NEW: When Maryland's congressional delegation visited ICE's overcrowded holding rooms in downtown Baltimore Monday, they found the place unexpectedly empty. What happened to all the people being held there? We figured it out. Story for @thebaltimorebanner.com: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Historians, scholars and artists are working to unearth, record, preserve and share Maryland’s LGBTQ+ history— work they say is all the more urgent as the Trump administration and conservative legislatures try to roll back the rights of queer people www.thebanner.com/community/lo...

A series of incidents left 9yo Tristan King homeless and dodging help. His case was compounded by slow responses and missteps by officials. Will he be found? A heart-wrenching story from @leeosanderlin.bsky.social @jessicagallagher.bsky.social & Jessica Calefati: www.thebanner.com/community/lo...

Montgomery County needs more pre-K and early elementary teachers. Paraeducators are already in the classroom, but modest salaries can prevent them for chasing a higher education. Local universities and the public school system have a solution: free degrees www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

The hold rooms at Baltimore's ICE field office are empty, according to Maryland Congress members who toured the facility Monday. Their visit comes days after a federal judge imposed a limit on the number of people that could be held there. tinyurl.com/4apnefss

Johns Hopkins University has its eyes on D.C. The elite university just bought a second building in the nation's capital, bringing its total D.C. footprint to almost 600,000 square feet. Inside Hopkins' Bloomberg Center + the university's D.C. ambitions: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

There's a stretch of Maryland that's next to BWI and just north of Fort Meade. It holds housing, the Arundel Mills mall and has been targeted for growth and development. And it's under a complete development moratorium that seems to have come without warning. Read more in @thebaltimorebanner.com —

By Wesley Case: All the smokes: How a Hopkins professor’s mushroom trip led to 1,000 paintings of cigarettes. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Kids in the "iPad generation" have grown more reliant on screens at home and in school since the pandemic. The head of Baltimore's public schools has had enough. She introduced screen time and digital device limits, though she doesn't think they go far enough. www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

Hundreds of Panamanian golden frogs are breeding in a closed-to-the-public section of the @marylandzoo.bsky.social in an effort to save them from extinction. Soon, zoo workers plan to bring some back to Panama…

Books are fading from kids’ lives. Parents want schools to do more. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Assuming Mount Vernon with its stately public square and other amenities can’t have its share of problems is like assuming a pretty person can’t ever be sad. For several weeks, we asked residents and business owners what’s stalling the neighborhood’s potential. www.thebanner.com/economy/moun...

To afford raises, Baltimore County schools is cutting jobs, likely growing class sizes

Did you look up your senator? Did their answer surprise you? Drop me a message. DMs open. Email [email protected]

A little bit of happy for your Wed. morning: We've been reporting for months that the federal immigration crackdown is keeping some scared immigrant families from venturing outside their homes. Norma Montesino is the bilingual Santa Claus bringing reading to them. www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

A snow day read: Who is Winnie Harris? She wrote her will in the pages of a Bible. It became a state record, $ now it lives at the Maryland State Archives — where what she wrote & other records give a glimpse into Black life in Baltimore shortly after emancipation. More in @thebaltimorebanner.com

As a former resident of downtown (who would literally never go back), this story and its accompanying videos are such a delight.

No one seems to agree on what "downtown Baltimore" actually is. Is it a narrow strip of land near the harbor? Does it include Mount Vernon? The @thebaltimorebanner.com office? Help us figure this out! Use our new tool to draw what you think of as downtown: www.thebanner.com/economy/grow...

From @briaovers.bsky.social: YMCA employees wanted pay raises. They got a food pantry instead. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Peppa Pig is coming to Baltimore! www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

With rumors and anxieties swirling over a potential uptick of ICE activity near Baltimore, you may be wondering what happens if ICE shows up to your school or college. We rounded up the answers for Central Maryland. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

How Maryland schools will respond to rumored ICE ramp-ups

The Dish: This North Charles Street cafe wants to talk about sex

ICYMI: Harford County's school board voted to fire its superintendent on Monday. His ousting had been years in the making. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

My latest story: "Aspiring teachers thought they were getting a full ride. Then the bills came." Students are accusing the state's higher education commission of bungling scholarships for the second time in six months. This time, for teacher education. www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

New: In ads to run ahead of Super Bowl kick-off & during post-game, BGE will push its legislative agenda to build and own Maryland power plants, a reversal on decades of state regulatory policy. $150K ad buy includes spots in Super Bowl-night & Olympics coverage www.thebanner.com/community/cl...

New: Maryland grants in-state tuition to undocumented students if they submit three years of tax returns. But now the IRS is working with ICE, and students fear they'll be deported. It means that some of Maryland's best students aren't going to college. www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Hundreds pack hearing on Howard County proposal to ban immigrant detention facilities

If you'd like to support my friends and colleagues who lost their jobs at The Washington Post today -- www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...

Make no mistake, the layoffs at the Post hurt readers the most. I grieve for my sports colleagues that helped describe the societal fabric sports reveal. But on a basic level of holding institutions and power accountable, and uplifting the stories and problems of everyday people, this is a travesty.

We are so incredibly thrilled to receive this honor. Working on this project was one of the highlights of my career and I could not be more grateful to @ire.org and my entire team. Thank you to all my colleagues at @thebaltimorebanner.com and all of our readers and supporters.

Thought it was hard for your school to reopen after the storm? The state's only school serving blind students had to de-ice thousands of feet of sidewalk while stuck beholden to surrounding districts' closure decisions. Plus, they're not allowed to go virtual. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

ICYMI this weekend: A huge part of the child care crisis in Maryland is the hundreds of family day cares the state has lost since the pandemic. But there's a program that's trying to fix it by helping women open in-home day cares. And it's working. www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

Maryland wants to get all kids reading by 3rd grade, and a big part of that mission is getting educators ready to teach the science of reading. Two of Maryland's biggest school districts are at odds: One has trained 98% of teachers. The other: Just 24%. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Most Baltimore County teachers are ready to teach science of reading. What about your district?

NEW w/ @halliemiller.bsky.social: There is a growing divide between Maryland's recent homebuyers and more tenured owners. The most recent group of buyers face median mortgage payment 47% higher than those who bought pre-pandemic. How did this happen? Read ⬇️ www.thebanner.com/community/ho...

This Maryland program opened nearly 300 day cares in 3 years

Three Maryland school systems do not regularly screen their job applicants, despite a state law requiring them to do so. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Household items are making their way outdoors in Baltimore. Do you save your parking spot after a snowstorm? www.thebanner.com/community/tr...

Ginny wrote such a beautiful story here that you should read! Getting out to a few Girls Who Walk Baltimore meet-ups (not the same group featured here) was one of the highlights of my 2025, and Ginny captured the community that forms around "hot girl walks" so wonderfully.

📝Morgan State University, Maryland's largest HBCU, is being accused by multiple national advocacy orgs of censoring its student newspaper. I spoke with experts, current and former student journalists and faculty about the policy. Here's what you need to know: www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

NEW: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore's redistricting commission plans to meet at 4 p.m. today to vote on recommending a new map of Congressional district boundaries. The meeting is not open to the public. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

After a contentious renewal process, Baltimore is shutting down its only all-boys charter school. Two small traditional schools were also up for closure, but the board chose to kick the can down the road - to when they'll have a new CEO in charge of recommendations. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

After years of struggles, Baltimore’s only all-boys public school meets its end

Private schools don't have to serve kids with special needs - and many of them struggle financially to hire the staff to do so. A new Baltimore County Christian school aims to change that, while purposefully educating neurodivergent kids alongside neurotypical peers www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

New House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk stresses civility, finding solutions

Everything you need to know about getting your child vaccinated in Maryland

The $600,000 plagiarism report the University of Maryland won’t release

what you clearly see, CLEARLY, is a driver who is spooked by the agents grabbing her door, takes steps to drive away, and is immediately shot as moves her vehicle *away* from the agents.

Spoiler alert: this disproportionately impacts marginalized community members and federal workers, and experts I spoke to said that spikes in need coincide with disruptions and changes at the federal level under the Trump admin. www.thebanner.com/community/pu...