Around Maryland

A day after the remnants of Hurricane Debby blew through the Baltimore region, businesses began reopening, neighborhoods cleaned up storm debris and some awaited the restoration of electrical power. Less than 300 customers remained without power Saturday afternoon, Baltimore Gas and Electric reported at 5:50 p.m.

With schools set to start in a couple weeks, most parents of kindergartners are working to make sure to get required vaccinations for their children before sending them off to school. But not all parents. Over the last decade, more parents have opted their children out of vaccination requirements through the use of nonmedical religious exemption – especially in recent years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Electric bills in Baltimore have been especially high this summer after weeks of scorching temperatures. But it’s not just the heat that’s driving up the cost. Another factor, some elected officials and environmental and consumer groups argue, is regional grid operator PJM Interconnection’s failure to plan for the future. That has set utility customers up to pay more. The star of this drama is the coal-fired Brandon Shores power plant that sits against the backdrop of the Inner Harbor.

The gates opened Saturday on the 75th Montgomery County Agricultural Fair at the fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In the cattle pavilion, young 4-H members paraded their Heifers, which they’ve been raising since last fall, before judges and a wide-eyed audience of suburbanites and city dwellers. “The shows and the judging are fun to watch — you don’t get a lot of exposure to farm animals in Chevy Chase, it’s good to be able to see,” said Tom Walton, who visited the fair with his wife and two children.

Perched on a nest atop a green navigation marker in Maryland’s Harris Creek, the osprey glared, spread its wings and started hopping as a boatload of people drew near. “That’s a pretty big nestling standing up,” observed Barnett Rattner, a veteran scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Eastern Ecological Science Center. “Last week, there were two.”

Baltimore has reached a $45 million settlement with the pharmaceutical distributor CVS as part of a lawsuit the city is pursuing over its opioid epidemic, Mayor Brandon Scott announced late Friday afternoon. The settlement adds to $45 million the city had already secured from a separate drug supplier earlier this year. The decision comes as Baltimore is barely a month out from a scheduled trial date with opioid companies and manufacturers after six years of litigation.

Young Marylanders with severe mental health needs are being “inappropriately” sent to detention settings that are struggling to help them, according to the state’s Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit. And it’s possible those environments, including the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center, are worsening the young people’s conditions, the monitoring unit said in a recent report.

After Cesar Diaz’s daughter Melanie died in a fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex in February 2023, he made a promise to her that he would do everything in his power to prevent any other lives from being taken in fires. That’s why he made sure to be present Thursday as County Executive Marc Elrich signed legislation relating to fire safety protections for renters.

Remnants of Hurricane Debby brought soggy conditions to Maryland on Thursday with more rain expected Friday and a tornado watch in effect until Friday morning. Light and moderate showers soaked parts of the state Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters anticipate off-and-on showers and thunderstorms throughout the evening and into Friday, keeping temperatures around the upper 70s to low 80s.