Around Maryland

Maryland’s teacher workforce still remains majority white, according to data recently released by the state Department of Education, but advocates are hopeful that new laws could help turn that around. According to figures slated to be discussed by the state Board of Education on Tuesday, about 68% of teachers in classrooms during the 2023-24 school year are white.

Baltimore’s housing supply is still at less than half the normal level even as other markets across the country have seen their listings grow. According to new data from residential real estate brokerage firm Redfin, the Baltimore metro had just 1.6 months of housing supply on hand in April, or less than half of the typical four or five months of inventory markets had on hand before the pandemic.

The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a case challenging Montgomery County Public Schools’ gender identity guidelines that provide support for transgender students. The lawsuit, John and Jane Parents 1 v. Montgomery County Board of Education, was filed by two MCPS parents in 2020. The unidentified parents alleged that MCPS’ gender identity guidelines, which advise staff not to disclose a student’s stated gender to their parents without permission, violate federal laws such as the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

When the owner of two fossil-fuel-burning power plants in Anne Arundel County filed surprise plans last year to close them by mid-2025, the operator of the regional electric grid determined they needed to stay open until at least 2028 to ensure a reliable supply of electricity across Maryland. But a plan submitted by the owner of the Brandon Shores and H.A. Wagner power plants to keep them open would unfairly burden customers of Baltimore Gas and Electric and other state utilities, argue opponents including the state agency representing ratepayers, state utility regulators and at least one of those utilities.

Howard County is launching its first public art program, with a local partnership and a $1.5 million investment from the county over the next several years. The program, called Arts for All, is aimed at enhancing the county’s cultural landscape by commissioning permanent public art installations, strategically placed in community spaces and county facilities, reflecting the creative talent and vision of the community, according to a news release.

Conditions were calm and clear Monday morning, when several tugboats finally pulled the Dali container ship from where it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, destroying the span March 26, and moved it back to the Port of Baltimore. The weather was a stroke of good luck, after rainy and stormy conditions twice delayed the coordinated explosions that largely freed the ship from the bridge piece pinning it in the Patapsco River.

Several federal housing officials were in Hagerstown on Wednesday for the “unveiling” of Kilpatrick Woods, a development in the city’s West End being created with manufactured housing and touted as a new concept for affordable workforce housing. What’s new about the concept for Kilpatrick Woods is creating a community with manufactured housing in which the homebuyer also will own the land underneath the home and have access to affordable mortgage programs, developer and EquityPlus LLC Partner Tom Heinemann said in an interview after the ceremony.

Lifeguards in Ocean City, Maryland, will begin an intensive eight-day training academy this week to prepare for big crowds on Memorial Day weekend. Before swimmers hit the shore, the beach patrol is reminding them of a rule that’s posted on all of the lifeguard stands: don’t dig deep holes. “You could be digging and suddenly without warning, it can all just give way and pile in,” said Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain Butch Arbin.