Around Maryland

When the time came for Gale Livingstone to buy farmland, the familiarity and prestige of Prince George’s County called. It was consequential, majority-Black and it used to be home for Livingstone, 50, a Largo High graduate who is known as “Farmer Gale.” After about a year of searching for land while driving around the county and writing letters inquiring about plots for sale, she would eventually “luck up” on 53-plus acres in Upper Marlboro that was once prime tobacco farming land in another era of the county. It’s been hard since. The pandemic added fresh stress, and new debt left Livingstone with doubts about the choice to launch Deep Roots Farm. Still, she wants to farm.

Seven charter school operators are petitioning the Maryland State Board of Education to rewrite Baltimore City school system’s funding formula for distributing money tied to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. Charter representatives and city school administrators have negotiated for months but say they were unable to resolve the dispute, which centers on a 25% administrative “fee” that the system included in its charter school formula for distributing state funds tied to the landmark Blueprint reform plan. The Blueprint is expected to infuse an additional $3.8 billion in Maryland schools over the next decade.

After years of tepid enrollment spurred by the pandemic, colleges and universities in Maryland are trying to stabilize and grow their student populations with varying degrees of success. Several Maryland schools, public and private, enrolled fewer students in the fall, including the University of Baltimore, as well as Frostburg State, Coppin State, Notre Dame of Maryland and Johns Hopkins universities. Other institutions in the state, such as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Morgan State University, recorded significant gains. “It’s been a mixed bag for us,” said Kurt Schmoke, president of the University of Baltimore. “Our law school is doing very well on enrollment. But on our undergraduate side, we rely very heavily on transfers from community colleges, and those enrollments have been down for two years.”

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is bringing Wakanda to Baltimore for orchestra concertgoers and movie fans. The BSO is honoring Black History Month with programs highlighting contributions from Black musicians, artists and composers as part of their “Hall for All“ initiative, a plan to diversify programming to reach more audiences at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. “The Jazz Age — Harlem Renaissance,” “Marvel Studios’ Black Panther Live in Concert” and “Calypso Fusion” performances will “celebrate pivotal time periods … that encapsulate the evolution of Black music, spoken word, and film while highlighting talented composers, conductors, and musicians,” BSO president and CEO Mark C. Hanson said in a statement.

A former middle school teacher at the Gilman School will continue to be held without bail as he awaits trial on charges including sexual abuse of a minor, rape and perverted practice, a Baltimore County judge ruled on Monday. District Judge Karen A. Pilarski made that determination at a bail review hearing for Chris Bendann, 38, of Towson, who taught social studies at the private, independent all-boys school in Roland Park in Baltimore from 2007-2023, according to his LinkedIn page. He’s accused of sexually abusing a teen between 2016-2019.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services and the Office of the Attorney General have recommended a $92,000 payment to settle a lawsuit alleging the state’s prison system refused to allow a transgender inmate to receive hormone therapy. The proposed settlement would settle one of several lawsuits against state officials filed by Amber Maree Canter, a transgender woman who said in the lawsuit prison officials denied her request to continue a hormone therapy regimen she had started prior to her 2013 incarceration.

The founder of an extreme neo-Nazi group and his girlfriend have been charged with plotting to attack several Maryland power stations. Brandon Russel, 27, the founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, are alleged to have planned to shoot five electrical substations in the Baltimore area, the Washington Post reported. If convicted, the pair face up to 20 years in prison. “Together, we are using every legal means necessary to keep Marylanders safe and to disrupt hate-fueled violence,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek Barron said in a speech thanking law enforcement for uncovering the plot.

The Anne Arundel County Police Accountability Board last month released its first yearly report outlining the status of citizen complaints against police, its recommendations to improve the complaint process and the establishing procedures it conducted in 2022. The board, an entity required for all counties under the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021, has been available to process citizen complaints against law enforcement conduct since July.