The county’s Department of Health and Human Services has been awarded a two-year, $3.7 million grant to provide support for Mobile Crisis Outreach Teams and the Crisis Center, expanding intervention services to those with mental illness or a disorder due to substance abuse.
The county’s Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security issued a Heat Emergency Alert that will begin at noon today, Aug. 11, and continue through 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12. A Heat Emergency Alert, a step above Tuesday’s Hyperthermia Alert, means that the heat index is forecast to be 105° F or higher.
As promised, County Executive Marc Elrich yesterday vetoed a bill that would establish a business improvement district in Silver Spring. In response, seven County Council members vowed to override the veto when the council returned in September.
The City of Takoma Park has begun the installation of sidewalks featuring poetry from local residents, as part of an interactive public art project organized by the City’s Arts and Humanities Division. The poems were chosen in a contest held earlier this year, with the winners receiving a $100 award in addition to their poetry stamped in sidewalks around Takoma Park.
The County Council, sitting as the Board of Health, yesterday voted unanimously to reinstate a mandate requiring all residents, regardless of vaccination status to wear masks indoors. The vote followed recommendations from County Executive Marc Elrich and County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles to take the action.
The county’s Department of Transportation is planning to create a crowd-sourced app that will give riders and DOT’s central dispatch real-time information on the status of bus routes and passenger counts.
The County Council, sitting as the Board of Health, this week will consider a regulation that would mandate mask wearing indoors under certain circumstances, as the delta variant of the coronavirus has caused an increase in the number of reported infected people.
The County Council yesterday approved a zoning text amendment intended to facilitate deployment of small-cell antennas to provide 5G wireless technology. Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 19-07, Telecommunications Towers – Limited Use, would allow antennas on utility and light poles that would offer 5G’s faster speeds, enhanced reliability and greater capacity for wireless users.
The county’s Department of Permitting Services will launch a pilot program designed to expedite the process of getting permits for residential solar installation. The program will pilot the Solar Automated Permit Processing (SolarAPP+), developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.