Around Maryland

More than 400 people spent Nov. 5 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards sampling some of the area’s best chili recipes as the event raised more than $77,000 to support The Baltimore Station, a residential and community-based treatment program supporting veterans and others transitioning from homelessness and substance use disorder to self-sufficiency.  Teams participating in the chili competition represented the area’s business and nonprofit community. Emerging as the judges’ pick for “Best Chili” was Mt. Hebron High School from Ellicott City for its “Viking Chili” and the Maryland Multi-Housing Association (MMHA) once again took home the “People’s Choice” award for its Godfather inspired chili “The Good Chili.” The “Best Booth” award went to Fuchs North America for its Harry Potter-themed booth.

During his fiscal year 2024 budget recommendation announcement Thursday, Gov. Larry Hogan today included $100 million in proposed funding for University of Maryland Shore Regional Health’s new Regional Medical Center at Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. “Building a new Regional Medical Center in Easton marks the most significant milestone in fulfilling our decades-long integrated facility and clinical service delivery plan,” said Ken Kozel, president and CEO of UM SRH. “Our growing communities expect and deserve access to a state-of-the-art center with advanced clinical care.”

The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore unveiled updated designs Thursday for the second phase of Rash Field Park’s expansion in the Inner Harbor. Rash Field’s overhaul has been a work in progress since 2015 when organizers decided to split the project into two phases to make fundraising easier. The first phase of the renovated park, once an uninviting concrete and sandy field, reopened in November 2021 with a new skate park, playground and pavilion. The second phase of the project will add five acres, including green space and a beach.

Baltimore’s spending board is poised to approve $645,000 to settle two more legal disputes related to the city police department’s disgraced Gun Trace Task Force involving plaintiffs who spent time in prison before their charges were vacated. Next week the Board of Estimates will consider two settlements, one for $330,000 with Jamar Bowles and another for $315,000 with Alex Holden, both of which have been recommended for approval by the city’s settlement review committee.

Government agencies and school districts in the D.C. area announced plans for two-hour delayed openings Thursday in advance of a winter storm expected to hit the area in the early-morning hours. Winter weather advisories have been issued by the National Weather Service for much of the Washington and Baltimore region, which will see precipitation — probably in the form of sleet, freezing rain and plain rain — during the predawn hours, according to the Capital Weather Gang.

One time, Jaz Erenberg’s kindergarten teacher called her mother in to school. As the teacher showed her a coloring page, one with the line-art of a cat that disappeared in a burst of rainbow colors, they sounded slightly concerned — Erenberg, the teacher told her mother, was having trouble coloring within the lines. “No,” her mother, who was a linguist, said, “She’s an artist.” Erenberg, now 32, smiles as she recalled this story. She doesn’t remember this happening, Erenberg said, but it sounded about right.

The Baltimore County school board, racked by years of infighting and a struggle to achieve a working majority, seems poised to turn the page. The board’s election last week of Jane Lichter, an educator who spent 37 years with the school system, as chair, and career social worker Robin Harvey as vice chair, was the first sign. Both seemed eager to set a collegial tone at their first meeting, which came months after the board went to court to try to fire its longtime auditor — a case that revealed longstanding acrimony among members.