Around Maryland

Salisbury leaders are aiming to tackle illegal, and often dangerous, dirt bike and all-terrain vehicles driving in the area. The issue isn’t unique to the Eastern Shore — officials in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., for example, have been wrestling with it for years. As part of an effort during the past year to crack down on off-road vehicles being ridden illegally on city streets in Hagerstown, Maryland, officers staked out a local gas station in late April based on a tip that riders are known to fuel up there.

A Maryland appeals court reversed the murder conviction of a man serving life in prison for allegedly fatally stabbing his girlfriend in 2018, finding a city judge and prosecutor violated his constitutional rights at trial. When a prosecutor told jurors that 72-year-old Michael Maurice Allen Sr.’s decision to stop answering a detective’s questions about his girlfriend’s death suggested he was guilty, that amounted to a violation of his right to remain silent, the Court of Special Appeals wrote in an opinion published Tuesday.

Only a handful of Carroll County residents have turned up at the four community sessions set aside for the public to learn and ask questions about the commissioners’ spending plan for fiscal 2023, which begins July 1. Last week, commissioners released their proposed $708.4 million budget, with one of the main goals being to address lagging compensation for Carroll County government employees. A little more than $7 million has been set aside to address the county’s ability to retain and attract government staff, according to documents prepared by the Department of Management and Budget.

Harford County Public Schools representatives delivered an update on the status of students’ mental health to the Harford County Council at its Tuesday meeting. During the 2021-2022 school year, HCPS has reported 826 suicidal ideation reports, or SIRs, as of April 13, according to Student Support Services Executive Director Bernard Hennigan and HCPS mental health specialist Christina Alton.

Several Frederick County Board of Education members on Wednesday committed to fully funding expanded special education resources and 7% employee raises across the school system — even as they prepare to make roughly $8 million in budget cuts. During a presentation to the board, Frederick County Public Schools Budget Officer Heather Clabaugh asked for guidance on where to trim as the staff prepares to balance the fiscal 2023 budget, which will take effect July 1.

Havre de Grace voters went to the polls Tuesday and elected the only three candidates in the field to the three open seats on the City Council in the first uncontested election in recent history, according to Stephen J. Gamatoria, the city’s director of administration. “This is the first time in anyone’s recollection that there has been a non-contested council race,” Mayor William Martin said. “Although I was surprised there were only three people running for three seats, I see that as a sign that Havre de Grace citizens generally approve of the direction the city is heading in.”

Calls made by children to the Anne Arundel County crisis line have increased sharply since the pandemic began more than two years ago, one of a few troubling trends in youth mental health presented by the county health officer to the Anne Arundel County Council on Monday night. Members of the council, which sits as the Board of Health twice a year, expressed concern about the data presented by Health Officer Nilesh Kalyanaraman, who noted that children called the county’s crisis phone line about 223 times a month in fiscal 2020, which began about nine months prior to the pandemic. The number of calls rose to an average of 302 a month in fiscal 2021 and increased again to about 352 calls a month in the current fiscal year — a 58% increase over three years.

Maryland will expand the 211 phone system, a nonprofit connecting residents to government agencies and support services, to allow callers to report hate crimes and for victims of hate crimes to receive resources, Gov. Larry Hogan said Tuesday. The new features are the result of a partnership between the Office of Immigrant Affairs and 211 Maryland, Hogan’s office said. “This new partnership with 211 Maryland is an important collaboration to overcome language barriers in serving everyone who calls Maryland home and who works to make great contributions to our state,” said Hogan.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby wants you to know about the job her office is doing. On Tuesday, Mosby spoke about some recent convictions including a guilty plea in the killing of an MTA bus driver and another guilty plea in the killing of an Israeli tourist last year. “Cameron Silcott pled guilty to first-degree murder and using a handgun in the commission of crime of violence, for fatally shooting MTA bus driver Marcus Parks, ten times,” Mosby announced the news conference.