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MD Retirement Costs Revealed In New Nationwide Ranking MD Retirement Costs Revealed In New Nationwide Ranking MD Retirement Costs Revealed In New Nationwide Ranking
MD Retirement Costs Revealed In New Nationwide Ranking Retirees in several Northeast states face some of the highest costs in the country, according to a new study. Retirement Living released its 2026 list of the most affordable states to retire, comparing all 50 states based on housing costs, everyday expenses, and tax-friendliness. The study looked at median rent for a one-bedroom home, median home sale prices, grocery spending, gas prices, and average Medicare Advantage premiums. Researchers also considered whether states tax Social Security benefits, along with income and property tax rates. "Affordability plays a major role in retire…

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by Chris Spiker
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Rabid Kitten Found Near Maryland Park Prompts Warning For Residents, Pet Owners Rabid Kitten Found Near Maryland Park Prompts Warning For Residents, Pet Owners Rabid Kitten Found Near Maryland Park Prompts Warning For Residents, Pet Owners
Rabid Kitten Found Near Maryland Park Prompts Warning For Residents, Pet Owners A tiny stray kitten is behind a big health warning in Maryland. A 6- to 7-week-old kitten found near Loys Station Park in Rocky Ridge tested positive for rabies on Friday, Oct. 2, prompting Frederick County health officials to search for anyone who may have come into contact with it. The black-and-white tuxedo kitten, which had a white mark on its head, was collected by Frederick County Animal Control on Thursday, Oct. 1. It had been showing aggressive behavior, a common symptom of rabies in cats, health officials said. Now, officials want to hear from anyone who may have had contact with…

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by Zak Failla
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Montgomery County Police Veteran Takes Over As Chief Of MDTA Police Montgomery County Police Veteran Takes Over As Chief Of MDTA Police Montgomery County Police Veteran Takes Over As Chief Of MDTA Police
Montgomery County Police Veteran Takes Over As Chief Of Mdta Police A longtime Maryland law enforcement veteran has officially started a new chapter at the top. Col. Nicholas Augustine was formally sworn in as chief of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police during a small ceremony at the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County on Friday morning, Oct. 2, the agency announced. The ceremony came after Augustine wrapped up a 24-year career with the Montgomery County Department of Police, where he rose through the ranks to assistant chief before leaving the department this week. Augustine began his law enforcement career with the Maryland-National Capital P…

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by Zak Failla
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Virginia Town Opens First Park With Direct Potomac River Access After 20-Year Wait Virginia Town Opens First Park With Direct Potomac River Access After 20-Year Wait Virginia Town Opens First Park With Direct Potomac River Access After 20-Year Wait
Virginia Town Opens First Park With Direct Potomac River Access After 20-Year Wait Leesburg finally has a way to get right to the Potomac. More than 20 years after the Virginia town bought the land, Veterans Park at Ball's Bluff has opened as the first municipal park in Leesburg with direct access to the river. The 86-acre park opened following a ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, Sept. 30, ending a wait that began when the town purchased the property for $2 million in 2001. Getting there took a while. Leesburg held onto the property for more than two decades while officials worked out plans and waited for funding to turn the preserved land into a public park. The first phas…

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by Zak Failla
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Silver Spring Soccer Star Trades Pitch For 'Amazing Race' With World Cup Champion Ali Krieger Silver Spring Soccer Star Trades Pitch For 'Amazing Race' With World Cup Champion Ali Krieger Silver Spring Soccer Star Trades Pitch For 'Amazing Race' With World Cup Champion Ali Krieger
Silver Spring Soccer Star Trades Pitch For 'Amazing Race' With World Cup Champion Ali Krieger A Maryland soccer standout who spent nearly two decades chasing wins on the pitch is taking the competition around the world. Silver Spring native Joanna Lohman, 44, has teamed up with former teammate Ali Krieger, 42, a Montclair, NJ native, for Season 39 of CBS' "The Amazing Race." For Lohman, it's another chapter in a career that began close to home. She grew up in Silver Spring, played for the Bethesda Scorpions and starred at Springbrook High School, where she was an All-Met selection and Maryland Gatorade Player of the Year. Lohman went on to Penn State, where she became the program'…

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by Zak Failla
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DOJ Says Federal Agents 'Cannot, Will Not Comply' With Maryland Mask Ban In New Lawsuit DOJ Says Federal Agents 'Cannot, Will Not Comply' With Maryland Mask Ban In New Lawsuit DOJ Says Federal Agents 'Cannot, Will Not Comply' With Maryland Mask Ban In New Lawsuit
DOJ Says Federal Agents 'Cannot, Will Not Comply' With Maryland Mask Ban In New Lawsuit The gloves are off in Maryland. The masks, according to federal officials, are staying on. The US Department of Justice sued the state on Thursday, Oct. 1, the same day Maryland's new restrictions on masks and identification for federal law enforcement officers took effect. And DOJ left little ambiguity about what happens next. "Federal law enforcement agents and officers cannot and will not comply with the Challenged Laws," attorneys wrote in the 25-page complaint filed in US District Court in Maryland. The lawsuit names Maryland, Attorney General Anthony Brown, the Maryland Police Train…

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by Zak Failla
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He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness
He Got Lost On A Walk, Sat Down To Wait: Virginia Drone Found Him In The Darkness He knew he was lost. So he stopped walking and waited for someone to find him. That help came from above in Fauquier County late Tuesday night, Sept. 29, when a sheriff's deputy used a drone and thermal imaging to spot a missing 65-year-old man sitting in a heavily wooded area hours after he left home for a walk. The search began around 10 p.m. on Mountjoy Road in Marshall after a relative reported the man missing, according to the Fauquier County Sheriff's Office. He had last been seen while it was still daylight. The man was enrolled in the sheriff's office's Project Lifesaver program, …

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by Zak Failla
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Make-A-Wish, Honor Flights, Police Week: Now Sgt. Todd Hand Begins His Own Recovery Make-A-Wish, Honor Flights, Police Week: Now Sgt. Todd Hand Begins His Own Recovery Make-A-Wish, Honor Flights, Police Week: Now Sgt. Todd Hand Begins His Own Recovery
Make-a-wish, Honor Flights, Police Week: Now Sgt. Todd Hand Begins His Own Recovery Todd Hand has spent nearly three decades showing up for other people. Now they're showing up for him. The longtime US Park Police sergeant, who has spent roughly 25 years on a motorcycle, is facing a long recovery after suffering serious traumatic injuries in the line of duty in Virginia last week. For Hand, the motorcycle has always meant more than getting from one assignment to another. Over the years, he has ridden in countless escorts and motorcades, helping grant wishes for children through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, welcoming veterans home on Honor Flights and supporting families th…

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by Zak Failla
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After Lives On Chains, 10 Rescued Virginia Dogs Finally Made It Inside: Now They Need Homes After Lives On Chains, 10 Rescued Virginia Dogs Finally Made It Inside: Now They Need Homes After Lives On Chains, 10 Rescued Virginia Dogs Finally Made It Inside: Now They Need Homes
After Lives On Chains, 10 Rescued Virginia Dogs Finally Made It Inside: Now They Need Homes For some of them, the good life started with something as simple as coming inside. Ten dogs rescued from chains, outdoor pens, abandonment and neglect in Virginia are now getting that chance, and PETA is looking for families willing to make it permanent. The dogs were brought to PETA's Norfolk headquarters following a weeklong relief effort in and around Galax, where fieldworkers teamed with the Twin County Humane Society. Some had spent much of their lives tethered outside. Others were abandoned or came from homes where their owners could no longer properly care for them. Now they're lea…

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by Zak Failla
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These MD Communities Rank Among Nation's Best Small Cities: New Study These MD Communities Rank Among Nation's Best Small Cities: New Study These MD Communities Rank Among Nation's Best Small Cities: New Study
These MD Communities Rank Among Nation's Best Small Cities: New Study Several Northeast communities are among the best small cities to live in the US, according to a new study. WalletHub released its 2026 Best Small Cities in America ranking on Tuesday, Sept. 29. The list compared 1,318 cities with populations between 25,000 and 100,000 using 45 measures of livability. The personal finance website based its rankings on five main categories: affordability, economic health, education and health, quality of life, and safety. Each category accounted for 20 points in a city's overall score. The Boston suburb of Lexington, Massachusetts, took the top spot nat…

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by Chris Spiker
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Nor'easter Uncovers Possible 19th-Century Shipwreck Remains Nor'easter Uncovers Possible 19th-Century Shipwreck Remains Nor'easter Uncovers Possible 19th-Century Shipwreck Remains
Nor'easter Uncovers Possible 19th-Century Shipwreck Remains A powerful nor'easter uncovered what's believed to be a large piece of a ship that wrecked more than 140 years ago. The storm exposed wooden wreckage along the south shore of Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Sept. 26. The remains are believed to be from the Warren Sawyer, a three-masted wooden schooner that sank off the island's coast in December 1884. The discovery was first reported by the Nantucket Current on Saturday, Sept. 26. Jason Graziadei, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, spotted the large wooden beams held together by iron fastenings near Miacomet Beach. …

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by Chris Spiker
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Caroll Spriggs II Takes Historic Oath As Maryland's First African American State Fire Marshal Caroll Spriggs II Takes Historic Oath As Maryland's First African American State Fire Marshal Caroll Spriggs II Takes Historic Oath As Maryland's First African American State Fire Marshal
Caroll Spriggs II Takes Historic Oath As Maryland's First African American State Fire Marshal Maryland’s history-making State Fire Marshal has officially taken the oath. Caroll H. Spriggs II was sworn in on Monday, Sept. 28, at the Calvert County Administration Building in Prince Frederick, less than two weeks after being appointed to a six-year term leading the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Spriggs, 53, is the first African American to serve as Maryland State Fire Marshal in the department’s 132-year history. The ceremony also brought Spriggs back to familiar territory. Caroll H. Spriggs II Maryland State Police Before rising through the ranks of fire service across M…

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by Zak Failla