The D.C. Responsible Rat Management Coalition has launched a yearlong study in the Kingman Park neighborhood. The study will use two methods to try to bring the rodents under control. These include cutting food sources and introducing a new rodent contraceptive.

Trying birth control for rats isn’t completely new. The D.C. Department of Health announced it was piloting the use of a rat contraceptive in its blitz on rats in April. Max Broad, executive director of D.C. Voters for Animals told WTOP, “I do have to applaud them for trying something novel.” But he pointed out that unlike D.C. government’s efforts, the Coalition won’t be employing rodenticides.

“We’re trying a new contraceptive 鈥� it’s an edible contraceptive 鈥� from the fertility nonprofit called Wisdom Goodworks,” Broad said. How does anyone get a rat to take birth control? Broad explained that it’s been designed with the rat palate in mind 鈥� and to be more attractive than the food scraps that rats root around for in and around trash cans across the District.

In terms of whether the contraceptives actually work, Broad said, “We’re still really understanding these contraceptives and how effective they are, and that’s why we’re doing this research study.” But he said, “I’m hopeful that their work shows some positive results.”

Broad said no rat abatement effort is complete without attacking a problem that humans have control over: food waste and how it’s handled. “There are two methods of prevention,” he said. “One is better sanitation and the other is exclusion, excluding rats from getting into trash cans and these buildings where they can take harbor.”

The rat population Broad said, “is going to get bigger and bigger as long as we feed them with food in our trash.” Rats “can produce litters of 8-to-10 pups every couple of months,” and one of the drivers of that is an easy to access food supply, he said.

Among the advice Broad has for residents, he said to try to reduce the amount of food waste you generate, and compost as much as you can using D.C.’s secured composting stations. He also advises “waiting until pickup day” to put any food waste in the trash.

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Voters can cast their ballots from June 11 through June 18. Election Day is June 23.

The early voting process gets underway days after the State Board of Elections outlined an updated set of guidelines on how mail-in ballots will be tabulated.

The state board held a meeting on Tuesday after more than 437,000 mail-in ballots had to be replaced last month due to an error by the vendor that sent out the ballots.

That mistake led to voters getting the wrong ballot: An undetermined number of voters got ballots that didn’t match their party registration, so the replacements were sent out.

David Naimon, president of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, said in last week’s briefing with Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich that voters have had questions about the replacement ballots and the potential impact on the tabulation process.

“We’re getting a lot of questions about that,” said Naimon. “A lot of good information about this and other subjects is available at the county website” he said, noting it could be accessed by going to .

There are 14 early voting sites in Montgomery County from June 11 to June 18.

Lawrence Halloran, a substitute member of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, emphasized that no vote will be counted twice, noting that the state-issued replacement ballots have a unique bar code.

Halloran said that if a voter sent in their original ballot, and then filled out the replacement ballot, “we know it’s a second ballot. The first one is put aside. It’s not counted unless and until it’s determined that nothing else has come in from that voter.”

Halloran, a Republican, emphasized that the precautions in making sure that ballots are secured and counted accurately “are not new processes.” He continued, “There’s always replacement ballots. Voters ask for a replacement if they spilled coffee on it, if they destroy it,” or if they filled out a ballot incorrectly.

“So we know how to replace ballots, we know how to track the first one, and the second one, and make sure only one gets counted,” he said.

Halloran added that the processes are tried and true and that “the safeguards and procedures are well-established and they are firmly in place.”

Naimon, a Democrat, pointed out that when the canvassing process begins, they can only be opened by bipartisan teams at the public mail-in ballot canvass. The deadline for counting ballots is July 6 at 10 a.m.

Halloran had advice for voters who may be frustrated by the ballot printing snafu, saying, “the best recourse” is to take that replacement ballot and either mail it, take it to a drop box, an early voting site, or your local voting precinct.

If a voter who signed up for the mail in ballot then decides to vote in-person, they’ll have to fill out a provisional ballot, and Halloran said, an added form to fill out, and it won’t be tabulated until after the July 6 deadline.

“So, it’s best to really get that replacement ballot and vote it,” Halloran said.

Naimon had some advice for making the process as easy as possible: “If you do choose to vote in person for early voting, the busiest time is the last day, especially in the last hours of the last day.” The least busy times, he said are on Saturday and Sunday.

“During early voting,” he said, “you can check the current wait times on our website or by texting EV and your ZIP code to 77788.”

On Election Day, Naimon said the first few hours after the polls open are the busiest times.

Naimon also made the pitch to get more election judges to work the polls. “We definitely still need more election judges,” he said.

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“Extreme heat 鈥� it’s not just a physical story, it’s a mental health story,” said Dr. Lorenzo Norris,聽the senior associate dean for education and an associate professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

He told WTOP that people are most familiar with winter weather and its effects on mood and mental well-being.

“We definitely know that extreme heat can increase irritability, frustration and anger,” said Norris, adding that research on the effects included a JAMA study that showed an increase in mental health-related visits to emergency departments during hot weather events.

Extreme high temperatures can also increase anxiety, Norris said.

“Heat can also cause a disruption in our sleep. That for me is massive, because sleep disruption can pretty much affect everything,” he said.

Another symptom people may experience on the hottest days of summer, said Norris: “Studies have been shown it can affect your attention, your cognition.”

“All of these things, in and of themselves, can exacerbate mental health conditions,” he said.

When patients notice the negative effects on their mental health, Norris said, they should seek the care of a medical professional.

Norris is eager to help patients recognize the importance of paying attention to heat and its impact on their mental health.

If patients don’t understand that high temperatures can cause or exacerbate those feelings, “We’re not going to take the necessary precautions to make sure that we are practicing good self-care, hydrating ourselves, staying cool, checking on each other,” he said.

Older patients and people with existing mental health conditions are at the highest risk of experiencing those symptoms and seeing them worsen, said Norris.

“First and foremost, if you’re experiencing significant mental health symptoms of any type, you should actually be working to speak with a health professional,” he said, and that could include calling 311 to be connected with local services or calling 911 when needed.

Aside from checking in with a health professional, patients can make sure they have access to cool environments and check their hydration levels.

“Dehydration plus extreme heat is a very big problem and then the third thing is, and I will continue to harp on this, because heat does affect sleep 鈥� protect your sleep,” Norris said.

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The funds cover the same items that are eligible under the SNAP or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including fruits, vegetables and meat.

The idea, D.C. Department of Human Services Director Rachel Pierre said, “is to make sure that healthy meals are going to families.”

An estimated 72,000 children will get the benefit this summer in the District.

“We are confident that the vast majority of children are automatically enrolled,” she said.

Still, Pierre urges recipients in the District to and verify their benefits are up to date.

In Maryland, enrollees can check their status on . Families in Virginia can .

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Topics ranged from the local economy to data centers to safety in schools.

Will Jawando, one of the three Democrats on the County Council running to lead the county for the next four years, said more needs to be done to support small businesses.

They continue to face a number of barriers like “complicated regulation, the fees are too high, someone says yes, the other person at permitting says no,” Jawando said.

Lowering the barriers, he said, “will be an important role for the county executive who appoints the heads of agencies, like permitting, like procurement.”

On data centers, Council member Evan Glass told the crowd that he sponsored legislation to create a task force to study their impact. That legislation failed to gain any co-sponsors.

“When I introduced the six-month pause, again, there were no co-sponsors. I introduced six months to get something done, not to make a headline,” Glass said

“I propose that they generate their own energy to protect your energy bill. I don’t think we should socialize the cost on each of us while they privatize the benefits,” County Council member Andrew Friedson said.,

Asked about public safety, specifically as it relates to young people, Friedson also said they needed to “address mental health issues” and ensure after-school programs.

“We have been working on that, we have to do more, but it requires an all-hands-on deck approach,” he said.

Republican Esther Wells said that when it comes to teen takeovers, she would “take a look at the parents and the families to understand and provide accountability.”

“If we are going to provide these families with free housing, free daycare, free healthcare, free food, that they need to ensure that the children that they are entrusted with that they know where they are,” she said.

The other two Democrats running for Montgomery County’s top job have technology backgrounds.

Mithun Banerjee said he would “create an environmental committee that works” and have “global and local leaders” to ensure environmental protection.

Peter James, the owner of a robotics and artificial intelligence business, said if he were elected, he would “create a paradise.”

“There will be no traffic. I will eliminate that,” he said, adding that he’d generate “hundreds of billions of dollars of income” for county residents.

Shelly Skolnick, the other Republican running for county executive, did not attend the candidates’ forum at Rockville’s Temple Beth Ami.

The Maryland primary is June 23. Early, in-person voting begins June 11 and will continue through June 18.

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Metro launched the “Fares Pay for Service” campaign on May 24 in an effort to deter people from boarding its buses without paying.

About 70% of Metrobus riders skip the fares, Metro said.

Metro General Manager Randy Clarke previously said that without the campaign to prevent fare evasion, Metro would lose out on an estimated $50 million in revenue this year.

The effort to get people to pay for rides has included instructing bus operators to remind riders the fare is $2.25. Reduced fares are available for seniors, students, riders with disabilities and people eligible for SNAP benefits.

Metro Transit Police, not drivers, will take action if riders do not pay, Clarke said.

鈥淧eople will pay the fare, or they will be taken off the bus. If they refuse to comply with the officer, they will be arrested. They鈥檙e not going to be arrested for fare evasion. They鈥檙e going to be arrested for failure to comply or other things,鈥� Clarke said.

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Addressing Montgomery County Board of Education board members who attended the ceremony Tuesday, “you saw my kid and every trans kid get outed in the commencement program,” Mendelsohn said.

“This publication hurt my child, and this is their last memory of MCPS,” she said. Murmurs of sympathy could be heard from the audience.

“My child, who has been known only by their chosen name for five years, officially, in all public school documents, was outed as having a very different name,” Mendelsohn told WTOP.

Under , staff are directed to adopt practices to avoid the inadvertent disclosure of a student’s gender and legal name when they differ from information in the school system’s gender identity intake form.

Mendelsohn said the child had filed Form 560-80 as an eighth grader.

“The school’s error in publishing my student’s birth name for their classmates, families, school staff, and the public to see violates the spirit, certainly, of MCPS policy,” she said at the board meeting.

When Mendelsohn addressed the board Thursday, she said that wasn’t the only time that her child was “outed” at school.

“Teachers typically have called the legal name of each student in that room in order to individually distribute exam tickets or tests, so before each PSAT, SAT, IB, AP, MCAP, whatever, they’re outed,” she said.

“My kid has turned somersaults to try to prevent this from happening,” she told the board.

Her child would try to arrive early to an exam room to collect their test ticket and avoid having their legal name called. Or, “they would delay until all the other students had collected their test tickets, and walk up and say ‘that one’s mine,'” she said in an interview.

Now, Mendelsohn wants to ensure that does not happen to other students.

School board members expressing sympathy and upset included president Grace Rivera-Oven, vice president Brenda Wolff, Laura Stewart and Rita Montoya.

“That is extremely alarming and concerning, and I apologize, Ms. Mendelsohn, I apologize,” Montoya said.

“It is disturbing, especially this being Pride Month. And so, we need to stand by our values, and I think that includes looking at our processes” surrounding the use of preferred names, Stewart told her colleagues.

In her interview with WTOP, Mendelsohn stressed that her child had a good experience with the school system overall.

“They have completely fond memories of Einstein High School. Their lovely friends, many lovely teachers,” Mendelsohn said. But “for them, it’s not a simple experience, getting through school.”

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Among jobs being cut are 43 social workers and 27 pupil personnel workers, specialists trained to advocate for students and work with schools on issues such as attendance, discipline and homelessness.

Some positions, like college and career navigators and school psychologists, were saved from elimination after further review by the board before Thursday’s meeting.

Board of Education President Grace Rivera-Oven was tearful as she told the packed hearing room that the board members struggled with the vote.

“This is incredibly personal, excruciating and painful,” she said.

Board member Julie Yang, who’s running for Montgomery County Council, also struggled to maintain her composure as she told the crowd, “The truth is, there is no way to reduce a budget by this magnitude without impacting people.”

“We have to make these painful decisions, and we cannot shy from that responsibility,” school board Vice President Brenda Wolff said.

But a member of the audience shouted a question to the board. Citing the shooting at Wootton High School in February, when school staff including social workers provided support to students, he asked, “Who’s going to support next year’s students?”

The crowd burst into applause.

The budget approved by the school board followed the Montgomery County Council’s approval of a $7.9 billion dollar spending plan that included $3.7 billion for the school system.

Superintendent Thomas Taylor had requested a budget increase of $179 million over last year’s allocation, citing increased expenses and mandatory expenses tied to the state’s Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a sweeping reform plan.

The council did not fully fund the school system’s request, but did increase school spending by $143 million, leaving MCPS $36 million short of its requested spending plan.

“This is a budget that creates more problems than it solves,” Taylor told the school board before Thursday’s vote, noting that some one-time funding mechanisms leave challenges for next year’s school spending plans.

The budget passed with a 7-1 vote. Voting no, school board member Rita Montoya said the school system should have looked harder for ways to avoid cutting existing jobs that have a direct impact on students.

“Because I cannot look you 鈥� our community in the eye and say that I feel that we’ve done that, I cannot support this budget,” Montoya said to enthusiastic applause.

Board member Laura Stewart told the crowd that as tough as this budget process has been, “Guess what? Next year is going to be harder. Next year we will continue to look at cuts. This is the reality we are in,” she said.

Before the vote, parents, students and staff members appealed to the school board to protect jobs that provide direct services to students.

Ayana Manzanares, a clinical social worker the cuts would not reduce the needs of students.

Students come to school with issues like suicidal thoughts, depression, anxiety, she said, and “today’s vote is not what MCPS can afford, it is about what MCPS is willing to risk.”

Students joined staff members to comment before the board vote.

“Support staff are often the first to notice whenever a student is struggling,” Grant Nelson, an 11th grader at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, said.

David Stern, the president of the Montgomery County Education Association, which represents thousands of classroom teachers and school staff, said he was relieved to see some jobs saved.

However, Stein told WTOP that the school system is “chronically underfunded” despite budget increases.

“We are not back to a per-pupil funding that we were in 2009 before the Great Recession,” Stein said.

Looking ahead, Stein agreed with Taylor that next year will be “very, very, very difficult.” And he suggested an all-hands on deck approach to school funding.

“I think there’s some work that our partners at the state government need to be doing in order to be giving revenue flexibility to the counties,” he said. “We cannot continue to be in this cycle of cutting, cutting, cutting and then wondering why services are not being provided to our students and our families.”

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It all started with a lunchtime meetup of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Student Government Association.

The SGA members were brainstorming on who to get to speak at their 2026 commencement exercises.

That’s when Noah Grosberg said to his classmates, “Maybe we should just try for someone big,” and the first person who came to mind was former first lady Michelle Obama.

Grosberg explained that he thought she was a good choice because, “I know that she’s such a proponent of youth advocacy and really empowering younger generations.”

So the social media campaign by the Class of 2026 began with a simple pitch of Grosberg declaring, “This is day one” of trying to get Michelle Obama to speak to their class.

Then, the pitches became more elaborate. “The B-CC Administration really embraced it,” said Grosberg, adding that each post gained steam with a few views to hundreds of thousands of views.

And a wider swath of the B-CC community got involved. In one post, staged on the school’s sports field, Grosberg dashed from one group of students to another, pointing out the Poms, B-CC Cheer, the Ritmo Latino dance group, B-CC Moves, the hip-hop dance team and the B-CC Chamber Choir.

Grosberg said he knew it was a long shot, but couldn’t resist trying: “Always dream big, and always try hard, and fully express yourselves no matter what.”

Then, he recalls, the students got word after months of trying that the former first lady would be delivering a message 鈥� virtually 鈥� at their graduation. But there was a little caveat: “We had to keep it a secret,” said Grosberg.

So on Monday, June 1, when Grosberg stood in front of his graduating class at the commencement, he shared a message with his classmates.

“The truth is the biggest moments in life always begin the same way. With somebody willing to look ridiculous, somebody willing to speak first, to try first, to care first.” Grosberg said. “Ladies and gentlemen, a special message from the former first lady of the United States of America, Mrs. Michelle Obama.”

Recalling that moment, Grosberg said, “It was awesome. I got goose bumps on my arms” and he listened to the roaring crowd as Michelle Obama began her address by congratulating the graduates on their accomplishments and noting how committed they were to getting her to speak. She said, “Getting your chamber singers serenading me.”

Obama told the students, “I want to share what brings me hope. And the answer is simple: it’s you. Young leaders like you who aren’t afraid speak your mind and refuse to give up when the going gets tough.”

She continued, “You showed me, even with just a few videos 鈥� a lesson we can all use right now. That with enough persistence, creativity and belief, we all can still achieve anything we set our minds to.”

Before concluding her speech, she told the students, “Best of luck as you go forward, and of course 鈥� roll ‘Rons!”

Grosberg explained that last comment by explaining that the name of the school’s sports teams is the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons and “Roll ‘Rons!” is the school’s cheer.

“It was honestly awesome,” said Grosberg. “Because she made it super personalized, and ‘Roll ‘Rons’ at the end 鈥� that was great.”

Grosberg is headed to the University of Michigan with plans to major in history.

“I don’t really know exactly what I want to do” as a career, he said. “I know it sounds a little cliche, but I would like to help people if I can, whether that’s through public service or politics or something else.”

But it’s something Grosberg looks forward to exploring.

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And Kate Heald holds one of those jobs.

Heald is a college and career navigator at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School. She’s one of 27 school system employees in charge of helping students with their college and career search.

Heald’s work doesn’t stop with the college selection process. Like her colleagues across the school system, she then works to help students and their families figure out how to pay for their post-high school education.

The board has been presented a list of positions that could be eliminated by school Superintendent Thomas Taylor with, a move that Taylor made after the county council approved all but $36 million of the school system’s proposed budget increase.

Heald is a 12-month employee and often provides transportation for kids who otherwise couldn’t get to college interview appointments and makes sure that a translator is available for meetings for those students whose families need that service.

“I truly care about these kids and believe that our youth are going to make this country a better place,” Heald told WTOP.

She said that the class of 2026 was “a phenomenal graduating class,” not just because of their academic accomplishments, but because of the way they cared for and supported each other over their four years in high school.

“This is a kind class,” Heald said.

At the graduation ceremony Monday, class president Donovan Hicks told the crowd to give a hand to the teachers who helped them learn and grow in the past four years.

And then, Hicks gave a special mention to “our counselors, who pushed us to try harder classes, and carried us through the college process. Special shout out to Mrs. Heald and to everyone else who was always in our corner,” he said, which led to an applause that rang out in the auditorium.

“I started to cry, I mean it’s just 鈥� it’s the proudest, most amazing moment that 鈥� it’s very hard to describe,” Heald said.

Prior to graduation, Heald said students, who had been aware of the potential elimination of Heald’s job, had been stopping by her office.

“They were streaming into my office,” she said, asking what they could do. “Kids that I didn’t even really know” told her that they’d reached out to the school board ahead of Thursday’s meeting.

Heald said she’s made up her mind that whatever happens and will make peace with it.

“I am fairly close to retirement,” she said. “I feel sorry for the young people that are just getting started. The job market’s really tough right now.”

Heald said she doesn’t blame the county council or the school board for the situation that could result in job losses. “I don’t envy them, I think it’s a very difficult decision” that the board faces, she said.

As she closes out the school year, Heald said she’s savoring the good news that students she’d worked with have gotten. One student who experienced a family loss, but has won multiple scholarships, and another who won a scholarship to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.

“She blew me a kiss” at graduation, said Heald, “and I got tears in my eyes,” tears of joy.

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Before signing the bills, Elrich told a gathering at the Executive Office Building in Rockville it’s important for the county’s immigrant population to know they’re safe and that, “We’re here to help you and not put obstacles in your way.”

The bills seek to restrict U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a number of ways.

The Montgomery County Values Act, Elrich said, “basically directs the county executive to develop and publish guidance for all county agencies. It prohibits the use of county-owned parking lots and properties as staging areas or processing locations for civil immigration enforcement and it creates a public reporting mechanism for violations.”

Council member Kristin Mink, who led the council on the bill, responded to questions about ICE enforcement actions.

“That has been happening since before I wrote the bill, and it was the reason I wrote the bill,” Mink said. “We know that ICE stages in parking lots, both county and nonpublic parking lots.”

At the bill signing, County Council President Natali Fani-Gonz谩lez, who pushed through the Trust Act, legislation that prohibits county employees and agencies from asking or collecting information on an individual’s immigration status, pointed out “over 30% of the people who live in this county, they’re immigrants, just like me.”

Three of the bills were expedited to take effect as soon as they were signed into law.

Bill 5-26, the Unmask ICE Act, bars any law enforcement agency, with some exceptions, from wearing masks in the course of their duties.

“It shows that we care about our residents and that we are going to fight with every tool we have. If we’ve got to go to court, we’ll go to court, because our residents are worth fighting for,” Council member Will Jawando, the son of immigrants, said.

Jawando was referring to the potential for legal challenges based on whether a local government can regulate the operations of a federal entity.

Bill 13-26, the ICE Out Act, bars the county from issuing building permits or occupancy permits for privately owned detention facilities. That bill was sponsored by Council member Evan Glass, who cited the proposed conversion of a warehouse into an immigration detention facility in Washington County.

“We proactively stood up and said, ‘We will not let that happen here,'” said Glass, who said the county wanted to reassure immigrants that they are “welcome, safe and seen.”

Both Jawando and Glass are running for Montgomery County executive.

Another bill, Bill 14-26, was sponsored by Council member Kate Stewart. That bill 鈥� now signed into law 鈥� seeks to make recovering a vehicle less of an obstacle for families whose loved one is taken into custody from their car.

Stewart said constituents let her office know that when immigrants were detained by ICE, their vehicles were left by the roadside, and towed.

“As family members are dealing with locating, reaching, trying to figure out where their loved ones were taken, at the same time they had to figure out where their vehicles were,” Stewart said.

And once the vehicles were found, Stewart said, “if their names were not on the title, that they could not get the car out of impoundment.”

The bill removes that obstacle by broadening the documentation a family member or household member would need to release the vehicle.

At one point during the bill signing, lawmakers and Elrich were asked about whether the new laws make it more difficult for law enforcement agents and officers to do their jobs. Fani-Gonz谩lez said the council consulted with local law enforcement.

Montgomery County Police Chief Marc Yamada was at the news conference when the Trust Act was introduced, and Fani-Gonz谩lez said the legislation was supported “because they understand that in order for the police to do their job, people need to feel safe and trust police officers.”

“I’m proud that they have been with us 100%,” she said.

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“The devastating damage caused by the severe statewide freeze requires a unified and coordinated response to restabilize our farming community,” Moore said in the directive.

“The April freeze caused catastrophic damage to commodity and perennial crops, leading to historic losses in fruit and grape yields that will result in a multiyear recovery cycle for vines and orchards,” Moore said.

In a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins earlier in the week, Moore requested emergency loans and other federal aid. Apple, peach and barley crops were near total losses in some jurisdictions, he wrote.

Under Moore’s directive, the Maryland’s Department of Agriculture is to waive the regulations mandating that Class 4 wineries source at least 51% of their ingredients from in-state producers or have 20 more acres in cultivation.

The agency is also to facilitate distribution of all available federal disaster funds, and encourage Maryland institutions, organizations food banks and consumers to buy local products whenever possible to support farms and agricultural businesses.

The governor also directed the state Department of the Environment to prioritize applications for water permits for agricultural production.

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They ranked third in the nation in their students’ reading recovery rates, and were fifth in math recovery, according to the from Harvard and Stanford Universities and Dartmouth College.

D.C. led the U.S. in math and reading recovery.

The data聽was presented at the Maryland State Board of Education meeting Thursday.

Trish Brennan-Gac, executive director of literacy nonprofit Maryland READS, said the state board is correct to celebrate gains in reading, but proficiency is “nowhere near where we need to be.”

“It is not that we are No. 3-ranked in reading proficiency,” she told WTOP. “It’s a rate of change, and we are making a faster rate of change,” than most school districts nationally.

Brennan-Gac was at the meeting to ask that the state board consider ways to reduce the use of technology in classroom instruction and support a return to print and textbooks in schools.

“This is no longer a fringe concern. It is a growing movement, and it’s not about social media and phones,” she told the board.

Brennan-Gac said the board and Maryland schools superintendent Carey Wright can take a “visible meaningful leadership role.”

“You can develop transition guidance and funding pathways for districts that are ready to move now, and send a clear signal to the field that Maryland prioritizes developmentally appropriate instruction aligned to brain research that shows how books, not tech-based platforms, are effective in wiring kids’ brains for reading,” she said.

The Maryland State Department of Education has issued guidance to school districts on the use of cellphones in schools, and this year issued guidance on the use of artificial intelligence. In both instances, the state has made clear that it leaves implementation of policies to individual school districts.

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Gabe Albornoz, the director for the department, told WTOP that opening up the pools is just the start of what the county can offer this summer.

He knows that in the current economy, many teenagers are looking for extra income.

“We know that we need to do more, and youth employment is an area that we are particularly interested in investing more in,” Albornoz said.

“Many of our summer camp positions are filled at this point, but we still do have some positions available in aquatics,” he said. “We’re always looking for lifeguards,” and while that requires certification, Albornoz said, those jobs pay well and, “We can help with the certification process.”

As the summer season gets underway, Albornoz said there’s also been a focus on providing programming for teenagers in an attempt to avoid massive gatherings or so-called “teen takeovers.”

“We do want to flood the zone with as many programs as possible,” he said, “particularly in areas where youth have a harder time accessing transportation.”

Albornoz also said older teenagers often want less structured activities.

“More often than not, they’re just looking for a safe place to hang out with a caring adult helping to oversee and making sure that everything’s fine,” he said. “We do have extended hours of drop-in use at our recreation centers to meet that need.”

There are 23 rec centers across the county, which also offer a variety of structured activities from sports to arts and more.

The key to making those a success, said Albornoz, is asking teens for their input.

“Teenagers who work on our staff through our Teen Works programs provide real-time input on what’s cool, what’s not cool, what’s going to work,” he said.

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In his letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Moore pointed out that some counties lost 99% of the peach crop, for example. He also wrote that according to the Maryland Wineries Association, there was a total loss for 36% of grape acreage.

“Swift action is essential to provide for the stability Maryland’s farmers need to recover from this catastrophe and prepare for the next growing season,” Moore wrote.

Moore’s request for the disaster declaration follows one made by the Maryland Farm Bureau on May 14. In that letter, Maryland Farm Bureau President Jamie Raley wrote, “Maryland farmers are resilient, but they cannot weather this storm alone.”

Parker Welch, executive director of the Maryland Farm Bureau, told WTOP that assessments of the scope of the losses are still being calculated.

“We’ve had some farms say they’ve lost upwards to $2 million to 100% of their expected profit for the year,” Welch said.

He also said that in discussions with farmers and with researchers at the University of Maryland, “Several had the comment that it was the worst they’d seen in their career whether that was their research career or their farming career.”

Welch explained the importance of getting a disaster declaration by saying that it “unlocks a lot of resources for losses and damages” that Maryland’s farming families have suffered.

Along with grapes grown for Maryland’s wineries, Welch said crop losses included “strawberries, blueberries, apples, peaches, a lot of those pick-your-own products that people enjoy going out to the farm and picking.”

The Maryland Farm Bureau represents 7,000 farm families across the state, and Welch said when it comes to agriculture, “I think sometimes it’s lost on Marylanders that it’s still the state’s number one commercial industry and contributes more than $8 billion to the economy each year.”

Between the freeze in April, when overnight temperatures plummeted at a time when young crops were at a vulnerable stage, and drought conditions that existed into the spring, Welch said a “perfect storm” of conditions worked against farmers.

Welch urged consumers to visit farms in their area to purchase produce that is available and urged patience if they don’t see what they’d normally be looking for at this time of year.

Asked about whether he’s optimistic that Maryland will get the disaster designation it’s looking for, Welch pointed out that Rollins was in Pennsylvania Tuesday and signed a disaster declaration for 17 counties. So when it comes to Maryland, Welch said, “We will remain hopeful.”

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