Around Maryland

New data on the condition of Maryland school buildings shows a startling gap between Baltimore City and the rest of the state, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Public health, education and medical experts at Hopkins released the findings Tuesday of their study comparing the condition of Baltimore City Public School facilities with those in other counties using data provided in spring 2022 by the Interagency Commission on School Construction.

Maryland insurance regulators said health insurance rates will rise in 2023 but not as much as insurers wanted. Those who buy their own health insurance in Maryland will pay an average of 6.6% more next year, about 4.4% less than the carriers requested, according to the Maryland Insurance Administration, which approved the increases. State agency officials said in May when insurers asked for the increases that they expected coronavirus pandemic-related costs to push up the price of health insurance offered in Maryland by the three carriers under the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.

The Harford County Board of Education will decide the next steps for the Homestead-Wakefield Elementary School project at its meeting Monday evening. Replacement of the overcapacity three-building school with a single building on the Wakefield campus has been delayed because of a dispute between the school system and the Town of Bel Air over a public connector road. Because of the delay, HCPS has said the new school may not be ready to open in fall 2024 as planned.

Starting Monday, drivers in Harford County will have to slow down for speed cameras on I-95 or face a fine. The cameras will be placed in the construction zone along southbound I-95 near Mountain Road. The construction work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024. Construction work will continue to fully extend the toll lanes to Maryland Route 24, which is scheduled to open to traffic by 2027. Starting Oct. 10, drivers will receive a $40 fine for speeding. The construction work on this section of I-95 is for the $1.1 billion Express Toll Lanes extension project that will widen I-95 from White Marsh Boulevard in Baltimore County to Mountain Road in Harford County.

A Maryland task force made up of firefighters and civilians is set to leave Monday to assist with the aftermath of Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico. The Federal Emergency Management Agency requested the assistance of Maryland Task Force 1 on Saturday, but the departure of the 35 personnel was delayed twice over the weekend by problems finding a plane and weather on the island. The team is set to fly out Monday morning in a chartered plane from BWI Marshall Airport, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Assistant Chief Daniel Ogren.

A pair of Naval Academy graduates have highflying dreams for the Annapolis hotel scene, a vision that earned them both friends and enemies in a town rich with tradition, but dependent on tourists. Over the past three years, former helicopter pilots Cody Monroe and Clint Ramsden, who are both in their early 30s, have purchased five properties with the goal of boosting the city’s “luxury” accommodations. “The city has been longing for a higher-end option for a long time now,” Monroe said. “We are looking to increase the number of offerings that Annapolis has on the high-end of the hotel spectrum.”

Beginning Monday, service on four Camden Line Maryland Area Regional Commuter trains will be suspended for two weeks, the Maryland Transit Administration announced Sunday. The changes aim to avoid service disruptions stemming from “severe freight train congestion” on the CSX Transportation rails, according to the MTA, with particular delays expected between Dorsey and Camden Yards. CSX owns the railroad and dispatches Camden Line MARC trains.