Bill Duffield

Howard County voters will have the opportunity to vote on ballot Question A this year. Question A summarizes a charter amendment approved by all five members of the County Council in July. Approving Question A would allow the County Council to create an independent Office of the Inspector General. Passage of Question A would enable the appointment of a citizen board by both the executive and legislative branches of the local government, ensure that the Office of the Inspector General is funded and authorize the office to access independent legal advice.

Voters in Maryland, Virginia and the District are heading to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots in races for Congress and local governments and school boards in addition to the presidential election. With control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate at stake, both major parties and the political action committees that support their candidates have poured millions of dollars into races in the region where seats are either vulnerable or open after the incumbent chose not to seek reelection.

Leaders from LifeBridge Health and McDaniel College joined together Oct. 30 at Carroll Hospital in Westminster to announce a landmark partnership to address the nursing shortage in Carroll County and the surrounding region through McDaniel's new Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. Beginning in fall 2026, McDaniel's nursing program will be housed at Carroll Hospital, including offices, nursing classrooms, and labs, providing students with access to Carroll Hospital's state-of-the-art facilities and early and frequent exposure to clinical work within a hospital setting.

Growing concern in Baltimore over the safety of dockless vehicles such as electric scooters and bikes is understandable considering the spate of recent crashes including one that caused the death of a 16-year-old in Upton who was riding with a friend last month when their moped collided with a Jeep or the death of a 31-year-old scooter rider who was struck in East Baltimore last July by a car driven by a teen.

This month marks the seven-year anniversary of the mysterious death of Baltimore homicide detective Sean Suiter, who, on Nov. 15, 2017, was shot in the head one day before he was scheduled to testify in a grand jury in a case involving the notorious Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF), a squad of criminal Baltimore police officers. Suiter's case was featured in two HBO productions, a documentary called “The Slow Hustle” and David Simon's scripted series, “We Own This City.”

Boeing machinists approved a new labor deal Monday, ending a costly seven-week strike that halted most of the company's aircraft production, worsening its mounting losses. Machinists voted 59% in favor of the new contract, which includes 38% wage increases over four years and other improvements. The approval is a relief for Boeing's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, who took the top job in August to steer the company through its safety and manufacturing crises.

For hundreds of years, a certain breed of patient gardeners has mastered the skill of bonsai, carefully restricting and nurturing trees that would otherwise get to be 50 or 100 feet tall, so that they would fit on a desktop as an object of wonder. The viewer is filled with awe and astonishment at how someone could achieve such a feat. It is not without great skill and effort, as such a restricted environment is fraught with great peril for a tree.

Maryland is often promoted as “America in Miniature,” a phrase first coined 85 years ago. It's an acknowledgment not only of the state's diverse geography from mountains to waterfront (lacking only a desert) but its diverse population and economy as well as its important role in U.S. history. Yet rarely has the state felt less representative of the rest of the nation than it does today.

Baltimore's Metro subway line will be out of service this weekend as the Maryland Transit Administration continues tests of a new train control system, the agency has announced. All 14 stations between Owings Mills and the Johns Hopkins Hospital will close at 8 p.m. Friday and reopen at 4 a.m. Monday. The MTA will run shuttle buses between Metro stops for riders who would otherwise take the train.

A small milestone passed recently in Baltimore County. Hopefully, at least for most families, it went unnoticed. As of now, any driver who fails to stop for a stopped school bus in the county that has activated its flashing lights will be issued a $250 ticket. Well, at least in most instances. Prior to the start of the school year, automated cameras were installed on 80% of the vehicles in the Baltimore County Public Schools fleet.