Around Maryland

The Maryland State Police is joining agencies across the country in a national campaign aimed at keeping first responders safe. The initiative is meant to raise awareness about the “move over” law. This comes as an expansion to the state’s law, which will soon be in place this fall. “With people flying by at 55, 60, 70,80 miles an hour—not ideal circumstances for anybody, let alone first responders,” Maryland State Police spokesperson Ron Snyder said. Every day, thousands of law enforcement officers and first responders put their lives at risk as they take to the streets to help keep their communities safe, Snyder said.

Frederick County will grant $300,000 to benefit a volunteer-based ride-share partnership between the nonprofits Good Works Frederick and the United Way of Frederick County, County Executive Jan Gardner, D, announced Thursday. Good Works Frederick will receive the full grant amount and pass along $50,000 to United Way as part of the partnership. Funding will be used to reimburse volunteer drivers for their gas and mileage and will offset some scheduling and administrative costs, said Good Works Frederick founder Ed Hinde.

The Talbot County Council proposed a $112.6 million budget for fiscal year 2023, with allocations to maintain core services and address needed improvements while also keeping a healthy fund balance for future economic uncertainties. The proposed budget, presented at a public hearing on May 3, will continue to provide for workforce stability, investments in capital projects, and improvements to infrastructure, public safety, education and other general services, said County Manager Clay Stamp.

The family of a student who died in 2019 after he choked on a thin rubber glove has reached a $2.5 million agreement with the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. The settlement marks the end of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Bowen Levy in January 2021. The family argued the school system knew Bowen was autistic and had pica, a disorder causing a propensity to chew or eat nonfood items, but it failed to keep nonedible items out of his reach and properly staff his classroom.

After a year, a federal lawsuit accusing Harford County’s Public Schools of discriminating against and demoting four Black female assistant principals without due process may be reaching a conclusion. U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Sullivan ordered a pretrial settlement conference to be held May 16. If the lawsuit is not resolved, the case will proceed to a jury trial, according to attorney Corlie McCormick, a civil rights lawyer based in Crofton, who is representing the former county schools employees.

Maryland watermen sold more than half a million bushels of wild oysters this winter, more than they have since 1987, according to preliminary state data. It’s a positive sign for a species known for dangerous population swings in recent decades. But it is not yet proof of a sustained recovery for Chesapeake Bay oysters, which suffered from massive overfishing for decades and, more recently, from diseases that for now remain at bay. That is likely to fuel continued debate over Maryland’s strategies to help oysters, including using sanctuaries, designated oyster reefs where watermen are prohibited from harvesting.