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A STATE has pulled the plug on its program of building new electric vehicle charging stations after the scheme was plagued with several issues.

The program, which had been in operation for the past five years, allowed four major power companies in Maryland to set up EV charging stations at government buildings across the state.

MDTA

A scheme to fund EV charging stations in Maryland is on hold[/caption]

MDTA

Drivers complained about broken stations that weren’t always functional[/caption]

But now the future of the scheme is in jeopardy after the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) ordered it to be stopped.

Authorities had raised concerns about low usage and ongoing maintenance issues.

Under the scheme, four companies pumped millions into installations, with Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) alone spending approximately $15.5 million on charging stations.

Of the 372 chargers commissioned by BGE, 127 are located in areas termed “environmental justice” communities.

These are neighborhoods traditionally affected more than others by environmental issues.

Utility companies have defended their involvement in the program.

BGE spokesman Richard Yost said the scheme was started at the request of the state to fill gaps in the private charging market.

But authorities have said the returns can’t be justified for the amount of public money being spent.

“We’re dealing with ratepayer incentives here, not free resources,” Benjamin Baker, a senior commission adviser leading the electric vehicle working group, told Baltimore commercial radio station WCBM.

“It’s crucial that we ensure these installations are making a real impact.”

The program has faced multiple issues since it started almost five years ago.

A 2022 survey revealed operational problems, with only 71% of the 69 fast chargers installed by BGE being fully functional.

Many reportedly failed to meet the federal standard of 97% uptime, reflecting the percentage that the station is functional in a 24-hour period.

Other issues included physical damage and network connectivity issues.

BGE has admitted that just over a third of its chargers currently fall below the required uptime standard, although the company says it is actively working to improve the figure.

Maryland now has more than 100,000 registered EVs, representing a 59% increase from the start of last year.

The state hopes to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.

EV drivers are still encouraged by other means in Maryland, including tax credits and rebates.

Maryland is also expanding its charging infrastructure through federal programs such as the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which installs chargers along major highways.

It comes after a survey this summer found nearly half of EV drivers regret their purchase and want to return to gas.

IN Menopause Awareness Month, it’s great to see more celebrities talk about their experiences.

It reminds women they are not alone if, and when, symptoms occur.

Olivia West

Sun columnist Dr Zoe advises readers on their health[/caption]

The best way to prepare for perimenopause, when hormone levels start to decline in the lead-up to menopause, is to get informed.

Familiarise yourself with symptoms that might strike – they can be unexpected or different to how you imagined.

Most of us are aware of hot flushes, but what about brain fog, anxiety, weight gain, low libido or discomfort during sex due to vaginal dryness?

It’s important men talk with their partners about menopause, too.

It can test relationships but requires patience and understanding.

After all, women can feel low in self-esteem.

But it’s not all doom and gloom – many women report feeling fabulous in mid-life, with more confidence and understanding of themselves.

Here’s a selection of what readers have asked me this week…

PERSISTENT ITCHING IN INTIMATE AREA

Q) I HAVE had itching in the vaginal area since April.

During this time I have used cream for thrush, had antibiotics for UTIs and lots of creams for other things but it just won’t go away.

I have been referred to the hospital but they have only just started to see referrals from August last year.

The doctors have told me that they can’t do anything else.

A) I’d be really interested to know your age, as that would help me share what other potential causes of your symptoms could be.

At any age, skin diseases such as eczema and psoriasis can affect vulval (external) skin.

Itching of the vagina (internal) can be caused by infections including thrush (which can be resistant to some antifungals), or bacterial vaginosis (BV) which is an overgrowth of a type of bacteria that lives in the vagina.

BV can be brought on by douching (pushing water into the vagina) as this can wash away the microbes of the vagina that help keep bacteria that cause BV in check.

Vaginal swabs can test for both thrush and BV.

Sexually transmitted infections should also be considered.

Vaginal itching can also be a symptom of perimeno-pause and menopause.

As oestrogen levels decline, some women experience the genitourinary syndrome of menopause which can include symptoms of vulval and/or vaginal itch/pain/dryness, altered sexual function, urinary symptoms and recurrent UTIs.

There is also an inflammatory skin condition called lichen sclerosus, which mostly affects the vulval skin and the skin around the anus and is most common after menopause.

It can cause itching and white or pale patches to appear, and the tissue can be more delicate and prone to splitting.

It’s important to have it diagnosed because in a small number of people it may develop into vulval cancer.

It can’t be cured, but it can be controlled with potent steroid ointments such as clobetasol.

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The reader has had abdominal pain for two years[/caption]

Q) I HAVE had abdominal pain for two years.

As a 17-year-old female, I have been told it is probably due to stress, PMS or IBS but I have had no definite diagnosis.

My condition has fluctuated but is now getting worse.

I went from having a persistent stomach ache to bloating, indigestion, heartburn, excess wind, extreme fatigue and severe anal pain when defecating.

The pain is annoying me and I cannot focus at school. I get agitated quickly and so tired. Is this normal?

I finally got an endoscopy, which did not find anything abnormal, but I know deep down that some-thing is not right.

A) I’M so sorry to hear that you are struggling with such awful symptoms and that you have not yet received a diagnosis or explanation for what is causing them.

Firstly, you are absolutely right to persist in trying to find answers and it may be that you need input from multiple specialist teams.

We know that certain conditions commonly have a very delayed diagnosis.

Endometriosis, for example, affects one in ten women and those assigned female at birth in the UK.

A recent study shows that diagnosis of endometriosis – when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus – takes an average of eight years and ten months which is shocking.

It’s partly due to the fact that the gold standard test for diagnosis requires keyhole surgery, but progress is being made towards making a “clinical diagnosis” based on the patient’s symptoms and ever-improving imaging techniques.

Has endometriosis been considered in your case?

Do your symptoms tend to get worse at the time of your period?

If so this would certainly be something to seriously consider.

Some other examples of conditions that can prove hard to diagnose include coeliac disease, thyroid abnormalities, and fibromyalgia.

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THROAT-CLEARING ISSUES A MYSTERY

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Dr Zoe helps a reader who has been unable to clear her throat[/caption]

Q) MY wife has been unable to clear her throat, especially at night when she has to get up to the bathroom, and is sometimes sick.

She was sent to an ENT clinic where they could not find anything untoward, but weeks later she was bringing up a yellow liquid, we now know to be bile.

The doctor sent her for X-rays and it was found she had gallstones, but because they were small, they were reluctant to remove the gallbladder.

What can she do to relieve her suffering?

A) IF she is continuing to vomit bile and doctors suspect it’s not due to the gallstones, then she will require further investigations to find out the cause of her symptoms.

An ENT camera assessment (nasendoscopy) examines the inside of the nose, throat and voice box.

For the oesophagus (gullet), stomach and intestines to be fully assessed she would need to have additional investigations, most likely a camera test that a gastroenterology specialist would conduct.

Throat-clearing can be a symptom that is linked to issues within the stomach.

For example, if acid is refluxing into the oesophagus or throat it can cause irritation, swelling or excess mucus production which can all cause the urge to want to clear the throat clear.

I’m assuming that she has already had blood tests?

These should include liver function, full blood count, kidney function, and amylase.

Does she have any other symptoms such as change in energy levels, appetite or weight, abdominal pain or bloating, change in bowel habits or symptoms related to swallowing?

If so it’s important to share these with the doctor too.

PETER Sutcliffe murdered thirteen women during a terrifying rampage across the North of England in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Many of his victims were sex workers, which led the media to brand him The Yorkshire Ripper. Here’s everything you need to know about the women that Peter murdered. 

PA: Press Association

Getty Images

Wilma McCann 

Wilma was Peter’s first victim, whom he murdered on October 20, 1975. 

The mum-of-four was reportedly seen leaving her home at 7:30pm, before heading to a pub for a night out with some friends. 

She is believed to have been picked up by Peter in his car, who then killed her in the Prince Philip Playing Fields just five minutes away from her house.

After a search involving 150 officers from the West Yorkshire Police and 11,000 interviews, the authorities still had no idea about who might have killed Wilma. 

Emily Jackson 

Emily Jackson was just 42-years-old when she was murdered by Peter on January 20th, 1976. 

She was working as a part-time sex worker when Peter drove her to an area near Manor Street Industrial Estate. 

Like Wilma, she was killed by a hammer and then stabbed with a screwdriver. 

Emily was then found by a workman the next day. 

When Peter died in November 2020, Emily’s son Neil told Yorkshire Live: “I’m quite happy with the news. 

“It should have been 42 years ago – they should have hung him.”

PA: Press Association

Irene Richardson 

Like Emily, Irene was a sex worker who was killed with a hammer by Peter but her death came almost a year after Peter had claimed his second victim. 

She was a mum-of-three who was last seen near the Gaiety Pub, which was the same pub that Peter had kidnapped Emily.

Irene was killed on February 5, 1977, in Soldier’s Field before being found the next morning by a jogger. 

This time, the police were able to start building a case as tire marks belonging to Peter were found at the site and the killer’s patterns were beginning to become clear.

Patricia Atkinson 

Patricia was Peter’s fourth victim, but the first to be killed in his hometown of Bradford. 

This forced the police to consider that the killer may be operating in a larger area than Leeds.

Patricia, known by friends as Tina, met Peter in the Red Light District before being killed with a hammer in her flat on Oak Avenue. 

A boot print matching the one left near Emily’s body was found at the scene.

Tragically, Patricia’s body was found by a friend who visited her the next morning.

Getty Images

Jayne MacDonald 

Jayne was just 16-years-old when she became Peter’s youngest victim. 

She had been working as a shop assistant in Grandways Supermarket in Leeds before her death on June 26, 1977. 

Jayne was returning from a night out when Peter followed her home and killed her. 

Her body was found by a group of school children the next morning, who came across her body in the playground. 

Jayne’s death caused another shift in the investigation, which had largely focused on Peter’s targeting of sex workers.

Three years later, the killer’s identity was still unknown which led Jayne’s mother to challenge the murderer’s friends and family to “turn him in”. 

She added: “This man is a coward, but the biggest coward of them all is the person shielding him. 

“It is his mother, wife, sister or indeed a male, they should put themselves in the position of we women who have lost someone they loved. 

“It makes my stomach churn to think that someone is saving his neck.”

PA: Press Association

Jean Jordan

Jean was Peter’s first victim to be killed outside of West Yorkshire.

He met Jean in Moss Side, Manchester, on October 1, 1977, before killing her.

She was found eight days later by a local worker named Bruce Jones, who fans of the show Coronation Street may recognise as Les Battersby. 

A £5 note, which Peter had given Jean under the pretense of wanting to hire her as a sex worker, allowed the police to determine which bank branch the killer had visited. 

For the first time, Peter was a true suspect but his alibi cleared him of suspicion. 

Getty Images

Yvonne Pearson

Peter’s crime spree continued into 1978, when he murdered 21-year-old prostitute Yvonne Pearson. 

He killed Yvonne in his home town Bradford, on January 21, leaving her two-year-old Colette and five-month-old Lorraine without a mother. 

They had been staying with a neighbour on the night that she was driven to a waste ground and killed.

Her body was hidden with a sofa and wasn’t found until March 26, just over two months after her disappearance.

PA: Press Association

Helen Rytka 

By the time of Helen’s death, Peter was being referred to by the media as “The Yorkshire Ripper”. 

He murdered Helen on January 31, 1978, just over a week after he murdered Yvonne. 

Helen was only 18-years-old when she was killed in a timber yard but it took days for her body to eventually be found.

She had been working as a prostitute at the time of her death, just like her twin sister Rita.

Vera Millward

Vera lived in Hulme in Manchester, where Peter was only known to have struck once.

She was a mother-of-seven who had serious health problems, including only having one functional lung. 

Vera was killed just outside Manchester Royal Infirmary, before her body was found the next day. 

She had left home to meet a regular client, but instead got into Peter’s car on May 16, 1978.

Josephine Whitaker

Josephine worked as a clerk in Halifax, before Peter killed her with a screwdriver on April 4, 1979. 

She was the tenth person to be killed by The Yorkshire Ripper, but her case was another turning point for the police. 

A boot print, matching the ones left at Patricia Atkinson and Emily Jackson’s murders, was found next to her body which confirmed that the killer had struck again after a year of silence.

Getty Images

Barbara Leach

Barbara was a student at Bradford University and was just 20-years-old when Peter murdered her. 

She left a shared home belonging to some friends in Grove Terrace on the night of September 1, 1979, when Peter began following her. 

Barbara was then dragged into an alley and stabbed, but it took two days for her to be reported as missing. 

PA: Press Association

Marguerite Walls 

Marguerite left her office in Leeds later than usual on August 20, 1980, since she was preparing to go on holiday the next day. 

The civil servant walked home through Farsley, which she knew was a brightly-lit way home. 

However, unbeknownst to her, Peter had begun following her.

After killing her with a hammer and rope, Peter hid her body in the grounds of Claremont House where she was later discovered by some gardeners. 

Jacqueline Hill 

Peter’s final known victim was Jacqueline Hill, who was a student at Leed University. 

The Yorkshire Ripper murdered her just 100 yards from her flat, with the hammer and screwdriver that now typified his crimes. 

Her body was found a day later.

Ian Whittaker- The Sun

Peter’s killing spree ends

Peter was stopped by police on January 2, 1981, and was taken in for questioning due to a suspicion that he might have information about the Yorkshire Ripper case. 

After only two days of questioning, he confessed to being the killer and his crime spree was brought to an end. 

Peter had been terrorizing women since 1969, when he committed his first crime – the assault of a female prostitute. 

While in custody, he referred to his murder of Helen Rytka as being motivated by an “urge to kill any woman”. 

He added: “The urge inside me to kill girls was now practically uncontrollable.”

The psychology behind Peter’s chilling motive has been debated for years by psychologists, with some pointing to his brother’s allegation that their abusive father would whip his children with a belt. 

According to Harper’s Bazaar, he also posed as his wife’s lover and brought his children, including Peter, to a hotel to watch her affair being exposed. 

By the age of 15, Peter was working as a graveyard digger which he was said by colleagues to enjoy too much and had also developed a voyeuristic fascination with prostitutes. 

He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before being sent to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984. 

Peter stayed in Broadmoor until 2009, when he tried to appeal his sentence.

It was decided that he would remain in custody, but a transfer to HM Prison Frankland was reportedly approved in 2016. 

He died from a diabetes-related illness in November 2020

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