Around Maryland

A different sort of viral video thrust a spotlight on the boardwalk here last summer. In a street brawl, a man is knocked to a bench and cold-cocked. He clutches his face. Two men beat him, and he slumps to the ground. More violent videos — beatings showing young men, both Black and white — followed, alarming the City Council and threatening the beach town’s family-friendly reputation. Officials called emergency closed-door meetings to figure out how to bring order to the boardwalk after dark.

Animal shelters in Baltimore, Harford and Carroll counties are at or approaching their capacity, with some facilities reaching a point where they stopped accepting owner surrenders or have been forced to lower adoption fees. The Baltimore County Animal Shelter, located on Manor Road in Baldwin, reached its maximum capacity after animal welfare responded to a complaint that resulted in the seizure of 48 dogs, said Elyn Jones, a public information officer for the health department.

Cindi Rittenour sat by the water at a memorial garden for her sister and four Capital Gazette journalists while she waited for a jury’s verdict to decide whether the gunman who killed them was insane or not. Minutes later, her phone rang. Deliberations had finished much earlier than expected.

Coppin State University has created a scholarship named for Freddie Gray that benefits graduates of his alma mater, Carver Vocational Technical High School in Baltimore. Gray’s sister, Fredericka, joined Coppin State officials on campus Tuesday to announce the scholarship. Gray’s death in 2015 from injuries suffered in police custody sparked days of unrest in Baltimore and drew national attention to the policing of Black communities.

Plans to replace Lansdowne High School in Baltimore County are progressing in the early stages of design, but the project is actively seeking state funding, according to the executive director of facilities management for Baltimore County Public Schools. “It has to be funded by the county and the state,” Pradeep “Pete” Dixit said. “Construction funds may take a couple years to come and we don’t know at this point — so anything would be purely speculation.”