Baltimore Sun: "Baltimore County Council kills bill amending forthcoming plastic bag ban" (Lia Russell) #BaltimoreCounty #BaltimoreSun

Baltimore County Public Schools: "Due to the extreme heat forecasted for Tuesday, September 5, 2023, all outdoor Baltimore County Public Schools’ athletic games and practices will be cancelled on Tuesday, September 5, 2023. All indoor games, matches, and practices may proceed as scheduled for Tuesday, September 5, 2023. All teams are encouraged to practice indoors when applicable."
#BaltimoreCounty #PublicSchool #ClimateChange

Some updates from #BaltimoreCounty :baltco: Councilmanic District 5 including:
- Message from Councilman Marks: 95 Percent of C.P. Crane Plant Demolished
- Fifth District #PublicSchools Welcome New Principals
- Councilman Marks Works to Preserve the Perry Hall Annex
- Sewer Project to Impact #PerryHall Neighborhoods
- Task Force Nears Completion of Recommendations for #WhiteMarsh Town Center
- County Begins Work on #BirdRiver #Watershed Action Plan

Want to join the team the #InspectorGeneral in #BaltimoreCounty #Maryland ?

A bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university is required. Prior experience in law enforcement or a subject area relevant to the work of the OIG is strongly preferred but not required.

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/baltimorecounty/jobs/4186190/assistant-inspector-general-investigator-i-non-merit

From The Local News Network:

While the Local News Network’s “Contracted Out” project focuses on school expenses between fiscal years 2019 and 2022, one 2018 expenditure stood out In Baltimore County — where a $1.57 million payment went to an “unknown vendor.”

In other words, district officials don’t know exactly where $1.57 million went. Charles Herndon, a spokesman for the district, blamed it on a massive #ransomware attack that hit the school system’s computers in November 2020.

https://baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/some-school-expenses-big-and-small-remain-a-mystery/

#BaltimoreCounty #PublicSchools

I'm glad I'm a software developer and not a #journalist, this is hard work.

On Tuesday a bus driver and a parent at my kids' #BaltimoreCounty elementary school got in an altercation where the bus driver needed medical attention.

On Tuesday night the principal sent out a letter *only to the parents of the children on the bus* and vaguely alluded to "an incident" during the start Back to School night. My kids walk so I did not receive a copy of the letter directly.

Other parents started reaching out to me for info on text message since I've usually got my finger on the pulse of these things. I managed to get a screen shot of the letter from another parent who received it secondhand themselves.

I wrote to the principal and told her that rumors were going around that she ought to release a statement to all the parents in the school. She wrote back:

"Thank you for your email. We have provided letters to the families of those students who were on that particular school bus. BCPS is investigating the matter and will follow up as appropriate. We appreciate your concern and feedback on the matter. We will continue to work with transportation to ensure our students are safe coming and going."

Since BCPS was investigating, I reached out to their Office of Communications to see if they would tell me or the other parents anything about it before I shared the letter I had. I wrote to them with a one sentence email: "Will the district be releasing a general statement regarding the physical altercation between a bus driver and a parent at a bus...stop on the afternoon of August 29?"

Right before close of business one of the department's communication specialists replied to me saying "Thank you for your inquiry; a letter from [the principal] was sent to the parents of children on [the bus] advising them of this incident."

On further pressing this morning I finally got an email back from him simply saying "I am not aware of any plans to release a general statement about this incident. Thank you."

Bottom line, if there's a parent and bus driver fighting at or related to my kids' elementary school I believe the district has an obligation to communicate with me directly and not make me seek out this information and stonewall me when I do.

Actual coverage (sourced through my Facebook posts to the PTA) are up and circulating anyway, and now the rumors are flying about exactly what happened.

In an article this week, Baltimore County Public School Superintendent Myriam Yarbrough was quoted as saying, "Any time parents are surprised by something, you'll always hear me say that there's room for us to improve communication."

I couldn't agree more.

#Maryland #PublicSchools

https://perryhall.patch.com/g/perry-hall-md/n/212478/harford-hills-elementary-school-bus-driver-requires-medical-care-following

https://www.nottinghammd.com/2023/08/30/bcps-school-bus-driver-injured-following-altercation-with-parent-in-carney/

On August 29 a parent and a bus driver for my kids' elementary school were involved in a "physical altercation" at a bus stop that required the bus driver to receive medical care. The school's principal only released information on this incident to the parents of students on the bus and so far the county administration has not released an official statement. #BaltimoreCounty :baltco: #PublicSchools

Baltimore Sun Editorial Board: Baltimore County Council needs to grow from 7 to 11 members :baltco: https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0830-baltimore-council-expansion-20230829-ar6vvuyknjhxrpb3mgfmowsqpi-story.html #BaltimoreCounty #Maryland #Equity #Representation

"Tesla Inc. will lay off 55 workers at a Hunt Valley facility that appears to be part of its clean energy division. Tesla’s layoffs will impact workers at its facility located at 336 Clubhouse Road in Hunt Valley, according to a notification filed with Maryland’s Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log last week." https://finance.yahoo.com/m/836cd285-e00a-3ac7-9048-860d29029c91/tesla-facility-in-baltimore.html?.tsrc=rss
#BaltimoreCounty #Tesla #HuntValley

Tonight’s light bedtime reading brought to me by the Inspector General #BaltimoreCounty #accountability

Legally troubled developer John Vontran named #BaltimoreCounty economic strategist (Taylor DeVille, The Baltimore Banner) https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/politics-power/local-government/john-vontran-baltimore-county-economic-strategist-SD242LSARRCATJ2VM2S2IK4MHA/

Lets not forget the council meeting where Councilwoman Cathy Bevins chastised the Inspector General of #BaltimoreCounty for investigating her friend Chris McCullom saying she didn't understand "the policies and procedures that happen here."

McCullom is getting sentenced for embezzlement today.

Bevins retired from politics last year.

Kelly Madigan is still the Inspector General.

https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2023/07/31/baltimore-county-political-insider-chris-mccollum-returns-to-court-today-for-sentencing/

#Accountability

"According to a news release, Baltimore Comptroller Bill Henry was nominated by Mayor Brandon Scott to serve as chairperson of the [13-member task force that will chart the future of water infrastructure in Baltimore], which also includes local public works officials, a former Maryland secretary of the environment, two state legislators and the president of a union representing state workers, among others."
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/environment/bs-md-water-task-force-names-20230720-3a6vtkpasjf6hhkal5kfupgrxm-story.html
#Baltimore #BaltimoreCounty #GreaterBaltimore #Maryland #water

Posted up my first book (of many to come probably) on my yard sale site. I'll leave it up there for 30 days or so and then recycle it if there's no interest #CMM #CMMI #Baltimore #BaltimoreCounty #ForSale #Books https://shop.vees.net/product/cmmi-guidelines-for-process-integration-and-product-improvement/

For sale #Baltimore #BaltimoreCounty I'm starting to add some kids stuff we're not using anymore, like this Regalo fold-away cot https://shop.vees.net/product/regalo-my-cot-portable-toddler-bed-48in/

The Vintage Computer Federation and the System Source Computer Museum are hosting a vintage computer repair workshop on Saturday July 22nd (7am-7pm) and Sunday July 23rd (8-5) 2023 at:

System Source Computer Museum 338 Clubhouse Road, Hunt Valley, MD 21031

https://museum.syssrc.com/artifact/events/3000/

#HuntValley #BaltimoreCounty #ComputerMuseum #VintageComputers #Cray #SwapMeet #HamRadio #Maryland

:baltco: Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski on Tuesday released a new data dashboard displaying information regarding recent Baltimore County Department of Health food facility inspections. #BaltimoreCounty https://opendata.baltimorecountymd.gov/pages/dash

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski on Tuesday released a new data dashboard displaying information regarding recent Baltimore County Department of Health food facility inspections. #BaltimoreCounty https://opendata.baltimorecountymd.gov/pages/dash

Hey #Baltimore and #baltimorecounty geeks and friends: come buy my random electronics and household items at yard sale prices at https://shop.vees.net. It’s every nerd’s dream that someone would find their box of cables to useful one day. Please make my dream come true.

Felicia Stolusky appointed back to the Baltimore County school board by Gov. Wes Moore.
#BaltimoreCounty #PublicSchools #Maryland