stallings joins Ascension Saint Agnes President and CEO Ed Lovern to discuss the workforce challenges hospitals are experiencing. At the midpoint of the General Assembly Session, Nicole and Ed offer immediate and long-term solutions to the historic shortage that is leaving 1 in 5 hospital jobs vacant. Follow @JoinMDHealth on social media to learn about career opportunities available right now in Maryland hospitals and about education opportunities available statewide to prepare for your dream job in a hospital.

A police car
Montgomery Co. bill would prohibit police from stopping drivers for some minor traffic offenses

There’s a new bill being considered in Montgomery County, Maryland, that would prevent police officers from making stops for certain minor traffic offenses. It’s called The Safety and Traffic Equity in Policing, or the STEP Act. The bill, introduced Tuesday, would limit traffic stops for low-level moving violations as primary offenses, such as window tinting or defective taillights.

Read More: WTOP
Breathing new life into Maryland’s former all-Black schools

Bessie Bordenave said she cried in September when her beloved Harriet Tubman High School was reopened as a cultural center. “I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I can’t believe this is happening.’ Just thinking about it makes me emotional. I think about how great it turned out to be,” she said. “The children from the various schools come and get a taste of what it was like going to the school back then. … I think the children do need to know.”

New task force could change how Baltimore’s water system is run, but some worry it’s too exclusive

A General Assembly bill that could transform how the Baltimore area’s water and wastewater infrastructure is operated will get its first hearing Wednesday. A few local politicians and water advocates are raising questions about the proposal, which would set up a task force charged with determining the best governance for the systems, which are largely owned by Baltimore City but also serve Baltimore County and others in the region.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Frederick Co. deputies to start wearing body cameras Tuesday

Deputies in Frederick County, Maryland, will be wearing body cameras starting Tuesday as part of their duty uniform. Deputies will be outfitted with Axon body cameras, and the rollout to 180 officers will be phased in over the next 60 days, said Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Richard Balsley, in a Facebook post.

Read More: WTOP
The use of hard drugs has been an epidemic for over a decade and there are no simple or easy solutions.
How Montgomery Co. schools plans to crack down on students’ fentanyl use

The Montgomery County Public School system has released a plan to combat the rise in opioid use and overdoses in the Maryland county’s over 200 schools — including a crackdown on how long and when students can be in the restroom. In a statement released Friday, the Maryland school system announced it would take immediate and strategic actions to inform the community about the dangers of fentanyl — which has, as of Jan. 24, resulted in over 11 cases of youth overdoses in the county’s schools since the beginning of the school year, according to the school system’s spokesperson Jessica Baxter.

Read More: WTOP
Black student loan borrowers at risk as U.S. Supreme Court weighs forgiveness plan

As the Biden administration prepares to defend its student debt cancellation program before the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, data shows that Black borrowers have the most to lose should the justices strike down the policy. Black borrowers hold a disproportionate share of student loan debt, and many likely were recipients of Pell Grants, federal aid to help low-income students pay for higher education. Those federal student loan borrowers who received Pell Grants could qualify for up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness under the administration plan.

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