Montgomery County is the beast that beats them among Maryland’s local governments. Its budget proposal is a whopping $7.1 billion, more than the combined spending plans for Anne Arundel, Howard and Frederick — plus seven of the state’s 16 smaller counties. Why should you care? What happens there affects the rest of us.







The 125th anniversary of Duke Ellington’s birth presents an opportunity for the Peabody Conservatory to ensure that another generation of musicians appreciates the meaning and significance of his work, says trumpeter and composer Sean Jones, who chairs Peabody’s jazz program.








Millions of oysters have been planted in recent years on a reef below the surface at the abandoned Fort Carroll in Baltimore Harbor, the Maryland oyster restoration coordinator at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation says.