Uncategorized

Per Montgomery County: Montgomery County Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) is launching an ad campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of under-21 alcohol access and consumption. Starting this month, ABS will place public service advertisements on bus shelters and bus taillights to deter under-21 alcohol use and reduce adolescent access to alcohol.

The bus shelter ads will be placed near high schools and feature the phrase “under 21 drinking can lead to alcohol addiction.” The Ride On bus taillight ads will be placed on upper county routes and feature the phrase “60% of kids who drink get their alcohol from family and friends.” Ads will run for six weeks and include a QR code that can be scanned for more information on reducing under-21 alcohol use and access to alcohol as well as other prevention resources.

Per the Maryland Cannabis Administration (9.8.23): The Maryland Cannabis Administration today announced that the first application round for cannabis business licenses will open on November 13. The Administration also announced the number of licenses, by license type, that will be available in the first application round.

“Today’s announcement is another step forward in fulfilling Maryland’s commitment to building an equitable and inclusive cannabis industry,” said Maryland Cannabis Administration Acting Director Will Tilburg. “This application round will more than double the number of cannabis businesses in the State, and each award will be to a verified social equity applicant.”

Per Montgomery County: Legendary vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, a three-time Grammy® Award winner, will highlight a full day of entertainment on two stages at the free 18th Annual Silver Spring Jazz Festival in Silver Spring downtown on Saturday, Sept. 9. The festival, which will start at 3 p.m. on Veterans Plaza, will feature performers with various types of traditional and multicultural jazz sounds.

Veterans Plaza is located at 1 Veterans Place in Silver Spring downtown, adjacent to the Silver Spring Civic Building. The festival site is easily accessible from the Silver Spring Metrorail Station and the area has considerable public parking. The festival will be held rain or shine.

Following the football game between Bethesda-Chevy Chase and Walter Johnson High Schools, a physical altercation near the Bethesda Metro Station resulted in multiple student injuries. Montgomery County Public Schools and Montgomery County Police immediately began a collaborative conversation.

The primary goal of this work is to determine precisely what occurred and to ensure that students involved will be held accountable. The memorandum of understanding with all community police partners very specifically outlines what actions may be addressed through school-based discipline and what is considered criminal activity.

Let us know in the comments for any missing scores.

Per the Maryland Attorney General’s Office: Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced today that the State of Maryland and its subdivisions recently received nearly $24 million as the 2023 installments of payments due under consent judgments that the Office of the Attorney General entered into last year with the three largest pharmaceutical distributors in the United States – McKesson, Cardinal Health, and Amerisource Bergen – and the pharmaceutical manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. The payments are the most recent installments of approximately $395 million that Maryland and its subdivisions will receive from the settlements over the course of 18 years.

The settlements, entered into in 2022, resolved the companies’ liability to the State for illegally marketing and distributing opioids before the settlements’ effective dates. Subdivisions will receive a total of more than $13.6 million from the settlements, including more than $4.8 million in direct payments already distributed and nearly $8.8 million in targeted abatement grants from the State that will be distributed once processed. All funding is committed to abating the opioid crisis. To date, the State and its subdivisions have received more than $84 million in total from the settlements.

Test Messages Will be Sent to All TVs, Radios and Cell Phones

FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will conduct a nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) this fall. The national test will consist of two portions, testing WEA and EAS capabilities. Both tests are scheduled to begin at approximately 2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4.

Per the Maryland Attorney General’s Office: “Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced the sentencing of Vitalis Ohakwe Ojiegbe, 68, of Bowie, Maryland, who pleaded guilty to one count of Medicaid Fraud for writing prescriptions for controlled dangerous substances without a legitimate medical purpose in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County in June. The Honorable Judge Carol Coderre sentenced Ojiegbe to a five-year suspended sentence with three years’ supervised probation. Ojiegbe was ordered to pay $16,035.11 in restitution and is also to be excluded from participating in any federally funded healthcare program.

This case was prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Attorney General’s Office in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Attorney General Brown thanked Medicaid Fraud Control Unit Assistant Attorneys General Lisa Marts and Cathy Schuster Pascale, Fraud Analysist Todd Sheffer and Investigator Michael Glenn for their work on the case. Attorney General Brown also thanked Special Agent James Browning of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Applications are reviewed and projects are selected based on local government and state needs and priorities, which are evaluated to determine the benefit to the general motor boating public. Starting after July 15, the Department of Natural Resources will accept Waterway Improvement Fund applications for the next fiscal year through the department’s online ​Grants Gateway.

Statewide Emergency Maintenance and Dredging

From May through September, the department monitors temperature conditions and incidents of heat-related illness and death.  More information is available online through the Office of Preparedness and Response Extreme Heat webpage. The site also includes the state Heat Emergency Plan, information about heat-related illnesses and tips for staying safe and healthy during hot weather. Fact sheets are available for download in English and eight other languages.

MDH encourages use of the following tips to help cope with hot weather:

Per Westfield Montgomery: Westfield Montgomery is committed to creating a space that is welcoming and inclusive for all. On Saturday, June 3 at 1pm, celebrate LGBTQ+ month with a complimentary performance by Potomac Fever, a captivating 17-voice a cappella by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, in the mall’s center court on the lower level. Potomac Fever’s performances embody their dedication to promoting social justice and celebrating diversity through music. The 45-minute performance will feature a mix of classic hits and contemporary tunes. No tickets are required and the event is free and open to all.