Anyone else smell the awful wild fire smoke in their house? I have an air purifier going but it's not helping.

Anyone have an preliminary thoughts on this? I think this question was vaguely worded (on purpose?). The Act doesn't make meetings any more "open" than they already were but gives legislature the ability to close meetings based on certain qualifications (the public has to be notified of the reason why a meeting was closed). There also seems to be more paper trails created as a result of the OMA. Anyone with a hard opinion?

How do people find dungeons and dragons groups out here?

Edit/Update: I just moved here about a year ago and I had a less than thrilling encounter with a DM on meetup.Meetup is how I usually find groups Everytime I move somewhere new so I was feeling pretty defeated. You guys have been so much help. I'm way more hopeful about finding a group now!

Is there something the county can (and will) do about an abandoned home? It's falling apart, the grass is super high, and kids have been breaking into it. The things been sitting since at least 2013 in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

It's crunch time, folks.

If you don't show up on November 5th, people like Chuck Yocum win. Chuck, the trans hating, student seducing, teacher hating, woman hating train wreck.

If you don't show up on November 5th, people like LaToya Nkongolo win. LaToya, the LGBTQ+ hating, teacher hating, grifting, drunk driving dumpster fire.

If you don't show up on November 5th, people like Dawn Pulliam win. Dawn, the LGBTQ+ hating sh*t show who wants to throw away students with special needs.

If you don't show up on November 5th, people like Larry Hogan win. Larry, who sold us out during the pandemic. Larry, who made millions as governor on land deals. Larry, who wants to turn the US Senate over to the more and more insane reactionary right.

So, go vote!

Anyone have advice for incredibly loud neighbors? I have neighbors who are about a block down the street who blare music from early in the day until very late at night. They also have huge rangers that can go until 2-3am. The police have been 0 help. They claim nothing can be done until 11pm (even though these people break the day noise ordinance rules) or they don't show up at all. And I know they aren't showing up because I request phone calls and have only ever received one. The noise is so loud I can't sleep and have debated getting a hotel multiple times.

I'm on the verge of selling my house over these people.

Curious where the your county’s candidates stand on the state’s biggest education debates?

The University of Maryland’s Local News Network, in partnership with Capital News Service and the Maryland Democracy Initiative, sent a survey to all 109 school board candidates in the state to see exactly how each plans to positively impact schools. (The full version of candidates' responses are here.)

To give you a better sense of how the candidates in Anne Arundel county plan to make a difference, here's an excerpt from their responses, broken down by district:

DISTRICT 1

Gloria D. Dent

Did not respond

DISTRICT 2

Robert A. Silkworth (75)

“I taught for 49 years for the kids! I ran for the school board in 2020 for the kids! I believe I have served them well during my first term because of my knowledge of the educational system in Anne Arundel County as well as what is essential for our students to belong, grow and succeed! I am running for a second term for the kids! We have more work to do to go from a good school system to a great school system.”

DISTRICT 3

Erica McFarland (45)

“I truly believe that, simply put, we all just want what’s best for our children. Let’s work together with open hearts and minds for our students. I know that given the necessary education and tools, our kids can make the world a better place. I want to support that. I want to be a part of that. Helping our children to rise to challenges, come up with creative solutions and watching them soar would make me so proud.”

Chuck Yocum (61)

“During a 36-year career with the school system, I watched Anne Arundel County Public Schools go from one of the top systems in the state to mediocre at best…I have a 35,000-foot view of our system and its needs. Having been in the classroom, serving on the business side of the system and back to instruction, I know where the deficiencies are and how to correct them.”

DISTRICT 4

Sarah J. McDermott (35)

“Now is the time to advocate for and implement changes that will have the most positive impacts for our educators, students and their families. With the promise of Blueprint programming underway, our schools have everything to gain — but only if these resources are distributed in ways that increase equity and the odds of success for our students.”

Stephanie Mutchler (49)

“All communities and schools are equally important and deserve the same support by their Board of Education representative. I can remove politics from the table and instead work on real policy that is focused on what needs to be done to ensure educational equity and success. I am the person who will be at the table for the love of others, not the love of myself.”

DISTRICT 5

Dana Schallheim (48)

“I hope District 5 voters will re-elect me because we are a better school district than when I joined the board six years ago, and we have laid a foundation to become the best in the state; however, the work isn’t done. I have focused on improving four student outcomes: recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers, implementing research-based curriculum, support for mental health, and social-emotional development.”

LaToya Nkongolo (46)

“Our district deserves school board leadership that is proactive, level-headed, and attentive to the needs of all organizations and communities, working together to find common ground to meet everyone’s needs…As an entrepreneur with strong leadership and budgetary skills, combined with my data-driven decision-making, mental health expertise and focus on academic achievement, I am the most qualified and capable person to guide our schools toward success.”

DISTRICT 6

Joanna Bache Tobin (61)

“My record as a member of the Board of Education since 2020 demonstrates that I have been able to collaborate with my fellow Board of Education members, including across philosophical and political differences, to craft policies and budgets that enable all Anne Arundel County Public Schools students to move forward, regardless of where they begin.”

Edilene Barros

Did not respond

DISTRICT 7

Jeremy York (38)

“I was profoundly shaped by my educational opportunities; education changed my life, and public education played a large role. I want to ensure that every child in our district has a chance to thrive…I will fight to support our teachers, expand access to early education, modernize college and career readiness programs and advocate for the mental health and well-being of all students.”

Maisie T. Howard – write-in

“I am dedicated to community engagement, representation, parent advocacy and student rights, regularly participating in town halls and forums to ensure transparency and inclusivity in decision-making processes. My goal is to restore and strengthen collaborative partnerships with schools and families, fostering a collaborative environment where all voices are heard.”

Dawn Pulliam

Did not respond

***

View the full School Board Voter Guide here.

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If you’d like to stay in the loop with our coverage, you can see our content at https://cnsmaryland.org/. We are a student-powered news organization at the University of Maryland, Philip Merrill College of Journalism. 

Did I have to sign the back of the envelope for my absentee ballot and date it? I filled out my envelope myself and put my oath and ballot inside, but there were no instructions to sign or date the envelope. I vaguely remember doing this in past years.

So Update time. I tried calling AACPS DOT multiple times and got nothing, I tried emailing members of the board of ed and haven’t gotten a response at all and it’s been 10 days. The kids who cause issues have yet to get a single punishment and the one who attacked me yesterday didn’t get in trouble. The school scratched out the number of referrals said student has gotten over the years and put a lower amount and did not suspended nor remove the kid despite being at seven multiple of them being major offenses. I am planning on reaching out to the press and or filing a civil suit against the school. I am also floating looking for a new job and leaving my career of being a bus attendant/aid that I have been doing for three school years now.

Any one have any opinion on this race at all? All I could find online was the TAAAC didn't endorse because both were highly regarded.

Anyone else notice the new stickers on some of the campaign signs? In particular I’ve seen them on signs for Pulliam, Barros, and Nkongolo.

Suddenly they have these little hearts that are the same color as the Teacher Recommended apples. The shape is similar enough. They just say “Parent Recommended”. But, as an AA County parent I wasn’t part of that decision. I’m not aware of any union representing me either.

This seems like a fairly blatant attempt cause confusion.

I guess if your ideas can’t win on their own that this is the alternative

So many of you read my last post on the incompetent administration I been dealing with. It took multiple more calls to the county to get our main issue student suspended from the bus for three days after his continued harassment of female students and minorities and him making threats towards myself and other on top of many other issues and 8 referrals.

Since then our other main problem child has become more troublesome. He escalated from just threats, harassment and swearing my self out while getting in my face to physically attacking myself(the bus attendant), making threats towards the driver and attacking other students after leaving his seat to go after them. Multiple calls have been made to the county and he is getting his 7th referral today.

The school still clearly does not care, the other problem kids continue to escalate because they know the school and their parents will not discipline them and the county does not seem to do anything. I tried calling four to five different times and most I got was a “we will call you back when something is done. But we can’t make any promises” while the school does nothing at all besides “reviewing expectations.”

So as things get worse and worse I am considering changing careers after three school years if I can find anywhere at all because the constant threats towards me, getting attacked, getting groped and constantly being sworn out and mistreated just is not worth the little pay and high stress this job has been bringing me and each year is worse than the last.

Sorry for the mini rant at the end but I needed to get it off my chest and thanks for reading. Any comments and advice would be appreciated.

ANON REPORTS

How am I able to report someone who has interacted sexually with someone under 18, when I'm in the UK, and they're from the USA?

It's happened twice so far, but there's the chance it's happened again. We know about the first instance due to the girl messaging her ex partner (she's 16) with screenshots asking for help to get him to stop. The second instance we knew that he was trying again because it was a bait account (to his knowledge it was a 16 year old girl).

I've reported via CyberTip, however I wish to report further if possible. Alongside this, I want to make people aware of his social accounts, and where he works.

I am strongly against child preds. I don't want a child to experience trauma.

Not really a complaint just more annoying and want to see if it’s an issue for other people.

For the past few months the trash guys have been putting my cans in front of my driveway after emptying them so I have to park in the street and move them then move my car to the driveway.

One trash guy even saw me in my car starting to roll down the driveway while they were emptying it and put it in front of the driveway so I had to get out and move it.

I’m going to try moving it further away from the driveway but it’s already sort of away from it so I’m not sure if it’s negligence on their part or I made them mad lol.

Edit: it’s really not a big deal to me. I can get out of my car and move the cans id just rather park my car in the driveway first instead of parking in the street to move it then pull into my driveway. I was just curious if it’s happening to other people and not just me.

Having to move from Harford County to Anne Arundel County for work on Fort Meade and trying to figure out where to live. Our budget is around 2500-2800 a month, looking to rent apartments/townhomes. And no big concerns for the distance to DC or the City since work will be on base. No kids for school preferences. Any recommendations? I've only been in MD for about 3 years and only really traveled between Harford and PA. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated 👏

Let me preface, we go to Homestead a lot. We have not been to the Fall Festival in years. Our son in now 17, going to college next year, so we thought it would be fun to go to the Festival one last time. We had not been since he was probably 8 or 9, It used to be a)free, and b) fun. It is now neither.

We began by buying our wristbands (did not see any prices posted, but just bought 3 adults. $45 for the three of us. WOW. Ok, but maybe it is worth it ? Spoiler alert....It was not. The cashier, who was about 15 YO, had a Never Surrender MAGA sweatshirt. Great Start...We get in, look around the shop as usual, noting that they now have several Right Wing/Maga type products, like some hot sauce stuff, MADE FOR PATRIOTS !!! Jesus Christ.

We finally make it to the entrance of the festival in the West Field. To get there had to walk past the couple of food trucks (that were outside of the paid area). Immediately assaulted by the Anderson Window vendor inside the paid area. The largest tent in the West area was a first aid tent. There was a wine vendor, beer vendor and maybe 5 areas for little kids like the slide. So, wife gets a wine, we get on the hayride for the East Field.

After 20 minutes of waiting for the tractor, we take a bone jarring ride to the West Field. This was worse. Two large sandboxes. A closed BBQ food truck and a BBQ operating, but no Smoke ? odd.

Bottom line, Homestead has turned the fall festival into a cash grab. I hope that $45 goes a long way, as I will not be spenidng any more money at Homestead Gardens. Complete Rip off.

Gonna get my blue crab fill before winter! Prefer to have in-restaurant. New to the area. Thanks ❤️

This is frustrating for me every time we vote. I understand fully what the questions are asking, but I just don’t have enough knowledge to understand the consequences of what I’m voting on. For question A, how do I know whether or not it’s a GOOD idea to increase the value from $5,000 to $10,000?

I’m trying to do research on this, but everything I’m finding is just rewording the question. But I don’t need that, I need some information about the consequences of these questions.

Heard a loud boom or explosion of some kind a little after 6pm tonight in Severn. Did anyone else hear that? Any ideas on what it could be? I’m hearing a lot of emergency vehicle sirens now too…

Edit: we woke up this morning and saw a garage door in our neighborhood completed dented and caved in. We think the noise was from a car crashing into it last night!

Moved to the Crofton area a little over a year ago and don’t love our current dentist and pediatrician. Looking for recommendations. Kiddos are in 1st and 4th grade