Around Maryland

Young people are emerging as advocates in the crisis of youth homelessness in Maryland. In Prince George’s, Baltimore, Frederick and Howard Counties, those efforts are focused at Youth Action Boards, which work to end young peoples’ homelessness. “This gives [us] the opportunity to come to have a seat at the table with stakeholders and providers so they can hear what is really needed in the community,” said DaeJanae Day, 26 co-chair of the Prince George’s County Youth Action Board, her full-time job with the Department of Social Services, who was among four formerly homeless youth interviewed for this story. Thousands of young people in the state experience homelessness.

For a few thousand dollars, avid concertgoers or corporate buyers can have the right to purchase concert tickets in reserved club seats at the newly renovated CFG Bank Arena. Los Angeles-based developer Oak View Group plans to officially reopen the arena this spring with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performing on April 7. For those looking to attend multiple concerts in the arena throughout the year, Oak View Group will be offering an annual concert membership program. The membership, which costs between $2,000 and $7,000 per seat, will give members priority access to three new clubs along with a right to purchase — for an additional cost — lower-level tickets within a 48-hour window, said Ryan Coyle, Oak View Group’s senior vice president of premium sales. Members can lease a seat each year, which includes access to the club with private bathrooms, concessions and VIP parking in the garage attached to the arena.

The town of Friendsville has declared its opposition to building a durable bike trail through one of the most pristine areas of the Youghiogheny River, dealing a potentially fatal blow to a controversial project that had already lined up millions in state funding. Friendsville Mayor Spencer R. Schlosnagle and its town council urged state lawmakers to consider an alternative route that would keep the funds in Garrett County but avoid a stretch of the river that has been designated wild and scenic since 1976. “We cannot in good faith destroy this wilderness area which is unlike any other to be found,” Schlosnagle wrote. Friendsville’s letter caught supporters of the bike trail off guard, with some saying the town has done a turnabout.

In 2018, Angela Banks received bad news from her landlord: Baltimore officials were buying her family’s home of four decades, planning to demolish the three-story brick row house to make room for a beleaguered urban renewal project aimed at transforming a historically Black neighborhood. Banks and her children became homeless almost overnight. With nowhere else to go, they spent months sleeping in her aging Ford Explorer.

A store owner in Baltimore City accused an African American shopper, who was with his children, of theft and called the police. A security tape showed no theft and the parties later agreed to a monetary settlement. In neighboring Baltimore County, a man claimed his employer fired him after he failed a physical. Both parties agreed to settle the dispute for $75,000.

A young Colombian woman was told being an au pair was a “wonderful opportunity” in the United States — she could take classes and improve her English skills while working as a live-in nanny for an American family. However, after being matched with a family in Prince George’s County, the couple forced her to work long hours doing heavy housework, she alleged. She said they also gave her only cheap, mostly processed foods without permission to eat fresh fruits and vegetables they had purchased for themselves, and monitored her every move through a network of surveillance cameras throughout the house.

Just hours after family members gathered at a news conference to support an investigation into the murder of 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey, someone shot up their home in Baltimore early Saturday, their attorney said. Thiru Vignarajah, the family’s attorney, said four or five gunshots were fired into the home after midnight. No one was hurt, but several children were inside. Within hours, the family moved into police protection, Vignarajah said. It’s not immediately known whether the shooting was an attempt to silence the family as police search for additional suspects.