Around Maryland

Historic Annapolis considers itself a guardian of the city. The nonprofit preserves the physical remnants of history, but also something less tangible: the way one of the oldest towns in America looks. So when the mayor proposed a $10 million, glass-walled maritime welcome center at City Dock — placing it right atop an $88 million public works project to protect downtown from climate-driven flooding — it got their attention.

The ship that caused the Francis Scott Key Bridge to collapse in March, killing six construction workers, is expected to move soon, with officials setting a target of early next week for the refloat. Moving the ship out of its current position is a critical step in Key Bridge Response Unified Command’s current efforts to reopen the Patapsco River’s main 50-foot-deep, 700-foot-wide shipping channel, which has been closed since March 26.

Maryland drivers have felt the impact on traffic in the weeks following the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. There’s new federal data that supports that feeling. “The rush hour now starts at, I would say 2:30 p.m., instead of the 3 o’ clock hour,” a driver named Kris said. “I do notice a lot more traffic on I-695,” driver Edward Brunson said.

On the opening day of striped bass fishing in Maryland, recreational anglers and charter boats ventured out onto the Chesapeake Bay, but not all were enthusiastic about the start of the season. New regulations set by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) aimed at bolstering the struggling rockfish population in the Chesapeake have left some captains and guests apprehensive.

Frederick County’s Board of Education has narrowed the school district’s budget deficit to about $6.4 million after approving multiple cuts on Wednesday, which included reductions in average raises for district employees. Frederick County Public Schools’ proposed expenditures for fiscal year 2025’s operating budget were about $988 million — about $50 million higher than its projected revenues, according to a presentation from Heather Clabaugh, associate superintendent of fiscal services.

Without raising taxes, the Montgomery County Council voted to add $26.3 million dollars to the Maryland county executive’s proposed budget plan for FY2025. While the 11-member council was able to reach a consensus in its “straw” vote — the action before next week’s final decision — some concerns about the $7.1 billion spending plan were also voiced.

At the Maryland Institute College of Art’s graduation on Monday, interim President Cecilia McCormick asked the undergraduate class of 2024 to look into a mirror. “To be an artist, you have to be true to who you are,” McCormick said. The 200-year-old art and design school, which promotes itself online as “an institution that continually re-invented itself to meet the challenges of changing times,” has had its own self-reflecting to do in recent years.