Maryland

“This transformative initiative will provide more Marylanders with the technology they need to have reliable, high-speed internet,” Governor Larry Hogan said. “Through the Office of Statewide Broadband and our Connect Maryland initiative, we have been able to increase access to broadband for tens of thousands of households through infrastructure improvements and digital equity initiatives.”

The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), where the Office of Statewide Broadband is housed, will partner with local governments and their community partners to distribute the devices in accordance with specific criteria. Jurisdictions will be able to apply in early November at https://dhcd.maryland.gov/Broadband/.

In receiving the award, the governor shared the story of his diagnosis and treatment, and talked about the state’s cancer initiative to accelerate cures and treatments.

“I want to sincerely thank my dear friend Marlene Malek, Ellen Sigal, and everyone at the Friends of Cancer Research—this is truly an incredible honor to have been chosen to receive the first ever Marlene A. Malek Public Service Award,” said Governor Hogan. “Through our Maryland Cancer Moonshot Initiative, we are harnessing the power and the capacity to produce the talent, the tools, and the treatments that will help us make decades worth of progress in just a matter of years and to make the State of Maryland a powerhouse at the forefront of the nation’s efforts to defeat this dreadful disease.”

ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan today announced a groundbreaking partnership between the State of Maryland and the University of Maryland to build and operate the Maryland Mesonet, a state-of-the-art network of 75 weather-observing towers across the state that will provide real-time community-level monitoring and improve situational awareness during rapidly changing weather conditions.

“The Maryland Mesonet partnership we are announcing today, through a new memorandum of understanding between the State of Maryland and the University of Maryland, will build a world-class network of state-of-the-art environmental monitoring stations to provide real-time data 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year,” said Governor Hogan. “I am pleased to announce that we have committed $4 million dollars to this ambitious project, which will give our emergency managers even faster and more accurate satellite data to make critical decisions about preparedness and deploying resources.”

“Environmental stewardship is an essential element of MDOT’s commitment to maintain our transportation network and improve services for Marylanders,” said MDOT Secretary James F. Ports, Jr. “We appreciate the federal government recognizing our efforts and supporting additional research that could benefit the environment here, across the country and around the world.”

Two MDOT units – MDOT State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) and MDOT Maryland Port Administration (MDOT MPA) – each received an FHWA grant, totaling a combined $312,000. The two projects carry an overall cost of $390,000, with MDOT contributing the balance. The projects are: