Around Maryland

Early in-person voting in Maryland’s primary elections begins Thursday, but issues with sample and mail-in ballots sent to voters have been cropping up across the state over the past few weeks as election boards adjust to redrawn district maps and a delayed election date. In Montgomery County, 791 residents received two mail-in ballots after state ballot vendor Taylor Corp. mistakenly mailed an additional ballot to a batch of voters, according to county and state officials.

The town of Cheverly, Maryland, and its roughly 7,000 residents have a unique and proud community, but they don’t have a proper coffee shop. But there are plans to change that and bring much more. Tucked mostly between U.S. Route 50 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway as they converge on the D.C. line, Cheverly residents love to live there, even though the town does not have all of the amenities that many communities have.

All five candidates running for the District 1 seat on the Carroll Board of County Commissioners are Republicans. Commissioner Stephen Wantz of Westminster currently represents District 1, which stretches across the northern part of the county and includes the towns of Taneytown and New Windsor. Wantz, a Republican, was first elected as commissioner in 2014 and will finish his second term of office this year; he is a candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates to represent District 5.

Chesapeake Therapeutic Riding in Street received an AMOUNT grant from the United Way of Central Maryland for its Horses Helping Heroes program, which assists frontline workers in learning a variety of coping tools to help recognize and manage their emotions from the effects of trauma and stress, including PTSD, anxiety, grief and depression. CTR was one of 49 nonprofits throughout the Greater Baltimore region that received funding from United Way of Central Maryland, which awarded 49 grants totaling more than $400,000 through its Neighborhood Grant program.

A busy stretch of East North Avenue will be closed indefinitely after a sinkhole opened up in a sidewalk Monday and forced several people out of their homes in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood. At least three houses in the 700 block of East North Avenue need to be demolished immediately because their structures have been compromised, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Tuesday afternoon at a news conference. Only one of the properties was occupied and no one was injured, Scott said, adding that the city will be assisting those displaced.

It has been nearly 10 months since Mervo High football player Elijah Gorham passed away after suffering a brain injury during a game. Gorham’s mother, Shantres Shaw, says it took nearly an hour for her son to be transported to the hospital. “It’s very important to get to the athletes, to actually get them to where they need to be,” Shaw said. Since the tragedy, Shaw has been calling for change, championing a bill named in her honor that would require middle schools and high schools to develop venue-specific emergency action plans for injuries and severe weather.

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s Maryland Mortgage Program is launching a variety of new home loan products to provide more flexible options for down payments and closing cost assistance, according to housing officials. The new financial assistance will help additional Marylanders buy their dream homes. “In this challenging housing climate, when interest rates are increasing and affordable housing inventory is low, the state of Maryland is always looking for innovative offerings to make homeownership affordable,” Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Kenneth Holt said.