Month: March 2021

Eastern Tech Student Elected to BCPS School Board


Students from across Baltimore County elected Eastern Technical High School junior Christian Thomas to be the next student member of the Board of Education of Baltimore County.

He will replace Dundalk High’s Josh Muhumuza, who is this year’s student board member.

A total of 2,914 middle and high school students from across the county cast online ballots on Wednesday, March 17. Thomas received 56.9 percent of the votes compared to 43.1 percent for the other candidate, Logan Dubel of Franklin High School. This is the first year, due to a change in Maryland law, that BCPS students have directly selected the next student member of the Board without approval from the governor.

Prior to voting, students were able to learn more about both candidates by viewing their resumes, written and video Q&A sessions, videotaped speeches, Instagram Live sessions, and campaigning via social media.

Thomas is president of the Eastern Tech Class of 2022, vice-president/co-founder of the Eastern Tech Red Cross Club, vice-chair/co-founder of Eastern Tech Democrats, an executive officer of Eastern Tech’s student government association, treasurer of the National Honor Society, and member of the school’s theatre club and Future Business Leaders of America.

In addition to the National Honor Society, Thomas is a member of the National English Honor Society and National Latin Honor Society. He represents Eastern Tech on the Baltimore County Student Councils Board of Selected Students. Outside of school, Thomas serves as co-chair/founder of The Domino Effect Initiative (a nonprofit that provides mentors and other supports for students in need), and special events secretary for the Red Cross North Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region Youth Advisory Board Executive Committee.

Thomas’s tenure on the Board of Education will begin on July 1, 2021.

Police Need Clues in Pedestrian Fatal Crash


Baltimore County Police are seeking the public’s help in identifying the vehicle involved in a fatal hit and run crash that occurred on February 28, 2021 on Pulaski Highway near Little Gunpowder Falls.

The investigation has revealed Alexandra Justine Angel (26) of the 12300 block of Pulaski Highway of Harford County was walking eastbound on Pulaski Highway around 7:20 p.m. when she was struck.

The suspect vehicle was also traveling eastbound when it struck Angel and fled the scene.

The vehicle involved is described as a black 1999-2007 Ford Super Duty F-250 or F-350 with light colored side mounted tool boxes and a ladder rack (similar to the truck pictured below).

It may have front end damage to its driver’s side bumper, a missing headlamp and damage to the surrounding housing. It is noted these items may also appear to have been recently repaired or replaced.

Anyone who may have information is asked to call 410-307-2020.

Callers may remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward when submitting tips through Metro Crime Stoppers.

Driver Dies in Kingsville Crash From Sunday


One of the drivers involved in a multi-vehicle crash that occurred on Sunday, March 14 has died. The accident happened along Belair Road just south of Bradshaw Road in Kingsville Sunday, March 14.

The driver has been identified as 27-year-old Kyra Miller of Baltimore. Miller was traveling southbound on Belair Road around 2:30 p.m. when investigators say she traveled into the northbound lane striking a vehicle head on; the impact forced the second vehicle backwards striking a third car.

Miller was transported to Shock Trauma. The driver of the vehicle Miller struck and the passengers in that second vehicle were transported to Johns Hopkins Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the third vehicle also suffered non-life threatening injuries.

According to investigators, the passenger in Miller’s car fled the scene. Officers later located the man and placed him under arrest on an open warrant.

Olszewski & Crandell to Hold Town Hall


Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced his third annual series of town hall meetings to hear from constituents about their ideas and priorities.

The Seventh District Town Hall will be held on Tuesday, March 15 with Councilman Todd Crandell from 6 to 7 p.m.

“Please join the County Executive and me this Tuesday evening for this year’s Budget Town Hall meeting,” Crandell said about the virtual meeting.

Seven virtual meetings, one for each Council district, will provide a forum for public discussion focused on future budget priorities and ensure that community members have the opportunity to provide input into the budget planning process.

“In order to best serve the people of Baltimore County, we need to hear from them directly,” said Olszewski. “While this pandemic has upended our way our life, we remain committed to keeping Baltimore County’s government, open accessible and transparent so that we can continue to work with stakeholders in every community to build a better Baltimore County together.”

From 2016-2017, a total of two people testified on Baltimore County’s budget. In 2018, during his first year in office, Olszewski held the inaugural series of budget town hall meetings where over 2,000 residents attended, with hundreds sharing priorities for the county.

Last year, Olszewski held a second round of town hall meetings, which included a virtual opportunity for residents to share their priorities when in-person town hall meetings were canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All Budget Town Hall Meetings will be livestreamed on Baltimore County Government’s YouTube page and Facebook page. Residents may also join by phone.

Dundalk Football Continues Dominance Over Patapsco


-photo courtesy of Dundalk Coach Matt Banta Twitter page-

Dundalk started off the season with a 39-6 win over their cross town rivals Patapsco on Saturday.

The Owls jumped off on the road to a quick 20 to 0 score at the half.

Dundalk head coach Matt Banta posted on Twitter that Juniors Quarterback Calvin Stokes had a passing and a rushing touchdowns in the game.

Sophomore Running Back Jordan Fiorenza had three rushing TDs on the game. Junior Wide Receiver Marcus Nicholson had a TD reception too.

Dundalk travels to Kenwood next Friday, who came off a blowout win over Chesapeake Friday.

Patapsco will travel to Essex to play Chesapeake in a battle of 0-1 teams.

“Week 1 in the books! A solid 39-6 performance we can build off of,” Banta said about Dundalk’s win on Twitter.

HS Football Returns With Local School Wins


With the arrival of COVID-19, all high school sports were canceled last spring and that entered in the fall as football and all fall sports were canceled.

Teams around the area were very grateful to start an abbreviated fall season in the spring. The season started a week later after Week One was cancelled with COVID restrictions.

Teams finally took the field last night in front of limited fans. Here are some of the results for Eastern Baltimore County high schools:

Dundalk 39 Patapsco 6
The Owls went on the road to defeat their cross town rivals Patapsco 39 to 6. Click here for the full story

Eastern Tech 18 Sparrows Point 0
The Mavericks started off their season with a shutout win on the road. Eastern Tech is looking to bounce back from a 4-5 season. Sparrows Point is looking to improve from their 2-7 season in 2019.

Kenwood 38 Chesapeake 0
Since Kenwood was a playoff team in 2019 & Chesapeake was only a one-win team last year, this game wasn’t expected to be close. And it was a blowout as the Bluebirds started off 2020/21 with an easy 38-0 win at home.

Perry Hall 39 Catonsville 0
The shocker of the evening was Perry Hall’s 38-0 whipping of Catonsville. The Gators were expected to bounce back from their 0-9 season in 2019 but not many were predicting a blow out win at Catonsville, who made the playoffs in 2019.

Media access is limited due to COVID-19 restrictions so please send photos, stats and scores to eastbaltco@gmail.com so we can post more information on our website.

Serious Crash at Belair & Honeygo Blvd.


– photo courtesy of Kingsville VFC-

The Kingsville Volunteer Fire Company reported that crews responded to an accident at the intersection of Belair Road and Honeygo Boulevard in Perry Hall on Tuesday, March 9 around 11 p.m.

Crews arrived to find no entrapment but a vehicle was turned over.

One patient was transported to University of Maryland Shock Trauma. Another was transported to a local medical center.

Funding Approved for New Northeast Elementary School


Julie Henn, Vice Chair of the BCPS Board of Education, announced that the Board has approved the funding for the New Northeast Elementary at Ridge Road at its meeting on Tuesday night. The school will be built in the Rossville area and is expected to open in August 2022.

“This evening, Board approval will be requested for $48.3 million in construction contracts for the new Northeast Elementary School at Ridge Road.
Construction is expected to start this summer with an anticipated opening in August, 2022,” Henn said in a statement.

This school is expected to take away some of the students from the overcrowded Joppaview and Perry Hall elementary schools.

A new middle school was also set to be build on King Avenue and Henn expects that funding for that school to be approved shortly.

“It is the next priority in the capital improvement program after the elementary school and construction is imminent. All projects were delayed pending state funding,” Henn explained about the northeast middle school.

Councilman David Marks said the county now has the green light to build many of its proposed schools as state funding has been approved by the Maryland General Assembly.

“With the activation of the Built to Learn Act, money should advance over the next few years for high school projects,” Marks said.

BCPS High School Sports to Return Friday


Baltimore County Public Schools announced that high school sports will return this Friday. This will mark the first time in over a year that there will be high school sports competition in Baltimore County.

The High School Basketball State Semifinal were canceled last year when COVID-19 restrictions were announced last March. The 2020 Spring Season was shortly canceled and the Fall Sports Season was postponed from September to March.

Fall practices started on Feb. 13th and the first set of games were scheduled for Friday, March 5, but those games were canceled when it was announced the COVID-19 metric was too high to begin the season. It didn’t look to promising as the Winter Sports Season was canceled for the year in January.

This weekend, BCPS gave the green light for games to begin on Friday, March 12.

“Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) supports the safe return to athletic competition for student athletes. After continued consultation with staff from the Baltimore County Department of Health and an intense focus on mitigation strategies, BCPS will allow inner county competitive games beginning Friday, March 12,” said a statement from BCPS.

“This is possible because of new guidance from the Baltimore County Department of
Health, which provides flexibility from some aspects of the Centers for Disease Control guidelines. To aid and support the safety of our student athletes and staff, we will only allow one spectator per athlete when competition resumes. Information on how spectators can access a ticket will be forthcoming from each school’s athletics office. As always, we will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates and more information as necessary.”

Fire Reported at White Marsh Commons Apartments


-photo courtesy of White Marsh Volunteer Fire Company-

Baltimore County Fire Department reported an apartment fire last night at the White Marsh Commons Apartments in Middle River.

Crew reported multiple apartment complexes were part of the fire.

The fire was reported Saturday, March 6 around 10:22 a.m. and had been contained at 11:10 p.m.

One adult victim was transported by EMS crews for smoke inhalation.