Around Maryland

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.

Patterson Bowling Center, a Baltimore institution and longtime home to duckpin bowling, has closed, owner Ken Staub confirmed Saturday. That afternoon, groups with bowling reservations at the 95-year-old lanes found the building shuttered and a closed sign on the door. I am heartbroken; this is the oldest duckpin house in existence, but there is nothing I can do about it,” said Staub, 70. He said the owner of the two-story building, at 2105 Eastern Ave., will finalize its sale this week and that the structure will be converted to 15 apartments.

As if he doesn’t have enough going on, writer and filmmaker John Waters and the Sub Pop record label on Friday released a new recording, entitled “It’s In The Book/”Proud New Father.” The release comes one day after Artforum magazine published Waters’ Best Films of 2022 list, which includes “Bones and All;” “EO,” a film about a donkey that wanders Europe; and “Detainee 001,” a documentary about John Walker Lindh, the “American Taliban.” Waters’ new audio-only release, available digitally and on a seven-inch single pressed on gold vinyl, features Waters covering a stand-up routine recorded in 1952 by Johnny Standley, a comedian, actor and musician who was born in Milwaukee in 1912.

It’s nearly impossible to quantify all the effects a deeper, taller left field wall at Camden Yards had on the Orioles’ 2022 season. The wall — which the team built this spring 30 feet farther back than its predecessor — cost the Orioles more home runs than it did their opponents. And without it, the Orioles might have won one more game, according to a Baltimore Sun analysis.

Amtrak recorded significant passenger growth in its most recent fiscal year and grew operating revenue by 48 percent, officials with the railway system said, touting the company’s most promising signs of recovery from a pandemic that slashed ridership and earnings. Amtrak officials said strong ticket-revenue growth combined with infrastructure investments using federal money are setting the railroad on a path to expand beyond pre-pandemic service levels, even as challenges remain and ridership is below 2019 numbers — especially outside the Northeast.