Around Maryland

Right now, without getting up from your chair or leaving your house, you can search and review court records related to the 2020 Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Minnesota courts provide online access to a plethora of documents such as complaints, arrest warrants and jury verdicts. But in Maryland, it’s a different story.

A Maryland law passed earlier this year requires the Maryland Center for School Safety to study the effectiveness and the mental health impacts of active shooter drills and trainings on students and staff. Kim Buckheit, director of strategic initiatives at the Maryland Center for School Safety, explained that simulated sounds of gunfire or explosions, banging on classroom doors and having individuals posing as assailants or victims are banned under the guidelines for drills carried out during the school day: “All of those types of simulations are not allowed in Maryland.”

The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy hosted the free Pharmapreneurship Summit Oct. 8, bringing together thought leaders to engage with the university community, to propose bold and innovative ideas to address challenges and opportunities for the pharmacy world and to celebrate its successes.

About the changes in juvenile justice laws that took effect Friday, some prosecutors, defense attorneys and justice reform advocates agree on one thing: The laws are likely to result in increased caseloads for the Department of Juvenile Services. But whether that will have an effect on crime rates — or deter young offenders — is less clear.

Tourism revenue for Frederick County reached a record total in 2023, bringing in $539 million, up from $518 million the year before. The money came from 1.9 million visitors to the county, comparable to the number for 2022, according to a press release from the tourism organization Visit Frederick. The tourism rate shows the highest visitor total since 2019, the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said.

If you’re trick-or-treating Thursday night, expect to come up empty-handed at about one in 10 houses. That’s according to a new poll by the UMBC Institute of Politics, in which 11 percent of Marylanders said they will pretend they’re not home on Halloween. Fortunately, you’ll have some luck on the rest of the block, where 77 percent said they plan to give out candy or treats, and 5% said they will be handing out something else.

Baltimore is on a fast-approaching deadline to obligate all $641 million of its federal COVID-19 relief funds by the end of this year — or else it will lose the money. Around $501 million has been obligated as of Sept. 30, per a new report released Thursday by the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Programs. That number does not include interagency agreements, according to Chief Recovery Officer Shamiah Kerney.

More than 200 community members attended a special event at the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center (UM BWMC) – a member organization of the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) – kicking off the health care provider’s new Courtney Speaker Series with Baseball Hall of Fame member Cal Ripken Jr. During the program, Ripken also announced a new collaboration between the foundation he co-founded in honor of his father and UMMS.