Around Maryland

Maryland’s access to counsel program for low-income renters facing eviction has won two years of funding, a victory for advocates who have been anxious to offer stronger legal support to tenants amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The program is set to receive $12 million allocated as part of the coming fiscal year’s budget. Another $14 million is planned for the 2024 fiscal year, an amount that lawmakers set aside from the state’s abandoned property fund.

Environmental groups are calling for third-party oversight at Baltimore’s Patapsco Wastewater Treatment Plant after an inspection conducted last week found continuing equipment problems resulting in high levels of bacteria and nutrients released into the river. It comes a few weeks after the Maryland Environmental Service took charge of Baltimore’s other wastewater facility, located along the shores of Back River in Dundalk, citing declining conditions after months of failed inspections.

Two developers are advancing a shared plan to buy and redevelop religious institutions’ transit-accessible property in North Bethesda as a “multigenerational community.” The proposed 15-acre community, located at 4910 and 4920 Strathmore Ave., would include a 145-bed senior assisted-living facility and 125 single-family homes, of which about 115 would be attached and 10 detached. Brandywine Living, a New Jersey-based senior care company, would build the former facility on the eastern part of the site.

Howard County’s offer to purchase Camp Ilchester in Ellicott City from the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland will allow the beloved camp’s land to be preserved for years to come, instead of being converted to a residential development, according to County Executive Calvin Ball. “It would be a great tragedy if this wonderful space was lost to bulldozers plowing over a legacy of the Girl Scouts,” Ball said during a news conference Wednesday.

The federal transportation mask mandate is being extended for another 15 days, meaning individuals traveling aboard airplanes, trains and on public transportation in the United States will be required to wear a mask until at least early May. The mandate, the federal government confirmed on Wednesday, is now set to expire on May 3. The Associated Press was first to report the extension. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that it was keeping its mask order in effect, and the Transportation Security Administration announced it was extending the mandate for an additional 15 days.

The ethics panel that produced a controversial set of findings against members of the Prince George’s County Board of Education is stepping down en masse. The panel notified board chair Juanita D. Miller of their intention to resign as a group in an April 3 letter that was obtained by Maryland Matters. The departures will take effect on Friday and will leave the board, which has been dogged by allegations of misconduct, without ethics overseers.

With work zone-related crashes injuring hundreds of people each year in Maryland, state transportation officials are challenging drivers to take extra care when they see orange cones on the road. From 2016 to 2020, Maryland saw more than 7,700 such crashes, which killed 46 people and injured 3,263 others, according to figures compiled by the state. Nearly half of those killed were drivers of vehicles involved in the wrecks.The Maryland Department of Transportation said the leading factors contributing to those crashes were distracted drivers, speeders and tailgaters.