DEAL STRUCK WITH CORRECTIONS: The Hogan administration and Maryland’s correctional workers union have struck a deal that will allow dozens of employees who were recently threatened with layoffs to keep their jobs. The agreement ends a protracted battle between union leaders and Stephen Moyer, the secretary of the state’s Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, over a plan that Moyer said was designed to root out corruption in the prison system, Ovetta Wiggins of the Post writes.
- “Governor Hogan ordered me to go back and look at it, and see if there was a different way we could accomplish the same thing,” Moyer said in a conference call with reporters. He promised that efforts to root out corruption would continue, Erin Cox reports in the Sun.
- Adam Bednar of the Daily Record writes that the agreement means that only vacant positions will be eliminated and that 26 employees in danger of being laid off have been transferred to other administrative jobs in the department. The changes also allow the department to hit its goal of reducing human resources staff to 82 permanent employees and five contract employees, down from a total of 139 positions.
JUVIES SERVING LIFE SENTENCES: The Maryland Office of the Public Defender’s post-conviction division has adopted a strategy to help ensure juveniles convicted of crimes and serving life sentences without the possibility of parole are resentenced following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that such punishments are cruel and unusual, Steve Lash writes in the Daily Record.
MEDICAL POT CHALLENGE IN ARUNDEL: Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh’s proposal to ban the growing and sale of medical marijuana in that county is not sitting well with some council members — just hours after he unveiled his proposal. Rema Rahman of the Annapolis Capital reports that three council members said his proposal goes too far and some may suggest alternatives. Two said they were uncertain which way they would vote, and one would not offer a stance on the bill or the issue as a whole. The seventh remains an outlier — he did not return a message seeking comment.
- Schuh, a Republican, argued his proposal would allow for Anne Arundel to assess how the dispensaries work in other parts of Maryland and prevents the county from being used as a “guinea pig,” writes Adam Bednar for the Daily Record.
PUBLIC HEARING ON RX POT IN HAGERSTOWN: Dave McMillion of the Hagerstown Herald Mail reports that the public will get a chance today to comment on a proposal to allow indoor cultivation of plants — including medical marijuana — in certain zoning districts in Hagerstown. The Hagerstown City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposal at the start of a 3 p.m. special session in council chambers at City Hall.
***REDISTRICTING REFORM MEETINGS: Gov. Larry Hogan’s recently formed Redistricting Reform Commission will hold the first of five regional meetings Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., Sept. 15, in the Minnegan Room at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium. MarylandReporter.com lists all the upcoming meetings.***
ACA LOAN A SQUEEZE FOR BEILENSON: Next year is going to be Peter Beilenson’s year. It has to be, writes Sarah Gantz for the Baltimore Business Journal. For better or worse, 2016 will be a turning point for Beilenson’s insurance company Evergreen Health Cooperative. Beginning in 2017, Evergreen must start paying back a $65 million federal startup loan awarded through the Affordable Care Act. To do that, Evergreen must hit key enrollment numbers, become a solvent company and turn a profit.
PASTOR TO SEEK CUMMINGS’ SEAT: Jamal Bryant, a prominent Baltimore pastor who delivered the eulogy for Freddie Gray and organized protests after his death, announced Monday that he will run for the seat of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Josh Hicks and Rachel Weiner of the Post are reporting.
- John Fritze of the Sun reports that Bryant, a 44-year-old Democrat, told several dozen supporters gathered in Bolton Hill that city schools are falling short, the middle class is shrinking, crime is high and, in too many instances, the police are “out of control.” But he offered a mixed message on Cummings, an 11-term incumbent who is considering a run for Senate. Bryant would not commit to challenge Cummings should the lawmaker seek re-election.
- Naomi Harris writes in the Afro that in response to speculation about whether he would vie for retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s Maryland seat, Cummings released a statement yesterday ahead of a speaking engagement at Coppin State University in West Baltimore saying that he was running for re-election.
- Christian Schaffer of WMAR-TV reports that the Democratic primary in Maryland is still more than seven months away but already the competition is heating up. Pastor Jamal Bryant has been on the front lines of protests ever since the death of Freddie Gray — and before that both here and in other cities around the country. Now he says he’s the man who should replace Elijah Cummings in Congress.
RAWLINGS-BLAKE OUTLINES GOALS: Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake outlined four broad goals Monday for her remaining 15 months in office, including financing $136 million in improvements for recreation centers and pools and ensuring that the $1 billion school construction plan is executed correctly, Yvonne Wenger of the Sun is reporting.
ON RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Political dissectionist Josh Kurtz of Center Maryland takes a close look at Stephanie Rawlings-Blake career in the spotlight. It started early, he writes, and she may just have been better suited for a legislative career “rather than as an executive of a roiling, nearly ungovernable metropolis”
- As a lesson to her would-be successors for the top job in Baltimore City, Fern Shen and Mark Reutter of Baltimore Brew write about the long history of stumbling blocks that Mayor Rawlings-Blake has had to deal with, not the least her own aloof personality.
NEXT MAYOR’S AGENDA: When Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was in the race for re-election as mayor of Baltimore City, it was a referendum on her leadership. Now it becomes a vigorous debate about the issues. The race needs to be about addressing the systemic problems brought to the fore by the unrest after the death of Freddie Gray, opines the editorial board for the Sun.
HOGAN SPENDS TIMES WITH OTHER CANCER PATIENTS: Gov. Larry Hogan invited fellow cancer patients to spend time with him at the Washington Redskins season home opener. WJZ’s Christie Ileto spoke to one of the kids who walked onto Fed Ex Field with him and has more on the moment he’ll never forget.
O’MALLEY CALLS FOR UNIVERSAL BACKGROUND CHECKS: Democratic presidential candidate Martin O’Malley is calling for universal background checks for firearms purchases and a national age requirement for handgun possession as part of a broad gun control proposal his campaign will release Monday, John Fritze reports for the Sun.
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