Around Maryland

InfieldFest, a multi-act music concert held in the infield during the Preakness Stakes, will return to the Pimlico Race Course in May after a two-year hiatus for COVID-19. The festival lineup includes electronic artists Marshmello, The Chainsmokers, DJ Frank Walker and rapper Moneybagg Yo. The 147th Preakness Stakes, one of three horse races part of the Triple Crown series, is on May 21 in Baltimore. Tickets for the infield concert are on sale and start at $65.

Hunter Williams stopped at a BP gas station in south Baltimore this week to add a little bit more to the tank. Normally, Williams, in town from Ohio to visit his daughter, would spend $40 and have a nearly full tank. But not this time. With prices at near records, Williams was more cautious and opted for $20 worth of fuel. He only got four gallons. Williams is like a lot of motorists these days. He said he finds himself making tougher financial decisions now and driving less.

Baltimore Police Department will use a new crime reporting system, joining law enforcement agencies across the country, in a change required by the federal government. The transition to the National Incident-Based Reporting System, which is mandated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will increase the number of crimes reported. The new system requires law enforcement to report multiple crimes, up to 10, that might be associated with a single incident.

The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a measure Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent, effectively eliminating the practice of turning clocks back one hour in November. Senators argued that the bill, which still requires approval from the House of Representatives and the president, would improve mental health and possibly boost the economy by delaying winter sunsets.

For the first time in county history, Anne Arundel County received Moody’s Investors Service’s top bond rating. An analysis from Moody’s explains that the upgrade from Aa1 to Aaa “reflects the county’s solid local economy that is experiencing ongoing expansion while its residents continue to boast very strong income levels.”

Americans reacted with empathy, pain, frustration and in some cases anger Wednesday to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s impassioned speech to the U.S. Congress pleading for more aid for a nation and a people under bloody siege. Across the country, thousands shared video of Zelenskyy’s speech on social media, many especially pained by a clip he shared of bloodied children in hospitals, bodies in neighborhood streets, crumbling facades of apartment buildings and a ditch where the dead of war were being buried.

Montgomery County, Maryland, will roll out a drop-off COVID-19 PCR testing option at several county recreation centers that aims to deliver results in 24 to 48 hours. The tests, whose results are analyzed in a lab, are designed to maintain PCR testing — which is often required for travel — in the county and free up space at county recreation centers, which are more fully reopening two years after the start of the pandemic.

Parents and other community members gathered Monday at the last of three public workshops to discuss the redistricting process for Howard County public schools in anticipation of a new high school opening next year in Jessup. New High School #13 is expected to open in fall 2023 and will be designed to accommodate 1,658 students in grades nine through 12. Representatives from the Howard County Public School System’s Office of School Planning, Cooperative Strategies spoke with community members to discuss the redistricting process for the 2023-24 school year.