Around Maryland

Dozens of noisy protesters greeted the business leaders, elected officials, union members and other interested parties who were gathered at Frederick Community College Thursday for a conference on data centers in Maryland. The demonstrators were there to express outrage over a proposed power transmission project that would run from a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania to Northern Virginia, the biggest hub for data centers in the world.

The University of Maryland has revoked the ability of student organizations to hold on-campus demonstrations on the anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel after at least one group reserved a location for a vigil commemorating Palestinian victims of the war. University President Darryll Pines wrote in a letter Sunday that only university-sponsored events would be permitted on Oct. 7 “out of an abundance of caution.”

Growing up in Baltimore, Tavon McGee had limited exposure to camping sites and hiking trails — let alone national parks. That all changed in 2022 when he was introduced by a longtime friend to Congaree National Park in South Carolina. Although he had hiked on trails and camped in the wilderness, this was the first time he went to a national park. He liked it so much he got a national park passport and now is a regular visitor.

Metro riders can now ride all five Red Line Metro stations that were closed during the summer due to construction on Sunday. Here are the four stops opening up this week: Glenmont, Wheaton, Forest Glenn, Silver Spring. The fifth station, Takoma Park, reopened in late June, two days earlier than its expected opening date.

Life sciences are big business in Frederick. How big? They have an economic impact of $12 billion, according to the industry profile produced by the county. The International Economic Development Council recognized the county’s Office of Economic Development with the 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Gold Level award, on Thursday, for its profile of the many facets of life sciences in Frederick.

Hundreds of high school seniors in Anne Arundel County wrestled with the decision to attend the brand-new Severn Run High School over returning to their previous school. Severn Run High was built to offset overcrowding in Old Mill, North County and Meade high schools. The new facility boasts plenty of windows, state-of-the-art athletic amenities and 3D printers.

Carroll Community College will soon provide educational opportunities for adults and juveniles coming out of the criminal justice system. A new pilot program called the “Justice System to Careers Initiative” will soon offer career training to individuals before they re-enter society from the justice system as a preventative measure for adults and juveniles coming out of incarceration to avoid drug use or low-level crimes.

Two proposed ballot questions, one that would reduce Baltimore’s taxes and another that would offer payments to new city parents, were struck down Thursday by Maryland’s highest court, which found in separate rulings that both violated the state constitution. The Supreme Court of Maryland took up the two cases after separate Baltimore Circuit Court judges found that each question should not appear on ballots for city voters to consider this fall. Each judge ruled that their respective question was outside the scope of changes that citizens are able to make to the city’s charter.

Maryland environmental regulators proposed new restrictions Thursday on operations at a massive coal export terminal in South Baltimore, a long-awaited decision that comes after community members and activists have called on the state for months to shut the facility down. Among the most significant changes proposed by the Maryland Department of the Environment for CSX Transportation’s coal piers in Curtis Bay is a requirement that the company erect large physical barriers to prevent coal dust from wafting off the open-air site and polluting the surrounding neighborhood.