Around Maryland

Washington County Public Schools unveiled its new vision and core values the county intends to address and implement over the next five years through the county’s strategic plan. The strategic plan focuses on four priority areas announced at Tuesday’s Washington County Board of Education work session: student success; access and opportunities; culture, safety and wellness; and community engagement.

Charles Schultz was sitting in his living room when it sounded like a bomb went off. Then the sky turned dark. Throughout his 50-plus years living in Curtis Bay — an isolated community wedged into the southern corner of Baltimore — he’d gotten used to seeing soot pile up on his windowsill. Now coal dust was raining down onto his street, a tower smoldering on the CSX coal pier just a stone’s throw from his doorstep.

At the first-ever Baltimore Banner panel in Howard County Tuesday night, officials and experts touched on hot topics such as the Zum bus crisis, the consequences of narrowly avoided cuts in the school system’s budget, as well as the county’s lack of affordable housing and plans for the coveted lakefront. The panel featured County Executive Calvin Ball and Bill Barnes, the school system’s superintendent. The event, “Howard County: Unpacking a Dynamic and Visionary Region, by The Baltimore Banner,” took place in Columbia, sandwiched between Merriweather Post Pavilion and The Mall in Columbia. Around 300 people registered for the panel, making it a sold-out event.

Maryland's Transportation Authority is accepting proposals for a new Key Bridge as they start the process of rebuilding the span over the Patapsco River that is expected to take years. What will a new Key Bridge look like? One proposal from Italian company, WeBuild, shows a cable bridge with its supports away from the main navigation channel for safety.

The Maryland Attorney General's Office created a new website to report hate crimes and bias incidents. Authorities said the online portal is intended to help track hate crimes, identify trends with hate crimes and help officials create recommendations to address such incidents in Maryland. Users can anonymously report incidences of hate and\or bias.

Administrators at a Howard County school are trying to silence Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian students who are speaking up in support of Palestine, the ACLU of Maryland said in a letter Tuesday. The letter, which focuses on River Hill High School, said Principal Robert Motley and Assistant Principal Allison Volinsky are violating district policy and the First Amendment rights of the students.