Around Maryland

For years, the lawn outside the Eastport fire station has been crisscrossed with dirt footpaths worn by pedestrians who cut through the property between nearby residential neighborhoods and a commercial district. Capt. Dallas Lister, a 26-year veteran of the Annapolis Fire Department, has pondered what could be done to accommodate that foot traffic and spruce up the patch of grass. In 2020, Lister came up with the idea for a memorial park to honor three fallen members of the fire department and other community heroes.

Maryland’s top court grappled Monday over an impossibility defense as it heard the appeal of a man’s second-degree murder conviction for being an accessory before the killing of two Montgomery County teenagers on the eve of their high school graduations. Attorney John N. Sharifi, pressing Roger Garcia’s case, told the Court of Appeals a person cannot be guilty of assisting in the planning of a second-degree murder, which by definition is not premeditated and thus not planned.

Carroll County Public Schools announced Monday that Cynthia A. McCabe has been selected as the finalist for superintendent. McCabe has served as CCPS chief of schools since 2019. McCabe was the school system’s director of elementary schools from 2011 until she was elevated by Superintendent Steve Lockard to chief of schools. In this role, McCabe supported principals and the directors of elementary, middle, and high schools. This position also supervises student services and the technology services department.

Baltimore officials are seeking public feedback as they look to redraw longstanding police district lines for the first time in more than 50 years. The current boundaries of the city’s nine police districts were set in 1959, Mayor Brandon M. Scott (D) said at a Friday news conference. He called the police precinct redistricting “long overdue.” Baltimore had a population of 585,708 at the 2020 decennial census, according to the United States Census Bureau. In 1960, that figure was 939,024. While the city’s population has seen an overall decline since then, some neighborhoods have grown in recent years.

The Maryland State Police is joining agencies across the country in a national campaign aimed at keeping first responders safe. The initiative is meant to raise awareness about the “move over” law. This comes as an expansion to the state’s law, which will soon be in place this fall. “With people flying by at 55, 60, 70,80 miles an hour—not ideal circumstances for anybody, let alone first responders,” Maryland State Police spokesperson Ron Snyder said. Every day, thousands of law enforcement officers and first responders put their lives at risk as they take to the streets to help keep their communities safe, Snyder said.

A new initiative aimed at increasing the number of Black Americans registered as organ donors and combating disparities among transplant recipients was announced Thursday by a coalition that includes the four medical schools at the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities. The collaboration follows a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report, “Realizing the Promise of Equity in the Organ Transplantation System,” that found significant disparities in the nation’s organ transplant system.

Frederick County will grant $300,000 to benefit a volunteer-based ride-share partnership between the nonprofits Good Works Frederick and the United Way of Frederick County, County Executive Jan Gardner, D, announced Thursday. Good Works Frederick will receive the full grant amount and pass along $50,000 to United Way as part of the partnership. Funding will be used to reimburse volunteer drivers for their gas and mileage and will offset some scheduling and administrative costs, said Good Works Frederick founder Ed Hinde.