Canton pizza restaurant expands to South Baltimore; City to bring back weekly recycling

Good morning Baltimore!

It has been too long since I shared any of my takeaways, tips and recommendations from the kitchen, so scroll to the bottom of this newsletter for a healthy New Orleans-style rice alternative.

It'll be another lovely spring day, although a little cooler with temperatures in the mid-60s and windy.

Now, here's the news of the day.

Baltimore City to see return of weekly recycling, other changes

In his State of the City address last night, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott promised the return of weekly curbside recycling (which hasn't been available since the pandemic started in 2020) and other expanded city services. He announced longer recreation center hours, a new $15 minimum wage for city employees and plans to remove owner-occupied homes from this year's tax sale. Baltimore Banner has full coverage of the Mayor's address.

Canton's Verde pizza will add a South Baltimore outpost

Canton's Neapolitan pizza restaurant Verde will open on Key Highway in Federal Hill, along with a new shaved ice concept called Crushed Velvet. The concept, to be called Key Neapolitan by Verde, will be run out of a food truck at the former gas station and home to the On Brazilian Time food truck. Crushed Velvet will operate out of the former gas station. The site also happens to be where Southern Land Company is planning to build a seven-story, 70-unit apartment building, but the timeline for that project is unclear, SouthBMore reports.

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Wells Fargo is tightening credit access, including for office real estate

富国银行 CEO Charlie Scharf said the bank is tightening access to credit in higher-risk sectors like office real estate as it prepares for a potential recession. The company has seen delinquencies increasing more broadly, though they remain low, San Francisco Business Times reports. Scharf said so far the bank's commercial real estate clients have remained largely current, but he does expect for issues to come eventually.

Baltimore Convention Center nears pre-pandemic event levels with upgrades ahead

The Baltimore Convention Center expects almost 100 events this year, just 14 events shy of its 2019, pre-pandemic total. Among them, the State of the Black World Conference V, which will be held at the center April 19-23, according to a press release. Mayor Scott welcomed the conference to Baltimore yesterday and encouraged residents to attend its sessions designed to offer solutions to issues of importance to people of African descent, as well as society in general. The convention center's slew of events comes as the facility will soon get $25.7 million from the state for much-needed improvements.

Covid is still one of the leading causes of death in the U.S.

It's hard to know these days whether to refer to the time we're in as post-pandemic. Most of us don't wear masks on a daily basis anymore and it's not at the forefront of our minds as often as it was even a year ago. Yet, federal health officials say that Covid-19 remains one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., tied to about 250 deaths daily, on average. Most people who die from Covid are older or immunocompromised, according to the Washington Post. Notably, many critics have argued overcounting of the Covid toll, inflated by including people dying with Covid, as well as from Covid.

Howard County unveils $2.6 billion operating budget

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball yesterday shared his $2.6 billion Fiscal Year 2024 operating budget. The total is a 6.6% increase over last year and contains historic funding for public education — a 7% or $47 million increase to reach $1.1 billion total funding for the county's public school system. The budget also includes funding for Howard Community College , public safety, health care services, housing, economic development and more. Read about it here.

Maryland workforce partnership program gets $3.7 million boost

The Maryland Department of Labor 's Employment Advancement Right Now (EARN) program will receive $3.7 million in funding, Gov. Wes Moore announced Monday. The program awards funding to strategic industry partnerships between employers, nonprofits, higher education institutions and workforce development boards to provide education and skills training to unemployed and underemployed Marylanders. The programs also offer career advancement training for incumbent workers. The new funding will allow the program to support 18 more partners.

Baltimore County confirms new chief of police

The Baltimore County Council on Monday voted unanimously to confirm Robert McCullough as the next chief of police. McCullough succeeds former Chief Melissa Hyatt, who left in December after her contract was not renewed. McCullough graduated from the county's police academy and has held several leadership roles. He will become the county's first African American chief at his swearing in this afternoon, WBAL reports.

From Carley's kitchen:

Here's something new I tried recently as an alternative to New Orleans-style Dirty Rice. I was looking for a boxed version, already seasoned, but I'm allergic to green bell peppers and all of the pre-made versions listed them among their ingredients. But I happened to find something called RightRice, a Spanish-seasoned "rice" made from veggies, including lentils and chickpeas.

I prepared it by first dicing and sauteeing peppers and onions before adding the water, rice and some chopped tomatoes. Easy, delicious, high in protein and fiber and gluten-free. We served it with some seasoned and pan-fried catfish and a little cilantro and fresh kale. Let me know if you try it out.

This newsletter was written by Carley Milligan, Digital Editor at the Baltimore Business Journal. I can be reached at [email protected].?