BIDEN AWARDS $1.7B TO BOOST ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANUFACTURING: The Biden administration is awarding nearly $2 billion in grants to help restart or expand electric vehicle manufacturing and assembly sites owned by General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, Volvo and other carmakers in eight states, including Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Matthew Daly of the Associated Press/The Baltimore Banner.
FREE IDENTITY THEFT PROTECTION OFFERED DUE TO HEALTH DATA BREACH: Marylanders should assume that their personal health care information was included in a recent wide-reaching data breach and should take steps to protect their identity and health information as a precaution, the attorney general’s office said Thursday. Change Healthcare, the nation’s biggest electronic data clearinghouse and a unit of UnitedHealth, was the victim of a ransomware attack in February that “interrupted operations for thousands of doctor’s offices, hospitals and pharmacies,” according to the press release. Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters.
CARROLL COUNTY RESIDENTS CONCERNED OVER PROPOSED ELECTRICAL GRID: More than 200 Carroll County residents attended an informational meeting on the proposed electrical grid that would span parts of northern Maryland. The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project is a 500,000-volt transmission line that utility officials said is needed to meet increased electricity needs due, in part, to data centers. Kate Amara/WBAL-TV
- Hundreds gathered to learn more about the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a proposed $424 million upgrade to the region’s energy grid including a 500,000-volt transmission line through three counties, at the first of two public info sessions Thursday at the Westminster Senior & Community Center. A second session held Thursday evening was similarly well-attended. Thomas Goodwin Smith/The Baltimore Sun.
MEDICAID ROLLS DROP, BUT HIGHER THAN BEFORE : In March 2023, the Maryland Department of Health began the laborious process of evaluating the eligibility of 1.8 million Marylanders who had Medicaid coverage, many as a result of pandemic-era policies designed to boost enrollment. Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters.
- There are now just over 1.68 million Marylanders enrolled in Medicaid, the government health program for low-income residents, but it is still an increase of more than 262,000 people from before the coronavirus pandemic began, new health data shows. Meredith Cohn/the Baltimore Banner.
VACANT DELEGATE SEAT FILLED BY PARTY SECRETARY: The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee nominated its own secretary, Teresa Woorman, on Thursday night to fill a House of Delegates seat vacated by now-state Sen. Sara Love (D-Dist. 16). One of nine candidates for the seat, Woorman, 32, won the nomination after three rounds of voting by the 24-member central committee. Ginny Bixby/MoCo360.
VISION FOR NEW KEY BRIDGE: “A SYMBOL OF RENAISSANCE”: A new Francis Scott Key Bridge would be cable-stayed, have support piers far from each other to reduce the risk of shipping accidents and serve as a “symbol of renaissance” for Baltimore, according to a plan outlined by one of the prospective builders. Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Sun.
MONUMENT TO HONOR BLACK PATRIOTS & CALL FOR ARTISTS: Annapolis will in a few years be home to a new monument honoring Black Patriots who served in the American Revolutionary War — a project kicking off this summer with a national call for artists. The State House Trust, the Maryland Commission on Artistic Property, the Maryland Department of General Services and the Maryland Public Art Commission announced a search for artists that will close August 9. Abigail Gruskin/The Baltimore Sun.
MD SCHOOL SYSTEM CONSIDERS LIMITS ON CELL PHONE ACCESS IN CLASS: Baltimore area schools are joining districts around the nation that are trying to rein in pervasive interruptions and behavioral challenges caused by students’ cellphone use in class. Policies banning cellphones at school or limiting phone access during class time have been increasingly implemented across the country, with some school districts requiring students to lock their phones in pouches until the end of class or the end of the school day. Lilly Price/The Baltimore Sun.
HEALTHIER FOOD FOR HOWARD SCHOOLS: New, healthier food options, like locally grown produce and more cultural dishes, are coming to Howard County Public Schools. In response to concerns about the taste, freshness and healthiness of school meals, the Horizon Foundation, a health philanthropy, launched a countywide survey and brought the results to the school system. Jess Nocera/The Baltimore Banner
MARYLAND’S RENEGADE PTA CHAPTER COULD COST $1 MILLION: A years-long legal battle over control of Maryland’s PTA chapter could result in more than $1 million in legal fees and squandering member dues, real estate and other assets in pursuit of the case. Liz Bowie/The Baltimore Banner.
LAST MAJOR DAM ON PATAPSCO MAY COME DOWN: Three dams have been dismantled on the main portion of the Patapsco River in Maryland since 2010. The fourth and final major barrier may soon go away, too. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in May awarded $1.8 million to the nonprofit group American Rivers to begin the planning and initial design phase for the removal of Daniels Dam. Jeremy Cox of Bay Journal in Maryland Reporter
OUTAGE DISRUPTS COUNTY PHONE LINES IN FREDERICK: A regional fiber outage has disrupted service to the Frederick County government’s non-emergency phone lines — which includes the city of Frederick government — but calls to 911 can still get through. County residents who need to reach someone at a county office should send an email or call a cellphone number, if available. Ceoli Jacoby/The Frederick News-Post.
SCHOOL START TIMES COULD CHANGE IN FREDERICK COUNTY: The Frederick County Board of Education on Wednesday voted 4-3 to create a work group to explore options to modify school start times, which may include the possibility of switching which grade levels start first. The work group will be set by Jan. 1, 2025, and will be tasked with creating a plan wherein no FCPS school starts before 8 a.m. by the 2029-30 school year. Currently, most of FCPS high schools start at 7:30 a.m., middle schools start at 8 a.m. and elementary schools start at 9 a.m. Gabrielle Lewis/The Frederick News-Post.
DEATH OF DEVELOPER PUTS MOUNT VERNON LANDMARK IN LIMBO: A 150-year-old church overlooking Mount Vernon’s Washington Monument is for sale this month after the death of the developer behind a controversial plan for the building. Lillian Reed/The Baltimore Banner.
COMMENTARY: HIGH-DOSAGE TUTORING PROVIDES LASTING IMPACT FOR STUDENT SUCCESS: When schools closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact was deep and long lasting. In Maryland schools, test scores fell to an all time low, particularly in math. In 2021, counties received funds to provide high-dosage (intensive) tutoring to students to close gaps caused by school closures. Sara Krauss/Maryland Matters.
