Julie Scharper

Anne Arundel County got caught off guard by ‘devastating’ development moratorium Elected officials, economic leaders and other analysts were all caught off guard by a potential five-year development moratorium in the part of Anne Arundel County surrounding BWI, Arundel Mills and j...

There's a stretch of Maryland that's next to BWI and just north of Fort Meade. It holds housing, the Arundel Mills mall and has been targeted for growth and development.

And it's under a complete development moratorium that seems to have come without warning. Read more in @thebaltimorebanner.com —

How a Hopkins professor’s mushroom trip led to 1,000 paintings of cigarettes While participating in a Johns Hopkins Medicine study on mushroom-derived psilocybin, and the drug’s ability to curb addictive behaviors, the local writing professor discovered he loves to paint cigar...

By Wesley Case: All the smokes: How a Hopkins professor’s mushroom trip led to 1,000 paintings of cigarettes. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Baltimore’s top educator wants to end the iPad kid epidemic Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises announced strict screen time limits for kindergarten through second grade students.

Kids in the "iPad generation" have grown more reliant on screens at home and in school since the pandemic.

The head of Baltimore's public schools has had enough. She introduced screen time and digital device limits, though she doesn't think they go far enough.

www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

Thanks, Laura! I love seeing how passionate your fans are. And of course I did write an article about you when you joined us for the Banner Book Club last fall. www.thebanner.com/culture/book...

Nope, it was me! 47-year-old lifelong Baltimorean, journalist for 20 years. As I mentioned in the article, the list was not meant to be exhaustive. I tried to put together some interesting facts about a diverse group of writers from various eras. I left out many great writers, including Laura.

Check out the interesting hometown authors who prove Baltimore is a literary town Baltimore’s complex history, moody weather and idiosyncratic residents have been inspiring writers for hundreds of years.

To celebrate #AWP26, I compiled some of my favorite stories about Baltimore writers, including Ta-Nehisi Coates’ dad’s press, Gertrude Stein’s neighborhood love triangle and the house Zelda Fitzgerald caught on fire. www.thebanner.com/culture/book...

Also, @awpwriter.org this week!!! Don’t miss it!! #AWP26

If you are coming to Baltimore for #AWP26 you should know that we have:

1) a kickass two story radical bookstore
2) a worker owned vegan restaurant, coffee shop, and bar
3) a packed schedule of evening offsite events with 20 presses and 100+ authors redemmas.org/awp/

Toad is buried under the covers in bed. From "Spring" In *Frog and Toad Are Friends*

Toad went back into the house. He got into bed and pulled the covers over his head again.

Ex-Harford County sheriff’s deputy sentenced for sexually exploiting 2 children Ryan Hall, 51, of Woodbine, who was on the force for 27 years, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to two counts of sexual exploitation of children.

Ex-Harford County sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 36 years for sexually exploiting 2 children. (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Streeter: How the city handles potholes explains why Baltimore streets are so bad COLUMN | Baltimore City is working to fill the potholes, but it feels like they’re literally patching the problem for a temporary fix.

So I wrote about the Baltimore potholes, because yikes. www.thebanner.com/opinion/colu...

Hundreds of Panamanian golden frogs are breeding in a closed-to-the-public section of the @marylandzoo.bsky.social in an effort to save them from extinction. Soon, zoo workers plan to bring some back to Panama…

Maryland Zoo helped save Panama’s golden frogs. The journey home brings hope — and risk. For more than two decades, the Maryland Zoo has functioned as a sort of Noah’s Ark for Panamanian golden frogs, which were wiped out in the wild by a fungus that raced across the globe in the early 20...

Now zoo officials are preparing to bring frogs back to Panama to live outside for the first time…

www.thebanner.com/economy/scie...

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The Maryland Zoo created a paradise of amphibian aphrodisiacs for the frogs, and the few dozen who arrived have spawned hundreds of descendants. 🐸 🐸 🐸 🐸 🐸 🐸 🐸 🐸

The Maryland Zoo is now home the world’s largest population of golden frogs outside Panama. ☀️ 🐸

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A hopeful story in a bleak time…

In the early 2000s, as a lethal fungus was descending on Panama’s cloud forests, scientists sent the region’s beloved golden frogs to zoos around the world 🍄‍🟫 🐸 ✈️ (1 of 3)

ICE vehicles gone from Baltimore’s Symphony Center parking garage About 50 new law enforcement vehicles had been stored in the garage in Baltimore’s Midtown-Belvedere neighborhood.

ICE vehicles gone from Baltimore’s Symphony Center parking garage

It was great to meet you last night and see the documentary!!!

Did you look up your senator? Did their answer surprise you? Drop me a message. DMs open. Email brenda.wintrode@thebanner.com

When immigrants can’t leave their homes, this reading expert comes to the door Amid a federal immigration crackdown, scared families are avoiding public spaces and staying home. Norma Montesino is one of the few people they’ll let in.

A little bit of happy for your Wed. morning: We've been reporting for months that the federal immigration crackdown is keeping some scared immigrant families from venturing outside their homes. Norma Montesino is the bilingual Santa Claus bringing reading to them. www.thebanner.com/education/ea...

How do you define downtown Baltimore? Draw it and show us. Depending on how you draw its boundaries, downtown Baltimore is either a depressing and increasingly empty collection of tall buildings, or it’s a dynamic and diverse community poised for success.

No one seems to agree on what "downtown Baltimore" actually is.

Is it a narrow strip of land near the harbor? Does it include Mount Vernon? The @thebaltimorebanner.com office?

Help us figure this out!

Use our new tool to draw what you think of as downtown:

www.thebanner.com/economy/grow...

How a rediscovered Baltimore Bible provides a glimpse into Black history In September 1885, Winnie Harris wrote her last will and testament in the pages of a leather-bound, gilded Bible. About 140 years later, that Bible, now an official government record, was rediscovered...

A snow day read: Who is Winnie Harris? She wrote her will in the pages of a Bible. It became a state record, $ now it lives at the Maryland State Archives — where what she wrote & other records give a glimpse into Black life in Baltimore shortly after emancipation.
More in @thebaltimorebanner.com

Column: Baltimore County public school students have only had two full weeks of school since winter began on Dec. 20. Now it’s the fourth week of February and parents are tired. buff.ly/Mc8BDwk

Snow covers Ocean City beaches as winter storm wallops Eastern Shore In Ocean City, the snow — more of a flaky sludge, really — began Sunday evening, and it didn’t just fall. Rather, it whipped through the air propelled by gusts strong enough to knock over pedestrians.

Snow covers Ocean City beaches as winter storm wallops Eastern Shore

The "death ball" is taking over pro ball 💀

It might just be the pitch that helps top Orioles pitching prospect Trey Gibson reach the big leagues

In ‘Black Genius,’ writer examines everyday brilliance of Black Americans In his debut book, ‘Black Genius,’ culture critic Tre Johnson examines the everyday brilliance of Black people in America.

@thebaltimorebanner.com Book Club is Tuesday, with author Tre Johnson discussing his debut book "Black Genius" with @tramonlucas.bsky.social www.thebanner.com/culture/book...

Scharper: Could the children please have a full week of school? COLUMN | Baltimore County public school students have only had two full weeks of school since winter began on Dec. 20. Now it’s the fourth week of February and parents are tired.

I love my children so much my heart could burst. I would walk through fire for them. But I cannot make them another round of quesadillas. www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

The mystery of Baltimore's missing tiger’s head A 100-year-old tiger's head disappeared from the Maryland Club in December.

By @juliemore19.bsky.social: Who took the tiger’s head from the Maryland Club? (via @thebaltimorebanner.com)

Since 1892, ‘The Afro’ Has Confronted Injustice and Celebrated Black Culture This year, the longest-running Black-owned family newspaper in the U.S. moves its offices and rich archives into West Baltimore’s historic Upton Mansion.

The longest-running Black-owned family newspaper and the third-oldest Black-owned business in the U.S today, The Baltimore Afro American's beginnings in the aftermath of Reconstruction—and its staying power—are almost impossible to wrap one’s head around.

Federal lease of Hunt Valley building sparks concerns about ICE Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier is calling an emergency County Council session after reports that ICE will open legal offices in Hunt Valley.

Is an ICE legal office opening in Hunt Valley? Baltimore County executive calls emergency council meeting after federal lease news. www.thebanner.com/politics-pow...

A stunning 1942 photo of a couple inspired a search for a Baltimore love story How a photo sent a reporter on a quest to find a complicated love story in Baltimore.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

For nearly two years, this photo has lived rent free in my mind.

I finally got to find out what happened to Ellin and Franklin, the former Frederick Douglass High School students whose spark electrified this photo from 1942.

www.thebanner.com/community/fa...