Around Maryland

Elected officials opted to increase Worcester County’s grant to Atlantic General Hospital this week. Despite last week’s 5-2 vote to flat fund Atlantic General, which would have provided the hospital with the same $100,000 grant it got last year, the Worcester County Commissioners on Tuesday revisited the issue. A motion to increase the hospital grant to $200,000 passed 4-3. During a budget work session last week, Commissioner Chip Bertino made a motion to flat fund the hospital with a $100,000 grant.

The recent rezoning of four properties on East Broadway in Bel Air by the Board of Town Commissioners has raised fears among some residents and officials that new development there might alter the character of the town. The four properties — at addresses 43, 45, 53 and 57 East Broadway — were among 13 rezoned by the commissioners when they passed an ordinance May 2 that will take effect May 22. Colgate Investments, the Forest Hill-based parent company of Klein’s Family Markets, petitioned the commission for the zoning changes to “accommodate future growth and expansion of the Klein’s ShopRite,” according to a justification statement included in the ordinance packet.

The popular Wine in the Woods event returns this Saturday and Sunday to Symphony Woods by Merriweather Post Pavilion after a two-year absence due to the pandemic. Promising a weekend full of wine tasting, live entertainment, food, crafts and for the first time, local breweries, the two-day event that began in 1993 is hoping to make a splash.

A performance audit of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner likely does not provide a full picture of problems within the agency, according to one state lawmaker. The audit made public Tuesday by the Office of Legislative Audits “did not disclose any findings that warrant mention.” Del. Kirill Reznik, D-Montgomery County, said it may fall short of painting a complete picture of the agency responsible for autopsies in the state.

A Maryland hospital took Henrietta Lacks' cells without her permission six decades ago. Now, her family stands united in their civil case. The Lacks family is claiming unjust enrichment by a company that they said never sought permission but is profiting from the use of the cells. The company wants the case thrown out. A federal judge called this a challenging case, saying this is uncharted territory. It is an unprecedented case.

Entertainment executive Kevin Liles keeps the music industry’s hottest performers on speed dial, especially those he works with. The Baltimore-bred music mogul reached out to a headlining “hot girl,” when he was thinking about creating something special and exciting for his hometown’s premiere horse racing and music event. “I called my girl Megan Thee Stallion and said, ‘Meg, you’re the Stallion, you have to do Preakness for me,’” said Liles, recounting how he asked the Grammy-winning rapper, who is signed to one of the labels he oversees, to join the festival.

Nicole Plaza-Young hasn’t been sleeping well lately. In her nightmares, she goes from store to store, looking for formula for her 3-month-old baby. All she finds are empty shelves. With the ongoing national shortage of infant formula, life isn’t much less scary for the Brunswick mom when she’s awake. Her son is allergic to milk protein, so he relies on hypoallergenic formula for his meals. Plaza-Young and her husband have a stash that will last their child for about a week and a half, but they have family members across Maryland ready to snatch additional formula when they see it in stores.

The Carroll County government is a few hundred acres closer to meeting its goal of 100,000 preserved agricultural acres after adding a new easement in Westminster of about 105 acres. During a meeting Thursday, the Board of Carroll County Commissioners approved a request from the Department of Land and Resource Management to purchase an easement on the Stephen R. Boose property, at 2352 Tyrone Road. .