Around Maryland

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.

New police officers in Montgomery County, Maryland, are eligible for $20,000 in signing bonuses, officials announced Wednesday. The bonuses, which will be paid in installments, will be offered to the next recruiting class, which is scheduled to begin in June, according to a county news release. The announcement comes amid what county officials called a national police recruiting shortage, which is also affecting most law enforcement agencies in the region.

Baltimore will get $2 million to dismantle the so-called "highway to nowhere." The money will be used by the city to figure out how to reuse the site. The U.S. Department of Transportation built the highway 50 years ago, but the mayor argues the project divided the communities and has called it a "poster child" for racial and economic inequities.

As antisemitic incidents have multiplied in Montgomery County Public Schools, officials are hoping stronger penalties for students and required sessions for their parents will help prevent further problems. Students who commit hateful acts now will have them documented in their file, Superintendent Monifa B. McKnight announced Wednesday, and their parents will be brought in for follow-up conversations. Community towns halls will also be conducted if the incidents persist.