Around Maryland

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about half of the United States, including Maryland, have “very high” amounts of COVID-19 virus identified in wastewater collections, signals to health officials that viral activity is rising in the community. The report comes as the latest data from the Maryland Department of Health shows that hospitalizations for COVID-19 have been rising steadily since May, when the number stood at 38.

Blue Water Baltimore and Ascension St. Agnes Hospital unveiled the construction of two watershed restoration practices July 30 that they hope will reduce the pollution and flooding from the hospital’s property. The area affected includes nearly three-quarters of an acre of the property, and more than a half-acre of pavement from the Ascension St. Agnes Hospital into the Violetville neighborhood of Southwest Baltimore.

It’s been a long, hot summer in many respects for Hagerstown. But on the last day temperatures broke 90, a storm was brewing — and not just from the remnants of Hurricane Debby. For weeks, tensions had been growing over a rash of shootings — two of them fatal — and continuing struggles with behaviors associated with opioid addiction within the city.

Former county police Chief Marcus Jones, now the newly minted chief of security and compliance for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), released a letter Monday to the school district’s families that clarifies his role and goals, and shares that he looks forward to “supporting our new superintendent’s vision for a safer MCPS.”

The Maryland Board of Public Works has approved $11 million in Bay Restoration Funding for qualifying wastewater treatment plants across the state, including more than $545,000 for facilities in Frederick County and its municipalities. Under the Bay Restoration Fund law of 2004, a portion of the funds collected by the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) from wastewater treatment plant users can be allocated to local facilities that meet the state’s threshold for removal of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from treated effluent.

All it takes is gas and a spark. Fire safety experts say the aftermath of an explosion in Harford County shows the magnitude of what gas leaks can do: A Bel Air residence was leveled, killing both the homeowner and a Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. contractor. The blast also spread debris throughout Arthurs Woods Drive and rendered 16 homes uninhabitable.

The National Aquarium opened its 10,000-square-foot Harbor Wetlands exhibit this week, creating a first-of-its-kind hybrid experience where native animals can flourish in a free, outdoor, hands-on classroom and park setting. “It is the product of about 14 years of work that the National Aquarium has done,” said Charmaine Dahlenburg, the director of field conservation at the Aquarium.