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Md. voters approve constitutional amendment to raise jury trial threshold
November 10, 2022 -

Maryland voters on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment raising the amount in controversy that entitles litigants to a jury trial from more than $15,000 to more than $25,000. The change marks the state’s first increase to the jury trial threshold since 2010, when Marylanders approved a boost from more than $10,000 to more than $15,000.

Read More: The Daily Record
Baltimore opens new $23M rec center in Cherry Hill
November 10, 2022 -

At 60 years old, Pearlie Cornish gets up every morning to take her 40-minute walks in Cherry Hill. She heads a mile from her house on Seamon Avenue to Waterview Avenue, where she can overlook the Middle Branch area of the Patapsco River as she walks back. But she no longer needs to walk that far for her daily exercise. On Wednesday, city leaders and residents celebrated the opening of the Middle Branch Fitness and Wellness Center in Cherry Hill at Reedbird Park, two block from Cornish’s home.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Race narrows for Baltimore City’s first elected two school board members
November 10, 2022 -

Two seats on Baltimore City’s school board were up for grabs this election cycle with voters choosing from four candidates with strong ties to education and equity. School board races in Maryland are nonpartisan with the city’s school board members elected at-large to serve four-year terms. Candidates April Christina Curley, Ashley Esposito, Salimah Jasani and Kwame Kenyatta-Bey appeared on the ballot vying for two seats.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
I Voted
Maryland legalizes recreational marijuana, passes all five ballot amendments
November 9, 2022 -

Maryland voters cast their ballots Tuesday in favor of all five constitutional amendments legislators placed on the 2022 general election ballot. In perhaps the most contentious decision before them, Maryland joined at least 19 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing the recreational use and possession of cannabis. The law, known as Question 4, also includes expungement provisions for past marijuana crimes, requires a study of cannabis use in the state, and establishes a fund to help seed women and minority-owned recreational cannabis businesses. Olivia Naugle, a senior policy analyst for the Marijuana Policy Project who led cannabis legalization efforts in Maryland, called the amendment’s passing a “huge victory for criminal justice reform and racial justice in Maryland.”

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Montgomery Co. monitoring wastewater for COVID-19
November 9, 2022 -

In Maryland’s Montgomery County, wastewater is now being monitored to detect COVID-19, with the aim of getting ahead of any winter surges. “Wastewater surveillance will be a game changer for our efforts to better predict outbreaks and prevent them from happening,” said County Executive Marc Elrich, in a news release. “With winter around the corner, we want to be prepared if there is another surge in COVID-19 cases and this surveillance system helps us do that.” The county first announced plans for the surveillance in March. The county is collecting water samples twice a week at five sites and sending them to the University of Maryland for analysis. The data then goes to the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.

Read More: WTOP News
Maryland Film Festival cancels next year’s event
November 9, 2022 -

Citing the “lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving filmgoing habits,” the Maryland Film Festival has canceled next year’s signature event, which showcases films from around the state and beyond, to focus on celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2024. The festival announced this week that its board of directors had voted to postpone the annual event, which takes place at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway theater in Station North. This year’s festival took place from April 27 to May 1. A letter from the film festival said the organization wanted to ensure it had “the time and resources to mark this milestone” of its upcoming anniversary.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Baltimore City among Maryland districts rolling out clean school buses
November 9, 2022 -

Baltimore City Public Schools was the only Maryland school district to receive funding from a recent round of awards for new clean school buses. The district was awarded $9.4 million for an estimated 25 buses, which tied for the largest award in the country in numbers of buses. Meanwhile, the Montgomery County School District added 61 new electric buses to its fleet late last month, part of a planned 326 buses to be added by 2024. While Montgomery County now has the largest operating electric fleet in the nation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Oct. 26 that 391 school districts across the U.S will soon receive nearly $1 billion combined for new clean school buses.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Bucket of gray crabs
Baltimore scientists are changing the face of aquaculture. Are farm-raised blue crabs next?
November 8, 2022 -

The salmon was anesthetized, but not enough. It lay still as a doctoral student scraped mucus from its side. But when a lab assistant snipped its tail, the fish aggressively jerked, nearly flying off a metal scale. Yonathan Zohar, a professor of marine biotechnology who has likened himself to an OB-GYN for fish, used both hands to hold it down. “This is NOT the Aquarium,” reads a sign at the building’s entrance where Zohar performs his work. Unlike the National Aquarium — which also houses aquatic life and sits just next door along the city’s Inner Harbor — the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, part of the University System of Maryland, is closed to the public. On the ground floor, behind several doors that need a keycard to enter, is an 18,000-square-foot floor laboratory that’s changing the face of the global seafood industry.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner
Baltimore elementary students given free tickets, concessions to premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
November 8, 2022 -

Hundreds of elementary school students were surprised with free tickets to see the premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Sunday at The Senator Theatre. The lucky students at City Springs Elementary Middle School learned of their reward Monday morning. And they were excited. “I feel really good because we worked hard for it, student Amira said. The premiere is a collaboration between WJZ and The Baltimore Baltimore, which puts on a day at the movies for hundreds of school children. The event features the premiere, concessions and inspirational messages from WJZ talent, the Baltimore Banner, and Ravens players.

Read More: CBS Baltimore
More top students of color should be admitted at Baltimore County magnet schools, NAACP leader says
November 8, 2022 -

The president of the Randallstown NAACP is demanding that Baltimore County Schools admit the top 10% of eighth grade students of color into its top magnet programs. In a nine-page letter to the school board and Superintendent Darryl Williams, chapter president Ryan Coleman identified what he said are ways to improve academic achievement for students of color and low-income students. His letter comes amid drops in Maryland achievement scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and signs that the U.S. Supreme Court may bar colleges from considering race when making admissions decisions.

Read More: The Baltimore Banner

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