Around Maryland

Since May 2021, over 200 COVID-19 vaccinations have been provided to homebound or infirmed Harford community members by Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association members, according to a news release from the HCVFA. Homebound people can contact the Harford County Health Department to receive a vaccine in their home. But once the word got out, the number of calls increased and the partnership between the county health department and HCVFA began, according to a spokesperson for the county health department.

Smartly dressed in a business suit, Audrey Hasson, 17, appeared cool and confident as she addressed a Howard County Circuit Court regarding the death of an urban adventurer at the cabin featured in “The Blair Witch Project” movie. Though it was only a mock trial competition and not a real court case, the Centennial High School senior readily admitted her nerves almost got the best of her. “It’s like competing in sports,” Hasson said. “I sweat so much.”

The Enoch Pratt Free Library has launched a pilot project at its Pennsylvania Avenue branch that aims to help people struggling with drug addictions and trauma find the resources they need to get on the road to recovery. The library partnered with the Maryland Peer Advisory Council and Healing City Baltimore to stand up the program, which places “peer navigators” with experience recovering from addictions, trauma, or life’s other difficulties to help direct people toward services that assist with substance use recovery, trauma, mental, and behavioral health, according to library staff.

Maryland has terminated its largely symbolic “Sister State” relationship with the region that includes the Russian city of St. Petersburg due to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Gov. Larry Hogan sent a letter to Aleksandr Drozdenko, the governor of Leningrad Oblast, on Monday that cited “the duty of every government to remain vigilant of unlawful acts against public order, democratic principles and innocent civilians.”

Superintendents in three school districts on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia have announced they will leave at the end of the school year. They’re part of a nationwide trend. The 2022 Voice of the Superintendent Survey, conducted by education research firm EAB, found about half of respondents “are considering or actively planning to leave their role within the next two to three years.”

Five Sussex County residents have been charged with 91 felonies related to the illegal purchase of guns for other people, more commonly known as straw purchases, according to Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings. Jennings used the Wednesday press conference at the Brick Hotel in Georgetown as a chance to also voice her support for a permit-to-purchase law. The legislation would require anyone in Delaware wanting to buy a handgun to first be fingerprinted, undergo training and obtain permission from the state.

Baltimore faces an uphill battle in its race to be a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The city ranks No. 16 of the 17 potential host cities vying for a shot at the global soccer tournament headed to the U.S., said a report from 42Floors, a subsidiary of Santa Barbara, California, real estate data firm Yardi. Baltimore ranked ahead of Washington, D.C., and just behind Boston and Houston.

New coronavirus cases leaped in Maryland in the week ending Sunday, rising 383.9% as 27,829 cases were reported. The previous week had 5,751 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19. What led to this huge jump? According to the Baltimore Sun, it’s due to a wave of people being reinfected with COVID-19 since the omicron variant emerged.

The Harford County Board of Education voted unanimously Monday night to make masks optional for students and staff effective Tuesday. “It has been a long two years. We are all tired, but it is time. We need to move on,” board member Dr. Roy Philips said. The General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review rescinded the current mask mandate last week, as recommended by the Maryland State Board of Education.