Mold Remediation in Perry Hall, MD

PERRY HALL, MD — A new park in Perry Hall is one step closer to reality.

The proposed Baltimore County budget includes $4 million to finish the 22-acre park on Gerst Road. District 5 County Council Member David Marks announced the news on Friday after County Executive Kathy Klausmeier unveiled her budget proposal for fiscal year 2026, which starts this July 1. The budget still needs approval from the County Council, so the Gerst Road Park funding is not yet finalized.

"I thank County Executive Klausmeier for supporting this request, which will help us finish the fifth new park in Perry Hall's Honeygo area since 2010," Marks said in a press release.

Initial ideas for the park included a multi-purpose field, a 90-foot baseball diamond and four pickleball courts. Active recreation no longer seems to be the preferred route.

"At this time, plans call for a largely passive park. We will share any additional news with the community," Marks said.

The Gerst Farm was an agricultural hub for four generations, spanning roughly 150 years, but development has been a hot topic recently.

In 2021, developers proposed building 317 homes on Gerst Farm directly across the street from what's now planned for the park. The heavy development met community pushback, but the Elm Street construction company still lists the neighborhood as "coming soon."

The forthcoming parkland, located on the Bierman property, was also suggested for residential development before the county purchased the site. The land was once a farm and a community hall.

"Make no mistake—if this property had not been secured for a park, it would have been developed into dozens of homes," Marks said.

Baltimore County in 2021 bought the parcel at 9421 Gerst Road for $3.07 million. The land is located at the northeast corner of Gerst Road and New Gerst Lane. The money came from a grant through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' Program Open Space.

Invasive species were cleared from the land in 2022.

Plans in 2023 called for asbestos abatement, demolition of structures, backfilling and grading throughout the property. A house located on the site has since been torn down.

The park received $400,000 for design and engineering in the fiscal year 2025 budget proposal.

"We thank Councilman Marks and County Executive Klausmeier for their support," Perry Hall Improvement Association President Pat Keller said in last week's press release. "The White Marsh Recreation Council worked with Councilman Marks to secure this property, and we look forward to it becoming a reality."

Marks said the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal also includes:

More information on Gerst Road Park is available here.

This map shows where Gerst Road Park would be located.

MARYLAND — The culinary scene in Maryland, as well as nearby DC, is represented in the 2025 Restaurant and Chef Awards nominees announced Wednesday by the James Beard Foundation.

2025 is an important milestone for the James Beard Foundation: It's the 35th anniversary of the awards, considered to be among the nation's most prestigious honors. Awards will be presented in 25 categories this year with an expanded focus on cocktail and beverage service.

Charleston is Maryland's lone nominee. The Baltimore restaurant was nominated for the Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program award. The other four nominees are establishments in Minnesota, New Mexico, Texas and California.

Charleston, located in the Harbor East neighborhood, has a 58-page wine and drink menu. Its most expensive bottles cost over $5,000.

Lindsay Willey serves as the restaurant's wine director.

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"The wine program at Charleston is all about the relationship between wine and food," Willey wrote in the wine list. "After a quarter century of watching and tasting chef's very personal cuisine in development I constantly work to understand the balance & content of her dishes and how they relate to the wines in the cellar."

Considerations for the wine menu include:

"All of this information becomes this giant and ridiculous matrix of information that gives us just enough detail and data to actually do something akin to art," Willey said. "Making the right connections is not formulaic, but it is based on a lot of information. These connections are at the heart of what we strive to create."

Charleston is led by Chef Cindy Wolf, a nine-time James Beard Foundation Award Finalist for best Mid-Atlantic chef.

"Chef Wolf's cuisine is rooted in French fundamentals and the Low Country cooking of South Carolina, engaging both regional and international influence," Charleston's website said.

Neighboring Washington, D.C. is heavily represented in the nominations.

District of Columbia nominees include:

Drewno and Lee, the Outstanding Restaurateur nominee, founded The Fried Rice Collective and opened the first CHIKO location in 2017 in D.C.'s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Today, there are other locations in Dupont Circle in D.C., Bethesda in Maryland, Sterling and Shirlington in Virginia and Encitas in California. The chefs previously drew a James Beard Foundation nomination for Best New Restaurant.

The James Beard Awards, first presented in 1991, recognize exceptional talent in the culinary and food media industries and are often regarded as the “Oscars of culinary arts.” They recognize a range of experiences, from fine-dining restaurants to casual gems.

Winners will be announced Monday, June 16, in a ceremony at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

A line of severe storms is expected to move across Maryland on Monday, bringing high winds, hail and a risk of tornadoes to the region.

Deb Belt, Patch Staff

|Updated Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 10:31 am ET

MARYLAND — A line of severe thunderstorms is expected to move across the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., region Monday, bringing high wind gusts and a risk of tornadoes and severe hail to the area beginning late in the afternoon.

"Numerous thunderstorms are expected late this afternoon through this evening. Several of these thunderstorms may become severe," the National Weather Service said. "The primary threat is damaging wind gusts, though isolated large hail and a tornado or two are possible, as well."

The National Weather Service says there is a risk of severe weather between 4 p.m. and midnight. The storms bring the potential for damaging winds and localized flooding. "A brief tornado and hail are possible as well," according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts of up to 60 mph are possible.

The NWS has issued a hazardous weather outlook Monday for the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay, tidal Potomac River, and I-95 corridor through central Maryland, northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Included in the outlook area are Cecil, Baltimore, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Charles, St. Marys, Calvert, Montgomery, Howard and Harford counties.

Find out what's happening in Perry Hallfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The line of strong thunderstorms initially formed Sunday afternoon, resulting in severe weather in Missouri, Tennessee and Michigan, where large hail and tornadoes were reported, AccuWeather said.

"The same storm to produce the severe weather risk on Sunday will continue to plague residents farther east from Monday to Monday night," according to AccuWeather forecasters.

The entire East Coast, from New England to the Gulf Coast, is at risk of severe weather on Monday, The Weather Channel reported.

"Through the day and into the early evening, some of the ongoing storms will intensify and new ones will form ahead of the cold front while spreading to the East Coast," according to The Weather Channel report.

Ahead of the thunderstorms, expect temperatures to warm into the upper 70s across the area.

The Baltimore Orioles are scheduled to play their home opener at Camden yards against the Boston Red Sox Monday. The game's start time was originally scheduled for 3:05 p.m., but it was moved up to 2:35 p.m. because of the severe weather in the late afternoon and into the evening, WBAL TV reported.

Here's the local forecast for the Baltimore-DC region from the National Weather Service:

Monday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 5pm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. South wind around 16 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Monday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then isolated showers between 2am and 3am. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Patchy fog between 9pm and midnight. Low around 42. Southwest wind 9 to 17 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 57. Northwest wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Tuesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph.

Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 59. Southeast wind 7 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

Wednesday Night: A slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Thursday: A chance of showers after 2pm. Cloudy, with a high near 78. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

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