Around Maryland

After two years of virtual programming, the Maryland Film Festival is set to return next month for five days of in-person screenings and events. The 24th edition of the festival is scheduled for Wednesday, April 27 through Sunday, May 1 at the historic Stavros Niarchos Foundation Parkway Theatre. “MdFF attracts talented filmmakers from all over the world, as Baltimore is considered ‘hallowed’ ground for emerging artists. We are thrilled to return to a five-day, in-person event this year,” said Sandra Gibson, executive director of the festival and theater.

Students at a Philadelphia elementary school received a surprise promise from the Baltimore university that shares its namesake: free tuition to Coppin State University — just so long as they graduate high school. Fanny Jackson Coppin Elementary School, previously called Andrew Jackson Elementary, celebrated its namesake Monday with an event revealing the building’s new signage. At the event, Coppin State University President Anthony Jenkins said students would have their full tuitions covered should they complete high school and attend the historically Black university.

A local developer’s donation of land will allow the Lower Shore Land Trust to launch a new conservation fund. In 2019, Blue Water Development owner Jack Burbage gifted a stretch of forested buffer to the north of the Ocean City Airport to the Lower Shore Land Trust. And this week, the organization’s leaders announced the recent sale of that land will allow for the creation of the Jack Burbage Conservation Land Fund.

Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development, two of Maryland’s largest affordable rental housing developers, will host a groundbreaking ceremony April 4 at the Village at Blenheim Run in Havre de Grace. The event will be held at the Village at Blenheim Run, 1921 Pulaski Hwy., at noon. Refreshments will be provided. Parking is available at Swan Creek Shopping Center just west of the construction site.

Baltimore City Public Schools will provide COVID-19 test kits to students and school staff before Spring Break next month, the school system said. Students and staff will be on break from April 11-18. On Friday, April 8, the school system will provide kits with two at-home tests. The school system advises taking the test as early as Sunday, April 17, and no later than noon on Monday, April 18.

The Securities Division of the Office of the Attorney General on Wednesday warned investors and securities firms to watch out for bad actors looking to profit off of the conflict in Ukraine. During times of international conflict there is an increased threat of cyber-attacks and potential investment scams, officials said.

Imagine being able to swab the inside of your mouth, place it in a device and quickly know whether you’re infected with COVID-19. Johns Hopkins University researchers say they have developed a simple sensor that could quickly and accurately detect the virus that causes COVID-19 in saliva. The sensor isn’t on the market yet, but soon could revolutionize testing, the researchers say. It could be stationed at the entrances of hospitals, airports and schools, and potentially be put into handheld and even wearable devices.

Jeff Woolley of Towson decided to spend Tuesday, his 60th birthday, observing what he called a “once-in-a-lifetime situation happening close to home.” Like dozens of others on a 34-degree afternoon, Woolley and his wife, Mary Louise, traveled to a beach at Downs Park to get a glimpse of efforts to free the Ever Forward, a 1,095-foot cargo ship that has been stuck for more than two weeks. Beginning at noon, five tugboats spent more than five hours pushing and pulling the ship, the largest to ever run aground in the Chesapeake Bay.