Around Maryland

The Howard County Board of Education pushed back its work session and initial vote on the superintendent’s proposed capital budget for fiscal 2024 to Sept. 29 to allow more time to consider public feedback. The vote was scheduled to take place at the Sept. 22 school board meeting. A. public hearing and work session were also scheduled for that meeting date and Howard County Public School System board member Christina Delmont-Small argued that the agenda was too crowded.

The Baltimore Police Department’s proposed new district boundaries, which officials say are necessary to modernize and streamline police operations, would shift areas of the city that have had more of the most violent crimes into larger, more violent Eastern and Western districts, a Baltimore Banner analysis has found. Those shifts have not gone unnoticed, sparking pushback from community associations and some city council members. But larger, more violent districts could actually be beneficial for Baltimore if police equitably realign resources, experts say.

Thanks to an increase in revenue from Maryland’s state income taxes and the ongoing impact of federal stimulus aid, the state finished the 2022 fiscal year with a $2 billion revenue surplus. Of that total, $370 million will be transferred to a Fiscal Responsibility Fund used for public school, community college and higher education construction. It includes $60 million for pay increases for some state employees. The state’s Rainy Day Fund will automatically receive another $500 million of the total for emergencies, Democratic State Comptroller Peter Franchot said.

State transportation officials are asking for public input on seven proposed transit routes that would connect Towson to downtown Baltimore. The Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration unveiled seven options for a new north-to-south transit line connecting Baltimore County to Baltimore City by light rail, bus or subway. The seven proposed “alternatives” were identified in a feasibility study completed in 2021.

Nearly 60 years after it closed its doors, the Harriet Tubman School in Columbia will reopen this weekend, transformed as a cultural and education center to highlight historic contributions of Black Howard County residents. A public ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center will be held 10:30 a.m., Saturday, at 8045 Harriet Tubman Lane, Columbia. The Harriet Tubman Foundation will also host the annual Harriet Tubman Day celebration from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the site, with food, music and other activities.

With every arabesque, every jete and every pirouette, members of Baltimore’s Ballet After Dark dance away their pain. The group, which was founded in 2014 by dancer Tyde-Courtney Edwards, toe-shoed their way into the national consciousness this summer when they performed during the audition segment of the NBC’s reality television show, “America’s Got Talent.” The group might not have made the show’s finale. But they made their point. “We’re trauma survivors and dancers that use performance to reclaim relationships with our bodies and lives using the healing power of dance,” Edwards, 35, said during the broadcast, which NBC network says reaches an estimated six million homes.