Around Maryland

COVID-19 continues to spread in Carroll County, with the BA.5 subvariant proving to be more transmissible than past versions of the virus. “The variant is everywhere,” Robert Wack, deputy health officer with the Carroll County Health Department, said in an interview Thursday. “It’s the dominant strain. It’s spreading pretty much unchecked. The good news is that hospital cases are steady. They’re not going up, but they’re not going down like we hope.”

A unique agreement Maryland made with federal regulators that affects how much everyone in the state pays for medical care, and how they get that care in the hospital or a doctor’s office, has been extended through 2026. The program aims not only to contain overall health care spending but also to improve health outcomes by ensuring patients’ chronic conditions are managed and they avoid unnecessary hospital stays.

The Baltimore City Council is now approving harsher punishments for drivers who take part in street racing. It comes as police try to crack down on the illegal drivers. Skid marks are still visible at Pratt and Market Place. Video posted online revealed someone doing donuts in the area. It is not the first time illegal street racing was captured on video, and that is why city leaders are moving forward with a measure to discourage them.

The Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network is expanding to add three new counties, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday at the Maryland State Police barrack in Berlin. Worcester and Somerset counties will join Dorchester County in the Lower Shore Coalition, while Howard County will join the larger network, as well. Wicomico County was already active in the Maryland Criminal Intelligence Network.

Baltimore officials were not able to say when weekly recycling curbside pickup services will resume, citing low-staffed crews and growing amounts of recycling materials as obstacles at a Department of Public Works oversight hearing on Wednesday. In January, after widespread complaints of irregular and missed recycling services, DPW leaders shifted weekly pickups to every other week.

The Harford County Public Schools Parent Academy and the HCPS Safety and Security Office, in partnership with the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, presented a safety and security virtual town hall on Wednesday evening, focused on the importance of safety in local schools. Topics included mental health, bullying prevention and school safety and security.

Maryland’s second-largest school system reached a tentative agreement with its teachers union this week, after a roughly two-month impasse. The Prince George’s County Educators’ Association — which represents about 10,000 educators — announced the agreement in a statement Wednesday. The union characterized the deal as making “strides on empowering educators to lead the district,” but there was little information shared about the agreement’s details. A spokeswoman for the union said further details will be released in September, when the contract is ratified.

Tucked into the corner of an East Baltimore impound lot teeming with discarded lampposts and street signs, four Confederate-linked monuments have sat for five years since they were removed from public parks around the city in the middle of the night. Ever since that night Aug. 17, 2017, when they were hauled off to the lot and hidden away, city officials and historians have debated what to do with the bronze statues erected to honor Confederate figures.