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Featured Writers

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Melena DiNenna

I am a journalist who specializes in copy editing and fact-checking. I also have experience in reporting, photojournalism, research & analysis, data visualization and basic coding & design. Navigate my …

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Callan Tansill-Suddath

Journalist and producer based in Maryland.

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Rayonna Burton-Jernigan

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Julie Depenbrock

I am an award-winning reporter and public radio producer. My work has appeared in The Washington Post, NPR, Education Week, WAMU and DCist. As a former teacher, I bring unique …

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Ryan E. Little

Ryan Little is an award-winning data journalist at The Baltimore Banner, where he uses computational tools to tell powerful stories about the people and experiences found in large data sets. …

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Latest Articles

McElderry Park Community Association seeks to help displaced residents

Development and real estate is picking up in McElderry Park, a struggling East Baltimore neighborhood, but community activist Ernest Smith fears the development will force low-income people to leave the neighborhood. “When people begin to redevelop the homes and properties, many times those properties are being redeveloped at prices that …
By Esther Frances
• CNS Maryland

Fatal vehicle crashes in Maryland spike during pandemic despite less people on the road

During the pandemic, fatal vehicle accidents in Maryland were higher than in previous years, reflective of a national trend. So far this year, the data shows that trend is continuing. The total number of crashes in the years leading up to the pandemic fluctuated between around 120,000 and 115,000 per …
By Melena DiNenna
• CNS Maryland

Higher education enrollment faced unprecedented drop during COVID-19 pandemic

Undergraduate and graduate enrollment in public four-year universities has decreased during the pandemic and community college enrollment has seen an even more dramatic decline. As the pandemic led to financial uncertainty across the country and caused colleges to make changes to class delivery, student life and other services, students were …
By Melena DiNenna
• CNS Maryland

Students level the playing fields at California high school

In Vista, California, heroes wear softball uniforms. Their names: Danielle Ellis and Sydney Prenatt. Ellis and Prenatt resist such praise. But at Rancho Buena Vista High School, where the pair were teammates on the Longhorns softball team for four years before graduating in 2018, that’s exactly how they’re remembered. “They …
By Ashkan Motamedi
• CNS Maryland

Public school enrollment decreases during pandemic

As a grassroots, volunteer-based organization that connects homeschoolers across the state, the Maryland Homeschool Association (MDHSA) has been tracking data collected by the state education department on homeschooling rates for nearly 20 years. It always tended to fluctuate seemingly randomly, said founder Alessa Keener, never changing by more than 9%. …
By Melena DiNenna
• CNS Maryland

Hoyer proposes $9 billion trust fund to help reverse global deforestation

WASHINGTON – Following up on one of President Joe Biden’s pledges to combat climate change, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at ending global deforestation, creating a $9 billion trust fund to assist developing countries.
By
• CNS Maryland

Hoyer proposes $9 billion trust fund to help reverse global deforestation

WASHINGTON – Following up on one of President Joe Biden’s pledges to combat climate change, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at ending global deforestation, creating a $9 billion trust fund to assist developing countries. “Addressing the critical challenge of deforestation is an issue I …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

Hoyer proposes $9 billion trust fund to help reverse global deforestation

WASHINGTON – Following up on one of President Joe Biden’s pledges to combat climate change, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at ending global deforestation, creating a $9 billion trust fund to assist developing countries. “Addressing the critical challenge of deforestation is an issue I …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

Supreme Court hears arguments on Texas abortion law Monday

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Monday over a Texas law that relies on private citizens to help enforce restrictions on most abortions. Laws like the Texas Heartbeat Act go against the nearly 50-year-old precedent set by Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case in which the …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

As millions quit jobs for new opportunities, ‘Great Resignation’ shows no signs of waning

WASHINGTON – From 6 p.m. to 3 a.m., Janika Bates was attending to her jam-packed schedule as a digital producer for Turner Sports, which included watching sports games into the early morning hours, editing game highlights and posting segments of the athletes’ press conference interviews online. After leaving her job …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

Abortion bans disproportionately impact marginalized communities, activists say

WASHINGTON – As reproductive rights are being restricted in nearly two dozen states, marginalized communities, including people of color and LGBTQ people, are being disproportionately impacted, according to activists. A variety of abortion restrictions have been passed in 21 states, with others pending in state legislatures, according to data assembled …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

Maryland schools eagerly await COVID vaccine OK for kids

WASHINGTON — Maryland schools are gearing up for potential Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for 5- to 11-year-olds. Mohammed Choudhury, Maryland state superintendent of schools, told Capital News Service in an email that the vaccine is the best defense against the COVID-19 pandemic. …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

D.C. pro-choice march demands protection for women’s rights

WASHINGTON – Thousands rallied here Saturday in support of reproductive rights. Speakers warned that after almost five decades, abortions once again could become illegal at the whim of Republican state legislatures or the conservative majority on the Supreme Court. “It is our job to turn pain into purpose, to turn …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

With eyes on Texas and Supreme Court, pro-choice advocates to march in D.C. Saturday

WASHINGTON – Advocates for reproductive rights are planning to rally Saturday in the nation’s capital, a gathering that is expected to put the spotlight on the new anti-abortion law in Texas and a key abortion case that will come before the Supreme Court in December.
By
• CNS Maryland

With eyes on Texas and Supreme Court, pro-choice advocates to march in D.C. Saturday

WASHINGTON – Advocates for reproductive rights are planning to rally Saturday in the nation’s capital, a gathering that is expected to put the spotlight on the new anti-abortion law in Texas and a key abortion case that will come before the Supreme Court in December. “The goal of this march …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

U.S. Capitol fencing returns ahead of January 6 riot defendants rally

This story has been updated as of 10:07 a.m. Wednesday. WASHINGTON — Security fencing was installed Wednesday around the United States Capitol Building ahead of a Saturday rally supporting those jailed in connection with the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The Capitol Police Board on Monday approved a plan to temporarily …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

Baseball fans reflect on national anthem following Povich Center-CDCE-Post poll

A heavy rainstorm washed out the Frederick Keys’ home-opener last Wednesday night at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium. But one ritual went off as planned – the singing of the national anthem. Keys’ broadcaster JJ Michalski performed the anthem moments before rain pelted the announced crowd of 3,500. Amy …
By Jennifer Mandato
• CNS Maryland

As Walmart sales soared, workers got scant COVID-19 protection from OSHA

Sandra Kunz had been worried for her safety while working as a cashier at the Walmart in Aurora, Colorado, during the pandemic, her sister, Paula Spellman, said. The 72-year-old had lung disease, Spellman said. She was “feeling uncomfortable because so many people (were) coming in with coughs.” But Kunz didn’t …
By
• CNS Maryland

US deems migrant seafood workers ‘essential’ but limits their COVID-19 protections

FISHING CREEK, Maryland — For thousands of miles and over two days in April, 59 workers from Mexico traveled together on a bus — despite the pandemic — to their legal, seasonal jobs as crabmeat pickers and seafood processors in Maryland’s rural islands. Lindy’s Seafood, the wholesale crab and oyster …
By Brittany Gaddy
• CNS Maryland

Biden: ‘America is on the move again’; wants $2 trillion to aid families

In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to pass a nearly $2 trillion plan to help American families – spending that would build on his administration’s efforts during his first 100 days in office to end the coronavirus pandemic and …
By Jennifer Mandato
• CNS Maryland