Around Maryland

A small plane that crashed into a Maryland electricity transmission tower last month was flying below minimum altitudes while approaching an airport in foggy nighttime conditions, according to a preliminary report on the crash. The pilot and passenger were seriously injured and the Mooney M20J was substantially damaged when it hit a tower supporting high-tension lines on Nov. 27, knocking out power to tens of thousands of area customers. The plane was left dangling 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report released Monday.

Juul Labs will pay Maryland $13 million under an agreement that resolves a multistate investigation into the e-cigarette company’s marketing and sales practices, Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced Tuesday. Over the next five to nine years, Juul agreed to give $434.5 million to 33 states and territories, with the total settlement increasing to more than $476.6 million if the company takes the full nine years to pay. Frosh first announced the tentative agreement in September. The attorneys general said Juul targeted youth in its advertising campaigns, using launch parties, young models and social media posts as well as flavors that were appealing to underage customers, according to a news release.

Days after the Patterson Bowling Center abruptly closed, the circumstances surrounding the closure of the building and the future of the alley are still uncertain. A teary employee from the center told a party that had arrived for a birthday on Dec. 3 that the bowling center was permanently closing that day. Ken Staub, who has owned the alley since 2016, told The Baltimore Banner the ongoing sale of the building led him to close the business, citing he couldn’t keep taking on reservations, especially around the holidays.

Abuse survivors who were featured in “The Keepers,” a widely viewed 2017 Netflix documentary about clergy sexual misconduct at a Baltimore Catholic girls’ school in the 1960s and ’70s, have filed a court motion calling for the full release of a report by the Maryland attorney general on sexual abuse by clergy and other employees in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Former Maryland Democratic gubernatorial hopeful and U.S. Education Secretary John King Jr. has been appointed chancellor of the State University of New York, the nation’s largest university system, SUNY announced Monday. King finished in the middle of the pack in the July primary, losing to Wes Moore who was elected to governor in November.

The Montgomery County Council unanimously selected five new planning board commissioners — powerful political appointees who oversee planning and land-use functions — to serve in a temporary capacity until the soon-to-be-elected next council assigns permanent members. The move fills an unprecedented gap left in the county government's machinery by the former planning board’s mass resignation earlier this month. Their resignation followed allegations of misconduct and a toxic work environment, which led to a no-confidence declaration from the council.

The Johns Hopkins University on Friday evening released a memorandum of understanding between the university system and the Baltimore Police Department, a crucial step in the school’s years-long quest to field a private armed police department for its three city campuses. The final document, signed by Police Commissioner Michael Harrison and Hopkins Vice President for Public Safety Branville Bard Jr., spells out how the BPD will work with private police force officers to respond to crimes on campus. Its release comes after Hopkins presented an initial draft of the document for community feedback in September. Protesters opposing the private force disrupted two of Hopkins’ public meetings on the plan, citing concerns about accountability and over-policing of students of color and residents near campuses, as well as the boundaries of the force’s operations.