Around Maryland

Whether it’s electrified music or someone with a microphone and amplifier spreading their message, Montgomery County said it will begin cracking down on loud noises next month in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. And now, there are new signs saying just that. Montgomery County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Earl Stoddard told NBC Washington that enforcement will focus on the worst of the violators.

Leadership positions in Howard’s public school system will be reorganized in the coming months, including the creation of six new positions to oversee significant divisions of the school system, acting Superintendent Bill Barnes announced at a county Board of Education meeting on June 6. Barnes will become permanent superintendent July 1 and has served as acting superintendent since Jan. 10, after previous superintendent Michael Martirano announced his retirement Nov. 17 despite having almost three years left in a four-year contract.

The Montgomery Planning Board unanimously passed an Attainable Housing Plan that would allow residential land in Montgomery County zoned for single-family homes to be used for duplex, triplex or fourplexes. The plan heads to the County Council later this month. “I want to be clear on something. This proposed zoning change is not a mandate for people to turn their properties in to duplexes or townhomes or small apartment buildings,” said Planning Board Chair Artie Harris.

In an effort to stave off development that could interfere with operations at Frederick Municipal Airport, Frederick County Council President Brad Young is drafting legislation modeled after the city’s airport overlay zoning district. During a joint meeting of the council and the city’s Board of Aldermen on Wednesday, Young said the idea to create a Frederick County version of the airport overlay came out of discussions with the city’s Airport Commission, of which he and Alderwoman Katie Nash are members.

A heat wave is expected to hit the Tri-State area next week before summer officially arrives. Heat indexes could reach 100 degrees next week, according to National Weather Service meteorologists for the region. The stretch of hot, humid days is forecast to start Monday, though the main concern for heat is expected to be mid to late next week, meteorologist Jeremy Geiger said.

Sonja Santelises, the CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners agreed on a third contract Wednesday after weeks of stalled negotiations. Santelises, 56, will continue to serve under a one-year contract with a $349,989 annual salary. The announcement comes a little more than two weeks before her contract expires June 30 and after months of public concern over the board’s delayed decision.

A yearlong investigation recently published by The Baltimore Banner and The New York Times revealed an unprecedented overdose crisis gripping Baltimore. Nearly 6,000 people have died from overdoses in the last six years, the worst drug crisis ever seen in a major American city. Baltimore’s death rate from 2018 to 2022 was nearly double that of any large city.