Around Maryland

What’s the hottest summertime spot in Montgomery County? A group of citizen scientists will soon find out. Montgomery County is undertaking a project to map out various temperatures of its neighborhoods as a part of a national effort to keep track of heat inequities and find solutions for the county’s urban heat islands.

Retirees of Baltimore County Public Schools are still wondering what will happen to their insurance benefits despite promises from the school system to resolve monthslong payment issues by May 1. Some BCPS retirees noticed health benefits discrepancies following the November 2020 ransomware attack on the school system. Either too much or too little was being taken from their pension checks for insurance, causing some retirees to owe or be owed thousands of dollars.

Harford County Executive Barry Glassman has vetoed legislation that would have effectively stalled development of a 5.2 million-square-foot warehouse complex planned for rural land in Perryman. The move is the latest in a simmering land war in the county where e-commerce and other warehousing facilities are being developed as the Interstate 95 industrial market remains red hot. Residents of Perryman have for months fought back against the planned 700-acre complex, saying it would disrupt their way of life.

Baltimore City is now accepting applications from young parents or caregivers for the Baltimore Young Families Success Fund, a pilot program offering a guaranteed income of $1,000 per month for over two years to 200 families. The window for applications opened Monday at 6 a.m. and will remain open until Monday, May 9 at 11:59 p.m. “This will allow young families to put money towards the things that they need the most food, clothes, transportation, medicine, housing, and so much more,” Mayor Brandon Scott said. “Our residents know their own needs better than anyone else and are best suited to improve their own well-being.”

One of the largest school districts in Maryland is cracking down on vape company Juul Labs.  Anne Arundel County Public Schools announced Monday it is suing the maker of vaping products, alleging the company is marketing to children and putting their health at risk.  The school system’s attorney, Phil Federico, says this lawsuit is about protecting the students who say the epidemic of vaping has created “this whole generation of young people who are now addicted to nicotine.”

The Frederick County Board of Education will have to trim roughly $8 million from the fiscal 2023 operating budget plan before it’s approved in June — more than usual. The board’s current planned expenses exceed revenues by $8.15 million, even with a steeper-than-usual increase in funding expected from the county.

Maryland is revisiting the history of Harriet Tubman following Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s decision to dedicate 2022 to the renowned Underground Railroad abductor, which many scholars say is an opportunity to inspire young people. “When it comes to the education curriculum, African American history is still marginalized,” said Chanel Compton, executive director of the Banneker-Douglass Museum in Annapolis. “It’s just as integral as math and science, and we’re really not there yet.”

Take a tour around Baltimore’s Middle Branch and, from most vantage points, it’s hard to see the possibility. The South Baltimore waterway has 11 miles of shoreline, but river views are largely obscured. Access, too, is severely limited. Busy roadways, most without sidewalks and safe crossings, starkly divide the waterway from the closest city residents. Debris piles mark the water’s edge as trucks roar past on highways.

Two-thirds of Americans support the creation of a federal holiday for voting, according to the American Bar Association’s annual Survey of Civic Literacy, which also found strong support for other measures to make voting easier. The ABA released the survey results Friday for Law Day, which will be observed on Sunday. The survey highlighted opinions on voting as the country prepares for midterm elections later this year.