Franchise Opportunities in Baltimore, MD

A group of Talbot County residents filed suit against the Maryland Department of Environment on Friday over its approval of a massive development on the Eastern Shore that they say would pollute the Chesapeake Bay.

The lawsuit, filed by 11 residents and the resident-led Talbot Integrity Project, escalates a nearly 20-year battle over plans to raise about 2,500 homes in Trappe, Md., a rural town of about 1,200 people.

It alleges that a sewer plan for the Lakeside at Trappe development approved by the agency would further pollute a small creek that leads into the Chesapeake Bay, in violation of Maryland law.

“MDE is willing to let a developer put substantially more sewerage into an antiquated treatment system that is discharging outrageous concentrations of nutrient pollutants into an already impaired little waterway that feeds into the Choptank,” Dan Watson, a plaintiff and the founder of the Talbot Integrity Project, a recently formed organization fighting the development, said in a news release.

In 2020, the agency greenlighted the developer’s plans to hook up the first 120 new homes to the town’s outdated wastewater treatment plant, which was discharging pollutants into a tributary of La Trappe Creek that empties into the Choptank River and eventually the bay. The state agency’s approval allowed the developers to break ground on the project’s first phase last summer.

After learning about the existing wastewater treatment plant’s discharge violations from residents, the Talbot County Planning Commission voted to rescind its initial approval of the plan in November. But, the Talbot County Council decided in March not to approve the Planning Commission’s retraction; the state agency has also not reversed its approval of the plan.

Agency spokesman Jay Apperson said in an email that the MDE is in the review process for the final decision regarding the Lakeside permit application, and the department would review any litigation regarding the permit application.

The lawsuit alleges that by continuing to let the project move forward as planned, even after the Planning Commission determined that hooking up the 120 homes to the treatment plant is inconsistent with the county’s comprehensive plan, MDE is violating a state law.

The battle over the Lakeside development in Trappe dates back to 2003, when the town was financially struggling, and Rocks Engineering Co., the northern Virginia-based company behind the development, promised to fund some of the town’s municipal services in exchange for 924 acres for the project.

The company also agreed to build a new wastewater treatment plant on-site to replace Trappe’s outdated water and sewage system that was partly responsible for the town’s $3.5 million debt.

The project’s advancement, nearly 20 years later, has riled residents and environmentalists who want to reduce the size of or entirely stop the development, which some fear would change the character of Trappe.

The current sewage plan holds that 120 homes will be connected to the existing water treatment plant until the development’s new wastewater treatment plant and spray irrigation system are built.

Environmentalists unhappy with the state agency point to other criticisms of MDE in the past year: In November, it did not alert the public about a sewage spill that sickened at least two dozen people in St. Mary’s County. In August, Blue Water Baltimore, a nonprofit behind the Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper, reported finding high amounts of bacteria-polluted wastewater coming from the city-operated Patapsco and Back River sewage treatment plants, which the MDE is supposed to monitor.

Blue Water Baltimore went to federal court in December alleging that the plants have been violating anti-pollution laws since at least 2017, and the MDE filed a complaint in Baltimore Circuit Court against the city-operated plants earlier this year.

The Talbot County lawsuit is being funded by donations from over 150 county residents, according to a news release.

About 43% of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maryland since January 2021 have been among fully vaccinated people, state officials said.

MARYLAND — Maryland's positive test rate for COVID-19 is currently trending upward, according to recent data from the Mayo Clinic.

The state's positivity rate was 12 percent as of Saturday, nearly six times higher than two months ago — a reminder that the coronavirus is still with us and caution should still be taken to minimize its spread.

As of Tuesday, 511 people were hospitalized in Maryland with COVID-19. Within the last 24 hours, the Maryland Department of Health reported five additional deaths and 2,368 more confirmed cases.

About 4,256,594 Maryland residents have been fully vaccinated as of May 13, 2022. Almost 43 percent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Maryland since January 2021 have been among fully vaccinated people, state health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified five counties in Maryland where community spread was highest.

The agency compiled the list of the counties with the highest spread from case rates, hospital admissions and staffed inpatient beds per 100,000 people per county.

Here are the five counties currently considered "high risk":

According to the CDC, these 14 counties currently have a "medium risk" for COVID-19:

Currently, 22 percent of the counties that make up Maryland are considered "low risk" for COVID-19. They are:

If you live in a Maryland county deemed a COVID hot spot, the CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public, staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines, and getting tested if you have symptoms.

According to the CDC, COVID-19 symptoms include:

In Maryland, there is no statewide mask mandate in place. In February, Gov. Larry Hogan also called on the State Board of Education to rescind its school mask policy.

The recent rise in COVID-19 cases, however, has led to at least one college to once again require students and staff members to mask up, WBAL-TV reported. The Community College of Baltimore County reinstated its face mask mandate at all three of its campuses last month.

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Maryland’s Inspector General for Education is calling on the state’s department of education to authorize a performance audit of Baltimore City school system after investigators found inconsistencies in grading practices.

Inspector General for Education Richard Henry on Tuesday released a 28-page report detailing his office’s examination of grading policies for the school system that enrolls an estimated 78,000 students. The report describes differing interpretations, applications and adherence to grade change procedures among high school staff.

Baltimore City school system did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. Officials have until June 29 to submit a response or rebuttal to the inspector general’s findings.

The investigation centered largely on practices among teachers, assistant principals and principals of rounding up grades when a student was within one to three percentage points of passing. The minimum passing grade for a city school student is 60%. While Baltimore City school system policy states about 70% of a student’s grade is based on assignments and tests, the remaining 30% is discretionary — meaning schools have a lot of leeway to decide the criteria.

Investigators focused on Baltimore City high schools since grading policies at the elementary and middle school levels use “incomplete” to record failing grades. Officials identified more than 5,300 instances where grades were changed from a fail to a pass between 2016 and the end of the 2019-20 school year. Data for the 2019-20 school year is incomplete, but changes recorded before the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when school systems decided to advance students at the end of the school year were included in the investigation.

Chief of schools John Davis, who oversees principals and daily classroom instruction, told investigators that grade changes can happen for a variety of reasons. A student may work with their teacher to complete assignments or take extra steps to demonstrate they understand the material. Another reason could be missed grading deadlines or long-term reliance on substitute teachers, who don’t have access to the grading system.

Davis said the key question is whether the student and teacher worked together to understand the material and whether the student earned the grade. He told investigators, “We have to trust our teachers and principals to be able to do that because there are just different situations.”

Still, investigators found that some principals and assistant principals directed educators to automatically bump all 58% and 59% grades up to a passing, according to redacted emails included in the report. The report does not delve into grade changes that occurred at levels higher than a failure, such as from 89% to 90%. And it was not immediately clear how the blanket policies of rounding up failing grades impacted matriculation or graduation rates.

The education watchdog for the state launched the investigation in September 2020 after fielding several complaints and allegations of systemic grade changes, including from the state’s now defunct Office of Education Accountability. The office fell under the purview of the governor’s Office for Children, which was closed in June 2020. The report also noted Fox45′s coverage in 2019 of grading inconsistencies at one city school.

According to the report, some employees were reluctant to speak with investigators, which delayed the investigation for an unspecified amount of time. Investigators interviewed top executives, former and current teachers, administrative staff and managers as well as reviewed student data, records and grade change forms.

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Maryland’s Inspector General for Education is speaking out about his bombshell report on grade changing in Baltimore City Schools, in an exclusive interview with Project Baltimore.

The IG found more than 12,000 failing grades changed to passing over four school years. Now, we’re learning more stunning details, including which city high schools were labeled as “top grade changers” and the significant number of students who may have graduated because their grades were rounded up.

“I think it’s a big deal,” said Maryland Inspector General for Education Rick Henry. “The allegations are very strong. And, you know, to pass students along or just round up the grades, it does a disservice.”

The IG’s office confirmed the allegations of grade changing in City Schools after a year-and-a-half-long investigation.

“A number of the teachers felt as though they were pressured to make changes,” Henry said. “Our team actually showed that was occurring.”

The IG’s office looked at 136 Baltimore City Schools focusing on grades 6 through 12. Investigators found 12,542 failing grades that were changed to passing between 2016 and 2020, which could have significantly impacted graduation rates.

When asked about the percentage of students graduating who should not have graduated, Henry said, “We feel as though it could be as much as 10 percent in some schools.”

The key findings also show teachers were pressured to change grades by school administrators. And School administrators were pressured to change grades by the central office.

“What was very stunning to us is that, you know, we were being told that this was not the practice, but we were seeing, you know, as we were looking through all of the documents that were provided by the city schools, we kept uncovering more and more,” said Henry.

The report includes several examples of emails where teachers were told to change failing grades to passing. An email from an assistant principal at Digital Harbor reads, “Per principal, all 58s and 59s must be changed to a 60.”

Another email sent to an assistant principal at Mergenthaler reads, “Please change the following students’ progress from failing to passing.”

“Couldn't get any more direct than that,” Henry told Project Baltimore.

Among the schools he looked at, Henry says three Baltimore City High schools stood out for the most grade changes, including Patterson, Merganthaler and Digital Harbor High School. At Patterson alone, there were 1,390 failing grades changed to passing between 2016 and 2020.

“If you're setting them up for failure, this is a way of doing it,” said Henry.

In the report, the IG recommends an emergency independent performance audit of grading policies and procedures be conducted.

“Our report only touched the surface. And I think there's more there,” Henry told Project Baltimore. “We were relying upon Baltimore City to turn over the documents that we were asking for, and we based our report on those documents that the City themselves turned over to us.”

When asked if he could subpoena documents, Henry replied, “We can. But the thing is, is you're only as good as what the agency turns over to you.”

As of now, the district has also only agreed to an external review of the upcoming 2022-2023 school year. The district has not agreed to an external review for the 2016 to 2020 time period in the report, when more than 12,000 grades were changed.

“To me, it would show that they're continuing the same practice now, in this particular school year, and they're waiting for a school year that they can improve their numbers. So, I mean that's up to them. Our data is solid,” said Henry.

City Schools responded to the report with a statement reading, in part, the IG "did not find a violation of the law or financial improprieties.”

Project Baltimore, cited in the IG report, first exposed grade changing allegations in August of 2017 after speaking with teachers at numerous schools who said their grades were changed so students could graduate.

Following our reporting, in June 2019, Baltimore City Schools passed a new grade changing policy, which includes additional training for grade reporters and requires principals to notify teachers in writing before student grades are adjusted.

Henry says his report found the policy was relatively effective, though more than 3,000 of the 12,542 improper grades changes occurred after the new policy was implemented.

“That's unfortunate about this report, the way it overshadows those students who have really put in the time and effort,” said Henry.

The school system has until June 29 to respond to the IG on whether it will follow the recommendations. If the school system does not agree to an audit, the IG says he will take his findings to the Maryland State Board of Education. His office does not have the authority to force the school system to allow this emergency review of its grading practices.

Will Move Forward With New Facility in White Marsh

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today announced that Greenland Technologies Holding Corporation, a technology developer and manufacturer of electric industrial vehicles and drivetrain systems for material handling machineries and vehicles, has selected Baltimore County for the next phase of the company’s major U.S. expansion. Greenland conducted a comprehensive national selection process before selecting Maryland earlier this year, and Baltimore County was selected after a review of multiple criteria including location, workforce, incentives, and logistics.

With the formal selection, Greenland plans to move forward with an approximately 50,000 square-foot manufacturing facility located at 5301 Nottingham Drive in White Marsh, where it plans to steadily create new full-time jobs. The facility, which is expected to formally open this July, is central to the company’s strategy of supporting the increased customer demand for its expanding line of electrical industrial vehicles.

“We welcome Greenland Technologies’ new U.S. manufacturing operations to Maryland, and are thrilled to see the company’s vision come to life at its location in Baltimore County,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “Greenland’s innovative technologies will allow the company to easily make its mark in the Mid Atlantic and continue growing its presence throughout the nation.”

Established in 2006, Greenland has become one of the world’s largest transmission and drivetrain systems providers for material handling equipment such as forklift trucks that are used in industrial and logistic settings. Greenland Technologies investments in R&D and its successful track record of innovation have established it as a cutting edge, clean energy technology developer, with a proven commitment to embracing the electrification process and incorporating it into the electric industrial vehicle market.

“We are excited and confident in our decision to build out in Maryland given our extensive selection process. As we have moved forward, our selection has been validated each step of the way,” said Raymond Wang, CEO of Greenland. “The Governor’s team and local officials clearly share in our vision and enthusiasm for electrification and understand the positive implications on job creation, economic benefit and to Greenland specifically. Having such committed and supportive partners is essential to our long-term success and ability to quickly ramp our new manufacturing facility in support of the strong customer demand for our industrial electric vehicles.”

To support its expansion, the company has submitted a notice of intent to utilize the state’s More Jobs for Marylanders program, administered by the Maryland Department of Commerce. The More Jobs for Marylanders program incentivizes new and existing manufacturers to create new jobs in the state, and to non-manufacturers that locate or expand in Maryland Opportunity Zones.

“We are thrilled that Greenland Technologies’ has chosen Baltimore County as home for its U.S. manufacturing operations,” said Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski. “We are excited to welcome Greenland and more green manufacturing jobs to Baltimore County. Greenland’s innovation and leadership in developing clean, green and zero emission industrial equipment is critical in enabling us to achieving cleaner air and a better Baltimore County.”

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