🌱 Heart For Refugees & Catonsville + BCPS Payroll & Benefits Issues

Hello again, friends! I'm here with your Thursday edition of the Catonsville Patch newsletter, filled with all the local information you need to know right now.

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But first, today's weather:

Rather cloudy. High: 54 Low: 36.

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Here are the top three stories today in Catonsville:

1. Heart For Refugees, a local nonprofit organization that helps refugees re-establish their lives in the U.S., is using family support teams to help more than 50 refugee families. Severna Park resident David Heemstra and his friends formed one of the support teams and "adopted" Kawsar Nakhtar, a 26-year-old Afghan refugee, and two other families. Nakhtar and the two families are now residing in homes in Catonsville. (Severna Park Voice)
2. At the Dec. 6 Baltimore County Board of Education meeting, Baltimore County Public School teachers told the board about the ongoing issues with paychecks and health benefits. According to the representatives, more than 200 teachers are experiencing issues. Gboyinde Onijala, director of communications and community outreach, said Baltimore County school officials "are taking immediate action [and] allocating additional resources and people to [the] human resources division to answer phone calls to assist with some of these inquiries." (WBAL-TV)
3. On Dec. 6, the Board of Education of Baltimore County chose Jane Lichter to serve as Board chair and Robin Harvey to serve as vice chair. Both Lichter and Harvey will serve a one-year term. (Perry Hall Patch)

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Today in and around Catonsville:

• Baby Buddies Catonsville At Christian Temple (9:30 AM)
• Holiday Festival Of Trains At Baltimore And Ohio Railroad Museum, Baltimore (10:00 AM)
• Story Time At SweetFrog Catonsville (1:30 PM)
• Family Game Night At SweetFrog Catonsville (5:00 PM)

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From my notebook:

• The first dedicated indoor pickleball facility in Baltimore County is expected to open in late 2023. The Baltimore Pickleball Club, LLC, will open the club in a 12,000-square-foot space at Timonium Exchange. (The Daily Record)
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) will create a new Institute for Innovative Computing to help Maryland's new cybersecurity initiatives. (The Center Square)
• There are three open houses this week in the Catonsville area! Including a three-bedroom on Garden Ridge Road today and a four-bedroom on Hickory Springs Circle on Sunday, Dec. 11. (Catonsville Patch)

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Alrighty, you're all good for today! See you all tomorrow for your next update.

— Rose Mendez

About me: Rose Mendez is a freelance writer. She is studying English Literature at Hunter College. She loves reading, walking around the city, and coffee!