Around Maryland

The attorneys general of 10 states, including Maryland, are backing a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is meant to get poultry growers fair agreements with meat processors, but they want stronger oversight. “One of the many reasons it’s tough for small poultry farmers — and small farmers of all kinds — to afford their lives is because of imbalances of power, money and information between farmers and processors,” Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) said Monday when he joined his counterparts in nine states to publicly comment on the USDA proposal.

Before the pandemic, Annapolis food blogger Robin Daumit was best known for winning a trio of Food Network shows. She won all three, including “Guy’s Grocery Games,” Guy Fieri’s supermarket scramble that has more in common with bumper cars than Michelin-star cooking. Daumit had fun, but in retrospect, she found limited satisfaction in, “trying to knock people off in 45 minutes.” “After COVID hit,” Daumit says, those opportunities became less appealing.

University officials across Maryland are preparing for both the return of students in the coming weeks and the Monkeypox public health emergency. “The main thing is educating the student body about what they can do to prevent the disease and also recognize it early,” said University of Maryland, Baltimore Public Health Officer Dr. Marianne Cloeren. Dr. Cloeren said contact tracing and vaccination efforts, once supply ramps up, will be critical in the response to Monkeypox. The University of Maryland, College Park sent a letter to its campus community Tuesday laying out prevention, symptoms, and information about the virus. So far, there have not been any cases within its community, the letter said.

Raynold Smith beefed with another man for months and when they crossed paths in March 2021, both were armed. The reason Smith didn’t pull the trigger? In a split-second moment, when life and death hung in the balance, he glimpsed a child’s car seat and suddenly realized everything his enemy stood to lose. Almost immediately, Smith felt a bullet rip through his leg, narrowly missing a major artery and immobilizing him for weeks.

Plans for a 53-unit multifamily project in Park Heights are moving forward this year as a major overhaul of the disinvested Baltimore neighborhood continues. The project at Park Heights and Virginia avenues in Northwest Baltimore is a companion to a senior apartment complex expected to break ground in the fall by Henson Development Co. and NHP Foundation. The latest project will be called Woodland Gardens. The site today at 4701 Park Heights Ave. is a vacant lot.

Ocean City police had a less busy start to the summer, Police Chief Ross Buzzuro told the Town Council, noting a dip in patrol officers. During the July 18 council meeting, Buzzuro reported there were 5,182 officer calls for service in June 2022 as compared to the 6,144 during the same month last year. Citizens calls for service in 2022 were 2,739, lower than the 2021 total of 3,141.