Since 2017, train cars from as far away as Alberta, Canada, have carried propane and butane to Underwood Energy’s rail yard in Sparrows Point. There, the company transfers the gas onto tractor trailers bound for customers throughout the region, who use it to cook, heat or resell. Owner Sean Underwood told The Baltimore Sun that more than 70% of the trucks used to head south from his facility, a route that took them over the Francis Scott Key Bridge, until March 26, when the massive cargo ship Dali toppled the span.

Gaithersburg’s Adventist HealthCare and Howard University Tuesday announced that Roger A. Mitchell Jr., MD will serve as the next president of Howard University Hospital, as part of the management service agreement between the two organizations as they continue discussions for long-term partnership. Mitchell will begin his leadership of the hospital after Howard University Hospital President Anita Jenkins steps away from the position on Sept. 13.

Has your local school recovered from pandemic learning loss? Statewide, it’s a mixed bag, according to a Banner analysis of test pass rates released by the Maryland State Department of Education Tuesday. The Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, the state’s annual test for students in third through 10th grades, showed that achievement has largely stalled in English and math.

Thousands of students across Maryland and D.C. began the 2024-2025 school year Monday morning. In Maryland, public schools in Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Howard County and Anne Arundel County welcomed students — some for the first time. Public schools in D.C. did the same, after making progress in last year’s standardized tests.

 

Supporting affordable housing is a key element of the city’s 2020 Comprehensive Plan, and the mayor and Board of Aldermen recently delved into what that support should look like. Proximity to schools, parking and — in the case of a development that the mayor and Board of Aldermen considered at workshops this month — grocery stores are considered crucial factors, along with rental costs, that make a housing project accessible and affordable.

An adult from the Baltimore area tested positive for West Nile virus, the first confirmed human case in Maryland this year. According to the Maryland Department of Health, the patient has recovered from the infection. West Nile is transmitted to humans through mosquitoes infected by feeding on birds that have the virus, the state health department said. In rare instances, the virus may be spread from person to person through organ donation, blood transfusion, breastfeeding or from pregnant mother to fetus.

Nestled in the mountains of Western Maryland, the small town of Cumberland has been having an unexpected revival as remote workers move in and it upgrades its historic downtown. To keep the momentum going, the city launched a pilot program last week to offer up to $20,000 to 10 families who relocate and commit to staying for at least five years.

 

If endless buffets, getting fancied up for a captain’s ball or waiting to see what animal shape the bath towels have been folded into is your idea of fun on the seas, then the Pride of Baltimore II’s guest crew program is probably not your thing. But, if you want to work alongside a crew, haul lines, furl sails, stand watch in the dead of the night and help with maintenance of a tall ship whose design dates to the 18th century, then you’ve found your people.

More than 130,000 are heading back to class at Prince George’s County Public Schools Monday. For many of them, that means new bus routes and bell schedules. PGCPS said that the majority of schools are seeing no change or only a 15 minute change in their start and end times, but 16% of schools are seeing a shift anywhere from 16 to 45 minutes.

Third-graders struggling to read won’t necessarily be held back, according to an updated draft literacy policy from the Maryland State Board of Education. The policy initially mandated that students unable to read at grade level would repeat the third grade, but the revised version allows families to seek a waiver that would permit their students to move into the fourth grade.