Around Maryland

In just under 10 days, a favorite statewide celebration of the end of summer returns to the Maryland State Fairgrounds. The Maryland State Fair is back for its 141st edition beginning Aug. 25, and like everything in the pandemic era, it’s less like the before times and more like, well, something new. The fanfare is pretty much the same, with flashy carnival midway rides and live horse racing and those adorable 4-H contestants with their sweet, prized pigs. The details are a little different. You’ll still be able to head to the brew garden to drown your tears at giving up on a career as a lumberjack.

Jacob Selmer, of Taneytown, combines his love for metal working and his passion for history to make tools and decorative steel products. Selmer’s Iron Works is one of five finalists in this year’s Carroll Biz Challenge, an annual “Shark Tank”-style competition. This year 44 applicants, all local entrepreneurs, pitched their business ideas in the hopes of winning a $10,000 grand prize and additional awards. Finalists will make live pitches to a panel of judges during a finale Thursday in Westminster.

The 50 or so Baltimoreans who’ve logged on for the Maryland Transit Administration’s pair of summer online public meetings are buzzing. As MTA’s planners sift through seven recently-unveiled visions of light rail, heavy rail and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) that would extend from the county across the city’s east-west axis, meeting goers’ hopes, fears and outright impatience all bubble to the surface.

Federal housing officials have requested an investigation of a city nonprofit they believe misused federal grant money meant to subsidize the rents of extremely vulnerable tenants to prevent homelessness. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesperson Sean Callahan said the agency has referred the nonprofit to the U.S. Office of Inspector General of Investigations, which determines if cases get referred for prosecution or civil action.

About 15 to 20 Anne Arundel County residents have contracted monkeypox since July 4, according to Anne Arundel County Health Department. That’s about 7% of the state’s total of 275 reported cases as of Friday. Five of the county’s cases have since been released from isolation. The state health department is not sharing exact case numbers to protect those with the disease from becoming ostracized due to the visible nature of the skin rash on the hands, feet, chest, face or mouth that appear like blisters before scabbing over and healing, said Megan Pringle, a health department spokesperson.

Montgomery County leaders have never been keen on Gov. Larry Hogan’s plan to add variably-priced toll lanes to the Capital Beltway and I-270. Now, with Hogan set to leave the State House in January — and many elements of the project yet to be nailed down — county officials are increasingly optimistic that Maryland’s next governor will take office with the power to steer congestion relief efforts in a new direction.

Young Baltimore families chosen to participate in a new guaranteed income pilot program will see their first check soon, Mayor Brandon Scott announced Monday. Scott said Monday that the city would begin processing payments of $1,000 per month to go to 200 parents selected for the program. Participants will soon see the money appear in bank accounts or on pay cards, the mayor’s office said.

Baltimore prosecutors have dropped the charges against 25 state correctional officers accused in 2019 of using excessive force against inmates and functioning as a criminal enterprise in jails around the city. Several defense attorneys representing the officers, all of whom were part of a specialized tactical unit, questioned how the officers were charged under the state’s gang statute in the first place. The lawyers told The Baltimore Sun their clients’ lives were upended because of allegations that wouldn’t stand up in court.