Around Maryland

Nearly four months after a ship strike decimated the Francis Scott Key Bridge and killed six construction workers, who would build and pay for a new bridge and the impact on Marylanders’ wallets were among the topics on the minds of readers during a Reddit AMA on Wednesday with Baltimore Sun reporter Hayes Gardner.

Prince George’s County native Jahmal Harvey grew up a fighter, but had to learn to become a boxer. Now, at 21, Harvey is gearing up to compete in the Olympics after winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games to punch his ticket to Paris. “It meant a lot to me,” he said of his victory last year. “It was more so being relieved, more so than being happy.

Branson Williams feels the weight of his responsibilities. The 39-year-old Marylander is tasked with defeating an elusive and relentless enemy that shows no signs of weakening. Failure in this war is not an option. But a complete and convincing victory is unlikely. “I stay up late at night thinking about this,” Williams says. “Eradication is not possible at this point.

Triple-digit temperatures blasted the Baltimore area on Tuesday, the third consecutive day of record-setting heat in the city, while jail detainees were “baking in their cells” without air conditioning, according to the loved one of an inmate at a correctional facility downtown. The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, which runs Baltimore jails, confirmed on Wednesday that one of its facilities, the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center, had been partially without air conditioning since Friday after a blower motor malfunctioned on a housing unit tier.

Fewer teens have been shot in Baltimore during the first half of this year than in any in the last decade, a Banner analysis of police data has found. The number of high school-aged teens shot in Baltimore has fallen by more than two-thirds compared to last year’s 10-year-high watermark. The Banner has been tracking youth gun violence since teenagers began being shot at exceedingly higher rates in 2022.

A blessed reprieve may be on the horizon after days of oppressive heat, but emergency room doctors in Baltimore say the latest heat wave has been a reminder that hot weather isn’t just uncomfortable – it can be dangerous. In the last few weeks, when temperatures and the humidity routinely made the weather feel like it’s 100 degrees, doctors have reported seeing an uptick in people coming to hospital emergency departments with the trademark symptoms of heat-related illnesses.

Design of a trail project in Frederick and one to add sidewalks in areas of Brunswick are among the projects scheduled to be approved for funding Wednesday by a regional transportation organization. The money from the Transportation Planning Board of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments would provide $200,000 for design to tie two trail stubs on the eastern side of Frederick into the city’s trail network, as well as $330,718 for design for sidewalks along H Street in Brunswick, a key priority for the city.

Prince George’s County Council has greenlit a resolution to move forward with a project to build eight new schools in the county through a mix of public and private funds. The approval comes after the county council was unable to get the necessary votes to advance to the second phase of the plan last week. Under the Blueprint Schools Program developers finance the construction, and Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) pays for the new buildings over a 30-year period.

Members of the Baltimore Teachers Union rallied outside the school system’s headquarters Tuesday to pressure the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners to launch a national search for a new chief executive. Sonja Santelises, the Baltimore City Public School System’s CEO, signed a one-year contract in June after months of drawn-out negotiations with the board.