State Roundup: Attorney General’s office to probe fatal police crash under new state law

State Roundup: Attorney General’s office to probe fatal police crash under new state law

Indealized figurehead of a Delaware Indian on the grounds of the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Photo by tsmyther.

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ATTY GEN TO PROBE FATAL POLICE CRASH UNDER NEW LAW: A 26-year-old Black man died early Saturday morning when a police chase ended in a single-car crash in Catonsville, and a new unit of the Maryland attorney general’s office, created to examine civilian deaths involving law enforcement officers, is investigating, Scott Dance and Mary Carole McCauley report for the Sun.

BWI’s OUTDATED BATHROOMS TO GET $55M UPGRADE: The outdated restrooms on some of BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport’s busiest concourses will get a nearly $55 million face-lift. The three-member Maryland Board of Public Works unanimously approved Wednesday a $54.9 million contract to upgrade and expand six sets of restrooms on the airport’s B, C and D concourses, Lorraine Mirabella reports for the Sun.

COSTLY RABIES TREATMENT: Each year an average of 13,000 animal bites are reported in Maryland, according to data collected by the Maryland Department of Health from 2015 to 2019, and those who are bitten can face an expensive treatment to prevent contracting the fatal rabies virus. Catherine Wilson of Capital News Service reports that a representative of the Maryland Health Department said that in the past five years Maryland has administered an average of 446 post-exposure rabies treatments every year. The article appears in Maryland Reporter.

MORE MARYLANDERS IDENTIFY AS INDIGENOUS: The number of Marylanders identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native has more than doubled in the past decade – from 58,600 to 128,650, according to U.S. census records, a spike that some local leaders attribute to a grassroots effort among Indigenous communities to better document themselves in government records, Lillian Reed reports in the Sun.

RETIRED JUDGE TOM BOLLINGER DIES: Thomas J. Bollinger Sr., a retired Baltimore County Circuit Court associate judge, died in his sleep Monday of a suspected heart attack at his Nottingham home. He was 80. While presiding over the circuit court, Bollinger faced controversy over a sexual assault case that sparked women’s rights groups and women state legislators to call for his resignation. Amid the debate, he recused himself from hearing sexual offenses or domestic violence cases for about a year before he quietly resumed presiding over them, McKenna Oxenden of the Sun reports.

HOYER LEADS DEMS TO REMOVE RACIST STATUES FROM CAPITOL: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is leading a group of Democrats — including Maryland’s Democratic House members — to renew efforts to get the Senate to follow the House and remove statues of Confederates and white supremacists, which remain even after the House passed legislation in June to do so, according to the Michael Touma of the Capital News Service.

HISTORIC CHURCH ON TUBMAN BYWAY THREATENED: Rising waters are imperling a historic African-American church and graveyard in Dorchester County that was established after the Civil War in 1864 and whose membership included free Black people and formerly enslaved families from four rural communities, reports Rosanne Skirble for Maryland Matters. It is among 45 sites on the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a 125-mile scenic route through Maryland’s Eastern Shore, and Delaware to Philadelphia, associated with Tubman’s early life, escape from slavery and road to liberation.

OPINION: CHOUDHURY LIVES UP TO EXPECTATIONS: Kalman Hettleman, a former Kirwan Commission member, writes in a column for Maryland Matters that Mohammed Choudhury began his tenure as state superintendent of schools in July with much good will. Given the widespread criticism heaped on his predecessor, he had nowhere to go but up. But much more was expected. The State Board of Education cited his prior record of “transformative policies and groundbreaking practices that have shattered expectations and raised the bar for staff and students.” And so far, he seems to be living up to his advance billing.

Workforce Readiness for Advanced Energy With a renewed focus on the advanced energy economy and addressing the impacts of climate change, workforce readiness, diversity, and availability are challenges to be addressed. This FREE Webinar on October 12th focuses on approaches, programs, incentives, and the people providing solutions and assistance to support evolving local businesses.

VACCINES BECOME ISSUE IN ANNAPOLIS COUNCIL RACE: The question of vaccines, vaccination status and policy around public health has become a discussion topic between candidates for Annapolis City Council and constituents on the same level as other local issues like taxes, sidewalks and transportation during the 2021 election cycle, Brooks DuBose of the Capital Gazette reports.

B’MORE MULLS USE OF $641M IN ARPA FUNDS: Baltimore City Council got its first chance to weigh in publicly on how the city’s $641 million in American Rescue Plan funding should be spent and urged city officials to eliminate backlogs for existing city services, as well as equitably allocate the money, Emily Opilo of the Sun reports.

GROUP WORKS TO REPLACE DESTROYED COLUMBUS STATUE: A group of Italian Americans in Baltimore are continuing to raise money to build a replica of the Christopher Columbus statue that was torn down and thrown into the Inner Harbor last summer. The base of the statue has yet to be sculpted and approximately $70,000 still needs to be raised, said Bill Martin, an organizer of the statue’s restoration who resides in Howard County. Where it will go is unknown, Stephanie Garcia of the Sun reports.

TRAFFIC, PEDESTRIAN PROPOSALS FOR ISLAND OF DRUID HILL: Various design concepts were introduced Thursday night to city residents and users of Druid Hill Park who gathered virtually to weigh in on the future of the area. Since early this year, a study has been underway to examine traffic and pedestrian patterns, writes Emily Opilo for the Sun. Since the 1940s and 1960s expressways were built surrounding much of the park cutting off residents in the nearby historically Black and Jewish neighborhoods from its use.

SEAT PLEASANT MAYOR UNSEATED: The longtime mayor of a small Prince George’s County city lost his seat Thursday after missing three consecutive city council meetings without excuse, Karina Elwood of the Post reports. Eugene W. Grant, who’s served as mayor of the town of 4,700 since 2004, ended up forfeiting his seat because, according to the town charter, if a mayor misses three consecutive meetings without being excused by the council, he loses his seat. Grant declined to share why he missed the meetings but said it was not intentional.

ANNAPOLIS NAVY ENGINEER, WIFE CHARGED WITH ESPIONAGE: Christine Condon of the Sun reports that a federal court document unsealed on Sunday say that a Navy nuclear engineer and his wife, who live in Annapolis, have been arrested on charges of trying to pass secrets to a foreign government.

MARYLAND MAN SENTENCED IN JAN. 6 INSURRECTION: A federal judge said Friday he hopes a three-month sentence of a Maryland man in a U.S. Capitol insurrection case will send a message to other defendants who don’t seem to be “truly accepting responsibility.”

About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

cynthiaprairie@gmail.com
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: cynthiaprairie@gmail.com

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