The air was tense at a crowded pre-submission community meeting Thursday in western Howard County, where attendees discussed the impact and future of a go-kart track built on private property that has residents going in circles.

Howard County resident Charles Siperko built the half-mile long track for his son on a portion of his home’s 11-acre property at 6717 Mink Hollow Road in the rural suburb of Highland. His son has dreams of becoming a race car driver and participates in the sport of go-kart driving like other children participate in swimming, soccer, or baseball.

Siperko neglected, however, to obtain the required permits from Howard County and the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to build the track. His neighbors are putting up a fight, and many want it removed. The family has retained prominent land attorney Sang Oh to help navigate the process of saving the track.

The family filed a conditional use application for the racetrack retroactively, asking the county to consider the track an “athletic facility,” though go-kart tracks don’t currently fall into that category legally. They’re also promising not to use the track until the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) issues a decision.

The meeting was informational in nature only, as decisions on next steps can only be made at the DPZ level. Residents who aren’t demanding the track’s removal want mitigations for noise and visual impacts and potential repercussions on the neighborhood’s wetlands. Some even went so far as to ask if he was planning to build a helipad on the property, as Siperko owns a helicopter and used it to bring his son to school. Siperko denied any plans for building a helipad on his property.

Siperko, in the application, offered to limit the hours of use to six days per week and only the afternoon/early evening hours. They pledge the racetrack will be kept private, will not be used for parties, and will be limited in use to the father, son, and coaches. They will also move part of the track to comply with the 100-foot buffer between properties required by the county. The family also promises no lighting will be added (ensuring no nighttime use) and to limit the use to electric motors only.

Residents claimed the engine is not the source of the noise they heard on the one day the family used the track, but the tires. One resident expressed concern about the microplastics shed by the tires on the surrounding wetlands, and others agreed.

While the Maryland Department of the Environment has jurisdiction over wetlands, Oh said the family’s application with MDE is on hold right now because it does not want to rule on a case in which DPZ may decide the track needs to be removed entirely. Oh expects a hearing with the DPZ to take place in the late February/early March timeframe.

This is the second such meeting because Siperko and his family were in Italy for a race in which their son was participating when the first pre-submission community meeting was held. The second meeting was scheduled so that Siperko could be there to hear from his neighbors and participate in the discussion.

The controversy has even attracted the attention of documentary filmmaker Scott Evans. Evans grew up in Howard County, and is doing preliminary work on a potential documentary about this dispute between neighbors.

“I grew up in Howard County and actively participated in both sports and environmentalism,” Evans told Fishbowl in a message. “After reading articles about the track on Mink Hollow Rd, I felt like there’s an interesting debate unfolding here on land rights, environmental impact, and creating safe spaces where kids can explore their sports interests. I want to hear all sides of this and plan to reach out to the community and interview anyone that wants to share their side of the story.” 

Nearly all who spoke at the meeting argued against the track, though degrees of animosity toward it varied. Some went so far as to insult Siperko’s parenting directly. Most, though, focused on the impact of the racetrack on their quality of life, property value, and the environment.

“It’s so frustrating,” said JoJo Lerner, a resident who also lives on Mink Hollow Road. “He said he Googled, and he didn’t see that he needed a permit for this. But it wasn’t just that. He didn’t talk to any of his neighbors. He didn’t tell anyone…. It definitely lowers the value of everyone’s property around it, because who wants to live right next to this go-kart thing?”

Colin Porter, another Highland resident, would like to see the county and/or state invest in a go-kart track like the one Siperko built so that other kids could have access to learning the sport. “These motor sports are certainly underserved,” he said. “We haven’t had a racetrack in this area since they closed Beltsville Speedway.”

Neither Siperko nor Oh would comment for Fishbowl’s article, citing the case being ongoing.

The Harbor Harvest Children’s Fall Festival will return for its 17th year on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Rash Field Park. Families are invited to enjoy pumpkins, pony rides, and a petting zoo while dressed in their favorite Halloween costumes for a day filled with fall festivities.

Children can explore a pumpkin patch; dive into hay piles; and, for a small fee, enjoy pony rides, petting zoo animals, a trackless train, and carnival rides. There will be a pie-baking contest, and participants will compete for both the People’s Choice Award and the Judge’s Choice Award.

Enjoy the costume contest, where participants can win ribbons and prizes, and get some great exercise with a fun climb at Rash Field’s Adventure Park or enjoy the scenes at the BGE Nature Park!

Local food vendors will be on-site for the event.

Admission to the festival is free, and select activities like pumpkins, pumpkin decorating, fall crafts, and more are included at no cost.

With the purchase of a Harbor Harvest Children’s Pass, attendees can enjoy additional activities, such as mechanical rides, pony rides, a trackless train, and other attractions. The Children’s Pass is available in advance for $12 or at the event for $15.

For those interested in specific activities, individual tickets can be purchased on the day of the event for $3 each. Participation in the pie baking contest is free, with advance registration available on Eventbrite. For the costume contest, sign-ups will take place on the day of the event.

Rash Field Park is located at the Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD 21230.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit this link.

In the event of inclement weather, all proceeds will go towards children’s programming at Rash Field Park. All Children’s Pass items (pumpkin, pumpkin decorating, and fall craft) will be available to pick up at a determined date.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield this week opened its approximately 20,000-square-foot West Baltimore workspace at The Village at Mondawmin.

In a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, officials marked CareFirst’s dedication to community-centered healthcare and economic empowerment. The new workspace represents CareFirst’s commitment to West Baltimore, serving as a community hub for health and wellness resources, workforce development programs, and support services for residents.

“Completing this project marks a significant moment in our mission at CareFirst as we continue to invest with the communities we serve,” said Brian D. Pieninck, CareFirst’s president and CEO. “In partnership with leaders from Coppin State University, Center for Urban Families, and Whiting-Turner, who share our strong belief in West Baltimore’s future, we understand success comes through being led by the community. The center’s vision is built around community voices, community talents, and community dreams.”

CareFirst’s novel workforce development initiative launched in 2023 in partnership with Coppin State University and the Center for Urban Families. The program’s focus is to create economic growth and opportunities for West Baltimore residents living in the 21215, 21216, and 21217 zip codes.

The initiative recruits and trains residents for jobs in the healthcare industry, from customer service to community health advocacy and beyond. Choosing The Village at Mondawmin as the location for the workspace helps address common barriers to employment, like transportation and childcare.

The community hub and resource center give residents access to free fitness and health education classes, in addition to help from CareFirst team members on billing, claims, benefits, and more. This in-person support helps current and new members and addresses the neighborhood’s health equity needs. Additionally, the resource center offers programs ranging from home-buying courses to legal education.

“We are proud to see our vision for The Village at Mondawmin come to fruition with CareFirst as a vital partner in this important project,” said Tim Regan, co-owner of The Village at Mondawmin and CEO of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. “We are working hard with our community partners to revitalize West Baltimore and enhance the quality of life. By attracting meaningful tenants, a dynamic community hub that addresses critical needs and unlocks opportunities for growth is being built. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with CareFirst and community leaders to ensure this space serves as a catalyst for positive change.”

“Our collective aim is to build safer, vibrant communities across Baltimore,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “The commitment and involvement of CareFirst in West Baltimore is a shining example of the transformative change that can be generated when community organizations and leaders unite. When we harness our collective strength, we can effect meaningful change that benefits our region and its residents.”

“Baltimore will lead Maryland into a new decade and partnerships that contribute to our shared progress are crucial to that mission,” said Gov. Wes Moore. “I want to commend CareFirst, Coppin State University, and the Center for Urban Families for their innovative workforce development program, along with all the organizations in The Village at Mondawmin. Today, we are not only celebrating the continued success of the workforce development program and the new CareFirst workspace; we also recognize the potential, resilience, and power within a revitalized, healthier, and thriving West Baltimore.”

CareFirst members and non-members are encouraged to check out programming as it is shared at CareFirst or Eventbrite. Initial grand opening events include a Medicaid Made Simple Class on Oct. 28 and a Holistic Childbirth Class on Nov. 2.

It’s fall, and that means time for warm, spicy chili on the weekends. Add fundraising for a great cause, and Baltimoreans can enjoy  The Baltimore Station’s 10^th annual Stars, Stripes and Chow: Chili Edition!

Presented by M&T Bank and taking place Nov. 2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, this chowdown for charity brings talented home chefs from all over Maryland together to showcase their finest chili creations. The cookoff is dedicated to raising funds for unhoused veterans.

The event features a competition between teams across Maryland. This year’s teams are M&T Bank, Fuchs NA, MartinFederal, Maryland Multi-Housing Association, Baltimore Gas and Electric, WPG Financial Group, The Nelson Family, Peraton, T. Rowe Price, Element Fleet, Jimmy’s Famous Seafood and Society of American Military Engineers. The event is family friendly and will have a kids’ zone with fun activities in addition to live music, food, beverages, raffles, a silent auction, and more.

Attendees can cast their vote for “People’s Choice” and “Best Theme,” and a panel of judges representing each military branch will crown the “Judge’s Choice” champion.

All proceeds from this event will benefit The Baltimore Station, an organization that supports people, primarily veterans, dealing with being unhoused and with substance use disorder. The Baltimore Station provides residential therapy and workforce development programs.

To celebrate the fundraiser’s 10^th anniversary, tickets will be the same price they were in 2014, the first year of the event: $40 for adults, $35 for veterans, active duty, and first responders, $20 for young adults ages 11-20, and free for children 10 and under. Special 10th-anniversary pricing will last until Oct. 25. After that, ticket prices will be $50 for adults, $40 for veterans, active duty and first responders, $30 for young adults ages 11-20 and free for guests 10 and under.

The Stars, Stripes and Chow: Chili Edition takes place Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Orioles Park at Camden Yards, 330 W. Camden Street, Baltimore, MD.

To learn more and purchase tickets, click this link.

Bon Secours Community Works will dedicate their Community Resource Center to the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings.

In celebration, they’re hosting an event Thursday at 3 p.m. open to the community, featuring music, dance performances, refreshment, and family-friendly activities.

Cummings served as the congressman from Maryland’s 7^th Congressional District from 1996 until his passing in 2019. His family members will attend with George Kleb, executive director of Bon Secours Community Works, as the Anchor Group unveils a commissioned sculpture that honors his legacy and commitment to the residents of West Baltimore. Sculptor Frederick Hightower will also be in attendance.

The Community Resource Center opened to the public in West Baltimore in 2022. It was specifically designed by and for residents of West Baltimore, focusing on youth services, workforce development, and economic development for the neighborhood. The center also offers a variety of walk-in and scheduled programming for youth and adults.

In addition to the performances, refreshments, and activities, guests will be able to tour the Community Resource Center following the dedication program. They can learn about available programs and services, connect with one of Bon Secours’ partner organizations, and enjoy the local arts and culture with neighborhood friends.

There will also be an open call for small, meaningful West Baltimore-related items to be placed in a time capsule at the Community Resource Center, which will be sealed in January 2025.

The Bon Secours Community Resource Center is located at 31 S. Payson St., Baltimore, MD.

The Maryland Department of Human Services has agreed to address the systemic discrimination against people with disabilities that resulted in lack of access to benefits from Maryland’s Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) Program.

The settlement between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS)  resulted in the Voluntary Resolution Agreement announced on Oct. 10, and covers all DHS programs that receive Federal financial assistance from HHS.

The settlement is a result of an investigation that lasted over a decade, during which the Homeless Persons Representation Project (HPRP) represented numerous families in disability discrimination complaints against Maryland DHS.

Michelle Madaio, HPRP’s Director of Economic Justice, told Fishbowl that TCA is the state-level program for administering the federal cash assistance program, TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). If a person applying for or receiving TCA in Maryland feels they’ve been discriminated against for any reason, like race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, they can file a discrimination complaint at the federal level with HHS’ Office for Civil Rights.

“Because OCR got several complaints from different families in Maryland, they conducted a several years-long investigation into discriminatory practices,” Madaio said. “They reviewed the Department of Human Services policies procedures; they looked at the individual cases. They did a systemic review of practices in Maryland, and this voluntary resolution agreement is the culmination of that decade long investigation.” The investigation began in 2011.

The families represented by HPRP experienced disability discrimination in violation of federal law, according to evidence identified by HPRP. As a result of the DHS violations, Maryland families living with disabilities endured frequent benefit reductions and terminations, leading to or exacerbating food and housing insecurity, homelessness, and health consequences.

The families allege that Maryland DHS:

• Failed to appropriately screen individuals for disability-related services and provide accommodations;
• Lacked effective methods to document, track, and monitor approved accommodations;
• Lacked effective methods of communication with individuals with visual impairments, learning disabilities, and cognitive impairments;  
• Lacked adequate assessment process to determine whether individuals with disabilities required accommodations in the work program;
• Refused to accommodate work program participants with disabilities; and
• Lacked policies and procedures to assess if a disability-related accommodation should be provided prior to reducing or terminating a benefit.   

“It is hard for people with disabilities to get benefits at the Department,” said Kenyaree Slater, a parent who filed a complaint. “They always second guess what we say and we have to go to so many doctor appointments to prove to the Department that we need an accommodation. I am happy that they will make accommodations now, but feel like that is something they should have done long ago. Better late than never.”  

Madaio said the agreement will have statewide impact and overhaul their programs to make services and benefits easier for people with disabilities to access.

“The department is going to have to revise and reform their regulations, their policies, their grievance procedures, do training, [and] come up with new assessment tools,” Madaio said.

Under the Agreement, DHS agreed to take corrective actions under OCR monitoring for a three-year period to ensure people living with disabilities have equal and meaningful access to benefits and services, including: 

• Amend DHS regulations, policy manuals, grievance procedures and training materials to comply with the Agreement and federal law;
• Modify DHS’ automated case record systems to identify and track disabilities, monitor accommodations, and alert staff prior to taking adverse action to reduce or terminate benefits when an individual with a disability requires an accommodation; and
• Develop a comprehensive statewide assessment tool that can identify whether an applicant has a disability that impacts their participation in program requirements.

“This is a big deal. I am so grateful that they are considering people with disabilities now.  Because our experiences are unique, accommodations are necessary,”said Lynnette Blackmon, parent who filed a complaint.   

Nearly 28,000 Maryland families receive TCA. Most are Black (67%), headed by women (86%), and have young children under the age of 13 (85%.) The program is a critical antipoverty resource for families with children, though the benefit is hardly extravagant: $575 for a family of two. But for a family experiencing houselessness, it is often the only income available. For parents who can work, TCA has a work requirement so inflexible as to exclude people with disabilities, since necessary accommodations aren’t provided.

“Many people like myself can’t work because of a disability, but were told in order to get TCA they had to work a certain number of hours per week and their benefits will be cut if they do not,” recalled another parent who filed a complaint. ”I am glad the Department will now look into other ways to support people with disabilities who are applying for benefits.”

Read the OCR press release here.

While Baltimore’s harbor remains swimmable, the waterway’s health continues to be impacted by sewage overflows, stormwater runoff, and trash pollution, according to the Waterfront Partnership’s annual Harbor Heartbeat report card released on Thursday.

For the first year, the report assigned recreational and ecological health grades for sites around the harbor.

The harbor earned an overall C grade for ecological health, which Waterfront Partnership vice president Adam Lindquist said is a signifier of both the diligent improvements to the harbor’s health in recent years as well as the hard work that still needs to be done.

“Baltimore Harbor is a recovering ecosystem, but it doesn’t have the resilience you would like it to have,” said Lindquist, who oversees the Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor Initiative. “So when we have an algae bloom or low dissolved oxygen event like we did this past September, wildlife can still become stressed to the breaking point. But as we continue to improve our water quality, we will improve the resilience so that these kind of events have smaller and smaller impacts on wildlife in the harbor.”

In September, Baltimore’s harbor experienced a fish kill due to pistachio tides, the result of sulfur bacteria being pushed to the surface and causing smelly green algal blooms; and mahogany tides, from nitrogen and phosphorus runoff causing brown algal blooms.

Ecological health grades were fairly consistent across water testing sites, with scores ranging from C- to C.

Grades for recreational health, which measured the percentage of water samples that tested below Maryland’s threshold for safe water contact for recreation purposes, varied more widely. Fort McHenry, the Mainstem Patapsco River, and Masonville Cove each earned an A+ for recreational health. Meanwhile, sites at Ferry Bar Park and the Patapsco River Mouth received F grades.

The Waterfront Partnership last year announced that Baltimore’s harbor was finally healthy enough for swimming, more than a decade after the partnership launched its Healthy Harbor Initiative with the goal of making the harbor fishable and swimmable. (There are some conditions to that swimmability: swimmers should wait at least 48 hours after rainfall due to stormwater runoff; the water should be deep enough that polluted sediments will not be stirred up from where they’ve settled on the harbor’s floor; and swimming should only take place during designated events with proper supervision to avoid injury from boat traffic and other dangers.)

In June 2024, Baltimore held the Harbor Splash, the city’s first public swim event in the harbor in more than 40 years. At that event, 150 people jumped into the Inner Harbor in timed slots with groups of 25 people to celebrate the swimmability milestone. (The Inner Harbor earned a B- grade for recreational health in this year’s report.)

The Harbor Splash “sold out” within 10 minutes of registration going live, and the event had a waitlist of more than 1,000 people, according to the Waterfront Partnership.

After the inaugural event garnered such enthusiasm, the Waterfront Partnership is not only bringing back Harbor Splash next year, but it is also planning other events, including a half-mile swim across the harbor and stand-up paddleboard races.

Days after this summer’s Harbor Splash, ultra-distance swimmer Katie Pumphrey completed a 24-mile swim from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to Baltimore’s Harbor in about 14 hours. Pumphrey plans to repeat that swim next year.

When floated the ideas of a Baltimore Triathlon or a winter plunge, Lindquist said the possibilities are certainly open.

“I would love that,” he said. “I think that that’s one of the things we’re hoping to see as we demonstrate that you can safely swim in the Baltimore Harbor. We would love to see an event like a triathlon come and incorporate Baltimore Harbor into its route.”

Still, Lindquist acknowledges there remains more work to be done to further improve both the ecological and recreational health of the harbor.

Baltimore’s googly-eyed garbage interceptor Mr. Trash Wheel was launched in 2014, and in that 10 years he has collected 5.2 million pounds of trash from the mouth of the Jones Falls stream at the Inner Harbor.

Among that heap, Mr. Trash Wheel has gathered nearly 2 million plastic bottles. The Waterfront Partnership is advocating that Maryland’s legislature pass a “bottle bill” to reduce litter and pollution from plastic bottles.

“If we pass the beverage container deposit law, we can actually prevent Mr. Trash Wheel from eating his 2 millionth plastic bottle,” Lindquist said.

Additionally, the Waterfront Partnership is calling for Maryland to enact the Extended Producer Responsibility Act, which would hold manufacturers responsible for their products’ impact on the environment.

The Baltimore City Department of Public Works has been working to repair and upgrade parts of the city’s aging sewer infrastructure. That has resulted in an 84% reduction in sewer overflows (more than 240 million gallons of sewage) into the Baltimore harbor over the last four years.

The report also acknowledged the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge earlier this year, in which six construction workers died.

The extent of the bridge collapse’s environmental impact is not yet known, but it stirred up polluted sediment that could harm wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay.

“The collapse sent a plume of sediment into surrounding waters where it impacted aquatic life, potentially including a nearby oyster sanctuary reef [near Fort Carroll],” the report’s authors write.

The Waterfront Partnership anticipates a survey of the reef’s health within the next 12 months.

The good news: polluted sediment ingested by oysters in that reef will not be consumed by people because it is a no-harvest reef. The bad news: the sediment may have smothered oysters in the reef, potentially setting back restoration efforts.

The Great Baltimore Oyster Partnership supplies 350,000 new oysters to the reef at Fort Carroll annually. To offset any potential damage from the bridge collapse, they plan to increase that amount to 400,000 in 2025.

Starting in November, the more than 7,000 people living in Maryland under DACA status will be able to buy insurance plans from the state’s insurance marketplace.

DACA recipients operate in legal limbo.

They are people who were brought to the United States as children and have received a high school degree or served in the military. While they are allowed to stay in the U.S. legally, they aren’t technically citizens.

Read more (and listen) at WYPR.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced the new Opioid Abatement Fund grants program, designed for opioid remediation projects and supported with County funds through the National Opioid Settlement.

The grants program is part of an ongoing effort to better support overdose prevention strategies and response organizations whose goal is harm reduction, treatment, and recovery. The funds will help community-based organizations deliver the services that support people on their path to recovery.

“The opioid epidemic continues to be a serious public health concern in Baltimore County, and there’s not a community in the area that hasn’t been touched by the disease of opioid addiction,” Olszewski said. “These grants will help us continue to do everything within our power to raise awareness, increase access to services and save the lives of our neighbors and loved ones.”

The funds can be used for opioid remediation projects as defined by the National Opioid Settlement and Baltimore County Overdoes Response Priorities, the latter of which were determined by public input, subject matter experts, fatality case reviews and interviews with individuals who have lost a loved one to overdose. These priorities may address, but are not limited to:

• Community-based harm reduction services, including naloxone dispensing, evidence-based services, mobile services, street-based outreach and inclusion of all routes of drug use;
• Expanded access to medications for opioid use disorder;
• Integration of trauma-informed care in service provision to high-risk populations;
• Providing treatment options that support individuals with children and pregnant women, including family-centered treatment approaches;
• Education and resources to support families affected by substance use disorder; and
• Services targeted to high risk or underserved populations.

Organizations that focus on overdose prevention and response that are private or not-for-profit, serve Baltimore County residents, and preferably located in Baltimore County are encouraged to apply for a grant. Projects should request a minimum of $25,000 and no more than $250,000 annually.

If your project is approved for funding, it will be funded for one year, with the opportunity to have funding renewed for an additional two years, dependent on achievement of timeline benchmarks and performance metrics.

If your organization or group would like to apply, those interested is encouraged to attend the Baltimore County Opioid Abatement Fund Grant webinar on Wednesday, October 16 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Interested organizations are encouraged to register at this link.

To apply, and get full information about the grants available, visit the Baltimore County Opioid Abatement Fund webpage here.

Project proposals are due Friday, November 8, 2024 at 4 p.m.

Students at Howard Community College (HCC) will soon have a sexual and reproductive health clinic that better meets their needs, thanks to a grant from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR).

The Howard County Health Department (HCHD) received the grant from the IWPR Connect for Success Initiative to promote and increase student engagement with the clinic. Connect for Success is an initiative that aims to significantly increase community college students’ access to high-quality, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care services and related supports.

“Many community college campuses across the country lack access to on-campus health services,” said Dr. Maura Rossman, Howard County Health Officer. “We have worked closely with County and HCC leadership to expand the sexual and reproductive health services available on campus. Now, we can use this opportunity to improve awareness of these comprehensive services and to make sure all students have access to high-quality care.”

In 2022, the HCHD Health Services team expanded the hours and services of its HCC Health Clinic, thanks to funding from the Howard County Government. Next, HCC students and staff will participate in a survey during the fall 2024 semester to assess how accessible these services are, and how much the students know about them.

There will also be activities with existing campus programs, student focus groups, recruiting student clinic champions, and expanding clinic branding.

“Two years ago, I announced a major $1 million investment to expand and prioritize preventative reproductive healthcare services at HCC, in order to ensure its students have improved access to the care they need,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “I want to thank Dr. Rossman, her staff and IWPR for further supporting the needs of our students and ensuring women have the right to make their own choices for their reproductive healthcare and family planning needs.”

“Every student deserves to be empowered by good information and quality guidance from caring experts when it comes to sensitive topics like sexual well-being,” said Howard Community College President Dr. Daria J. Willis. “I am so proud that Howard Community College will continue to partner with Howard County to expand reproductive and sexual health services and provide our students with care when they need it most.”

“Community college students, especially those representing historically marginalized communities, often face significant barriers to accessing the sexual and reproductive health care and resources they need,” said Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, president and CEO of IWPR. “Through Connect for Success, we are working to break down these barriers, ensuring that all students have the support they need to thrive academically and personally in order to succeed in life.”

Connect for Success is a two-year program, and grant amounts range from $25,000-$75,000 for the two-year period. HCHD was one of 11 recipients of funding through this initiative. The goal, according to the Connect for Success website, is “to increase community college students’ access to high-quality, comprehensive sexual and reproductive care, information, and resources, and improve their ability to manage their reproductive lives and succeed in college.”

A cage filled with empty-looking oyster shells sits in front of Kellie Fiala on the Canton Waterfront promenade. A crowd of eager high school students from the Baltimore Lab School gather around her as she lifts up a shell for all to see.

“Raise your hand if you know what a baby oyster is called?” she asks.

“Spat!” yells a student.

“Spat. I love it,” Fiala, who works on oyster restoration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, nods enthusiastically as she continues. “So there are thousands of spat — baby oysters — on these oyster shells.”

Read more (and listen) at WYPR.

Women of color, those with less education and those with lower income aged 18-44 who live in Maryland are facing health disparities above the national average. That’s according to a new report from the United Health Foundation.

The organization’s report on gaps in maternal and infant health found that Maryland women with less than a high school education are 8 times more likely to be uninsured than women with a college degree. The national average is about 6 times.

Maryland also has a higher rate of infant mortality, 5.9 per 1,000 live births, than the national average of 5.5.

Read more (and listen) at WYPR.

Leaders of Johns Hopkins University unveiled preliminary designs on Thursday for the newest addition to their East Baltimore campus, a six-story Life Sciences Building that will provide more than 1,200 lab benches for scientists engaged in biomedical research.

Proposed for a full city block almost directly across the street from Hopkins’ domed Billings administration building, the Life Sciences Building will bring together experts from five different schools in what Hopkins is calling “a collaborative, technology-driven hub for fundamental, basic biomedical science.”

According to The Hub, Hopkins’ in-house publication, the building will contain labs and meeting spaces for Hopkins’ School of Medicine, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Nursing and the Whiting School of Engineering.

“We are thrilled to advance our scientists’ vision of creating research infrastructure designed to speed the pace of discovery and foster interdivisional collaboration across the university,” said Johns Hopkins Medicine CEO and dean of the medical faculty Theodore DeWeese, in a statement. “This state-of-the-art facility will help ensure that Johns Hopkins University continues to set the standard of excellence in medical research.”

Demolition underway

Plans for the new building were presented on Thursday to Baltimore’s Urban Design and Architecture Advisory Panel (UDAAP). The construction site is the southwest corner of East Monument Street and North Broadway, and the building will stretch along Broadway from Monument Street to McElderry Walkway, an east-west pedestrian spine on the medical campus. The next building to the west will be the Armstrong Medical Education Building and the next building to the south will be the Levi Watkins, Jr. M. D. Outpatient Center. Because of the Life Science Building’s location, Hopkins has the ability to connect it to the underground Johns Hopkins station on the Baltimore Metro subway line.

To make way for construction, Hopkins is demolishing three buildings currently on that block: the 10-story Hampton House Building at 624 N. Broadway; 14-story Reed Hall at 600 N. Broadway, and the Denton A. Cooley fitness center at 1620 McElderry St. All faculty members and other staffers have been relocated from Reed Hall and Hampton House, temporary space has been identified to house the research and teaching activities that were there and demolition is well underway, with Berg Corporation as the contractor. The Cooley center is scheduled to close on Oct. 11, and a new space for fitness is scheduled to be operational at the end of October.

According to a Hopkins spokesperson, departments of the Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH) that were located in Hampton House will be moving into a school addition that is currently under construction and scheduled to open in the fall of 2026.

Payette, a Boston-based firm with a long track record of designing laboratories and research facilities, is the architect of the Life Sciences Building, and Olin is the landscape architect.

Hopkins’ timetable calls for construction to begin in the summer of 2025 and be complete by the end of 2029. A firm cost estimate has not been released, but the building will be funded through university funds, according to the Hopkins spokesperson.

‘A new ecosystem’

“The Life Sciences Building will create a new ecosystem for foundational, basic biomedical research centered around rapidly developing technologies in areas such as imaging, artificial intelligence, and genetics, which are helping scientists make discoveries at a record-breaking pace,” The Hub reported this week.

With about 500,000 gross square feet of space and six levels of labs and meeting space, the Life Sciences Building “will be a hub for six newly developed ‘scientific neighborhoods’ that connect scientists in similar fields and five ‘technology hubs’ that help scientists maximize the potential of new scientific technologies to advance biomedical research,” The Hub continued. “The neighborhoods and hubs, designed and led by Johns Hopkins scientists, will take shape alongside construction of the building.”

The building is being designed to contain a “flexible mix” of laboratory space, with about 60 percent of the lab space dedicated to experimental approaches and 40 percent of the lab space for scientists focused on computation. Planners say the 1,200 lab benches will provide space for 920 scientists working in biomedical research. The building will also be home for hundreds of graduate students pursuing biomedical research.

According to The Hub, “basic research is at the root of all advances in modern medicine,” from analyzing how molecules interact to drive biology to the development of gene therapies and treatments for human disease.

Recent basic science discoveries at Johns Hopkins include: an analysis of heart tissue sent to space; a search for new biological targets for treating breast cancer; surprise findings from bacteria in freshwater lakes and soil that hint at better antibiotics; a discovery of a molecular pathway disrupted by UV radiation; and using super-chilled brain cells to determine how an epilepsy drug works.

A design departure

In contrast to the historic brick buildings on the east side of Broadway – Marburg, Billings and Wilmer — the Life Sciences Building will have a glass and metal skin, with copper- and bronze-colored walls that curve in certain places to mark entrances and a series of landscaped terraces both on the ground and on upper levels of the building.

The design continues a trend in which Hopkins has been opening up its newer campus buildings to the street rather than walling them off like fortresses. Plans include conference rooms and a glass-walled caféteria on the first floor, overlooking Broadway.

During the UDAAP presentation, panel members reactively positively to the design approach.

“Wow, what a transformative project,” said panel chair Pavlina Ilieva. “I think it’s a really strong, recognizable, cohesive approach to the site. It’s exciting because it is a departure from the other things that are on the campus, from the very historic and traditional buildings to some of the now 30-, 40-year-old buildings and even some of the newer things that we have seen. It’s really great to see that ability to bring something fresh and new, try to integrate it and tie it in some visual ways to at least the color and material language around, but really not hesitate to bring new forms and new types of architecture to the campus, so kudos for that. I think it’s a very strong proposal.”

Ilieva was especially impressed by the way the Life Sciences Building has been designed to open up to the street, just as two other recent campus buildings have been designed to do farther east along the Monument Street corridor.

“It’s really great to see the institution’s commitment tofollow through on that with all of the future projects,” she said. “I think it’s really starting to transform this campus and this whole environment to something completely different and really looking into the future…It’s refreshing to see.”

The extensive amount of landscaping “almost [creates] a park system” that the building nestles into, noted Sharon Bradley, the landscape architect on the review panel. The terraced hillside along Monument Street results in “a biophilic, park-like experience even on a busy street,” she said.

In general, “there are a lot of opportunities [for the researchers] to be outside, in a lot of different ways,” Bradley said, with low walls, planter walls and café tables providing “intentional, definite places for people to pause outside and appreciate the natural setting.”

“I think it’s a wonderful project,” said panel member Osborne Anthony. “There’s a certain amount of care and I would even say exploration that has gone into the design, so I think in that regard it’s successful.”

Anthony said he sees the building’s curving form as a welcome relief to some of the more “orderly and orthodox” institutional buildings on campus.

“I think what’s welcoming about this one is it takes on a kind of an organic framework to it and in many respects, it’s almost like a welcome counterpoint to what’s in the building when you think about it,” he told the design team, led by Payette Senior Associate Wesley Schwartz. “You’re doing research. It’s a life sciences building. There’s a kind of a…rigor that’s associated with that kind of a program. But yet you found the ability to express a little bit more freedom in terms of its massing and…the elegance of the landscaping…It really begins to mediate between the very challenging site, in terms of the grade dropping off…You’ve been able to really work through that in a very crafty and clever manner.”

Civics Works, a local nonprofit, will welcome more than 200 volunteers to participate in its 22^nd annual Ricky Myers Day of Service across 10 project sites in East and Northeast Baltimore on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, from 9 a.m. – noon.

This family-friendly event offers a variety of volunteer activities from which to choose, like cleaning parks and alleys, beautifying vacant lots, creating community gardens, and sorting donations.

Volunteers are invited to help at Mother’s Garden in Clifton Park (outdoors) at 2080-2086 E. 32^nd St., Baltimore, MD 21213; and The Loading Dock (indoors) at 2 N. Kresson St., Baltimore, MD 21224, to name just two of the locations. These, and the other locations, are included on the full list of sites at this link.

Ricky Myers was a Civics Work staff member who dedicated his life to serving Baltimore’s communities. He died a tragic death in 2003 when he was killed in an accident at a municipal landfill in Curtis Bay. This annual day of service honors his life and celebrates Civic Works’ mission by engaging hundreds of volunteers in service projects across Baltimore.

Civics Works engages upwards of 3,000 volunteers every year, believing volunteerism is essential to strengthening Baltimore’s communities. The volunteers beautify vacant lots across the city, repair homes for elderly residents, tutor students, harvest fresh produce at Real Food Farm, and more.

Civics Works ask that you RSVP with the site you plan to visit. Email, text, or call Ellina Buettner at ellina@abelcommunications.com or 410-419-5945 (cell) to RSVP.

Some of the locations have already filled up their volunteer slots, so make sure you act soon to sign up!