Around Maryland

Growing up in China, Yumin Gao frequented its night markets, as well as those in Thailand, Japan and other Asian countries. Gao loved the vibrancy of the open-air street bazaars, where people came together among vendors hawking authentic dishes at affordable prices. After moving to Baltimore, the Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist attended a few food festivals in the area, but they did not live up to his expectations. So he got together with some friends and they wondered, “Why can’t we do something like that?”

A heady pulse of dance beats led Roosevelt Brown to park his car on his journey home through Clifton Park on Sunday afternoon. The thumping music, a fast-paced mixture of disco and soul, drifted from a park stage where six DJs spun records as part of an annual event hosted by Hug Don’t Shoot, a nonprofit run by Val Jenkins. Brown stopped to check out the scene at the “Christmas in July Music Fest” back-to-school giveaway and continued his trip home to Broadway East with a bag of nonperishable food and toys for his granddaughter.

Fresh seafood is on special this summer at the Westfield Annapolis Mall. As many shoppers and diners have noticed in recent weeks, a pair of osprey are raising a chick on a lighting fixture outside the former Macaroni Grill, near the intersection of Generals Highway and Bestgate Road. You don't have to be an ornithologist to know that osprey typically nest near water, and a parking lot seems like a ridiculous choice for birds who depend on fresh fish for food. But Dave Brinker, a regional ecologist with the Maryland Heritage Wildlife Program, a branch of the Department of Natural Resources, says the nesting site represents progress, population growth and a formerly endangered species that has survived by becoming more flexible.

A 26-foot statue of the Virgin Mary is back in place at a Catholic university in Maryland. The Frederick News-Post reports that the statue has been put back in place atop a 78-foot pedestal at the National Shrine Grotto on the campus of Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg after a year of restoration work. That work continues even as the statue is back in place, surrounded by scaffolding. Workers are now in the process of layering gold leaf to statue’s exterior. The university has raised $400,000 to support the restoration; about $450,000 more is needed.

Some tenants in Montgomery County, Maryland, are bracing for sky-high rent increases in August after the council declined to extend COVID rent protections. The council was scheduled to vote Tuesday on a temporary rent control measure introduced by County Executive Marc Elrich. Expedited Bill 22-22 would have barred landlords from raising rents more than 4.4% for another six months, granting more short-term relief to renters as landlords ratchet up rents across the region. But the council took the vote off the agenda, meaning the measure will not receive a vote until after lawmakers return from summer recess in September.

Making history is April Owens’ thing. Not only did she become the first African American woman to be promoted to fire captain in the Baltimore County Fire Department, but it happened during Black History Month. “I am honored,” Owens said. “I feel humbled, proud, blessed. It means a lot to many people here and the people before me.”

Baltimore area leaders announced the launch of a 24-hour help line Wednesday to address the growing need for emergency mental health support and promote community emotional well-being. The help line, which Maryland residents can reach by dialing 988, connects callers to local centers providing free, safe, supportive, confidential and professional care.

A Baltimore family is suing a Sesame Street-themed amusement park for $25 million over claims of racial discrimination, alleging multiple costumed characters ignored a 5-year-old Black girl during a meet-and-greet event last month. The lawsuit comes in the wake of a video, shared widely on social media, showing two other Black girls apparently being snubbed by a costumed employee during a parade at the park in Langhorne, outside Philadelphia. Sesame Place apologized in a statement and promised more training for its employees after the video went viral earlier this month.