Maryland moves to make AI deepfakes a crime after Baltimore County school scandal The 2024 incident at Pikesville High School showed the law hadn’t caught up with technology, one Maryland senator says.

By @kris10griffith.bsky.social; Maryland moves to make AI deepfakes a crime after Baltimore County school scandal. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Maryland House votes to further limit cooperation with ICE The Community Trust Act would block corrections officials and law enforcement from holding or detaining an individual for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unless a judge has issued a warrant.

At 11:30 last night, Md House of Delegates passed the Community Trust Act, setting more parameters for when jails/law enforcement can contact ICE about individuals in custody.

It goes back to the Senate for review tomorrow, final day of the session.

www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

By @kris10griffith.bsky.social: What really happened in New Orleans, according to fired Harford schools chief. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

What really happened in New Orleans, according to fired Harford schools chief, who spoke out for the first time in an exclusive interview with the Banner’s @kris10griffith.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Artemis II crew wants to name moon crater after astronaut’s late wife, Carroll Artemis II crew members want to name a moon crater after fellow astronaut Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

Artemis II crew wants to name moon crater after astronaut’s late wife, Carroll

NEW: Newly released data shows Maryland immigration arrests are way up in year one of Trump’s second term — and as arrests have increased, fewer involve people with any criminal history.

From @sahanajayaraman.bsky.social & John-John Williams IV

www.thebanner.com/community/lo...

Montgomery County celebrates its trans community As the federal government curtails trans rights, local trans community members say it’s more important than ever to be visible.

It's Trans Day of Visibility. I talked to trans locals about why visibility still matters at a time when it can be dangerous to be visibly trans.

www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

The Miseducation of 'Clock It' Inside Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ communities’ ballroom culture, the slang term is rooted in survival, code-switching, and community.

If you spend any time on social media, you have likely heard someone say “clock it” while tapping their fingers together. But did you know that the slang term originated in Black ballroom culture and signifies survival, code-switching, and community?
wordinblack.com/2026/03/the-...

How a screaming stranger got a developer to dream big about the Jones Falls A Baltimore developer was at the center of a charged conflict over the future of a dump in the Remington neighborhood, a controversy that has gotten him thinking bigger about the future of the beloved...

After a developer's bid for a Remington dump backfired, he's thinking bigger. Seawall reached a deal this month that looks to some like a step toward a long-held Baltimore dream: to turn the banks of the beleaguered Jones Falls into a park. w @emilyopilo.bsky.social
www.thebanner.com/community/cl...

Baltimore’s queer hidden histories galvanize a new generation As the Trump administration and conservative legislatures around the country attack rights secured for LGBTQIA+ people, Baltimore historians say sharing the stories of queer ancestors has never been m...

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...

Johns Hopkins’ D.C. real estate portfolio just got even bigger Johns Hopkins University bought a second building in D.C., continuing its expansion into the nation's capital.

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...

Anne Arundel County got caught off guard by ‘devastating’ development moratorium Elected officials, economic leaders and other analysts were all caught off guard by a potential five-year development moratorium in the part of Anne Arundel County surrounding BWI, Arundel Mills and j...

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 —

Baltimore’s top educator wants to end the iPad kid epidemic Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises announced strict screen time limits for kindergarten through second grade students.

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...

For the first time, we now know how many Black-owned bookstores exist in the U.S. The National Association of Black Bookstores has released the “first comprehensive national report” on the state of America’s Black-owned bookstores.

There has never been an official, comprehensive record of Black-owned bookstores across the United States — until now

MoCo bill would prohibit ICE building permits The Montgomery County Council announced its latest step Monday to counter the federal campaign to deport immigrants, which has disrupted the lives of hundreds of county residents.

Montgomery County wants to ban permits for ICE facilities after seeing warehouses turned into detention centers in other parts of the state. My latest: www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

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…

Elaine Johnson Coates blazed a path for Black women at UMD Elaine Johnson Coates, the first Black woman to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, died Feb. 14. She was 88.

In 1959, she became the first African American woman to earn an undergraduate degree from the university.
By Cayla Harris
www.thebanner.com/obituaries/e...

When immigrants can’t leave their homes, this reading expert comes to the door Amid a federal immigration crackdown, scared families are avoiding public spaces and staying home. Norma Montesino is one of the few people they’ll let in.

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...

Adding to records spat, Montgomery County IG denied request Megan Limarzi, the inspector general for Montgomery County, said her office was denied a record by the county attorney’s office under the Maryland Public Information Act.

As Baltimore officials are embroiled in a legal fight over inspector general access to municipal records for investigations, Montgomery County's inspector general says a routine request for a record was denied. She told me this has never happened to her before.

www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Sacked by Trump, Peggy Carr is now on Maryland’s school board Gov. Wes Moore appointed the prominent education leader, who will represent Montgomery County.

Trump fired Peggy Carr so abruptly from her national education job that she had very little time to collect her belongings.
Now, Gov. Wes Moore is giving Carr a spot on the Maryland State school board representing Montgomery County. By @lizbowie.bsky.social
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

A stunning 1942 photo of a couple inspired a search for a Baltimore love story How a photo sent a reporter on a quest to find a complicated love story in Baltimore.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

For nearly two years, this photo has lived rent free in my mind.

I finally got to find out what happened to Ellin and Franklin, the former Frederick Douglass High School students whose spark electrified this photo from 1942.

www.thebanner.com/community/fa...

As deportation raids escalate across the country, the Montgomery County Council unanimously passed legislation Tuesday to limit how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates within the county’s borders.

It just got easier for Baltimore County students to apply for college Not only has applying to community college become a lot smoother for Baltimore County Public Schools students, but it also guarantees they are accepted.

It just got easier for Baltimore County students to apply for college

How a trip to New Orleans unseated one of Maryland’s longest-running school leaders The calls for Sean Bulson’s ouster started long before questions about that night in New Orleans.

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-...

Charges dropped against gym teacher accused of sexually abusing 2 students Roger Myers, 61, of Towson, had been charged in Baltimore County Circuit Court with sexual abuse of a minor, third- and fourth-degree sex offense and second-degree assault.

Prosecutors drop all charges against Baltimore County gym teacher accused of sexually abusing 2 students. (w/ @kris10griffith.bsky.social) (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Iced sidewalks, no buses: How Maryland School for the Blind finally reopened Reopening was complex for the Maryland School for the Blind in Northeast Baltimore, where over 200 students with visual disabilities, some of whom use wheelchairs or canes to get around, go to school.

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-...

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.

School background checks are law but educators slip through the cracks Three Maryland school districts admitted they don’t regularly screen applicants.

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-...

Random junk marks the spot in Baltimore’s snow parking wars To chair, or not to chair? Baltimore residents turn to children's kitchenettes, tiki torches and good, old lawn chairs to preserve hard-won parking spots as the dig-out from Storm Fern continues.

Household items are making their way outdoors in Baltimore. Do you save your parking spot after a snowstorm?

www.thebanner.com/community/tr...

Boxing champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis arrested after 2-week search The Miami Gardens Police Department and U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force on Wednesday arrested Davis on charges including battery, false imprisonment and attempted kidnapping.

Baltimore boxing champion Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis arrested after 2-week search. (w/ @darreonna.bsky.social) (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)