Around Maryland

Most Black and Hispanic children in Maryland lived in homes that were dealing with financial hardship even before the COVID-19 pandemic, a report from the United Way of Central Maryland and its research partner shows. The report, prepared by the United Way and United For Alice, found that 61% of Black children and 68% of Hispanic children in 2019 were living in households that struggled to meet basic needs. By comparison, 31% of white children lived in similar conditions.

In a first-of-its-kind arrangement for a public university, the University of Maryland will temporarily house Afghan refugees on its College Park campus. Under a partnership with the International Rescue Committee, Afghan families evacuated through Operation Allies Welcome, as well as special immigrant visa holders, will live on the campus for up to a year while IRC helps them find permanent housing. It will also help them find employment, education, counseling and other social services.

Baltimore’s multimillion-dollar climate change lawsuit against about two dozen fossil fuel companies belongs in state court rather than federal court, a U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday in a defeat for Big Oil. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court rejected the companies’ argument that federal courts have jurisdiction over Baltimore’s claim because the city’s allegations of environmental harm are national in scope and involve not just state and local law but the federal Clean Air Act.

Carroll County residents may be able to take advantage of a new federal grant program to receive up to $2,000 to prevent disconnection of water or sewer services. At Thursday’s Board of Carroll County Commissioners meeting, commissioners approved a request from the Department of the Comptroller to participate in the federally funded Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program.

Johns Hopkins University is reinstating temporary COVID-19 mitigation measures after almost 100 undergraduates tested positive for the virus within the last six days. Kevin Shollenberger, Hopkins’ vice provost for student health and well-being, announced the university is responding to the spike in cases by testing all undergraduate students twice per week from now until April 22. Testing may be extended following evaluation. Masking will be temporarily required in common areas in residence and dining halls, adding to the already existing mask mandate in Hopkins’ classrooms.

Students who are isolated from school due to testing positive for COVID-19 will no longer receive live virtual instruction while away from school, Superintendent George Arlotto told the Board of Education on Wednesday. He said a low number of cases among students and Anne Arundel County’s low community spread prompted him to make the change, effective April 19. Students will be on spring break April 11-18, and when they return on the 19th, the system will no longer offer “direct synchronous education for isolated students,” Arlotto said.

Applications will open next month for Baltimore’s guaranteed income pilot program. Mayor Brandon Scott announced the initiative in February 2022, joining a group of mayors across the country to create the program. The group, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, advocates for cities to implement direct, recurring cash payments to citizens in a bid to create momentum for a federal guaranteed income program.

There weren’t any coronavirus patients hospitalized in Frederick County on Monday, a milestone the community hasn’t hit since the summer. The last time the Frederick County Health Department reported zero hospitalizations from the virus was July 10. One person was hospitalized because of the virus on Wednesday, according to Frederick Health data.