Around Maryland

As Maryland’s official state dessert, Smith Island Cake is a standout dish on any chef’s table. Now, the famed cake is set to receive a new sign marker in recognition of its historical significance. Smith Island United was recently awarded a grant from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, whose mission is supporting and celebrating the preservation of community history. The Pomeroy Foundation, through the Hungry for History Program, is funding a new sign marker for the Smith Island Cake. As Maryland’s official state dessert, Smith Island Cake is a standout dish on any chef’s table. Now, the famed cake is set to receive a new sign marker in recognition of its historical significance.

As well-wishers gather in Annapolis on Wednesday for the inauguration of Gov.-elect Wes Moore and Lt. Gov.-elect Aruna Miller, the Maryland Department of Health will have more than 14,000 at-home COVID-19 tests on hand “to encourage Marylanders attending the event to stay COVIDReady through the winter,” the department said Friday. The historic inauguration of Moore, soon-to-be Maryland’s first Black governor, and Miller, who will be the first woman of color as lieutenant governor, will occur at the State House on Wednesday. Maryland Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader emphasized the importance of the capitol’s COVID testing site, calling it “an essential continuity of government service offering legislators and the general public convenient access to both rapid and PCR testing.”

Morgan State University is on track to be the first Historically Black College and University, or HBCU, in nearly half a century to open a new medical school. The proposed name is The Maryland College of Osteopathic Medicine and it is scheduled to welcome its first class in Fall 2024.  As of this month, only four HBCUs have affiliated medical schools: Howard University College of Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine. By 2025, Xavier University in New Orleans plans to launch its medical school.

A dead humpback whale was found on the beach at Assateague Island National Seashore on Monday, according to the U.S. National Park Service. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the National Aquarium are attempting to determine how the 20-foot whale died, according to a park service news release, which also says there are “no obvious signs” to the cause of the whale’s death. When the necropsy is completed, the whale will be moved from the upper part of the seashore’s oversand vehicle area to the sand dunes, where it will dry out before being buried. Those who come across the whale are asked to keep a distance and to keep their dogs leashed, the release says.

Gov.-elect Wes Moore built his campaign around a central motto — leave no one behind — and the details of the events leading up to Moore’s inauguration this week show how the administration is planning for inclusivity. That, he says, is no accident. “It’s the reason why we wanted to have the most inclusive inaugural gala, the swearing-in, the day of service, the events on Sunday evening,” Moore told The Baltimore Banner.

It has been seven months since a majority of Baltimore County Council members called on the county school board to launch a nationwide search for a new leader, claiming that Superintendent Darryl Williams had offered “no real solutions” to critical problems facing the district. Now, with Williams facing a Feb. 1 decision to tell the board whether he wants another four years, his future remains tenuous.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott led off the triumphant Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade on Monday that he had promised city residents he would deliver. Drummers, dancers and pompom-twirlers rounded the corner at Eutaw Street shortly after noon and proceeded south down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the street named in honor of the slain civil rights leader.