Around Maryland

Meteorologist Justin Berk took Elmer Wolfe Elementary by storm Monday with a presentation for about 400 students on severe weather. Berk’s Storm Smart assembly is designed to teach children about a spectrum of weather, including clouds, rainbows and storms. It also includes information about how to classify storms, hurricanes and tornadoes. Berk said student anxiety levels are often high regarding severe weather and his presentation helps kids become better prepared for and less anxious about storms. “I cover a lot of things,” Berk said, “and some kids will remember one thing while other kids remember something else — as long as the kids remember something. Then, I encourage them to repeat it or tell their parents when they go home.”

Howard County residents are no strangers to Maryland Area Rail Commuter trips across the Baltimore-Washington region. But what today’s commuters might not know is they are riding the same rail system used by famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass nearly 150 years ago. From his post-Civil War-era home in Washington, D.C., Douglass could walk down to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad depot at 6th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue and catch a train north. He would have disembarked at what is now the MARC Savage and Jessup stations for his visits to Howard County. “[He could] probably be in Howard County, if he caught the right train, within an hour, hour and a half, maybe even less,” said Columbia resident and local historian John Muller, author of the 2012 book “Frederick Douglass in Washington, D.C.: The Lion of Anacostia.”

The city of Baltimore has joined dozens of other municipalities suing manufacturers for their use of “forever chemicals.” The chemicals, called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, have been used since the 1940s to manufacture a wide range of products, from carpeting to firefighting foam, because they are resistant to heat, water, grease and oil. But PFAS do not easily degrade in the environment, meaning the chemicals have accumulated over time. Also, PFAS can accumulate in the bodies of humans and animals, and some types can cause serious health problems, including reproductive defects, developmental problems in children and certain types of cancer. As a result, industries have phased out the chemicals, though some remain in use. Baltimore filed its suit in U.S. District Court against more than 20 manufacturers that used PFAS, including 3M, DuPont and Chemours, according to a news release Friday from Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott.

Police officers and new recruits in Montgomery County, Maryland, will now receive extra training to help them better understand the communities where they work and serve. It’s part of the county’s move to increase trust between its diverse residents and law enforcement. County Executive Marc Elrich signed the Community Informed Police Training Act into law Friday after the Montgomery County Council passed the bill unanimously last week. At the signing ceremony, At-Large Council member Will Jawando said the bill is something that has been in the works for about two years, while Elrich noted the county’s arc has been toward change even before reform calls were reignited after the death of George Floyd in May 2020.

At Broadneck High School a mural is in progress in a school bathroom with a silhouette, flowers and a statement: “You spend most of the time in your mind, make sure it is a beautiful place to be.” The painting began last year as part of a community project for the school’s Student Alliance for Flourishing, a new initiative in Anne Arundel County Public Schools funded by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. Now in five high schools and three middle schools in Anne Arundel, the alliance uses a scale with six determinants of well-being or flourishing: happiness and life satisfaction, mental and physical health, meaning and purpose, character and virtue, close social relationships and financial and material stability.

Despite unanimously requesting analysis of the plan a week prior, on Wednesday the Howard County Board of Education rejected another alternative redistricting proposal put forward by Elkridge residents. The motion to move forward with the Elkridge proposal, or “scenario 5,” failed 5-1, with only board member Christina Delmont-Small voting in favor. Board member Yun Lu was not present for the vote.