Maryland
Maryland's Six Flags requires chaperones for young guests to boost safety
BOWIE, Md. (7News) — For all the thrill-seekers headed to Six Flags America this weekend in Bowie, Maryland, the amusement park is implementing a new chaperone policy for younger guests.
Safety is the reason for the change. All guests 15 and younger are now required to be accompanied by a chaperone who is at least 21 years old to go in or remain inside the park after 4 p.m.
The adult chaperone must present a government-issued photo I.D. at ticket entry. The company told 7News that “the safety of our guests and associates has always been our top priority”
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But Six Flags is not saying if a specific incident prompted the new rule. Each year, however, the county receives numerous complaints about unruly visitors, fights, and other issues, including theft. The most recent high-profile incident occurred in 2021 when a huge brawl broke out and several cars in the parking lot were destroyed.
Just months ago, the Prince George’s County Council passed emergency legislation allowing businesses to request police patrols and enforce juvenile curfew zones after several incidents of flash mob shoplifting and massive fights involving hundreds of teens infested the National Harbor.
With Prince George’s County looking to lure in more big companies and agencies like the FBI, council member Wala Blegay told 7News that crime is the priority.
“What we were seeing at National Harbor is that parents were dropping their kids off as young as 13-14 and just like droning off and then we saw flash mobs. We cannot afford that, Prince George’s County is a great place but sometimes when there is crime, there’s so much coverage on it that it overshadows all of the positive things we’re doing,” Blegay said.
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A single chaperone is only allowed to escort up to 10 young guests and they must accompany them throughout their entire stay and be available by phone.
This policy is not nationwide — Bowie is one of only three locations making the change. The other parks are in Atlanta and San Francisco.
“I spoke with Six Flags, I spoke with the management and they’ll never say it and thats ok, I’ll be the one to say it. We are going to be looking at bringing some companies here and what we don’t want is there to be some sort of flash mob that they find, that you are covering that somebody can forward the link and say there’s a problem in Prince George’s,” added Blegay.
Maryland
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore suits up for Terps’ football practice
BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore suited up in a Terrapins jersey and went to football practice Wednesday in College Park.
Moore led the football team in exercises and participated in team drills.
“Get you a Governor that can ball,” the Maryland football team said on social media.
The Terps open their 2024 season at home against UConn on August 31.
Last season, they posted an 8-5 record and defeated Auburn, 31-13, in the Transperfect Music City Bowl.
Moore had also attended the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Commanders training camps this summer.
Maryland
Voters Can't Add 4 Seats To Baltimore County Council, 2-Seat Expansion Remains Possible
BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — The push to add four seats to the Baltimore County Council failed, multiple reports said Tuesday. A November referendum will still decide if the Council should grow by two seats.
The Council has had seven members since 1956, but the county population has more than doubled to 845,000 people.
Supporters say additional council members would allow for better representation of each voter. Proponents also think this will diversify the all-male Council with only one Black member.
Opponents worry about the additional salary costs and allege that four more Council seats would favor Democrats, who currently have a 4-3 advantage.
“Make no mistake – the effort to add four seats to the County Council has been spearheaded by partisan activists with the goal of wiping out two-party government in Baltimore County,” David Marks (R-Upper Falls) said on Facebook on July 24. “The same state legislators backing this effort today supported extreme gerrymandering in Annapolis. Government works best with balance and competition between both parties – not the monopoly pushed by partisan activists.”
The County Council on July 1 reached a bipartisan agreement to send the two-seat expansion to a referendum this fall. Republican council members agreed that the proposed new district maps were fair. The same ballot question will also ask voters if council members should be paid a full-time salary, rather than their current part-time pay.
Marks said the two-seat expansion “gives both political parties a fighting chance across Baltimore County.”
WYPR said the four-seat expansion effort, orchestrated by Vote4More, was trying to gather 10,000 signatures by the Monday deadline to put it on the General Election ballot. It would’ve competed against the two-seat expansion referendum, but the four-member addition measure ran into complications.
The Baltimore Sun reported that the Board of Elections discarded nearly 3,000 signatures during the review required under state law.
Election officials said those signatures lacked the signers’ middle initial or middle name, WYPR reported.
Vote4More submitted 1,400 supplemental signatures, but The Sun reported that they didn’t meet the state requirements.
“What hurts me is that getting them so excited, I can’t deliver it,” Vote4More Chair Linda Dorsey-Walker said, according to WYPR.
Dorsey-Walker plans to appeal the rejection of her petition.
Referendum Will Settle Baltimore County Council Expansion Debate
Maryland
Maryland bracing for more extreme heat
BALTIMORE — Heat and humidity will take a step up so brace for real feel temperatures nearing the triple digits this afternoon.
Highs today will be in the low to mid 90s but the humidity will make it feel about five degrees warmer. Morning temperatures are in the 70s under mostly cloudy skies. The gray will fade to sunshine as the morning goes on.
Your First Alert Weather Team has flagged Thursday and Friday as potential Alert Days due to extreme heat. Highs will be in the upper 90s but the humidity will make it feel closer to 105°.
In addition to the hot and sticky feel, we’re facing daily chances for afternoon showers and storms. Today’s look pretty isolated but they pick up in coverage from here with more widespread thunderstorms Friday and Saturday.
There will be a few storms to dodge on Sunday but it should be more spotty.
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