Around Maryland

Three years after protests erupted at the Johns Hopkins University over its plan to create a private police force, some opponents are promising disruptions to upcoming town hall meetings and urging Baltimore City’s mayor to block the measure. The opposition movement has been largely quiet since the state’s largest private university said in June 2020, amid the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests, that it would pause work on its police force. A year later during summer break, when campus was mostly empty, Hopkins hired Branville Bard Jr. to lead its police force.

A bitter feud has broken out this week between some community leaders in South Baltimore over a recent vote by a neighborhood group to endorse the maglev project. The verbal sparring over Baltimore's portion of the $10 billion East Coast transportation project has escalated since the Sept. 9 vote by the board of the South Baltimore 7 Coalition, or SB7. That vote was not unanimous, but endorsed the high-speed rail line and a quest by the group to open negotiations with developer Baltimore Washington Rapid Rail, BWRR, for a community benefits agreement in return for their support.

Harford County will open its doors for previously arrested or incarcerated adults, their families, and/or anyone affected by incarceration with its fifth annual Second Chance Job and Resource Fair on Wednesday from 12-4 p.m. at The Epicenter, 21 Aberdeen Shopping Plaza in Aberdeen. The goal of the fair is to connect returning citizens with employers and important resources to help reduce barriers to success.

Montgomery County Public Schools announced more stringent safety protocols around athletic events Wednesday following a brawl that erupted at a football game last week. Under the new rules, students and spectators will be required to remain in the stands during games, and reentry will not be allowed. The rules also prevent anyone from being admitted after halftime.

A day after a Baltimore City judge overturned Adnan Syed’s murder conviction, a new episode of the hit podcast “Serial” that first made his decades-old case famous details the decision to free him. The approximately 17-minute episode, “Adnan is Out,” opens with Syed attempting to make collect call from prison before fading out to news reporters announcing, “a major development” and “a stunning reversal” in his murder case. Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn vacated Syed’s conviction for the 1999 killing of ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee and ordered his release Monday after prosecutors found there were alternative suspects and unreliable evidence used at his trial.

With plans to add two schools and replace six others over the next five years, Anne Arundel County Public Schools will consider redistricting nearly half the county to balance attendance as capacity is added. The system is also replacing several aging school buildings. Replacements for Quarterfield and Rippling Woods elementary schools will open in 2023. A renovated Meade High School will open in September 2024, as will a replacement for Old Mill Middle School South. A replacement for the Center for Applied Technology North will open in September of 2026, as will a replacement of Old Mill Middle North.

The U.S. Golf Association has tapped Baltimore Country Club to host two tournaments — the 2026 U.S. Senior Amateur and the 2031 U.S. Women's Amateur. The club last snagged a USGA tournament in 1988 when it hosted the U.S. Women's Open, the fourth time it has attracted one of the golf organization's championships. Tuesday's announcement by the private Baltimore County club comes a year after Caves Valley Golf Club's successful BMW Championship, part of the PGA Tour, and has local golf officials touting the region's golf-friendly reputation.

The Annapolis City Council settled a prolonged dispute between a community activist and a major Anne Arundel County nonprofit Monday night by taking away city-owned office space from a third group and awarding it to the activist. Shirley Gordon, founder of the community support services Street Angels Project, will be returning to Stanton Community Center, but she said the pyrrhic victory comes only after she made repeated public information requests and threatened to sue the city for civil rights violations.