Around Maryland

Montgomery County legislators on the local and state level are pushing for greater protections for tenants nearly a year after a deadly fire at a downtown Silver Spring high-rise apartment complex claimed the life of a 25-year-old woman. On Jan. 24, state Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Dist. 20) introduced The Melanie Nicholle Diaz Fire Safety Act in the Maryland General Assembly. A complementary Senate bill is being sponsored by Sen. Will Smith (D-Dist. 20).

The expiration of federal funding will mean students in Anne Arundel County will not get to take Chromebooks home starting in the next academic year. The district released a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying grants from the Coronavirus Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund are expiring, the costs to repair damaged student devices are mounting.

The Maryland General Assembly is considering legislation that would impose more stringent regulations on the use of a common household product recently linked to the line-of-duty deaths of two career firefighters. Corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) is a thin, flexible piping material commonly used to carry fuel gases such as liquid petroleum and propane through residences and commercial buildings.

The Ocean City Police Department (OCPD) has announced they may no longer be employing seasonal officers after this summer. According to Ocean City Police, a steady decline in seasonal officer interest, nationwide police reforms, and potential changes to the Maryland police certification process have led the Department to consider transitioning away from the seasonal officer program, a move the Department calls a “monumental change.”

A Maryland nonprofit is doing its part to curb youth violence in Maryland. Chase Your Dreams Initiative is partnering with Live Casino Maryland to host a Gun Violence Prevention Weekend in March. “All of our city and all of our county needs to know we are here to try to find solutions. We are getting to the root of violence,” Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley said. The weekend of events takes place March 9-10. It will feature music performances and discussions led by celebrity guests like NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens and country singer Jimmie Allen.

The Frederick County Board of Education on Wednesday voted 6-1 to approve a budget request for the district to County Executive Jessica Fitzwater. The request approved by the board for the next fiscal year is the same as the recommended spending plan Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Dyson released in January. It totals about $991.5 million and represents an increase of about $81.3 million, or about 9%, from this year.

After a shooting brought Kansas City’s Super Bowl celebration to a halt, a security expert explained how to handle yourself in a similar situation Jared Krieger is the director of operations and training for Defender One Security in Reisterstown. The firm provides security for people, events, businesses and more. In the wake of Wednesday’s mass shooting, Krieger said situational awareness is key if you find yourself at a packed event when an emergency breaks out.

State officials hired a new contractor to process payments to behavioral health providers, ditching a troubled system that wreaked havoc in the treatment community at a time when the coronavirus pandemic was increasing demand for mental health and addiction services. A state spending board approved the new contract Wednesday for up to nearly $340 million with Boston-based Carelon Behavioral Health Inc. replacing one with Minnesota-based Optum Inc., a subsidiary of the managed care giant UnitedHealth Group.