Around Maryland

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore adopted a new family member Friday – a fluffy mixed-breed rescue puppy, the Maryland SPCA in Hampden said. Moore tweeted a series of photos Friday evening of him and his children with their new furry friend. The governor also shared the pup’s full name, a nod to Charm City: Tucker Balti Moore. “Tonight @DawnFlytheMoore, Mia, James, and I welcome a new member of our family: Tucker Balti Moore! Thank you to @MDSPCA for helping us adopt our new energetic family member. We can’t wait to run through Government House and the streets of Annapolis with Tucker!” Moore tweeted.

The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration launched “Operation Clean Sweep Maryland” Friday — aiming to increase litter removal along roadways throughout the state. As part of the effort, the state will double how frequently crews pick up litter and mow along Maryland roads. Maryland will also hire more state employees to help with litter pickup. Operation Clean Sweep Maryland is beginning in the D.C. and Baltimore areas. “Maryland’s highways connect us to friends, family, schools, jobs and recreation, and serve as the welcome mat for visitors to our state,” Acting Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said in a news release.

The Anne Arundel County Council refined a new bill Tuesday to relax existing laws around creating accessory dwelling units. The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Council members Lisa Rodvien, of Annapolis, Allison Pickard, of Glen Burnie, and Julie Hummer, of Laurel, would make it easier for homeowners to create spaces, commonly referred to as secondary suites, accessory apartments and “granny” flats, on the property of a single-family home where another person could live independently.

The Baltimore County Police Department said its constantly reallocating resources based on crime trends, including a recent spate of violence in Towson. As the investigation into the fatal shooting of a teenager Monday night continues, police are adjusting patrols. Using data, county police said they determine the most appropriate strategy to handle any uptick in crime.

Using $2 million in federal grant funding, Baltimore officials will start developing a plan to reconnect Black neighborhoods by potentially demolishing a stretch of thoroughfare that displaced hundreds of families amid a failed highway construction project decades ago.

Members of the Baltimore City Council and police accountability advocates publicly pressured members of Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration to speed up their implementation of local control of the city’s police department. The pleas came during a meeting of the council’s Public Safety and Government Operations committee to discuss legislation before the Maryland General Assembly to move the process forward.