BALTIMORE CO. SCHOOLS TO ADD GUN-DETECTION SOFTWARE TO CAMERAS: As part of a comprehensive approach to protect students and staff from gun violence, Baltimore County Public Schools will add a cutting-edge layer of precaution to thousands of security cameras starting in September — software trained to detect guns. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
DELIBERATIONS CONTINUE ON CHOUDHURY’s FUTURE: Deliberations continue by the Maryland State Board of Education on whether to reappoint Mohammed Choudhury as superintendent. “The board has not made a decision,” board President Clarence Crawford said Tuesday to reporters at the state Department of Education building in Baltimore. “The board is following what’s outlined in the governance manual. And as soon as we have something definitive to say, we will.” William Ford/Maryland Matters.
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS PROTEST TROOPER’s RETIREMENT WITH BENEFITS: Black civil rights activists gathered at Gov. Wes Moore’s home Wednesday morning to protest and focus attention on the case of a high-ranking Maryland State Police official who texted colleagues a vulgar, racist meme of George Floyd days after his murder and retired recently with benefits. Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
- In June 2020, Jason Oros, a then-corporal in the Maryland State Police, sent members of his task force a photo of Floyd dying on the ground as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck. Caitlyn Freeman/The Capital Gazette.
YOUGH RIVER SUPPORTERS CONSIDER LITIGATION OVER DNR DECISION: Talk of litigation is among responses from folks and organizations that reject a decision the Maryland Department of Natural Resources issued Friday. DNR granted conditional approval for Garrett County and the Maryland State Highway Administration to replace the bridge on Swallow Falls Road in the state-designated Youghiogheny Scenic and Wild River Corridor. Teresa McMinn/The Cumberland Times News.
NEWLY RELEASED RECORDS GIVE FULLER VIEW OF FBI SHOOTING OF McGRATH: In the end, a cellphone gave Roy McGrath away. The former top aide to Gov. Larry Hogan had eluded federal authorities for three weeks and traveled hundreds of miles. Federal agents were searching for his white Cadillac Escalade across the Southeast.Their break came on the afternoon of Monday, April 3. FBI agents in Baltimore detected a signal from a cellphone that belonged to McGrath in a Costco parking lot outside Knoxville, Tennessee. Tim Prudente/The Baltimore Banner.
HIGH COURT SIDES WITH AIRPORT DEVELOPER, EXPECTS MORE LITIGATION: Maryland’s highest court has narrowly sided with the developers hoping to turn an airport that sits along a busy highway into more housing. But the high court even admitted the ruling handed down Wednesday will only lead to more litigation in the future. The 4 to 3 ruling by the Maryland State Supreme Court overturns a lower court ruling, which itself overturned a law passed by the Prince George’s County Council. John Domen/WTOP-FM.
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CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ACTIVISTS WHO BLOCKED STATE HOUSE: Charges were dropped in Annapolis Tuesday related to the April arrests of protesters who called for lawmakers to provide immigrant access to health care. Anne Arundel County District Court Judge Danielle Mosley dismissed all charges against seven activists representing the immigrant rights organization CASA after they blocked the entrance of the State House in an effort to push the Senate Finance Committee to vote on the The Access to Care Act. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
EX-CECIL SHERIFF’s DEPUTY CHARGED IN REVENGE PORN: A former Cecil County Sheriff’s deputy is facing numerous criminal charges amid several allegations relating to two victims, including that he took an image of his genitals – while on duty and in uniform – and sent that image to a woman and that he took photos and video of another woman while engaged in sexual acts with him and later, without her consent, sent them to different social media users, according to the Maryland Office of the State Prosecutor. Carl Hamilton/The Cecil Whig.
B’MORE HOUSING COMMISSION WORKER TOLD NOT TO ACCEPT BRIBES: Earlier this month, Baltimore Housing Commissioner Alice Kennedy issued an unusual memorandum. Titled “Attempted Bribes,” it informed her staff that “City of Baltimore employees are not permitted to accept bribes.” Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
