Around Maryland

For many high school seniors and others hoping to attend college next year, the last few months have become a stress-filled struggle to complete the trouble-plagued, much-maligned FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The rollout of this updated and supposedly simplified form was so delayed, error-ridden and confusing that it has derailed or severely complicated college decisions for millions of students throughout the U.S., especially those from low-income, first-generation and undocumented families.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is undertaking a comprehensive update of the Chesapeake Bay blue crab stock assessment, which has not been revised since 2011. This effort aims to collect crucial data to better manage the blue crab population. As part of the updated assessment, scientists will evaluate the impact of things like the population of predatory fish and habitats on blue crabs. Notably, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation hopes the blue catfish, a significant predator of blue crabs, will be included in the study.

County residents want an ambulance to arrive when they need it, and medical first responders want to show up for the call. But that connection, between victims and rescuers, has been threatened by budget problems neither group caused nor controls. As Allegany County officials call for a $2 million cut to emergency medical services, the union that represents 46 full-time Department of Emergency Services employees has tentatively agreed to some terms, and awaits proposed amendments to its contract from the county.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have some of the lowest rates of using mental health services, at 8.9% in 2019. NAMI points to a number of factors: language barriers, social stigma and a lack of culturally competent providers — those who are familiar with the experiences of the patients they serve.

Lynn Harshman has been a Frederick County resident for more than five decades — her entire life. She’s an avid gardener and history fan, two things that Frederick County specializes in. Harshman recently joined the Myersville-Wolfsville Area Historical Society (MWAHS) and wanted to “combine my passions of antiques, history and gardens so tour participants will experience how the old and the new of garden plantings can nicely intertwine.”

The Capital Crescent Trail is projected to reopen between Bethesda and Silver Spring in spring 2026—a year earlier than expected, according to a recent report from the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). The 11-mile trail, which runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Silver Spring, has been partially closed since 2017 as part of MDOT’s Purple Line light-rail construction project.

The Frederick County government is taking steps to construct affordable housing units on the Prospect Center campus, which the county acquired in October 2021 for $20 million to use as a multi-agency complex. The 26-acre property on Himes Avenue in Frederick includes several large parking areas, in addition to the 209,000-square-foot main building, which the county previously used as a mass vaccination site.

Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and Baltimore City officials unveiled strategies to keep young people occupied and out of trouble once school is out, which includes enforcement of the curfew law. This year’s summer youth engagement strategy looks much like last year’s. “Our approach this year is informed by lessons learned from last summer,” said Stefanie Mavronis, the director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.