Exelon utilities are refusing to refund $32M to customers, citing a change in state law — The Baltimore Banner

Maryland Transportation Authority failed to collect $818.1 million in tolls, penalties — Maryland Matters

Maryland man faces federal charges after allegedly threatening President Trump, US Secret Service — WMAR

Mother arrested after Baltimore police find 6 unattended children in rental home — WJZ

An aqua mower capsized in Lake Kittamaqundi while performing routine lake management operations.

On Monday afternoon, Columbia Association posted a story on social media about the incident informing people that all CA staff are safe and that protective measures will be in place, even though no fuel or oil leaks have been noticed.

“During routine lake management operations at Lake Kittamaqundi, an aquamower (Chompers) capsized. All Columbia Association (CA) staff are safe. While no fuel or oil leaks have been noticed, protective measures will be in place. CA is conducting a full investigation and coordinating a safe recovery of the equipment,” the Facebook story reads.

Aqua mowers are like underwater lawn mowers, used to cut through invasive weeds and aquatic plants. Columbia Association has four of them to use in their lakes instead of using chemicals to kill vegetation. They allow for removing weeds and trimming excess vegetation while leaving behind living plants that oxygenate the water for other organisms in the water.

Baltimore Fishbowl has reached out to Columbia Association for comment.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced that as of Sept. 1, 2026, shootings and homicides in Baltimore City have continued their historic decline that began in 2023.

As of this morning, the city had recorded 72 homicides and 201 non-fatal shootings. On this date in 2025, it had seen 88 homicides and 213 non-fatal shootings, which is an 18.2 percent decrease in homicides and a 5.6 percent decrease in non-fatal shootings.

“As we mark the end of summer, Baltimore continues to make historic progress on public safety,” Scott said. “All across our city, BPD officers and law enforcement partners, MONSE staff, prosecutors, everyone involved in our community violence intervention ecosystem, and most importantly, everyday Baltimoreans, are showing up for one another in our shared effort to build a safer, healthier Charm City. Our progress this summer is a testament to all of these individuals—and to the importance of the proven, data- and community-driven strategies that are delivering real results.”

Contributing to violence prevention is success in seizing firearms. As of Aug. 29, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers have taken more than 1,367 firearms off the streets of Baltimore, including 138 ghost guns. BPD has made 826 gun arrests so far this year.

Crime is dropping across other categories, too. Carjackings are down 44 percent, burglaries down 16 percent, and total robberies down 13 percent compared to the same time last year.

Many factors contribute to the continued reduction of crime rates in Baltimore City. A major player is the Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS), a partnership between the BPD, the Mayor’s Office, and prosecutors. GVRS focuses on violent groups to both hold them accountable and offer them help and services to move past those behaviors. It puts its efforts toward those at the highest risk of being involved in violence.

The proof is in the results. As of Aug. 25, 2026, GVRS has led to more than 675 arrests, including 600 by BPD’s Group Violence Unit, and connected more than 420 people to life coaching and wraparound services through YAP or Roca since it was launched in 2022. More than 91.2% of GVRS participants have remained unvictimized after they enrolled in these services.

Safe Streets Baltimore is another flagship community violence intervention program. Five of its ten sites have reached the milestone of going over 365 days without a homicide within their respective zones. These sites include Park Heights, Woodbourne-McCabe, Sandtown, Penn North, and McElderry Park. As of Aug. 29, 2026, Safe Streets frontline intervention staff have successfully mediated over 929 potentially violent conflicts and connected 338 residents at-risk of being involved in violence with support services.

Those numbers reflect more than 100 violent conflicts avoided in August alone thanks to Safe Streets Baltimore. The program helped steer 75 people who were at risk of being involved in violence towards wraparound support services instead. Support services include victim services, community outreach, life coaching, meditation, and more.

Scott and MONSE are working on Baltimore’s second Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan. This is a new five-year roadmap to build on the progress of the last five years and will be released by early Fall 2026. Residents can attend listening sessions, the first of which is being held tonight, and share feedback through the public survey or by emailing MONSE.

8184 Rock Hall Road, Chestertown.

Hot House: Become the Next Steward of Tulip Forest Estate in Chestertown. 4 Beds/3 Baths. 2,330 Square Feet. $38.2M

What: Caulk’s Field, the main house at Tulip Forest was built in 1743, and the surrounding 1,000(!) acres played a role in the war of 1812. This historic brick house, built in the Flemish bond pattern with glazed headers that make it look like basketweave, has the date of its origin inlaid into the bricks.

The interior of the house retains much of its original details, including secret staircases, wood-paneled rooms, 12+ inch thick walls, and two additional buildings telescoping out from the original. In addition, there is a care-takers house on the property, as well as two other residences, numerous out-buildings and barns.

The remarkable thing about this property is that its 1,045 acres have been intact for generations. Out of the acreage, 680 are farmland, 272 are timberland, and 27 are wetlands that are currently being restored. There are 45 acres in a crop replacement program, taking the land out of farming and replacing it with land conservation cover crops. Additionally, there are five ponds and almost four miles of internal roads. Seven acres are zoned for commercial purposes, and there is room for small development opportunities along the main road.

The property can also be used for hunting, with the ample wildlife and waterfowl hunting that the has made the Upper Eastern Shore famous.  

There is a monument to the Battle of Caulk’s Field on the property, along the main road. The Battle took place after the British had burned Washington, D.C. but before they launched the attack on Fort McHenry.

From Kent County’s website: A contingent of around 140 Royal Marines and sailors, led by Captain Sir Peter Parker, launched a surprise raid inland—only to be met by well-positioned local militia under Lt. Col. Philip Reed. The clash was intense and strategically fought, with militia riflemen drawing the British into an ambush before artillery opened fire, ultimately forcing the invaders to retreat after Parker was mortally wounded.

Though often overshadowed by larger battles, Caulk’s Field became a rare American victory during a campaign marked by British dominance. The engagement not only boosted local morale following the burning of Washington, D.C., but also left a legacy preserved in surviving battlefields and historic markers.

Where: Tulip Forest is located west of Chestertown in Kent County. It’s about a mile from the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake, and close to Fairlee Creek and Tolchester. It’s perfect if you have children at Washington College.

Final Appraisal: It you are looking for a working farm, full of the historical aspects of the Upper Eastern Shore, private hunting property and loads of land, Tulip Forest would be a great place for you.  The listing for the house is here.  

All photographs from the listing.

Baltimore is kicking off a new campaign to address stigma around substance use disorder as part of its effort to reduce drug overdoses and provide resources that get to the systemic issues around drug addiction.

The Hope Lives Here campaign will use ads, outreach, educational materials and other resources to help people talk more openly about addiction and recognize it as an illness.

“Substance use disorder is not a personal failing; it is a disease,” said Mayor Brandon Scott, speaking outside the Enoch Pratt Free Library Pennsylvania Avenue Branch Monday. “With that knowledge, it is our responsibility. It is our responsibility that we lead with compassion and care, and to meet folks with resources where they are, instead of judgment and instead of shaming them.”

Read more (and listen) at WYPR.

Did you forget ‘bout the Maryland State Fair?

No cause for worry, no need to despair!
Two awesome weekends of fun still remain,
Go see the cows, let your kid ride the train.
Yoga with goats, watching horses compete,
Star-Spangled Sundae? Your summer’s complete!

Were you unable to go to the Maryland State Fair last weekend? There are two more weekends to enjoy it, and one of them is the four-day Labor Day weekend. Weekend two of three takes place Thursday, Sept. 3 through Monday, Sept. 7, and the final weekend takes place Thursday, Sept. 10 through Sunday, Sept. 13.

Free entertainment comes from performers of many species, like the Otter Adventure Water Show, Swifty Swine Racing Pigs, and Dinosaur Mini Golf, which is new this year. It is also free to behold the incredible art of glassblowing, but Mobile Glass Studio artist Nate Avery will only be at the fair over Labor Day weekend.

Fair organizers have added some activities and attractions to both calm and excite attendees, depending on one’s needs. Soothe frayed nerves by cuddling miniature Highland cows, take a Puppy Yoga class, or attend during Sensory-Friendly morning on Sept. 11. High energy children can climb on trucks at Tevis Energy Touch-A-Truck event and at the end of the day, read bedtime stories to the cows during “Cow Tales Barnyard Bedtime Stories” to wind down.

The inaugural Battle of the Bay: Wild-Caught Blue Catfish Cook-Off has five chefs battling it out for the best new recipe made with this invasive fish, and the audience decides the winner. First prize is $1,000 and a trophy.

The Maryland State Fair Program has all the details about the times, dates, and places of every event, attraction, and concert taking place. There are the Midway games Marylanders have come to know and love, along with the M&T Bank Concert Series that offer concerts for people of all ages and musical tastes. Congress the Band is performing, as is Clutch, and one of the family-friendly shows is a K-Pop Dance Party.

Be aware of the unaccompanied minor admission policy. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a chaperone 21 years of age or older. Each chaperone may only accompany six minors or fewer, and they must have proof of age.

Tickets for admission to the fair and certain paid events are available on the website. Gate admission costs $11.10–$16.10, and tickets for events run from $18.10 to $50.10.

BmoreArt’s Picks: September 1-7

This Week: Concentric Circles + Michael J. Iampieri opening receptions at Goucher’s Silber and Rosenberg Galleries, Built Objects at Library Nineteen, Making America Again public reception at MICA, Ben Egerman discusses “A Gay Little History of Maryland” at The Ivy Bookshop, Somewhere Over the Rainbow of Row Homes, We Fly opening reception + artist panel at UMBC, Aquí Seguimos opening reception at Making Space Bmore, Baltimore Honky Tonk’s Dolly Parton tribute at Mobtown Ballroom, STATEMENT: Mahogany opening reception at Quid Nunc, Highlandtown First Friday Art Walk, and an opening reception for Ronald Jackson at Galerie Myrtis — PLUS apply for a Guggenheim Fellowship and more featured opportunities!

BmoreArt’s Picks presents the best weekly art openings, events, and performances happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas. For a more comprehensive perspective, check the BmoreArt Calendar page, which includes ongoing exhibits and performances, and is updated on a daily basis.

To submit your calendar event, email us at events@bmoreart.com!

image: William S. Dutterer, Mind Meld, Oil on canvas, 1986, 79 x 60.5 inches

Concentric Circles | Opening Reception

Thursday, September 3 :: 4-8pm
@ Goucher College, Silber Gallery

September 3 – October 23, 2026

Concentric Circles is a group painting exhibition that places William S. Dutterer (1943–2007) at the center of an intergenerational story of painting, mentorship, and artistic influence. Bringing together works by Dutterer, his mentor Grace Hartigan, and artists Julia Stoops and Tom Kenyon, the exhibition examines how ideas, methods, and values move between artists and across generations.

A painter, draftsman, and influential educator, Dutterer developed a distinctive visual language that moved between abstraction and figuration. His work is characterized by bold forms, rigorous drawing, psychologically charged imagery, and an ongoing investigation of gesture, surface, symbol, and repetition. Resisting easy categorization, Dutterer absorbed the lessons of postwar abstraction while developing an increasingly personal and idiosyncratic approach to image-making.

Dutterer studied under Grace Hartigan, a major figure in postwar American painting and longtime director of the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He later became an influential educator himself at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C., where his teaching emphasized discipline, experimentation, observation, and fearlessness in the studio.

Rather than presenting influence as a straight line from teacher to student, Concentric Circles considers Dutterer as the center of an expanding network. The exhibition asks what artists truly inherit from one another: a style, a gesture, a way of seeing, a commitment to the work—or simply the permission to take risks.

Through these relationships, Concentric Circles offers an opportunity to reconsider Dutterer’s legacy as extending beyond the remarkable objects he created. Like circles expanding outward from a single point, an artist’s influence can travel through teachers, peers, students, and communities—and continue long after the artist is gone.

Curated by Caitlin Tucker-Melvin (Guest Curator) and Liz Faust. In partnership with the William S Dutterer Trust and Catalyst Contemporary.

Exhibitions Details: 

• Opening Reception: September 3, 4–8 PM – Silber Gallery
• Lecture: Painting Process: Gesture, Surface, and Meaning, September 9, 5–6 PM – Hyman Forum
• Lecture: By Curator Caitlin-Tucker Melvin, October 10, 3–5 PM – Hyman Forum
• Closing Reception: October 23, 4–6 PM – Silber Gallery

Artists: William S. Dutterer, Grace Hartigan, Tom Kenyon, and  Julia Stoops

Built Objects | Opening Reception

Thursday, September 3 :: 5-8 pm
@ Library Nineteen

BUILT OBJECTS marks the first public presentation of REFERENCE: a collected view of material, form, utility, and experimentation across studios working in Baltimore and beyond. Join us for the opening of the showroom space within Library Nineteen.

Brought to you by @piklstudio@goodneighborshop and @cohere_co with curation by @koba.furniture / Poster design by @its.pronounced.astle and @navs.err

Michael J. Iampieri, Hoping to catch sight of what has never been seen

Michael J. Iampieri: Line into Form | Opening Reception

Thursday, September 3 :: 4-8pm
@ Goucher College, Rosenberg Gallery

September 3 – October 23, 2026

Michael J. Iampieri: Line into Form marks the first exhibition dedicated to Baltimore artist and educator Michael J. Iampieri (1941–2024) since his passing. Spanning early works through drawings created near the end of his life, the exhibition traces more than five decades of sustained experimentation with the expressive possibilities of line.

For Iampieri, drawing was not simply preparation for something else—it was a complete and rigorous form of artistic thought. Lines merge, gather, and accumulate into shapes that hover between abstraction and suggestion. Some feel architectural or atmospheric; others carry an understated humor and playfulness. Throughout the work, Iampieri balances control with improvisation, allowing form to emerge through the act of drawing rather than imposing it in advance.

That immediacy also defined Iampieri’s remarkable engagement with Baltimore’s performing arts community. For more than three decades, he served as visual historian for the Baltimore Theatre Project, sketching thousands of performers while seated in the darkened theater (not included in the exhibition). He also drew performances at Center Stage, the Peabody Institute, Left Bank Jazz Society, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, using quick, intuitive marks to capture movement, gesture, and the fleeting experience of live performance.

Equally significant was Iampieri’s extraordinary legacy as an educator. After earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Catholic University of America and studying filmmaking at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Iampieri joined Loyola Blakefield, where he founded the school’s Visual Art Department in 1966. Over a career spanning more than four decades, he introduced generations of students to drawing, photography, printmaking, filmmaking, and other forms of creative expression. His teaching emphasized observation, patience, curiosity, and the development of each student’s individual artistic voice.

Line into Form brings these interconnected aspects of Iampieri’s life together: artist, observer, teacher, and participant in Baltimore’s cultural community. Seen across decades, the drawings reveal a remarkable consistency of purpose. His marks are economical but never empty, capable of carrying movement, humor, restraint, and emotion with remarkably little.

The exhibition ultimately presents drawing as Iampieri understood it: a way of seeing, thinking, and being present. Individual marks gather into forms; moments accumulate into a practice; and a lifetime of looking becomes the portrait of an artist deeply attuned to the quiet power of creation.

Exhibitions Details: 

• Opening Recepetion: September 3, 4–8 PM 
  Artists: Michael J. Iampieri

Read more of this week’s picks at BmoreArt.

Put your local news knowledge to the test with David Conn’s Daily Dispatch Quiz.

6 questions. 90 seconds.

Today’s topics include:

• Inner Harbor’s splashy new arrival
• Columbia mall reverses controversial money move
• Edgar Allan Poe House faces threat

See how you stack up against other quiz-takers on the leaderboard.

Brag – or lament – about how much you really know in the comments below.

A free DDQ coffee mug will be awarded to each month’s Leaderboard winner, as well as anyone who refers at least three people to become subscribed players.

The Daily Dispatch Quiz has an app, too. Download it by clicking the Dispatch logo at the end of the quiz.

47 travelers from Baltimore company’s tour missing in Nepal flooding – WBAL News Radio

Squatter with long history moves into renovated Middle River home – FOX Baltimore/WBFF-TV

Wes Moore slams Laura Loomer for ‘peddling racism’ – The National Desk

Amazon investigating as Baltimore man gets mystery packages for two years – WMAR-TV

Harford County investigates two dogs left to die in crate – CBS Baltimore

Historic downtown Alex. Brown & Sons building will be up for lease again after restaurant closure – Baltimore Banner

The news came in a series of texts from friends and former colleagues, and it’s taken a few days to process their impact.

On Thursday morning last week, WBAL Radio laid off 22 employees and announced lineup changes that eliminate the bulk of its local talk-show programming and gut the station’s award-winning news department.  Some who worked for the station for decades were among those who received pink slips.

WBAL Radio was my employer for 32 years, including 21 years where I served as news director.  While the changes stung, they did not surprise me.  For the last few years, I’ve felt the station was terminally ill.

Growing up in the 60s, everyone seemed to listen to WBAL Radio. Galen Fromme ruled the airwaves with a newsman’s voice that sounded like it came directly from James Earl Jones.  There was news and music, and on a snowy morning, families had the radio tuned to 1090 to find out if schools were going to be open that day.

The music continued into the early 80s, with Jack Lacy and Jay Grayson signaling the engineer to cue the disc on the turntable.  Grayson’s catch phrase then was “Big bands are back, and I’ve got them.”  By the mid 80s, WBAL had begun its transition to news/talk.

It was a time when Baltimore had at least six radio stations with fully staffed news departments that sent reporters out to cover the day’s events.  It wasn’t long though before six became five, and then four, and before too long, just two – WBAL and WYPR.

WBAL Radio had the first broadcast report on March 28, 1984, when the Baltimore Colts packed up the Mayflower moving vans and headed to Indianapolis.

In September of 1985, Marylanders tuned in for days to see if Hurricane Gloria was going to land a direct hit on Ocean City or skip up the coast,

In 1986, when a Maryland State Police helicopter went missing and was later found on a hillside in Leakin Park, then Mayor William Donald Schaefer went to the crash site after hearing the news on WBAL.  Later that same year, Baltimore tuned in to WBAL when four crewmembers returned home safely after the sinking of the Pride of Baltimore.

In those days, WBAL Radio joined the Baltimore Sun and WJZ-TV as the most dominant news outlets in the market.  Over the years, the newsroom included talented journalists like Tom Lattanzi, Chuck Jackson, John Patti, Sue Kopen, Alan Walden, Anne Kramer, Bill Vanko, Linda Foy, Larry Roberts, Scott Wykoff and Robert Lang. 

Its investigative reports disclosed the kickback scheme that sent Baltimore City Council President Walter Orlinsky to prison and the corruption scheme that forced Baltimore City Comptroller Jacqueline McLean from office.  The station told the stories of the people who made the area unique.  From movie nights in Little Italy to the Saint Michael’s bag ladies band, WBAL painted a canvas of the characters who gave Maryland its heart and soul. In the 90s and through 2010, the WBAL Radio newsroom won 21 national Edward R. Murrow Awards, including three as the best large market radio news operation in the country.

In 1984, a former TV news anchor named Ron Smith landed a talk show on WBAL Radio.  He became the market’s dominant talk show host, until his untimely passing in 2011.  Smith was the self-proclaimed “Voice of Reason” who led informed and respectful discussions with listeners from both sides of the political aisle.  With Smith, Allan Prell, and Dave Durian, WBAL was a ratings and revenue powerhouse.

Times were different then.  There was no internet, no social media, no podcasts, and no streaming.  The managerial forces behind the station’s success were Al Burk, David Barrett, Ed Kiernan, and Jeff Beauchamp. It was Beauchamp’s vision that made WBAL one of the first stations in the country to stream its signal on the internet.  It was Beauchamp’s leadership that pushed the talk shows into the ratings stratosphere.

The radio business began its decline with the deregulation that came with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.  Small, independent stations were soon gobbled up by large media companies who owned multiple stations in the same market. Those consolidations always resulted in the elimination of jobs. Hearst, which owns WBAL, owns just one other radio station, WBAL’s sister station WIYY/98 Rock. The company’s broadcast focus is television, with its stations reaching 24 million households in 39 states.

While Hearst celebrated WBAL Radio’s 100th anniversary with a gala at M & T Bank Stadium last October, there were precursors to the station’s fate.  WCBS Newsradio in New York had ended its historic all-news format in August 2024 after a 57 year run.  Earlier this year, CBS shuttered its network radio news operation after nearly a century.

WBAL’s listenership eroded gradually and its dominance deteriorated.  Even as the flagship for both the Orioles and Ravens, the numbers continued to shrink.  In the latest Nielsen Audio Monthly Ratings released on August 11, the former perennial number one station ranked just 10th in the market.  It was topped by public radio’s WYPR and had WTMD breathing down its back.

These days, people find out if schools will be closed on a snowy morning via text messages and emails.  Scrolling through Facebook, Instagram and X on a smartphone satisfies the news fix for many, and there’s certainly no absence of opinion on social media.  Apps like Waze get you around a highway crash better than any broadcast traffic report.  My teenage daughter never listens to the radio.  She relies on Spotify for her music playlist.

Staffing a newsroom and producing local talk programming is a huge expense.  At an average annual salary of $50,000, the cuts announced this week by WBAL will likely save more than $1.1 million a year.  Gone are midday talk host T.J. Smith, afternoon host Angelette Aviles, and even Baltimore’s favorite reporter, Scott Wykoff.  Thankfully, mornings will remain local, with C4 and Bryan Nehman.

While some will speculate that there was a master plan to take the station hard right in its viewpoint, the reality is much simpler.  Broadcasting is a business, and you can’t stay in business if you don’t make a profit.

While bitter, the changes at WBAL are the result of radio’s reality, and management is forced to play the hand it was dealt. It is a loss for our community.  Local voices providing news and informed discourse have been erased.  But the fact is many of us contributed to the change.

We don’t listen to the radio like we used to, nor do we read newspapers like we used to.  In fact, we don’t even watch television the way we used to.

And sadly, we don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone.

Paid parking spots at The Mall in Columbia lasted about as long as a pair of Steve Madden pumps on the Nordstrom sale rack. In other words, they’re gone.

For most of August 2026, 120 spaces at the mall closest to the entrance near Restaurant Row and the Main Event arcade venue required payment under a new policy that generated a significant amount of consumer criticism.

But by the end of last week, customers and observers noted that the signs noting paid spaces and displaying a QR code to make a payment had been removed.

Baltimore Fishbowl has reached out to General Growth Properties and the Downtown Columbia Partnership for comment about the change.

When the policy was rolled out on Aug. 3, the first hour of parking would cost $2.45, up to three hours would cost $6.45, with a maximum price of $10.45 for five hours or more. Representatives of the mall, owned by General Growth Properties, said at the time that they were trying to manage demand for spaces closest to the busiest stores and restaurants in Columbia and at their other mall.

Critics of the paid-parking system noted difficulties for parents with small children and babies, and the unfairness of making it harder for those with less money to have access to the closest parking.

Apart from the 120 paid parking spots, more than 6,600 spots remained free in Columbia.

Supporters noted that the fee was relatively small compared to the convenience of close spaces, and that a portion of the money was going to a good organization helping the local community.

Ten percent of the proceeds collected were going to benefit the Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center. Grassroots had functioned as a back-up center for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), but the federal government did not renew its contract. Howard County stepped in to provide $260,000 in emergency funding to help close a $5.7 million shortfall.

Grassroots Executive Director Dr. Mariana Izraelson said in a statement that the non-profit appreciated its partnership with the mall. “We understand and support their operational decisions to best serve their customers and look forward to other ways that we can work together to help our neighbors,” she said.

Amid continuing drought conditions, Baltimore City’s reservoirs remain under pressure, with the Department of Public Works (DPW) saying in July that reservoirs were more than seven feet below normal levels.

Residents are asked to enact voluntary water conservation measures while Baltimore City is in a drought warning status. In a warning situation, the state aims to reduce water use by 10-15 percent.

Last month, DPW tested the emergency water supply system as a protective measure against prolonged drought. They tested infrastructure and operating procedures to get water from the Susquehanna River to Baltimore City residents in case conditions worsened. While the Susquehanna River is not part of the city’s normal daily water supply, it is available as an emergency source during severe drought conditions.

There are four key indicators for drought: rainfall, stream flow, groundwater and reservoir levels.  Of those, three are normal, but groundwater levels are in the emergency range.

The city’s water system serves parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties.

The Baltimore City DPW has continued to monitor rainfall, stream flows, reservoir levels and water demand. Rainfall offers some temporary relief to current drought conditions but there has not been enough to impact reservoir levels in any significant way. DPW is also monitoring Prettyboy, Liberty and Loch Raven reservoirs for water-supply conditions.

In the meantime, city and surrounding county officials ask residents to be judicious in their water use and offer the following tips to help conserve water:

• Avoid lawn and garden watering.
• Avoid car, boat and equipment washing. Only use commercial car wash facilities that recycle their wash water.
• Avoid washing sidewalks, driveways and other outdoor surfaces.
• Repair leaking faucets, hoses and other fixtures.
• Run only full loads in dishwashers and washing machines.
• Turn off the tap while brushing teeth or shaving.
• Take shorter showers and use water wisely.
• Avoid refilling your pool.

Baltimore Fishbowl reached out to the Baltimore City Department of Public Works and will update this article if more information becomes available.

The Morton Street Dance Center, home of the Full Circle Dance Company, has a new home at 1001 Rectory Lane in Hampden.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore and First Lady Dawn Moore are among the dignitaries expected to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the dance center’s new location on Thursday, Sept. 3, starting at 11 a.m.

Founded in 1992, Morton Street Dance Center is a school that offers dance education and training for students ranging from toddlers to adults. Students learn classical ballet, pointe, pre-pointe, modern, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and African dance. Programs range from creative movement and “pre-dance” classes for children to technical training and drop-in classes for adults.  

By audition, students may be invited to join the center’s performing repertory ensembles, its conservatory program or both. Some of the center’s alumni have continued their studies at the Baltimore School for the Arts, George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, and other specialized schools. Some have gone on to pursue degrees in dance, education, performance and related fields.

The dance center relocated from 3600 Clipper Mill Road in Meadow Mill. It began at 1014 Morton Street in Mount Vernon. Its new home is a two-story, 8,804-square-foot repurposed warehouse that last housed Design & Integration, a company that specializes in audio and visual technology and services. Another former occupant is the Mount Royal Printing Company.

The building now features four professional studios and other spaces designed for dancers and dance education. According to state land records, the owner is Optimal Outcomes LLC, which purchased it last fall for $1.3 million.

More information about the Morton Street Dance Center and its programs is available at www.mortonstreetdance.com

Data centers will be front and center this week in Baltimore County.

There will be two hearings, including one on whether there should be a moratorium on data centers through 2027.

That proposal already has the support of a majority of county council members. The council will hold a hearing on the legislation on Tuesday. It would extend the current moratorium that was to expire by the end of this year.

Republican Councilman David Marks said in a recent interview, “This is a serious enough issue that the next county council really needs to be involved and there needs to be extensive public input. This issue has taken a life of its own.”

An expanded nine-member council with at least six new members will take office in December, following the November election.

Read more at WYPR

All lanes of Interstate 70 near Woodbine in Howard County closed after commercial truck crash – WBAL News Radio

An express bus to the good paying jobs at Tradepoint Atlantic has arrived – Baltimore Banner

A call for BGE to return $32 million in overcollections – FOX Baltimore/WBFF-TV

Baltimore kicks off campaign to reduce stigma of substance abuse – WYPR News

Baltimore County weigh plans for replacement of East Point Mall – WMAR-TV