Around Maryland

Residents, local leaders and politicians crowded the church pews and walls of Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis Tuesday to recognize the city’s history as a slave port. The standing-room-only event, held on the 158th anniversary of emancipation in Maryland, was a celebration of Annapolis being designated as a “Site of Memory,” one of five locations in Maryland and 42 across the United States where enslaved Africans first arrived in the Americas. Residents, local leaders and politicians crowded the church pews and walls of Asbury United Methodist Church in Annapolis Tuesday to recognize the city’s history as a slave port. The standing-room-only event, held on the 158th anniversary of emancipation in Maryland, was a celebration of Annapolis being designated as a “Site of Memory,” one of five locations in Maryland and 42 across the United States where enslaved Africans first arrived in the Americas.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has tested positive for the coronavirus, he said in a tweet on Monday. “Just wanted to let Marylanders know that after testing positive for COVID-19, I am working from home,” Hogan said. “Fortunately, I’m up to date on my boosters and my symptoms are minimal.” This is the second time Hogan has been diagnosed with COVID-19. In December 2021, Hogan tested positive, but said his case, at that time, was mild.

More than two years after the pandemic shut down in-person schools and school board meetings, the Baltimore City school board will begin meeting at its North Avenue headquarters on Nov. 9, but only five seats will be available for members of the general public. “We are grateful to the staff for thoughtful planning to create more opportunities for the public to participate in our meetings. We are looking forward to this transition”, said board chair Johnette Richardson in a statement.

The city of Annapolis has asked a federal judge to consider placing its troubled public housing authority in receivership. If U.S. District Court Judge Catherine C. Blake agrees, the rare step would pass control of the five communities managed by the authority to either the federal government or court-appointed administrators.

An assistant for Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby — who was arrested in Baltimore County in June — pleaded guilty Monday to having a loaded handgun in her vehicle. Jade Kala Johnson, 24, was sentenced to probation before judgment, meaning her conviction can be expunged if she completes the one year of unsupervised probation imposed by the county judge.

The newly renovated and reopened National Cryptologic Museum, run by the National Security Agency and located near the spy agency’s headquarters at Fort Meade, deals a fatal blow to one of the most enduring myths of the Cold War: There is no “red phone” linking the Oval Office to the Kremlin. Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin do indeed communicate, but there is no crimson handset that the two leaders can pick up during a global crisis to be immediately connected. “The red phone? That’s Hollywood,” museum director Vincent Houghton said. What’s actually on display might be even better. Most of the artifacts — 85% says Houghton — are either the first of their kind, were used by a key person or are the only ones left.

For nearly 90 years as temperatures dropped, crews have worked in shifts around the clock to feed coal into and remove ashes from boilers at Fort Hill High School. As Maryland’s last public school heated by coal, new boilers at Fort Hill will mark the end of an era to make way for needed change. Jay Marley, a mechanical engineer, is supervisor of maintenance and construction at Allegany County Public Schools. Earlier this month, the Board of Education gave him approval to award a roughly $4.7 million bid to Carl Belt, Inc. of Cumberland to replace one dated natural gas and two coal boilers with state-of-the-art natural gas systems, and provide new HVAC in the school’s gymnasiums, and locker, weight and wrestling rooms.