Free Kid Flicks from the NY International Children's Festival, courtesy of the Detroit Institute of Arts, through Dec 31st.

 

As your families gather around the table this holiday season, the DIA encourages you to enjoy three programs of inspiring short films, presented in partnership with the New York International Children’s Film Festival. These amazing short film programs from around the world are sure to inspire delight, curiosity, and conversation for viewers big and small.

With animation, live-action, and documentary films from 14 countries, NYICFF Kid Flicks programs open windows into the world, reflecting a diversity of styles, cultures, and themes that will give your family plenty of inspiration and conversation long after the programs are done.

Programs

• Kid Ficks One, in English, no dialogue, or with brief English subtitles, is perfect for ages 5+! Tickets >(opens in new window)
• Kids Flicks Two, in English and other languages with English subtitles, is perfect for ages 8+! Tickets >(opens in new window)
• Viva Kid Flicks features Spanish language short films with English subtitles for ages 8+! Tickets >(opens in new window)

For full program listing, please visit https://watch.nyicff.org/(opens in new window) 

Use the discount code DFTFam on the payment page to enjoy each of the Kid Flix films for free while tickets last, courtesy of the DIA.

Registration with Elevant, a virtual screening platform, is required.

Maryland political titan Mike Miller resigns from state Senate as cancer worsens

 Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a towering political force in Maryland for five decades, resigned from the state Senate Wednesday, saying his health was failing and he no longer had the strength to serve.

Miller (D-Calvert), 78, was elected to the Senate in 1974 and served as Senate president for 33 years, longer than any one else in the country...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/mike-miller-cancer-resign/2020/12/23/5baf9174-4526-11eb-975c-d17b8815a66d_story.html

Maryland PTA President Charged With Stealing From DC Veteran

The president of the Maryland PTA faces a criminal charge and is accused of stealing money from a Southeast Washington, D.C., military veteran to pay her own bills, including her cable and internet expenses.  

Court filings reviewed by the News4 I-Team say LaTonja Carrera stole money from the account of the veteran at a mental health facility in D.C. in 2019, where the veteran lived and where Carrera served as an administrator.    

An attorney for the Maryland PTA said Carrera has served as president of the state PTA for nearly a month and remains on the job pending the outcome of the criminal case...

https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/maryland-pta-president-charged-with-stealing-from-dc-veteran/2512835/?amp&fbclid=IwAR3GbF8u50Os7h5kM5iu8LTM-cX94swEKD80uv8mXG7J9VEaOcGSCw1czo4

Virginia man faces felony charges of kidnapping, child abduction, soliciting child pornography from a minor and meeting a child from California for the intention of sex.

A Virginia man who has made several tries for public office and has advocated white supremacy, pedophilia and rape is in police custody for what authorities are calling an “extremely disturbing” kidnapping plot involving a 12-year-old California girl.

Nathan Daniel Larson, 40, who once ran as an independent for Congress in Virginia, is in custody in Denver, where he is facing a misdemeanor charge of harboring a minor, Sheriff Margaret Mims of Fresno County, Calif., said during a news conference Saturday morning.

Larson, of Catlett, Va., was intercepted by law enforcement officers during a layover on a cross-country flight to D.C., Mims said. He is to appear before a judge in Denver on Thursday, when an extradition request is expected to be filed to return him to California. There, he faces felony charges of kidnapping, child abduction, soliciting child pornography from a minor and meeting a child for the intention of sex...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/12/19/virginian-arrested-kidnapping-12-year-old-calif-girl/

MCPS Now Reporting 222 Staff COVID-19 Positive and 44 Staff Currently Quarantined

 

Previous COVID Positive Staff Cases and Quarantined totals. 

With data presumed unrecoverable, Baltimore County Schools scramble to recover from cyber attack

 

With student transcripts, ID numbers, state test scores and more apparently destroyed, the hackers’ stranglehold on student data is far worse that school officials have acknowledged

Baltimore County Schools won praise for restarting student learning after last month’s cyber attack. But behind the scenes, the system is still reeling from the assault, including its devastating impact on students’ educational records.

Some student records are “presumed completely unrecoverable,” a Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) employee with information about the attack’s impact told The Brew.

“SIS [the Student Information System] is toast,” said the employee, who spoke under the condition of anonymity...

...It was a fast comeback for the district, but numerous practical problems remained, among them a complication for school staff who are required by law to report suspected child abuse to authorities.

With student directory information missing – coupled with staff working from home – employees have found themselves scrambling to obtain phone numbers and addresses for the children they are required to help...

https://www.baltimorebrew.com/2020/12/18/with-data-presumed-unrecoverable-baltimore-county-schools-scramble-to-recover-from-cyber-attack/

WMHS: Students infected with COVID-19 share their experiences with the virus

...However, there are many different precautions to take to avoid testing positive for this virus. “Don’t go hang with your friends at Target, don’t go to parties, etc. It is absolutely worth it, I promise,” Wicker said. “Wear a mask whenever you leave the house. When you come back from being out and about, it’s a good idea to change your clothes so that any germs you were exposed to don’t stay on your body.”..

https://wmcurrent.com/26982/showcase/students-infected-with-covid-19-share-their-experiences-with-the-virus/

Howard County parents file lawsuit challenging student school board member’s voting rights

 

Two Howard County Public School System parents have filed a lawsuit to strip the student school board member’s right to vote on issues before the board, after the student cast a deciding vote to keep schools from returning to in-person classes.

The lawsuit, filed in Howard County Circuit Court, argues giving a high school student the right to vote on school board decisions violates Maryland’s constitution because the student is not 18 years old and is not eligible to vote in elections or to hold an elected office...

https://www.baltimoresun.com/education/bs-md-student-board-lawsuit-20201216-hu6yi6nz2jas5lr7vsojncofjq-story.html?fbclid=IwAR3aZurI7BjBpxH_hiTK8fr7s8EFqdlW77f5CSJwMjoIJUtvpXcnA99U-B4

Anne Arundel BOE used Pandemic to railroad through approvals for elementary school cell tower without allowing all stakeholders to be heard.

Janet Holbrook: Work begins on Shady Side cell tower under cover of the coronavirus pandemic | COMMENTARY

...Residents and parents from Shady Side allied with an existing community organization, South Arundel Citizens for Responsible Development, to oppose a tower on the grounds of the elementary school.  They were successful in pausing the Board of Education’s consideration of the cell tower in December 2018.

However under-the-cloak of the pandemic, the cell tower was approved at the May 20, BOE meeting.  Public comments for that meeting were allowed via email only and had to be submitted prior to discussion due to the pandemic. It is notable that in the midst of an unprecedented school crisis an issue unrelated to the educational mission of the BOE was prioritized for attention.

To add insult to injury after the BOE also voted to transfer the forest conservation easement for the property to Milestone (the contractor for the tower), Planning and Zoning granted Milestone a modification that allows them to disregard the forest conservation easement. The grading permit was approved early October without a requirement for mitigation of the effects on forested land...

...Shame on the BOE for using the pandemic to railroad through approvals without allowing all stakeholders to be heard. The BOE should halt the project until all appeals have been heard, the citizens who worked so hard on behalf of their community deserve that much respect.

https://www.capitalgazette.com/opinion/columns/ac-ce-column-janet-holbrook-20201207-20201206-gd7ciysoj5c5xiggruzfkvvgk4-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1R2iIOG0rG2bJKGVUYHmSxG05ndG2Wpooc1Uq7riuvH7Nmg-yx0d5qTMM

#MontgomeryCollege will remain remote for spring 2021.

#MontgomeryCollege will remain remote for spring 2021. Read President Pollard's full statement at https://t.co/GRtGtRmYvg pic.twitter.com/McDKSOzlCh

— Montgomery College (@montgomerycoll) December 16, 2020

Maryland man pleads guilty to sex offense involving 14-year-old

...In court Monday, Garrett described a series of events he said would have been established had the case gone to trial.

In July 2019, when Johnson was 22, he began talking online with the girl. The next month, Garrett said, Johnson went to the girl’s apartment for the first time, while her mother wasn’t home, and engaged in sex acts.

Earlier coverage: Johnson indicted on multiple counts in case

Two days later, her father noticed bruises on her neck and asked how she got them, Garrett said. The answer prompted him to call police...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/guilty-plea-sex-offense-marland/2020/12/14/1a2e1508-3e29-11eb-8bc0-ae155bee4aff_story.html

MCPS Now Reporting 207 Staff COVID-19 Positive and 41 Staff Currently Quarantined

 

Previous COVID Positive Staff Cases and Quarantined totals. 

Note: Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine not approved for children under 16 years of age

This fact was mentioned at Governor Larry Hogan's press conference today. 

...Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in persons aged ≥16 years for the prevention of COVID-19...

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6950e2.htm?s_cid=mm6950e2_x

MD House Committee to Discuss Transparency of Mont. Co. Housing Opportunities Commission Today

The Montgomery County House Education, Elections, and Housing Committe (EEH) committee meets today at 11am  to discuss the a bill to require the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission to provide transparency to the meetings of its committees. It 

The meeting will be streamed on the Montgomery County Delegation's YouTube channel.

https://youtu.be/cKUVOpHibx4

Education, Elections, and Housing Committee:

This committee works on all local legislation and policy positions related to public education and school financing.
Delegate Emily Shetty, Chair
Delegate Vaughn Stewart, Vice Chair
Delegate Kumar Barve
Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr
Delegate Bonnie Cullison
Delegate Pam Queen

MD Lawmakers also might pursue transparency mandate for Housing Opportunities Commission

 

Bill limiting landlords’ eviction powers considered by Montgomery County delegation

...Lawmakers reviewed other bills at a similar public hearing a week earlier.

During Tuesday’s hearing, a measure forcing the Housing Opportunities Commission and its committees to hold more meetings in public drew support from speakers critical of the entity’s handling of meetings and a controversy involving the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition.

Several members of the coalition were particularly pointed in their criticism, saying the HOC refuses to talk to them about their attempts to preserve a historically Black cemetery in the Westbard community.

Del. Al Carr (D-Kensington), the bill sponsor, was more specific in describing the intent of the legislation, saying that more than 100 private HOC meetings in five years had violated the state’s Open Meetings Act. He called the openness requirements in the bill an attempt “to restore public trust.”

The HOC is a government-funded entity that works on affordable-housing issues. Carr said it has about $300 million in annual revenues...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/government/bill-limiting-landlords-eviction-powers-considered-by-montgomery-county-delegation/

[County Exec] Olszewski Troubled By Contact Made With BCPS Hackers Without Consulting Police

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski sent a scathing letter Friday to the county school superintendent, charging his response to the November 24 cyberattack on the school system has been disjointed and ineffective.

In the letter to Superintendent Darryl Williams, obtained by WYPR, Olszewski accuses school officials of not fully cooperating with the county police department in its criminal investigation. In the letter, Olszewski said law enforcement was not involved in a decision by the school system or its third party consultants to contact the attackers...

https://www.wypr.org/post/olszewski-troubled-contact-made-bcps-hackers-without-consulting-police?fbclid=IwAR0cK0JY3FpT4PdCd--etyZHZ3PmdPA7DkGhv1xI7AZLnprKQu1qRarI2JQ

Baltimore County Public Schools ransomware by Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland on Scribd

Baltimore County executive says school officials are refusing to provide information about ransomware attack

 Baltimore County school officials have refused to share information with local police, the county attorney and state information technology experts about the catastrophic cyberattack that hit its systems last month, County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said Friday.

In a highly critical letter sent to schools Superintendent Darryl Williams, the Democratic county executive called it “troubling” that school officials are not cooperating with county police, who want access to third-party consultants retained by the county school system to analyze the ransomware attack.

Also, “law enforcement was not involved in the decision made by either BCPS or its third party consultants to contact the attackers,” Olszewski wrote.

School officials have repeatedly declined to comment on whether they are in communication with the hackers.

In a letter responding to the county executive, Williams said his team has been communicating with the FBI “throughout the process.”..

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-letter-superintendent-20201212-24akcxywgnfwxgsfdu4kpyoz4y-story.html

WBAL: Olszewski calls out BCPS superintendent on ransomware; Williams responds

TOWSON, Md. —

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski sent a scathing letter to the school superintendent over the handling of the ransomware cyberattack.

Olszewski is calling out Superintendent Darryl Williams for not taking the help he offered in the days after a ransomware cyberattack hit the district and, the county executive asserts, for not cooperating with the police. Williams disputed the county executive's assertions in his own letter.

 https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-county-public-schools-not-accepting-help-to-address-ransomware-johnny-olszewski-says/34948477

In-person learning now considered 'high risk' by CDC - CommonWealth Magazine

In-person learning now considered 'high risk' by CDC - CommonWealth Magazine: THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL and Prevention quietly removed controversial guidelines from its website promoting in-person learning in schools, and instead is now listing it as “high risk. The disputed guidance was composed of documents written by political appointees outside of the agency. One of the documents stated that children appear to be at lower(...)

Germany Locks Down Ahead of Christmas as Coronavirus Deaths Rise

Stores and schools will be closed, and public and private meetings will be restricted over the holidays, in an effort to bring down coronavirus infections and deaths.

BERLIN — Germans will be forced into a strict lockdown over Christmas, after weeks of milder restrictions on public life failed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, leading to record numbers of new infections and deaths, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Sunday.

Starting on Wednesday, nonessential stores, schools and hairdressers will be required to close, and companies will be encouraged to offer employees an extended holiday break or allow them to work from home. The number of people allowed to meet privately — including over Christmas — will also be further tightened. New Year’s celebrations outdoors will be all but prohibited, with the sale of fireworks and gatherings in public both banned...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/world/europe/germany-lockdown-christmas-covid.html?campaign_id=174&emc=edit_csb_20201214&instance_id=25026&nl=coronavirus-schools-briefing&regi_id=69030530&segment_id=46882&te=1&user_id=5d9b4cfa875663665040837f3744d4a7