National news

Bruhat Soma, a seventh-grader from Tampa, Florida, won the National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Maryland by winning a lightning-round tiebreaker over a sixth-grader from Allen, Texas. Some questioned the bee’s decision to move so quickly to the spell-off.

Maryland kids were close but couldn’t quite churn out the correct spellings for words to advance to the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

When midshipmen graduating from the Naval Academy today reach retirement age in 2066, the Chesapeake Bay will be more than a foot higher.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, was being brought by the Justice Department with 30 state and district attorneys general and seeks to break up the monopoly they say is squeezing out smaller promoters and hurting artists.

As the Project Play Summit convenes in Baltimore, participants will be exploring how communities can provide needed resources to expand youth sports participation, says the community impact director of the Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program and its Project Play initiative.

Angela Alsobrooks would make state history if elected to be the first Black woman to become a U.S. Senator. But will Black women support her?

Despite polarization and unrest on college and university campuses, the institutions can find ways to make constructive use of that conflict, say the University of Baltimore's president and a professor of public and international affairs.

Angel Reese, the Randallstown native turned WNBA player, left her Chicago Sky practice early and stunned during the Met Gala, which is one of fashion’s most iconic events.

Pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday set up an encampment at the Johns Hopkins University, the latest college to face demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war.

Black Marylanders will be featured in the documentary “Finding Us,” which will be shown on PBS. They are part of the newly formed Descendants of Jesuit Enslavement Historical and Genealogical Society.

Kirk McKoy covered the O.J. Simpson murder trial as a young news photographer and remembers how it affected his view of the world — and whether his football idol was innocent or not. He also shares photos he took at the time.

O.J. Simpson, the decorated football superstar who was acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend but later found liable in a separate civil trial, dies at age 76.

The devastating collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge prompted racist falsehoods to spread like wildfire online. Maryland Port Commissioner Karenthia Barber found herself in the crosshairs of a far-right disinformation campaign against “DEI” — diversity, equity and inclusion — alongside her co-commissioner Sandy Roberts.

Though the Key Bridge in Baltimore had been in satisfactory condition before the shipping collision, thousands of other bridges stand in poor shape across the U.S. due to aging piers, beams and key structural components.

“We know what these folks really want to say when they say DEI mayor,” Scott told The Banner. “They really want to say the N-word.”

A Maryland pilot was in command of navigating the Dali in the three minutes before it hit the Key Bridge.

Bridge collapses are rare, but not without precedent. Here are a list of other notable bridge disasters.

A group of 12 organizations has written a letter of support for Sherita Golden, a respected chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer who resigned after her definition of “privilege” caught the ire of high-profile conservatives. The letter includes several demands.

The SEC Player of the Year has teamed with Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women initiative for a national TV and digital campaign to ask Congress to help narrow the racial wealth gap Black women are facing.

Baltimore is filled with must-visit places. In response to BuzzFeed’s list of things to do in the city, check out these equally great gems the next time you’re in town.