Maryland
Maryland Cracker Barrel disability discrimination suit settled
Maryland’s attorney general announced a settlement has been reached Monday with Cracker Barrel over allegations of disability discrimination.
Back in December of 2024, a group of students with autism were denied service at a Cracker Barrel in Waldorf, Maryland. Each of those students will receive several thousand dollars, and the company has agreed to revise and strengthen its policies.
News4 reported on December 2024 protest outside the restaurant after the group of 11 students with autism as well as seven staff members were not allowed to sit down and enjoy a meal at the restaurant.
The students were part of a life skills learning trip, according to school officials. They called ahead and were told they didn’t need a reservation, but when they got there, they were not accommodated. An employee asked that the restaurant be removed from a list of businesses willing to participate in the community based instruction, which helps students develop social and life skills.
At the time, Cracker Barrel said it was having a staffing challenge and later said it fired a general manager and two employees over the incident.
Maryland’s attorney general launched an investigation.
While Cracker Barrel denied the allegations, it did agree to the settlement. Cracker Barrel will pay each affected student $7,500, donate $17,500 to the Dr. James Craik Elementary School programs that support students with developmental disabilities and strengthen its public accommodation policy nationwide to ensure it’s in compliance with disability rights laws, according to the attorney general.
“This settlement compensates these students and their school while requiring Cracker Barrel to update its policies – advancing inclusion and accessibility not just across Maryland, but across the entire country,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a statement.
While the students didn’t get to eat inside the restaurant, they did place a to-go order. Under the settlement, Cracker Barrel agreed to pay the school nearly $450 for the cost of the meals and transportation that day.
Cracker Barrel also agreed to contribute $9,000 to the Civil Rights Enforcement Fund, which supports education, outreach and enforcement efforts across Maryland.
News4 reached out to Cracker Barrel for a statement but did not get a response.
Maryland
Inseparable Maryland couple of 70 years died holding hands after tragic car crash: ‘They were simply quite the pair’
A beloved Maryland couple who were married for 70 years died holding hands in their hospital beds after being taken off life support following a horrifying car crash last week.
Kenneth and Marilyn Oland, high school sweethearts who wed in July 1955, died side-by-side Monday in a Baltimore hospital, six days after a car slammed into the side of their vehicle on Route 15 near their Thurmont home, according to their obituary and multiple reports.
Kenneth, 90, who was driving, and his 88-year-old wife were rushed to the hospital and placed on life support after suffering complications from the collision.
“I don’t think one could’ve lasted without the other,” their heartbroken friend, Nancy Echard, told Fox 5.
“That’s how tight they were. You always saw them together, no matter where you were.”
An employee at Thurmont Senior Center, where the couple were regulars who played bingo there twice a month, said they had just finished lunch and left about 15 minutes before the fatal crash.
The senior center posted a touching tribute to the late couple – parents of three, grandparents of five, and great-grandparents of six – hailing them as pillars of the community who were never seen without each other.
“To those of us here at the Senior Center, they were simply quite the pair,” Tuesday’s Facebook post said.
“You rarely saw one without the other, and that was no accident, they were two people who genuinely chose each other, every single day. In the end, even in their passing, they were not apart for long. They were a living reminder of what lasting love looks like, and we were blessed to witness it.”
The loving pair, devout churchgoers, regularly brought flowers to friends in nursing homes and were known for deeply cherishing their friends and large family, always uniting everyone for holidays, birthdays, and celebrations, their obituary said.
Marilyn devoted 25 years to chiropractic care before retiring in 2023, and Kenneth spent his life working in marketing.
Grief-stricken family members were comforted that the elderly couple died together and hope their love and legacy will live on.
“If there’s one thing we could share about my grandparents, it’s not only the 70 years they’ve had together and that they chose to be together every day and chose to go away together and leave this earth together,” their granddaughter Kristie Hopkins told the outlet.
“Their legacy is just how to be humans – be humble and kind and graceful to others and help strangers in need.”
Maryland
Power restored to University of Maryland after campuswide outage
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (7News) — A campuswide power outage at the University of Maryland prompted crews to respond overnight, including dispatching staff to assist people stuck in elevators.
In an advisory, the university said Facilities Management staff were on site assessing the situation and that crews were being dispatched to individuals in elevators.
Just after 1:30 a.m, the university said power was in the process of being restored across campus and that most residence halls had power. The university said steam and hot water would continue to improve as full campus power restoration continued.
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Pepco said that around midnight, it began receiving calls about an outage impacting the university. Pepco crews responded and determined Pepco equipment was not the source of the outage.
As of publication, university officials have not responded to 7News’ request for a comment.
Maryland
Body pulled from river near Bladensburg Waterfront
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. (7News) — An investigation is underway after a body was spotted in the Anacostia River near the Bladensburg Waterfront in Maryland on Saturday.
The Prince George’s County Park Police confirmed on social media around 4:50 p.m. that officers responded to the area after reports of a dead person in the water.
Authorities said the investigation is in its early stages.
Officials have not released the identity of the person, and the cause of death has not yet been determined.
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