SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PANEL: A commission set up by General Assembly leaders has launched the first comprehensive examination of Maryland’s school construction program in 12 years, looking for ways to hold down costs while building better places to learn, Michael Dresser of the Sun is reporting.
- The 21st Century School Facilities Commission, which includes state officials and private-sector professionals, will spend the next seven months reviewing building specifications, construction practices, enrollment, maintenance and financing to make recommendations for future projects in the state’s 24 public-school systems, Tamela Baker reports for the Hagerstown Herald Mail.
RENEWED PUSH TO BAN REPLICA GUNS: Some state lawmakers say they plan to renew a push to ban replica guns in Maryland after Baltimore police shot a 14-year-old boy who was holding a BB gun that looked like a pistol. State Sen. Anthony Muse said he plans to refile a bill defeated last month that would have prohibited the manufacturing and sale of imitation guns that “clearly” resemble a firearm, according to Luke Broadwater, Michael Dresser and Jessica Anderson of the Sun.
KIDS QUESTION HOGAN: Gov. Hogan held a press conference Thursday with the children of staff for “Bring your child to work day.” The Capital Gazette has a brief video of some of the questions. At the White House, President Obama also took questions from college reporters. Apparently current State House and White House press corps are getting too old.
HOGAN SLAMS RAWLINGS-BLAKE: Gov. Larry Hogan took a swipe Thursday at outgoing Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, saying the mayor had not properly thanked him for “saving the city” during rioting and unrest last spring, reports Erin Cox in the Sun.
HOGAN SAVE OPEN SPACE: In a column for MarylandReporter.com, Greg Kline writes that, despite the partisan hyperbole of former Gov. Martin O’Malley, the reality is that Gov. Larry Hogan, rather than hating open space, has done far more than his predecessor in protecting the program and its dedicated sources of funding
SHAD IN THE SUSQUEHANNA: Wildlife advocates say the numbers of American shad journeying from the Atlantic Ocean to spawning grounds in the Susquehanna River each year could climb to 2 million over the next 50 years as a result of a deal struck this week with the owner of Conowingo Dam, Scott Dance writes in the Sun.
REFLECTIONS ON THE DISTRICT 8 RACE: In assessing the Democratic primary race for the District 8 congressional seat won by state Sen. Jamie Raskin, Bill Turque of the Post offers five take-aways from this expensive and candidate-filled race.
- Reflecting on his second-place finish in this week’s Democratic primary for the District 8 congressional seat, Total Wine & More co-owner David Trone of Potomac said late Wednesday that he plans to pursue other opportunities for public service—although he said he remains uncertain of precisely what he will do next, writes Louis Peck in Bethesda Beat.
PUGH AS MAYOR: WYPR-FM’s Fraser Smith and Andy Green, of the Baltimore Sun’s editorial board, talk about the issues they think presumptive mayor Catherine Pugh ought to address before she takes office, assuming she wins in November.
CHANCE FOR $15 MINIMUM WAGE: Bruce Vail of In These Times reports that in a Democratic Party primary election that selected candidates for both a new mayor and a new majority of the Baltimore City Council, supporters of a city-wide minimum wage law of $15 an hour appear to have won enough offices to see it enacted. The push is underway now to get it passed this year, and almost certainly will be passed by early next year, at the latest, activists say.
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