Baltimore

Sterling, Ill. – October 19, 2026 -- A 40-year barber from Maryland has won the fifth Wahl Benevolent Beards Contest, taking home $5,000 for himself and $20,000 for his charity, and he will be honored at a free beard grooming event before the Baltimore Ravens game on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026.

Robert Cradle of Odenton, MD, founded Rob's Barbershop Community Foundation (RBCF). The charity brings grooming services, hygiene products and barber training to underserved communities. Wahl will park its Mobile Barbershop on RavensWalk from 9 a.m. to noon EST for the event.

Baltimore – – October 13, 2026 -- Mercy Medical Center is offering selected prostate cancer patients stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) that can be finished in as few as five sessions, using its upgraded Varian TrueBeam radiotherapy system.

The five treatments take place over about two weeks. The usual alternative is daily radiation spread over many weeks.

TrueBeam targets tumors to less than a millimeter

According to Kelly Orwat, M.D., Director of Radiation Oncology at Mercy, the system can target tumors in increments of less than a millimeter. It combines image guidance with focused radiation designed to spare surrounding healthy tissue. Mercy's unit is configured for image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), SBRT, volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and other advanced techniques.

Baltimore – September 22, 2026 -- Transamerica has launched a new advertising campaign called The Long Game, featuring professional golfer Zach Johnson, a two-time major champion and longtime brand ambassador for the company.

The campaign draws on golf's emphasis on patience and long-term discipline

Inspired by the patience, discipline and long-term perspective that define success both on and off the golf course, the campaign is designed to reflect Transamerica's approach to helping people manage their financial lives over time. The company says the effort builds on years of work to simplify and modernize customer experiences across its life insurance and retirement businesses.

Baltimore – September 17, 2026 -- Mercy Medical Center has introduced Mako SmartRoboticsTM technology for shoulder replacement surgery, making it among the first providers in the Mid-Atlantic region to offer the robotic-arm assisted procedure.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Gregory Gasbarro leads the new program

Gregory V. Gasbarro, M.D., a board-certified orthopedic surgeon and fellowship-trained shoulder specialist at Mercy, is now performing robotic Mako shoulder arthroplasty for patients. He treats patients ages 15 and older through The Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist and Hand Center at Mercy.

The technology builds a 3D surgical plan from a patient's own CT scan

Mako SmartRoboticsTM uses a detailed 3D CT scan of each patient's shoulder to generate a personalized surgical plan. During the operation, the robotic-arm assisted system helps the surgeon execute that plan with added precision while allowing real-time adjustments.

BALTIMORE – – September 15, 2026 -- MedStar Health has performed its first endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG), a non-surgical procedure that shrinks the stomach without incisions, offering a new weight-loss option for patients who don't want or don't qualify for traditional bariatric surgery.

Christopher You, MD, a board-certified general and bariatric surgeon at MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center, performed the procedure on Aug. 21. The patient went home the same day.

The 90-minute procedure reshapes the stomach through the mouth

While the patient is under mild sedation, Dr. You inserts a flexible tube with a tiny camera through the mouth and into the stomach. Using special sutures, he reduces the stomach's size into a smaller, tube-like pouch. No part of the stomach is removed, and there are no external cuts or scars.