Community issues

The biggest airports in the Baltimore and Washington area were on a ground delay after hours of halted flights Friday sparked by a “strong chemical smell” at the region’s air traffic control facility.

More than 800 people gathered at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda on Friday to recognize Montgomery County rescuers who risked their lives to save others.

Eric Kibler, 44, of Hagerstown, is charged in Baltimore Circuit Court with first-degree murder and related offenses in the shooting of Anthony “Chris” Martin in Oliver on Aug. 18, 2024.

Executive Marc Elrich’s proposed operating budget for Montgomery County includes a nearly 6% property tax increase. He said his plan, which fully funds the public schools’ operating budget request, recognizes the county faces economic headwinds.

The monthslong search for missing Baltimore boy Tristan King ended Friday morning in the Curtis Bay neighborhood, several people familiar with the case said.

Gov. Wes Moore and legislative leaders are backing a bill aimed at lowering Maryland energy bills, offering rebates and imposing new rules on utilities and data centers.

The tornado hit the small community of Cooksville just after 7 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a weather service report released on Friday.

A sign from the Baltimore City Health Department was on the door Thursday morning, noting Mom’s Organic Market in Hampden was closed due to a violation.

Mom’s Organic Market has reopened Friday morning after the city’s health department shut the store down for a day due to a rodent infestation.

The Lacks family has settled its third case against a pharmaceutical company it says profited from cells taken from Henrietta Lacks without her knowledge or consent — this one with Viatris.

COLUMN | In a five-day span, the Ravens made the most ambitious trade in franchise history, annulled it, got hitched to the No. 1 free-agent pass rusher and became the NFL’s villain of the moment.

Tristan King ran from a caseworker in Baltimore and has been missing since September. Brooklyn residents have seen him, but authorities can’t find him.

Ludovic Mbock, a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion who spent more than two weeks detained by ICE, was released Thursday night. His family still worries that Mbock, an openly gay man, will be deported to Cameroon, which punishes same-sex relationships.

COLUMN | The Mimi DiPietro Family Skating Center is scheduled to close forever after this season with no plan to replace it with a new indoor ice rink. The Baltimore Banners hockey team, whose existence may hinge on the dome staying open, is hosting a weekend rally in an effort to extend its life for a few more years.

Tattoo parlors around the country will sell flash designs — tattoos that are predrawn, not custom creations — at discounted prices.

Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be. This forecast of extremes comes as weather whiplash already hit much of the East.

In recent years, a state fund meant to finance clean energy has ballooned, making it a tempting reserve to Maryland leaders in lean budget times.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called it “tragic.” Mayor Brandon Scott said the situation has him “pissed.” Baltimore Schools CEO Sonja Santelises is “heartbroken” because of the Tristan King story.

COLUMN | This is Holly Beach Farm. Minutes outside of Annapolis, it is a pocket wilderness hidden next to highways and urban centers. The state bought it for $1 and is figuring out how the public can enjoy it without loving it to death.

The University of Maryland hired a former Baltimore Police officer just months after he was accused of using excessive force during the Freddie Gray unrest, according to court documents and state officials.