Around Maryland

Many people in the D.C. area were ecstatic to see downpours this past weekend following a very dry summer start but we have more hills to climb to eradicate our drought. Baltimore-Washington International Airport topped the list with an excess of 3 inches of rain this weekend. Pockets from D.C. to the Allegheny Highlands got the short end of the stick with a half-inch of rain or less. While the grass in spots will green up, keep in mind this drought is far from finished.

Halee Simons, 18, is headed into her junior year at Atlanta’s Spelman College after racking up 32 college credits at the Community College of Baltimore County that she didn’t have to pay for. She earned many of them while still attending Chesapeake High School in Essex, from which she graduated a year early in 2023. “It was very busy and time-consuming,” said Simons, who was dually enrolled in high school and college classes during the school year, as well as during winter and summer breaks.

Facing a limited supply of drinking water, Carroll County’s Westminster plans to draw from a surprising source — its own sewage. This winter, the city of 20,000 will begin constructing a new building at its wastewater treatment plant, where already-treated wastewater will be purified with an array of special membranes and UV light, and sent into the city’s drinking water reservoir — rather than discharged into a creek.

On a busy weekday afternoon, cars and taxis clog the pickup loop in front of the main entrance of Baltimore’s Penn Station as luggage-carrying passengers squint in the hot sun looking for their rides. If Amtrak gets its way, however, that pickup loop will disappear in a few years. The passenger rail company wants to turn the south side of the station into a pedestrian plaza as part of its ambitious reimagining of the 113-year-old landmark and its surrounding area.

In the months after the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, state and federal officials maintained a website that posted regular updates of the response to the catastrophe. Now, state officials are directing the public to a new site: Key Bridge Rebuild. “It’s a great website for everybody. We talk and we have information there for communities. We have information for industry.

Nearly 6,000 Maryland higher education employees will see increased salaries and enhanced benefits after a “historic” statewide union contract was approved Friday. The three-year agreement will cover about 95% of unionized employees at nine universities across the state, according to officials with Maryland Council 3 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The Maryland Department of the Environment held a public hearing Thursday along with the Maryland Transportation Authority regarding demolition work at the site of the Key Bridge collapse. The hearing and public commenting period are part of the MDE review process of an application, submitted by MTDA, to allow the demolition work.

The Montgomery County Council is considering a proposed bill that aims to reduce vehicular noise emissions by installing “noise camera” devices throughout the county. The bill is based on enabling state legislation passed earlier this year by the Maryland General Assembly session that was sponsored by Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Dist. 17), who represents Rockville and Gaithersburg and chairs the Montgomery County House delegation.

Cases of Islamophobia are on the rise in Maryland and nationwide, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Council on American Islamic Relations detailed what can be done about the disturbing trend. “Definitely, it comes in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks,” said Zainab Chaudry, director of CAIR Maryland.