DANCE QUITS BA CO SCHOOLS: Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Dallas Dance announced Tuesday that he will resign June 30, shocking the schools community and raising questions about its leadership during the final three years of his contract. During this tenure, he has been an energetic and charismatic leader of Maryland’s third-largest school system. He gave no reason for his decision, and he declined to be interviewed. He said through a spokesman that he does not have a new job but is considering offers, Alison Knezevich and Liz Bowie of the Sun report.
- Tim Curtis of the Daily Record quotes County Executive Kevin Kamenetz: “This is a tremendous loss for our county and our students. Dr. Dance and I have worked closely together over the last five years and achieved incredible accomplishments including increasing graduation rates for all students, narrowing the achievement gap and making huge progress toward providing healthy 21st century learning environments.”
SPECIAL SESSION A MAYBE: Senate President Mike Miller said Tuesday that if a special session of the General Assembly is convened, the legislature should take up a bill that would strip parental rights from rapists. The likelihood of that special session is unclear. In the final hours of this year’s session, the five male lawmakers seeking a compromise failed to reach one after legislators also failed to pass a bill that would have let rape victims who become pregnant during the assault terminate parental rights of their alleged attackers, Erin Cox of the Sun reports.
- Steve Lash of the Daily Record writes that a week after dying in the General Assembly, the bill is getting more attention on Facebook than it has received during the nearly 10 years it has lingered in the legislature. A public Facebook post by Del. David Moon, D-Montgomery and a sponsor of the measure, received 100 emoji reactions in its first 15 hours and about as many comments, most of which assailed the General Assembly for not passing the bill.
SEX ASSAULT, OTHER BILLS SIGNED: Gov. Larry Hogan signed a series of new laws Tuesday designed to make it easier to prosecute rape cases, reports Erin Cox in the Sun. The most sweeping is a “no means no” measure that removes a centuries-old requirement that rape victims demonstrate they tried to physically resist their assailants.
- The governor also signed bills that require the retention of sexual-assault evidence kits for at least 20 years, redefine sexual abuse to include sex trafficking and expand the definition of rape to conform with that of the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the Post’s Ovetta Wiggins reports.
- Danielle Gaines of the Frederick News-Post reports that Hogan signed hundreds of bills into law on Tuesday, including measures that would extend tax benefits to first responders. It was the sixth of several bill-signing ceremonies that have taken place since the General Assembly adjourned its 90-day session April 10. Lawmakers passed more than 900 bills during the session, and Hogan will have 30 days after each bill is delivered to his office to decide whether to veto or sign the measures, or allow them to take effect without any gubernatorial action.
- A bill that resulted from a local tragedy became state law on Tuesday, writes Tamela Baker for the Hagerstown Herald-Mail. Five-year-old Bryer Hendricks died in 2014 from injuries received when the car she was riding in was struck from behind. The bill will penalize out-of-state drivers traveling through Maryland without insurance.
- Under the Hometown Heroes Act, retired police and firefighters who are at least 55 years old can claim a tax exemption from state taxes on the first $15,000 of their retirement income, Bryan Sears of the Daily Record writes.
GROUP THREATENS SUIT OVER VOTER LOGS: A conservative legal watchdog group said it will sue the state of Maryland unless it takes more aggressive action to remove ineligible voters from the registration rolls of Montgomery County, its largest jurisdiction, Bill Turque reports in the Post.
CAN A DEMOCRAT BEAT HOGAN? Yes, says former political strategist Laslo Boyd, as he lays out all the factors he thinks may make the Republican vulnerable to some Democrat. Boyd, in his blog From a Certain Point of View, goes beyond the conventional Democratic thinking, but details the headwinds Hogan faces.
CUMMINGS ON THE CIRCUS: In the episode of The Circus that aired Sunday, John Heilemann has a three and a half minute interview with Rep. Elijah Cummings. “People are scared,” says Cummings, and recounts some of his conversations with President Trump.
VAN HOLLEN DENIES CLAIM: Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s campaign on Tuesday denied allegations raised in a new a book about the 2016 presidential election that he urged unions to not aggressively turn out the state’s African American vote because it would help his Democratic primary opponent, the Sun’s John Fritze is reporting. The book, “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign,” suggests Van Hollen sought to put the brakes on union-centered black turnout efforts and that Clinton dismissed the idea.
HATE CRIME CHARGE IN POLITICAL SIGN ARSON: Two Baltimore-area women were charged with lighting a Trump sign on fire in Somerset County, officials said. Jessica Anderson of the Sun writes that Princess Anne police have charged the 19-year-olds with multiple offenses, including second-degree arson and committing a hate crime. “The intentional burning of these political signs, along with the beliefs, religious views and race of this political affiliation, directly coincides with the victim,” a Princess Anne police officer wrote in charging documents to support the hate crime charge.
COLUMBIA AND THE ARTS: In the 10th of his 12-part series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the planned town of Columbia, MarylandReporter.com editor Len Lazarick writes that Columbia founder Jim Rouse knew that arts and culture were an essential element of city life, and in Columbia he was building “a real city — not just a better suburb.” Rouse and his chief planners paid close attention to almost every detail of community life — stores and churches, bike paths and pools, schools and libraries, hospitals and colleges. The arts were no different.
Recent Comments