Around Maryland

The lawyers for a Baltimore man facing his fifth trial in a 2015 murder are seeking to have city State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby held in contempt for comments she made in a radio interview soon after a judge issued a gag order blocking lawyers from discussing the case. A motion filed Tuesday accused Mosby of violating the order when she mentioned details of the case against Keith Davis Jr. during a radio interview on WYPR. The motion also asks Judge John Nugent to throw out the charges against Davis as a sanction for the violation.

Following nationwide trends, the University System of Maryland is debating removing standardized test scores, such as the SAT and ACT, as an admissions requirement for incoming first-year students. A work group of provosts and institutional admissions representatives, convened by USM to evaluate the testing requirement, has recommended that the system amend its Policy on Undergraduate Admissions to eliminate the SAT and ACT as a systemwide admissions requirement at all system universities.

There is strong neighborhood reaction Thursday following the fires set on E. 31st Street in north Baltimore. Around the same time, a pride flag was set ablaze across the street. The ATF is involved in the investigation as well as Baltimore City fire and police. In an act of solidarity, neighbors wasted no time replacing the pride flags that burned in the fires. The consensus here is this fire and several other smaller fires nearby are all connected.

Downtown Westminster will host live entertainment, food vendors, food trucks, panel discussions and activities for children Saturday, to mark Carroll County’s first Juneteenth celebration. The event, aimed at being an annual celebration, will take place noon to 4 p.m., Saturday, at the Carroll County Arts Center, 91 W. Main St., and the surrounding area. Anyone may attend this celebration for free.

For a third straight year, the number of crabs in the Chesapeake Bay has dropped, this time to an all-time low. And even the scientists who worked on the most recent winter dredge survey, which measures the population, grow wistful when they consider the colorful crustacean so central to Baltimore and Maryland culture. “It’s something you do in summer. You pick crabs and spend an extended meal with wooden mallets and cold beer and tell jokes and reminisce,” said Thomas Miller, professor of fisheries science and director of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, who has been part of the survey team since its inception 33 years ago.

There is a continuing conversation about the future relationship between Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Darryl Williams and the school system. Days ago, county council members Cathy Bevins, Todd Crandell, Wade Kach, David Marks, and Tom Quirk said in a letter that Baltimore County Public Schools has been struggling with low teacher and student morale under the umbrella of Williams.

As the Howard County Public School System works to change school boundaries for the 2023-2024 school year, in preparation for the opening of High School 13 in Jessup, community members are being asked to participate in the process. High School 13 will be located near Mission Road and Washington Boulevard in Jessup, within the current Hammond High School attendance area. It will open in fall 2023 with ninth and 10th grade students only. According to the school system, communities near the eastern part of Howard County are most likely to be impacted by the redistricting process.