Around Maryland

State and federal officials are warning commuters about a scam involving the E-ZPass toll payment method. The Maryland Transportation Authority and the FBI local field office said there’s a text messaging swindle taking place at tolling booths across the state asking customers to enter their personal data and financial information into a fake website, where it is accessed by cybercriminals.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman on Wednesday proposed a $2.31 billion budget for fiscal year 2025 that increases spending, boosts the starting pay of police officers and provides funds to staff three new schools. The spending plan represents an 8.2% increase from the $2.14 billion budget approved for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

As Maryland public school leaders continue to work on the massive Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan, documents from local school systems that are being turned in this week must provide data to show how officials are putting it in place. That information is based on the Blueprint’s five priorities — early childhood education, hiring and retaining high-quality and diverse teachers, preparing students for college and technical careers, providing additional resources for students in need and governance and accountability.

There was a time when the Potomac River was a political fault line dividing two great powers. Shifting alliances, political maneuvers, betrayals, and turnarounds – this was not the Civil War but the time of the Powhatan and Piscataway paramountcies and the tribes loyal (or not) to them. It was a time of kings and emperors, ambition and downfall.

The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office published the office’s first-ever strategic plan on Tuesday aimed at creating a number of tools for victims and witnesses and modernizing aspects of the office. The 23-page plan will guide the agency’s priorities over the next three years and “embodies the office’s commitment to justice, integrity and rebuilding the public’s trust” to ensure fairness, transparency and accountability, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates said.

Baltimore Police and city leaders are not in a rush to shut down a pro-Palestinian protest at Johns Hopkins University unless it gets out of control. Police said in a statement that the "City of Baltimore strongly stands with every person's First Amendment rights." Protesters set up an encampment and organized rallies on Monday and Tuesday on the Homewood campus.

A transportation project along Frederick's Golden Mile has received a $485,000 federal grant to promote safer pedestrian and bicycle transportation in the city. The multi-modal project along the section of Frederick's West Patrick Street known as the Golden Mile has received the grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Baltimore City Public Schools is rolling out weapons detection scanners at more high schools this week. This comes after the district piloted the systems at four high schools, including Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High, Patterson High and Carver Vocational-Technical High schools and the Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood High School.

The police chief in Prince George’s County, Maryland, now has the authority to create and enforce additional youth curfew zones under a resolution passed Tuesday by the county council. Under the resolution, business owners throughout the county can request Police Chief Malik Aziz to create and enforce a curfew for kids aged 16 and under, just like the one established last week at National Harbor by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks’ emergency declaration.