Around Maryland

Members of the Baltimore City Council voted Tuesday to advance a proposal that would set a new, higher property tax rate on vacant and abandoned houses, a first step toward cementing the bill into law. If passed by the rest of the council, the special tax rate could take effect as early as July 2026, bill co-sponsors Odette Ramos and Eric Costello said at a Tuesday committee hearing in City Hall. The bill received unanimous co-sponsorship by every member of the council when it was introduced earlier this month, a rarity relative to most pieces of legislation that move through City Hall.

Shore up, is holding its annual Energy Week, a time when residents are able to come in and ask questions concerning their energy bills and obtain resources. We looked into this and can shed some light on this story. In today’s society, low to moderate-income families may struggle with paying for their electric or home heating bills. Shore Up, a local non-profit, says they might have a way to alleviate some of those winter worries.

The Maryland State Board of Education unanimously greenlighted policy changes Tuesday requiring school officials to share with one another certain information from transfer students’ criminal records. The policy, added Tuesday morning to Maryland State Board of Education’s agenda, comes after lawmakers raised concerns over communication pitfalls in the wake of two high school students being arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a teenager in Columbia.

The Frederick County Health Department in fiscal year 2024 served more residents in various ways and fully launched a program to combat the opioid epidemic by providing assistance to emergency medical service responders. The department’s latest annual report, covering operations and achievements for the previous fiscal year, mentioned statistics for how many people used certain services, as well as updates on programs like harm reduction trainings and grant programs.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools is switching learning management systems in an effort to streamline the way educators, students, and parents access curriculum content, grading, and school communication. The Board of Education will vote on the final contract with Canvas — the system recommended by Superintendent Mark Bedell’s team after an evaluation process — at their next meeting Nov. 6.

The Baltimore County Council voted Monday to condemn a proposed 70-mile transmission line that has attracted condemnations from County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., council members and residents worried about having their homes seized to make way for the $424 million project. PSEG won a contract last December to construct the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), a 500,000-watt power line that would cross northern Baltimore County and Carroll County and terminate in Frederick County.

When was the last time you checked the batteries in your smoke alarm? If you can’t easily answer that question, it might be time to review best practices for preventing a fire in your home. After all, temperatures are dropping and soon it will be the season when most people crack out fire-prone items such as the space heaters, turkey fryers, candles and string lights. Here are some fire prevention tips to keep your household and property safe as we head into the coldest months of the year.

For nearly two decades, the Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts functioned like the proverbial well-oiled clock. In recent years, that machine and its relationship with city leaders have fallen apart. Year after year, the quasi-governmental event-planning organization founded in 2002 by former Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley mounted Artscape and other successful festivals that attracted more visitors every year. Year after year, BOPA operated in the black.