Coronavirus In Maryland And Abroad

A judge orders convicted murderer Adnan Syed to be freed. A new poll conducted by Goucher College in partnership with WYPR and The Baltimore Banner shows democrats would sweep the midterm election if held today. There’s some optimism about the economy too. We’ll have those stories and some headlines coming up and talking about sexuality to children as young as 3½? An educator of human sexuality for half a century says, yes, we can!

The city’s Department of Public Works was raked over the coals at a hearing last night on its handling of the E.Coli water crisis. Today Mayor Brandon Scott addressed the fallout on WYPR’s Midday. A trial delay for Baltimore’s outgoing top prosecutor. A hearing Monday could mean freedom for convicted murderer Adnan Syed. The union representing thousands of University System of Maryland employees brought their grievances to College Park today. Baltimore’s health department lays out a comprehensive plan to fight Monkeypox and the dissension continues over how to give Baltimore County teachers a promised pay raise.

Marilyn Mosby’s trial has been delayed just a day before jury selection was to begin. The murder conviction of the man at the heart of the podcast, “Serial” could be vacated. An extra two-billion dollars? That’s how much more unexpected revenue Maryland ended the fiscal year with! Our new health reporter says Baltimore is stepping up its response to Monkeypox with its vaccine availability. A community meeting of stakeholders and squeegee workers met to come up with solutions and we’ll hear from two Johns Hopkins professors who say their home was appraised hundreds of thousands below market value because they are Black.

Mayor Scott is trying to get the message out that the water in west Baltimore is safe to drink again. Maryland’s Governor is joining other Republicans in calling on President Biden to rescind his student loan forgiveness plan. When it comes to colleges in the state there are some stand outs according to a Forbes list. Seniors living on a college campus? That’s what Goucher College is planning and a new initiative aimed at building relationships between incarcerated parents in Baltimore and their kids is starting to take shape.

Residents in West Baltimore and parts of Baltimore County have been given the green light to consume their tap water again. Construction has begun on a multi-million dollar complex in the city that aims to entice emergency responders to live where they work. A gun scare and a death in city and county schools have left students grief stricken at one…and on edge at another. Johns Hopkins health system warns they may stop accepting plans from one of the nation’s biggest insurers and what’s the human and dollar cost of Baltimore’s vacant housing? A new report has some data.

E.Coli bacteria contamination has left West Baltimore residents boiling tap water since Monday, but we have an update from DPW. The Mervo High School community is coming together with mental and emotional support for those affected by last week’s traffic and fatal student shooting. Baltimore county council members have voted themselves a pay boost, the first one since 2014. Thousands of roadways in the county will get a 3-D review to see where repairs are needed. I’ll have those headlines and more, plus Dr. Lena Wen talks about the threat to public health officials and the COVID booster to fight omicron.

Updated COVID boosters are now available for anyone age 12 or older. The CDC is urging anyone who is eligible to sign up but some vaccine experts say some people might want to wait.

The first week of school ended today with a deadly shooting outside of a Baltimore City high school this afternoon. A deadly shooting at an apartment complex near Morgan State University has left students and area residents shaken. New COVID booster shots will be available for Maryland residents as early as next week, now that the FDA and CDC have approved them. A program that gave thousands of needy Maryland students a free lunch during the pandemic has ended. A dire report from the National Center for Education Statistics shows how the pandemic eviscerated math and reading scores and we’ll hear from a labor reporter about how millennial workers are a driving force for unionization.

A greenlight from the FDA today on two new COVID boosters to ward off the highly contagious omicron variant. The U.S. has its first death believed to be the result of Monkeypox. Baltimore County health officials are reaching out to residents considered high risk for contracting the virus. County Council members are eyeing a raise for themselves as well as the county executive who’s raked in the dough, according to the latest campaign finance reports. I’ll get a breakdown from our state government reporter on how much is in the coffers of Maryland’s gubernatorial candidates and our education reporter has a conversation with a Johns Hopkins medical director about how the weight of the past two-and-a-half years will impact learning this school year, and beyond.

It was back to school for thousands of students across Maryland today. I’ll have a quick recap of the kickoff in the city and counties. Workers at a grocery chain in Baltimore have voted to unionize for better pay and job security and when it comes to American politics from national, down to our local elections, it seems we are more divided than at any other time in recent history. We’ll share an excerpt from a Johns Hopkins political science professor who’s co-authored a new book that speaks to the violence and danger of what she calls, “Radical American Partisanship.”