Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Ginny Bixby @ginnybixbywrites.bsky.social · 4h

“This is very much an all-hands-on-deck sort of battlefield triage,” Earl Stoddard, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer, said of cuts to federal grant programs
www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

Montgomery County leaders say they will stretch the budget — to a point

Montgomery County leaders say they can plug some of the holes the federal government is punching in the local economy — but not all.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 23h

Fox News, the former employer of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has joined a near-unanimous outpouring of news organizations rejecting new rules for journalists based in the Pentagon.

News organizations, including Hegseth's former employer Fox, reject new Pentagon reporting rules

Fox News, the former employer of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has joined a near-unanimous outpouring of news organizations rejecting new rules for journalists based in the Pentagon.

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Greg Morton @invisibae.bsky.social · 6d

HAPPY SUBWAY BUILDER DAY

We have spent the week playing with the game that has captured transit nerds' hearts.

We spoke with Colin Miller, the game's creator, about why he built the game and how it can help us dream about better transit in Baltimore.

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

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Ben Conarck @conarck.bsky.social · 8d

NEW: A few weeks ago, @muckrock.com
shared the Brady list for Baltimore County. Scanning it, I noticed the police chief was on there. I then spent weeks trying to figure out why. But no one — not the state's attorney, nor the police department — is explaining it. www.thebanner.com/community/cr...

Baltimore County’s police chief is on a list of cops with credibility concerns

Robert McCullough, the Baltimore County Police Department chief, appears on a list of law enforcement officers whose potential credibility concerns require disclosure to defense attorneys if they’re c...

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Ellie Wolfe @elliew0lfe.bsky.social · 12d

Scoop: Heidi Anderson, president of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, is accused of plagiarizing parts of her 1986 dissertation. Read about the accusation against the HBCU president, and see a side by side comparison, only in @thebaltimorebanner.com:
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

University of Maryland Eastern Shore president accused of plagiarism

Heidi Anderson, University of Maryland Eastern Shore president, is accused of lifting multiple paragraphs verbatim from a scholarly article and improperly citing information in her 1986 doctoral disse...

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Ellie Wolfe @elliew0lfe.bsky.social · 12d

Missing paychecks, incorrect payments and withholding errors have burdened hundreds of Baltimore County Public Schools educators in the last month, reports @kris10griffith.bsky.social:
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

It’s payday. Baltimore County teachers are worried.

A bumpy transition to a new payroll system has Baltimore County Public Schools staff on edge.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Maya Lora @mayaklora.bsky.social · 15d

The child care scholarship is the main way Maryland families get help with child care. Since many can't afford it otherwise, day cares and preschools rely on vouchers to fill spots. So what happens when the program gets frozen - and doesn't come back when predicted? www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

State extends the child care scholarship freeze indefinitely

The state projected getting back down to 40,000 child care scholarships by September. But the program is still thousands of vouchers over budget.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Baltimore Banner @thebaltimorebanner.com · 17d

Howard County kids lose access to Dolly Parton’s free books program amid funding woes

Howard County kids lose access to Dolly Parton’s free books program

Each year, the program gave free books to about 2,500 kids every month. It ends after October.

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · 19d

Overall, 438.9 positions were eliminated to save millions, school officials reported. Just over 300 of those positions came from inside schools.
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Baltimore Co. school officials haven't said which positions were eliminated

Baltimore County Public Schools cut more than 400 positions last school year, with most coming from inside the schools. But the system has offered few specifics.

www.thebanner.com

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · 23d

The national Blue Ribbon program has come to an end. @mayaklora.bsky.social wrote about what Maryland educators had to say about it.
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

With the loss of Blue Ribbon program, Maryland school leaders are on their own

To “return education to the states,” the U.S. Department of Education ended the national Blue Ribbon program. Maryland education leaders need to find a new way to honor their shining schools.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Maya Lora @mayaklora.bsky.social · 29d

It's been over five years since the onset of COVID-19, which means the babies born into the pandemic are off to pre-K 4 and kindergarten. How exactly can teachers support these kiddos, who spent their earliest years in isolation? I dug into it: www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

The pandemic babies are off to pre-K and kindergarten

In a major pandemic milestone, the babies born during the early days of COVID-19 are finally old enough to start school.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Dylan Segelbaum @dylansegelbaum.bsky.social · Sep 12

Maryland is one of more than a dozen states that still criminalize adultery. It's a misdemeanor — punishable by a $10 fine.

Since 2015, at least eight people have been charged with the offense, according to data from the Maryland Judiciary. (🎨: Yifan Luo) (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Adultery is still a crime in Maryland. It’s punishable by a $10 fine.

Since 2015, at least eight people have been charged with the offense, according to data from the Maryland Judiciary.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Pamela Wood @pwoodreporter.bsky.social · Sep 11

The top Democratic leaders of the Maryland General Assembly – House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and Senate President Bill Ferguson – were both targeted by bomb threats at their homes today.

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

Top Maryland General Assembly leaders targeted by bomb threats

The presiding officers of Maryland’s General Assembly were targeted by bomb threats on Thursday, amid rising concern about political violence in the nation.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Julie Bykowicz @bykowicz.bsky.social · Sep 10

Informative read by @kris10griffith.bsky.social & Nori Leybengrub

Baltimore Banner @thebaltimorebanner.com · Sep 10

Is Maryland’s Freedom to Read Act working? It didn’t stop a Harford book ban.

A book ban in Harford County Public Schools was the Baltimore area’s first test of Maryland's Freedom to Read Act.

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · Aug 28

Censure of Baltimore County school board member 'defies reason,' state rules
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Censure of Baltimore County school board member 'defies reason,' state rules

Baltimore County school board member Maggie Litz Domanowski said the state disagreed with the board’s decision to censure her for “rude and disrespectful conduct.”

www.thebanner.com

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · Aug 27

Want to know how your kid's school performed? Check out this database created by @thebaltimorebanner.com's data team:
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · Aug 26

English Language Arts continues to be Maryland’s strongest subject. The same can’t be said for math, where just over a quarter of students are considered proficient, but test-takers still managed to move the needle.
www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Maryland sees a reading rebound, though ‘alarming’ math gap looms large

State leaders highlighted how students fared on the exam known as the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program, or MCAP.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Ginny Bixby @ginnybixbywrites.bsky.social · Aug 25

Hardest secret I’ve ever had to keep — today is my first day as the Montgomery County Government and Politics Reporter for Baltimore Banner’s new Montgomery County bureau! I couldn’t be more excited to join this incredible team while continuing to cover the county. Stay tuned for our launch date! 🗞️

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · Aug 25

Happy first day of school!

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

The Associated Press @apnews.com · Aug 25

BREAKING: Four journalists, including a freelancer who worked with AP, are among eight killed by an Israeli strike on southern Gaza's Nasser Hospital.

Multiple journalists killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital

A hospital strike in southern Gaza has killed at least eight people, including four journalists. The attack happened on Monday.

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · Aug 21

Some 500 to 600 students who did not qualify for income-based state grants received them because of a “system error,” the Maryland Higher Education Commission said. By @elliew0lfe.bsky.social
www.thebanner.com/education/hi...

Maryland will honor financial aid after quietly pulling funds given in error

The Maryland Higher Education Commission revokes promised funding as students move in for the semester.

www.thebanner.com

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Reposted by Kristen Griffith

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · Aug 18

DENVER (AP) — Conservative network Newsmax agrees to pay $67 million in defamation case over bogus 2020 election claims.

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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · Aug 18

More and more people in Gaza are dying from a man-made famine caused by Israel’s blockade on essential food supplies.

Israel starving Gaza: 263 dead from starvation, including 112 children

More and more people in Gaza are dying from a man-made famine caused by Israel’s blockade on essential food supplies.

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · Aug 14

The all-white school board’s is the latest in what some see as a drumbeat of right wing actions taken in recent years by conservatives who join Maryland’s nonpartisan school boards. More than 200 people gathered for a rally ahead of the Aug. 7 meeting in Calvert County.

Baltimore Banner @thebaltimorebanner.com · Aug 14

Antiracism policy erased by Calvert’s new conservative school board

The all-white, six-member Calvert County school board’s policy removal is the latest in what some see as right wing actions by conservatives who join Maryland’s nonpartisan school boards.

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Kristen Griffith @kris10griffith.bsky.social · Aug 7

Federal education officials have opened an investigation into the Baltimore City schools for anti-semitism following a complaint by the Anti-Defamation League filed last month. By @lizbowie.bsky.social
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-...

Federal education officials investigating Baltimore schools for antisemitism

An ADL complaint alleged that Baltimore school officials ignored incidents of antisemitic discrimination and harassment.

www.thebaltimorebanner.com