Around Maryland

A May 29 encounter between Howard County Council member Deb Jung and a group of young men has some county leaders asking for an apology. Representatives from the NAACP Howard County, Council of Elders of Howard County, Howard County African American Community Roundtable, other organizations and residents gathered outside the George Howard Building in Ellicott City Wednesday to address the encounter.

America’s summer travel season is running headlong into the inflationary and supply-chain pressures upending many sectors of the economy — and it looks like passengers, particularly travelers on the West Coast, will be the ones footing the bill. Recently released Consumer Price Index data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found airline prices increased 12.6% in May on a month-to-month basis. Compared to May 2021, average airfares had increased 37.8%. According to data from Hopper Inc., a provider of online travel services and data, airfare for the nation’s busiest airports are at recent highs. Data provided to The Business Journals found the average domestic roundtrip ticket at the 50-largest airports this summer is $431.

In a legal case closely watched by libraries and the publishing industry, a federal judge in Maryland struck down a state law requiring publishers to make e-books available on “reasonable terms” to libraries if they were also being offered to the general public. The Association of American Publishers, the industry’s trade organization, had contended that the bill violated the United States Copyright Act by allowing states to regulate publishing transactions. The Maryland law was passed with overwhelming support a year ago and included provisions for fines up to $10,000 and higher.

Myles Frost, who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, took home the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of pop icon Michael Jackson in “MJ: The Musical.” Frost was studying at Bowie State University before he dropped out to take this role on Broadway. The last time he performed as Jackson was at a high school talent show. He was nervous at first about taking the role, but following advice from his mother and grandmother, he decided to accept the challenge.

Several communities in the D.C. region are food deserts — areas with little or no access to fresh food. However, some new grant money will soon help alleviate the problem. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partnership with the Reinvestment Fund, awarded more than $4About $200,000 will go to open a grocery store in the town of Indian Head in Charles County, Maryland. Agriculture Department Rural Development State Director for Delaware and Maryland David Baker told WTOP the community has no place within a 7-mile radius to purchase fresh food.

In the first meeting since Chair Juanita Miller said she’d fight her removal, the Prince George’s County Board of Education voted to select new legal representation for board business. During its meeting Thursday, the school board approved a five-year, $765,000 agreement with the law firm of Shipley and Horn. In most school districts, a vote on choosing a law firm would fail to qualify as news, but fights over hiring legal counsel is what led to the bitter wrangling among Prince George’s County school board members, and prompted the State Board of Education to notify Miller they’d voted to charge her with misconduct in office.

Last week’s decision by the Carroll County Board of Education outlining which flags can and cannot be displayed on school property has state politicians battling on social media. On Wednesday, the school board voted 4-1 to permit only American, Maryland, Carroll County flags and flags related to student achievement, sports banners and flags of other nations to be displayed on school property. The effect of the vote was to ban the display of rainbow LGBTQ+ pride flags. The vote was made after the board heard opposing viewpoints from several community members at a lengthy meeting.