Around Maryland

Baltimore County Public Schools educators wanting better compensation upgraded their public pleas to a rally outside the school board meeting Tuesday, the night the board is set to vote on the proposed budget for fiscal year 2024.

On the last day of Black History Month, Gov. Wes Moore appeared at two events: one to honor the legacy of Thurgood Marshall and another announcing funding for three Maryland HBCUs.

The new dashboard will offer the public a view of police and court data broken down by neighborhood, police district and crime types.

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.

Carroll Community College students will have an easier time accessing free funds for groceries and other necessities thanks to a new partnership between the college and Benefits Data Trust, a national nonprofit organization. Benefits Data Trust is helping the college to use student data the college collects to identify those most likely to be eligible for untapped support. About 820 students received texts and emails within the last month notifying them that they may be eligible for about $100 per month to help defray grocery costs. The organization Share our Strength, which works to address hunger-related issues, helped provide data analysis funding.

A top lawmaker in Montgomery County, Maryland, introduced a bill Monday that would put tighter regulations on some of the busiest intersections in the county. According to Evan Glass, the president of the Montgomery County Council, the legislation would impact intersections in downtown and town center areas. “Those are some of the most heavily-utilized areas of our county,” said Glass. “This will allow for people to cross those intersection in a more timely and safer manner.”

A unanimous Maryland Supreme Court has ruled against Montgomery Park in its effort to reopen the bidding for the Maryland Insurance Administration’s lease, a contract the Pigtown office building was the front-runner to win until the state renewed MIA’s lease in downtown Baltimore for 10 years and about $17 million in 2020. In a 7-0 decision, the high court said Friday that the Department of General Services – the state’s leasing agency – validly withdrew its request for bids on MIA’s lease after Montgomery Park had made its offer.

The American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore came in second place in USA TODAY’s contest for the “Best Art Museum” in the country, with the top honor going to the Detroit Institute of Arts. A panel of experts nominated museums for the contest, which were narrowed down to 10 by the USA TODAY 10Best editors and voted upon by readers. Readers were able cast one vote per category each day. “Located next to downtown Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the American Visionary Art Museum (AVAM) is America’s official national museum and education center for self-taught and intuitive artistry. Created with materials from roots to toothpicks, farmers, homemakers, people without housing, and others have donated their art to this museum, transforming dreams and loss into works of art,” the 10Best editors wrote.