Around Maryland

Dr. Thomas M. Scalea has had spent much of his long career as a trauma doctor witnessing the emotional toll on families from the city’s unrelenting violence. “The walk down to a set of parents to tell them their kid’s not coming home again … I can almost tell you the number of steps because I have had to do it way too many times,” said Scalea, physician in chief at the University of Maryland R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Dr. Thomas M. Scalea has had spent much of his long career as a trauma doctor witnessing the emotional toll on families from the city’s unrelenting violence.

A series of local grants will expand access to swim lessons and other aquatic facilities for people with disabilities at the Severna Park Community Center starting this fall. Thanks to three donations totally $50,000 from the Fund for Anne Arundel ($25,000), Anne Arundel County ($20,000) and the John J. Leidy Foundation ($5,000), the SEALS (Social, Educational, All Welcome, Limitless, Swimming) Program will be free to people from all over the state this fall after launching as a pilot program last year with about two dozen families. Free swim lessons will be available from September to June to adults and children with disabilities.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks says police in the Maryland county will begin stepping up enforcement of an already on-the-books curfew to keep teens off the streets at night, amid a rise in carjackings and other violent crime. The announcement Monday of a get-tough approach on crime came as Prince George’s County marked its deadliest month in decades — with 24 killings investigated by police in August, alone — and a rise in violent crime by repeat offenders, Alsobrooks said during a news conference.

If you’ve driven in or through Frederick, Maryland, you’ve likely encountered congestion on U.S. 15. Now, after years of disappointment, money to widen the road is in the state’s long-term transportation plan. Frederick County and City of Frederick leaders have long sought financial support to widen the 4-mile stretch of U.S. 15, stretching from Liberty Road — also known as Md. 26 — at the north, down to Interstate 70, at the point where U.S. 15 heads to Loudoun County, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Anne Arundel County schools started the academic year Monday with a shortage of bus drivers leading to many routes not being served. That situation got worse as the week progressed. And with changes to bus routes and stops that launched Monday, many families are reporting crowding on buses. These factors together are leaving some parents frustrated.

Micah Stauffer firmly believes that every individual is a leader. The Wicomico County public schools superintendent officially took the reins July 1, succeeding Donna Hanlin, who retired June 30 after serving the county for six years. Since then, the surrounding community has welcomed him with open arms, Stauffer says.

Baltimore Police have stopped extracting data from cellphones, a powerful investigative tool, while the department evaluates how to ensure its search warrants meet the requirements of a consequential opinion rendered this week by Maryland’s highest court. The Court of Appeals’ ruling on Monday mandates police in Maryland be more specific when applying for warrants to search people’s cellphones and recommends law enforcement agencies adopt protocols to pull data from the devices under more narrow parameters.