The events will commemorate the date 鈥� April 16, 1862 鈥� when President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act.

The law abolished slavery in the District. But as the name suggests, it also compensated slave owners for freeing the people they held in bondage.

As a result of the act, Emancipation Act, more than 3,000 formerly enslaved residents of D.C. were freed.

Lincoln went on to issue the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, freeing more enslaved people 鈥� but only those in states that had seceded from the Union.

Years before Lincoln acted, there were efforts to abolish slavery in the District. The says in April 1848, abolitionists William Chaplin and Daniel Drayton hired Edward Sayres, the captain of the Pearl schooner, to carry out an escape plan for 77 enslaved men, women and children.

The three had joined with three freed Black men 鈥� Daniel Bell, Samuel Edmonson, and Paul Jennings 鈥� who are credited with coming up with the plan to bring the large group to freedom by sailing down the Potomac into the Chesapeake Bay, and ultimately north.

While the 77 people were able to slip out of their homes to the schooner moored at what is now D.C’. s Wharf, weather, and by at least one historical account, human actions, would scuttle the plan.

Judlyne Lilly-Gibson, a playwright 鈥� and a former news anchor at 海角精品黑料 鈥� wrote a play, “The Pearl” that told the story of the ill-fated escape. The play was staged at DC’s Source Theatre in 1992.

Lilly-Gibson drew on historical accounts of a Black freedman, Judson Diggs, being pushed by furious slave owners to tell them where the fugitives were headed.

Lilly-Gibson went to every performance, and she said the moment Diggs gives up the escapee’s plans drew the same reaction, without fail.

“The audience just went ‘Ugh!’ You know, they were so upset.” Lilly-Gibson said.

The Pearl made it as far as Point Lookout in Southern Maryland before a ship carrying a posse bent on capturing the escapees overtook the fleeing vessel.

The enslaved people were captured and returned to the District. They were shackled and paraded through the streets of D.C.

Days of rioting followed, with abolitionists attacked for their opposition to slavery, and many of the escapees people placed back in bondage and sold to plantations in the South.

Abolitionists tried to buy the freedom of some of the original 77 escapees, among them Ellen Stewart, who is described by the White House Historical Association as a teenager and one of former first lady Dolley Madison’s slaves.

Lilly-Gibson said reading the histories of the enslaved people and telling the story of freedom snatched away from the passengers on the Pearl provided plenty of gut punches.

“I was like, oh my God, this is horrible,” she said.

After researching the play, Lilly-Gibson said she looked at D.C.’s landmarks differently.

For example, the figure on top of the U.S. Capitol included the labor of Paul Reid, an enslaved man whose training as an artisan was cited in the casting and mounting of the statue.

“Her name is Freedom. That’s the irony,” Lilly-Gibson said.

While those stories may seem long ago and far away, the days of slavery are just a few generations old. Lilly-Gibson’s grandmother was born in the 1880s.

“Her parents were slaves, and she would tell me stories about, you know, what life was like for them,” she said.

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James Mulhern III, a 43-year-old media technician at the high school, faces a charge of sex abuse of a minor in connection with the recorded images, according to Montgomery County police.

According to a news release from the police department, the images came to light after two students spotted a camera in a control booth at the high school’s theater.

One of the students reportedly discovered images of a man placing the camera in the girl’s changing room after viewing the images on the camera’s memory card. The same memory card also contained images of girls dressing for a theater performance in the girls’ changing room.

Police said the student who viewed the images mailed the videos to school principal Nicole Morgan.

Morgan notified parents in an email Thursday, and without naming Mulhern, said the employee implicated in the case had been placed on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Morgan included a link to the , which named Mulhern.

Police said that searches of the school and Mulhern’s Clarksburg home were carried out on Wednesday, and that items “of evidentiary value were recovered.”

Police said the investigation is ongoing.

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The mayor’s office announced that the nightly curfew would begin at 11 p.m. on Thursday and continue until the expiration of the emergency on May 1. The new curfew rules apply to youth under the age of 18.

Bowser said previously that she intended a declare a mayoral emergency to revive the measure. The move is intended to provide a bridge to the next D.C. Council meeting on April 21, where the issue is expected to come up for a vote.

Bowser repeated her support yesterday for the Juvenile Curfew Second Temporary Amendment Act of 2025. That amendment gives authority to D.C. police to establish juvenile curfew zones in designated areas from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The zoned approach is intended to stop mass gatherings of teens in places such as the Navy Yard, where so-called “teen takeovers” have often erupted into fights and led to arrests.

Under the bill that was in effect until April 15, anyone under the age of 18 who gathers in groups of nine or more in designated zones would be in violation of the curfew. According to the provision, the parents or guardians of children under the age of 18 could be fined up to $500 or be assigned community service if a child in their care violates the curfew.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Bowser said the curfew strategy is a necessary tool.

“It’s not the only tool, but we need it,” she said. “When we have a curfew zone and we tell children not to take over an area, it has worked.”

There have been a number of exceptions to the zone curfews.

Teenagers under 18 would be exempt if they are accompanied by a parent, are completing an errand for an adult, riding in a car, on their way to or from work or are attending or leaving any activity sponsored by the D.C. government or a civic organization. They would also be exempt if they were exercising their First Amendment rights.

D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto, who, like the mayor, said the curfews serve as one tool against juvenile crime and violence, is expected to ask her colleagues on the council to pass a permanent version of the bill when the next legislative meeting is held April 21.

Opponents of the curfew say there’s little evidence to suggest that they actually work.

“They’re not proven to reduce crime. What we know is that what they can do is displace crime rather than preventing it altogether,” Riya Saha Shah, CEO of the told 海角精品黑料.

Saha Shah also said that curfews can lead to “more young people being pulled into the criminal legal system 鈥� because children are being surveilled and stopped for things that ordinarily they wouldn’t be.”

Curfews also serve to “criminalize” homeless teens for being outside when they don’t have a place to go, “because they are unhoused,” she said.

Some of the debate over curfews spills over to whether young people have enough outlets for constructive activities. D.C.’s Department of Parks and Recreation has ramped up programming for kids and teenagers to help aid that exact concern.

But Saha Shah said what many people take for granted 鈥� the ability to gather informally in public places 鈥� is often denied to teenagers.

“We’re criminalizing kids being out and about anywhere now, through these curfews,” she said. “When I was a teenager, that’s what we did. We just hung out outside the movie theater or outside the grocery store or something. That’s what children do.”

海角精品黑料’s Jeffery Leon contributed to this story.

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The graffiti referenced the man who carried out the Sandy Hook shooting that left 26 people dead, and appeared on the property of Bradley Hills Elementary School in Bethesda on Saturday.

Days before, a shed on the school property had been set on fire. Police said the teenage boy, a student at Walt Whitman High School, is charged in that incident as well.

He was taken into police custody Wednesday morning, according to a . A search of his home turned up what police said were “items of evidentiary value.”

The teen faces charges including two counts of second-degree arson, first-degree malicious burning, malicious destruction of property and threats of mass violence. He also faces a charge of altering physical evidence.

“These incidents have unsettled the community, causing fear and anxiety for families with kids who attend the school, staff members who work there, and neighbors,” County Executive Marc Elrich wrote in a statement. “We don鈥檛 know what motivated these terrible actions, but we all need to take them seriously.”

Police from Montgomery County’s Second District, which includes Bethesda, will continue patrols around the Bradley Hills, but police said there is “no ongoing threat to the school or the public” tied to the case.

Police said the case will be handled by the Department of Juvenile Services.

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In the days before the session ended, when Gov. Wes Moore signed his nearly $71 billion budget into law, Maryland House Minority Leader Jason Buckel said the five-year-old was putting unsustainable pressure on the budget.

“We can’t afford the Blueprint without massive middle class tax hikes, period,” he said in a statement.聽“We’re going to have to reform the Blueprint. We can’t afford the Blueprint. I’ve said it 5,000 times.”

“I don’t understand why my Democratic friends and colleagues can’t just admit it,” he added.

Budget projections by the Maryland Department of Legislative Services indicate the state’s structural deficit could balloon to as much as $4 billion by 2031.

Asked about Buckel’s statement, Maryland State Board of Education President Josh Michael told 海角精品黑料: “The Blueprint is a very ambitious investment in public education.”

“My focus is on making sure that those dollars are invested exceptionally well,” he said.

Part of the Blueprint’s efforts to attract and retain educators is a requirement that school districts set $60,000 as the floor for educator salaries by July 1.

In 2024, the Maryland Department of Education reported nearly 11% of teachers did not return to state classrooms.

Michael said his department would work with counties struggling to reach the new salary minimum.

“But our expectation at this point is that all are going to meet that minimum $60,000 standard,” he said.

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D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsay Appiah said at a recent meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments that there were two recent instances of “terrorist-type events in the District.”

Appiah was referring to the killings of two Israeli Embassy employees outside the Capital Jewish Museum in May and the shootings of two members of the West Virginia National Guard near the Farragut West Metro station in November. One of the service members died, the other was critically wounded.

“That has certainly heightened our planning and our awareness,” Appiah said, adding that public safety officials will coordinate with jurisdictions outside D.C. as well as federal agencies. “It’s been very important for us to work with the Department of Homeland Security to really assess what is the level of threat or risk in our planning.”

She explained that the Special Event Assessment Rating, or SEAR, is used to measure the need for federal and local interagency coordination. The planned events will receive SEAR ratings to help them evaluate the necessary security.

Appiah also said it’s likely that there will be a lot of coordination for mutual aid between area police chiefs and their agencies, and said it’s also likely to result in a lot of overtime.

Scott Boggs, who serves as MWCOG’s managing director of Homeland Security and Public Safety, said at Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Directors, “I’m working with Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia to deploy drone sensors to try to get some detection in place.”

He said the airspace over the region is “one of the critical vulnerabilities.”

“Right now, we’re focused on specific areas associated with America250,” Boggs said. “We’re trying to get things put in place before June 1.”

Boggs said a contract with Axon 鈥� the manufacturer of products ranging from Tasers to body-worn cameras and drones used by public safety agencies 鈥� will provide “detection as a service” that could feed information to the National Capital Region Coordination Center, which would in turn monitor regional airspace.

海角精品黑料 contacted MWCOG for further information, but was referred to Boggs’ statements at Tuesday’s meeting.

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For NASA’s Artemis II crew, the solution was to bring a variety of cameras to. Two Nikon cameras, an iPhone and a number of compact action cameras were included on the trip.

But what got photo blogs and message boards buzzing was the choice of a classic, the Nikon D5, an older model that’s no longer in production. Unlike today’s cameras, which are mirrorless, the Nikon D5 is a DSLR version that was first introduced in 2016.

Jack Peralta at ‘s Burke, Virginia location, explained that the D5 “was a very popular camera when it was around. It’s just a 20-megapixel camera, and it’s a little bit on the heavier side.”

It was considered a workhorse, “very easy to use, but very much a professional camera,” Peralta said.

Megapixels are the tiny dots that make up a digital image and enhance the resolution of the pictures you capture. In contrast to the D5, the iPhone 17 Pro that the Artemis crew is currently using is 48 megapixels.

Peralta said that photographers who want to upgrade their cameras will often trade these in.

“When we do get a D5 in, it will definitely go very quickly,” he said.

The Artemis crew also has a Nikon Z9 camera, a top-of the line mirrorless camera that many pros use now.

But a check of the shows that the older models are capable of taking spectacular images, something that could hearten those new to photography who may suffer sticker shock when looking at the latest cameras as they consider what to buy.

Of course, there’s constant debate over whether there’s a need for cameras in the age of mobile phones that are jam-packed with technology that allow users to capture images that are dazzling compared to years past.

To that, Peralta said when customers struggle to decide whether a camera is worth the investment, “I keep, on my phone, a picture that I’ve taken of something with the phone and with the camera, and show them the difference between the two.”

He said that’s often enough to tip the scales in the favor of a sale.

His advice to people brand new to cameras? Put more money into the lens quality, not the camera body.

“That (lens) adds a lot more to the quality of your pictures,” he said.

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At a meeting of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments board of directors, Kihn said was created with “displaced federal workers front and center,” and that it was a response to President Donald Trump’s administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, that called for the mass layoffs of government workers.

Kihn said the efforts made to assist displaced federal workers in finding work could be applied to the D.C. area’s future employment outlook.

“It wasn’t lost on anyone 鈥� that what we’re learning about how to handle displaced workers and disruptions to the labor market will be very, very important for us all as we look to the next two or three years of AI enablement in our economy,” he said.

Will Lopez, president of the said since the launch of Talent Capital, there have been over 100,000 unique users on the site.

“Currently, there’s about 83,000 unique active users on Talent Capital right now that are matching to over 65,000 job listings,” he said. “Now, we’re seeing an uptick in the conversations being around training opportunities and upscaling opportunities, specifically around project management, leadership and AI foundational skills as well.”

According to Lopez’s presentation to the board members, 42% of users are from Virginia, nearly 40% are from Maryland and just over 16% are from the District of Columbia.

As for what kind of industries are looking to hire, Lopez said health care leads the list, with 15,814 positions open; followed by engineering, with 6,646 positions being advertised on the site.

“This is specifically around cybersecurity,” Lopez said.

He also said that Talent Capital is able to provide a seamless process for applicants to be linked to skills training to prepare them for jobs in new careers.

“Starting in May, we are going to create virtual and asynchronous training around AI foundational skills, free of charge for all constituents across the region,” Lopez said.

One thing that’s lacking currently is the ability to determine how matches made on Talent Capital result in hires for applicants. That’s because Talent Capital doesn’t own the job postings. So once the applicants leave the Talent Capital website to apply, they can’t be tracked any further.

The hope, Lopez said, is that employers will start to use Talent Capital as their direct job posting site and then measure the success of jobs posted to matches that resulted in hires.

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D.C. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah said the behind-the-scenes planning begins long before . She noted the celebrations will run from spring when the National Jubilee of Prayer will be held May 17 to the Great American State Fair on the National Mall, which runs from June 25 to July 10.

Appiah said much of the focus will be on the Fourth of July celebration.

“The efforts by the organizers is to have it be the largest fireworks display in the 250-year history of America, and they are working with all jurisdictions, Maryland, Virginia and the District to make that happen,” Appiah said.

Appiah mentioned that the string of large-scale events come at what she called a time when “people have lots of feelings” about civic life in America.

“As much as that’s the case, it’s an honor,” she said. “It’s 250 years of America and however we feel or don’t feel, to be the nation’s capital, in the national capital region, to host the world, which we will do,” is an honor.

Michele Johnson, director of the , coached the attendees at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments board of directors meeting Wednesday on how to pronounce the nation’s 250th birthday.

“Repeat after me!” she said, breaking down the word. “Semi-quin-centennial!”

Johnson explained that Maryland 250 has three themes: history, civics and service. She then ran down a number of events across Maryland leading up to July 4, including Sail250, a gathering of tall ships, military vessels and an air show in Baltimore from June 24-30.

“We have a song. And I think we are the only state that has a 250 song,” Johnson said.

The song she’s referring to is “The Heart of Maryland” written and performed by singer-songwriter Jayla Elise, of Cambridge, Maryland.

After Johnson’s presentation, it was Gretchen Bulova’s turn to talk about the plans on behalf of .

“Memo to myself; Virginia needs a song,” and, recognizing Johnson, Bulova playfully said, “Thanks for that tip.”

Bulova described some of the ongoing events leading up to July 4, including mobile museums “with a mandate for every middle school child” to get a chance to visit and learn about what an informational video for the museums calls “a more complete picture of the American Revolution to citizens everywhere.”

Bulova also talked about events from Mount Vernon to Monticello.

“We’re very blessed with Founding Fathers and great museums.”

She posed the question, “What would be a commemoration without merch?” and pointed out, “Fairfax County is rolling out their Fairfax 250 wine in just a couple of weeks.”

All three spoke at Wednesday’s Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments board of directors meeting.

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“We said that we were going to invest in things that matter,” Moore said, ticking off priorities, such as public safety, education and energy cost relief. “And we said we were going to do it without raising taxes and without raising fees on the people of Maryland.”

“We said what we were going to do, and today, we’re thankful to stand on partnership and say 鈥� we did it,” he added.

Not only did the Moore administration avoid raising taxes or fees to balance the nearly $71 billion operating budget, but lawmakers in Annapolis were also able to come up with a plan that closed a $1.4 billion budget shortfall.

The ceremony came less than a week before the end of the Maryland General Assembly session is set to end.

“This is the fastest that we have moved a budget out of the Senate in recent years, a reflection of both the challenge in front of us and our continuing commitment to meeting it,” Senate President Bill Ferguson said.

House Speaker Joseline Pe帽a-Melnyk mentioned features in the budget that are designed to meet the concerns of Marylanders, including the high cost of energy.

“Thirty-seven million dollars will partially offset ratepayer costs in the limited income program. And we are including more than $300 million for the Office of Home Energy Program and $82 million for Maryland’s Energy Assistance program,” Pe帽a-Melnyk said.

The spending plan did employ “cost containment” strategies, such as cutting $127 million from the Department of Disabilities’ budget.

Members of the Republican Caucus commented on the spending plan signed by the governor, with House Minority Leader Jason Buckel explaining while he did vote for the budget, “Any budget that’s $71 billion has some things in that you like and some things in it that are really important, and probably has some things in it that you don’t like.”

He added the spending plan is “not a budget that any Republican ever would have crafted.”

While Moore touted that his plans avoided tax increases or new fees, the document doesn’t address the state’s structural deficit. And there are indications things may be tougher in what lawmakers refer to as the “out years,” or future spending plans.

In January, an analysis by the Department of Legislative Services indicated that without action, the state’s shortfall could balloon to as much as $4 billion by 2031.

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At the same time, Maryland’s , kicks off a season of classes so those motorcycle operators can hone their skills and stay safe on the road.

MOTORS is offered by the Maryland Highway Safety Office, Maryland State Police and 11 different police agencies combined.

According to MHSO, every year, nearly 80 motorcycle operators and passengers are killed in crashes and 1,000 are injured.

First Sgt. Brett Canfield with the Maryland State Police talked to 海角精品黑料 about the classes that begin April 16.

“We’ll actually even have the time to go outside and work on some slow-speed skills,” Canfield said.

There are 27 free classes scheduled between mid-April through the end of September, according to Canfield.

Each class runs for eight hours and includes classroom instruction and time on the road. The class will also include an hour-on-the-road assessment of each rider’s skills.

Canfield said whether motorcyclists have been riding for years or are brand new to hitting the highway on two wheels, he urges them to take the class.

“Motorcycling itself, in whatever form you’re riding, whether it’s a cruiser, a sport motorcycle or a touring bike, it’s a perishable skill. It’s almost like a sport,” he said.

“You have to practice to keep your level up.”

Canfield said he uses the acronym ATGATT to help riders keep some basic safety in mind before every ride: “It stands for ‘all the gear, all the time.'”

“So whether you’re getting on the motorcycle to run up to 7-Eleven for a soft drink, or you’re going to take that three or four-hour cruise to a special destination, make sure you’re wearing the proper riding attire to be seen by other motorists on the highway, and to protect yourself, should the worst happen,” he said.

Canfield said that includes a Department of Transportation-certified helmet along with clothing that protects the operator and makes them more visible to drivers of cars and trucks.

Drivers also play a role in road safety, he said.

“Drivers going up and down the road now just need to take that extra moment to look in their mirrors, both their rearview and their side mirrors,” he said.

And after that initial check, Canfield suggests that drivers “take the extra second to look one more time to verify that there’s not a motorcyclist beside them that they might have missed the first time.”

Drivers often complain that motorcycle operators use a maneuver called “lane splitting” to ride along the lines on the roadway between two cars.

“That is not legal in the state of Maryland,” Canfield said.

It’s also illegal in Virginia. The only state where it’s explicitly allowed is California.

Canfield said the classes are open to riders from neighboring states as well.

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That’s why as residents spend more time outdoors as the weather gets warmer.

First and foremost, said Jonathan Trudeau, the game mammal section leader for Maryland’s DNR Wildlife and Heritage Service, people should remember that black bears are powerful wild animals capable of moving fast, up to 35 miles per hour when motivated.

“So no matter how cute and cuddly they might appear, it’s important to ensure that if you see one, you give it plenty of space,” Trudeau said.

It has become increasingly common to see black bears heading into suburban areas as they emerge from their winter rest, a period biologists call torpor, Trudeau said. “Our black bear population is growing. It’s expanding, and our neighboring states are seeing similar expansion and growth in their black bear populations,” he said.

The bears have also learned to navigate what Trudeau called “green corridors” of parkland in suburban areas that provide cover and access to water. Increasingly, he said, the bears appear to be on the move at night. “It seems like some of these bears are starting to learn how to move through some of these more suburban, urbanized landscapes,” Trudeau said.

That means it’s more likely for humans to have contact with the big, hungry bears this time of year.

To avoid attracting bears to your yard, Trudeau said one of the first steps is to remove bird feeders. “Your birds don’t need it right now. They don’t need that bird seed, but a bear can get a lot of calories from that really quickly, and they remember where they got that food, so they’ll continuously come back,” he said.

Another thing homeowners should do is keep their grills clean. Lingering food odors from past cookouts can draw bears into backyards, Trudeau said.

“If you look at a bear, you look at how big their head is, they have itty-bitty, little teeny eyes,” Trudeau said. But like dogs, they have an exceptionally keen sense of smell.

If you spot bears when outdoors, appreciate the sighting 鈥� again, from a distance, Trudeau said. Most people don’t get to see them in the wild. “Only something like 10 or 12% of our residents have ever seen a bear. So enjoy that encounter. But again, respect that bear’s distance” he said.

If you find yourself closer than you would like, say on a trail, and you suddenly discover a bear, make your presence known, but remain calm, Trudeau said. “If it’s walking toward you, you just walk backward as slowly as you can.”

Because black bears tend to be more skittish than brown bears found out West, Trudeau said that making noise could scare them off. “If you have a whistle, blow your whistle,” loud noises, tend to deter them, he said.

Marylanders may recall a young black bear that drew attention across the D.C region last year. First captured in a Prince George’s County backyard on Memorial Day, the young male was relocated to a more suitable space in Western Maryland.

But that bear apparently didn’t enjoy the move and eventually made his way to Herndon, Virginia. Residents there nicknamed him Elden, after the street where he lingered. The bear was later tranquilized again and moved to an undisclosed location in Virginia.

One last reminder, Trudeau said, involves patio furniture cushions or hot tub covers. Bears may tear into them not out of vandalism but because those items emit scents similar to ant colonies, a natural source of food for the creatures. “So bears trying to tear into that stuff,” he said, believe they are “going to get a nice meal of ants.”

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At a news conference Monday morning, Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-Gonz谩lez, a naturalized citizen herself, described her experience.

“I was very nervous throughout the whole process,” Fani-Gonz谩lez said. “Not just during the time of presenting the application, but through the interview, doing the test,” she said.

Saturday’s clinic has already been booked up, but officials at Monday’s news conference announcing the clinic made clear it’s not a one-time event.

A waiting list is being compiled for people who would like to attend similar clinics in the future, according to Sonia Lin, legal director with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, who called the naturalization process “truly a life-changing journey.”

In Maryland, there are an estimated 150,000 people who would be eligible for citizenship, Lin said.

“Many, however, have concerns about the complexity of the process,” she said. “They don’t know how they can access affordable” assistance, and that can be a real barrier for many eligible residents.

Lin’s office, the Montgomery County Office of Community Partnerships, the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center and the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center are sponsoring the clinic Saturday.

The event will include screenings for eligibility with pro-bono legal assistance from the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center. Naznin Saifi, executive director of the center, stressed that Saturday’s clinic is “really the first step” in the process toward applying for citizenship. But the clinic is an important step, and she said each attendee would undergo a thorough screening process “to make sure there are no barriers to becoming a U.S. citizen.”

Some immigrants working toward their citizenship might have concerns about attending the session, given the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maryland and the public nature of the event.

“We’ve already passed the TRUST Act,” Fani-Gonz谩lez said, referring to the county law that requires ICE officials to have a signed order from a judge to access the county facility where the clinic will be held.

“Don’t let fear be an obstacle,” she said.

Anyone interested in future workshops and clinics can get in touch with the Gilchrist Immigrant Resource Center, which also has resources for those on the path to citizenship.

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The department is reminding Marylanders that state law limits the amount of nutrients that can be applied to lawns, whether it’s a lawn service doing the application or the homeowner themselves.

The law isn’t new. It was passed in 2013. But Miri Talabac, a horticulturist with the University of Maryland Extension in the said the goal is to limit the amount of nutrients that

While fertilizer 鈥� when applied correctly 鈥� can benefit lawns, Talabac explained, “as it trickles through the ecosystem and works its way into waterways, it’s a pollution problem.”

In Maryland, there have been public education campaigns aimed at homeowners on the impact that overuse of fertilizer can have on the Chesapeake Bay, but Talabac said those impacts extend beyond the Bay itself.

“Even if you’re not sure what watershed you fit into, maybe it’s not the Chesapeake Bay, the impacts you’re having on local ecosystem water sources is important, and that’s the focus of the law as well,” she said.

Fertilizer and nutrient runoff can harm “all of the beneficial insects, like dragonflies and things that prey on other insects that live in those waters, the birds that feed on them,” she said.

“It certainly has cascading (effects) and it starts on the local level,” she added.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture suggests skipping spring fertilizing, noting that fall is the best time to fertilize lawns that include fescues and Kentucky bluegrass. The department also recommends contacting Talabac’s workplace, the University of Maryland Extension, for soil testing to see what nutrients, if any, may be needed.

Part of Talabac’s job is answering the inquiries they get about lawn and garden care.

“We address any home gardener questions from around the entire state,” she said. “And we also prepare hundreds of webpages that we maintain about any home gardening topic.”

Talabac said some homeowners are rethinking not only their fertilizer use, but whether they would like to change from having a traditional lawn on their property.

“There is more of an acknowledgment of the environmental impacts. I’m seeing more interest in when it’s weed control, for example, avoiding herbicide use, and with lawns, maintaining them in a more sustainable way,” she said.

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One concern, said Colin Murphy, deputy chief of staff at the Maryland Department of Human Services, is whether taxpayers will dismiss it as a scam.

Murphy said state officials took isn’t deleted as a phishing attempt.

“First, we didn’t ask for any personal information in the text itself, and we referred people to a ‘.gov,’ a government website, to learn more,” Murphy said. “Second, we put a separate section up on our website explaining this, so that if somebody Googles it, they can find out that it’s a legitimate thing.”

He said the message is being posted on multiple platforms, “and we’re hoping that as people see it in more places, they become familiar with it.”

Murphy said as many as 500,000 Marylanders could be eligible for the credit, which he said “can reduce your tax bill by up to $4,000 or it can increase your refund by that amount.”

At the lower end of the scale, taxpayers making between $19,104 and $26,214 a year can qualify, depending on whether they file as single, head of household, married filing separately, widowed or married and filing jointly.

For families with three or more children, the income limits range from $61,555 to $68,675.

“This can apply definitely to families with children, and then also to somebody who might have worked part time, maybe only earned about $10,000 last year, would still be eligible for this,” he said.

Murphy said making sure that taxpayers get the benefits they are entitled to is more important than ever, and that the tax credit represents “real money” at a time when household budgets are tight.

Last year, Murphy said, “Almost 15% of the people who are eligible did not claim it. And so that’s almost 70,000 people that did not claim the Earned Income Tax Credit.”

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