SLOW-GO FOR COVID TESTS AT JUVIE CENTERS: Gov. Larry Hogan announced on May 20 that the state would do “universal testing” for COVID-19 at juvenile detention facilities. But the vast majority of both the youth residents and the staff at these facilities have yet to be tested, and the state Department of Juvenile Services doesn’t expect to finish the first round of tests until the end of July, Rachel Baye of WYPR-FM reports.
MD COVID CASES PASS 64,000: Hospitalizations continued to decline Sunday as Maryland state health officials say the number of coronavirus cases reported in the state climbed past 64,000, WJZ-TV reports.
- For 12 of the past 14 days, the daily increase in new COVID-19 cases in Montgomery County has been below 1%. On Saturday, the county reported 76 new cases for an increase of about 0.5%. The county has had a total of 14,004 total cases, Caitlynn Peetz of Bethesda Beat reports.
HOW MARYLAND STACKS UP: Arizona, Florida and many other states across the South are reporting record spikes in COVID-19 cases, while cases continue to drop in Maryland and other northeastern states, Meredith Cohn of the Sun reports.
POLICE REFORM CLOSER: It’s taken years of her protesting since her brother Tyrone West was killed during a traffic stop in Baltimore. But now after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was pinned to the ground for at least eight minutes by a Minneapolis police officer, lawmakers across the country are moving swiftly to respond to calls for change, Ovetta Wiggins of the Post reports.
- In the year and a half since he joined the Montgomery County Council, Will Jawando has tried to increase police oversight and held town halls on police brutality, Rebecca Tan of the Post reports. Since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, he has attended seven protests and vigils — “an endless cycle of sadness, anger, numbness and determination.”
- Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones wants the council to pass legislation banning the use of chokeholds by police — among other reforms — in the wake of protests against police misconduct, Wilborn Nobles of the Sun reports.
CIVIL WAR PLAQUE CONTROVERSY: Days after voting to remove a controversial Civil War plaque from the State House, the panel that oversees the historic building deadlocked over a Hogan administration proposal to install a new marker in place of the old one, Bruce DePuyt of Maryland Matters reports.
- Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford is calling for a study of a new State House plaque that “accurately reflects Maryland’s history during the Civil War.” His request, however, was shot down quickly as the General Assembly’s presiding officers both rejected the idea, Bryan Sears writes for the Daily Record.
WASHINGTON MONUMENT VANDALIZED: The George Washington monument in Druid Hill Park was vandalized overnight with what appeared to be red paint and graffiti, with “Destroy Racists” and a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement written at its base, Phil Davis of the Sun reports.
MO CO STUDENTS SEEK SCHOOL’s RENAMING: Students at a Montgomery County high school have started circulating a petition to change their school’s name due to its ties to slavery and racism, Jose Umana reports for WTOP-FM.
- One of at least six Montgomery County schools named after slave owners, Richard Montgomery is home to a student body that is about 17% Black, Caitlynn Peetz reports for Bethesda Beat.
POLICE RECORDS TRANSPARENCY: Prince George’s County officials called for greater access to police personnel records Friday, citing a lack of transparency following the recent airing of allegations of racial discrimination, Hannah Gaskill reports for Maryland Matters. The announcement follows the resignation of Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski Thursday after a report alleging discrimination against black and brown officers.
HELPING B’MORE CHILDREN COPE: Sydney Clark and Victoria Lorren Daniels of Capital News Service write in MarylandReporter, that Wesley Hawkins, 34, the founder of The Nolita Project, looks to help children to provide support and guidance to young people who are facing some of the same struggles he faced.
- Sydney Clark of CNS writes that Wesley Hawkins pulled into a parking space outside an East Baltimore high school, already running late for his weekly check-in with teenagers he mentors. His visit to a hospitalized student, another of the youths he counsels, had delayed him.
- New Beginnings is not just a place for a haircut. It’s also a place where you can address health concerns and trauma that stem from violence in Baltimore. The barbershop offers blood pressure checks, HIV testing and flu shots, among other health-related services. They do this with the support of Kaiser Permanente, Kaanita Iyer, Jason Fontelieu and Jamal Williams of Capital News Service report in MarylandReporter.
MAYOR YOUNG CAUTIOUS, JOINS STATE IN REOPENING: After weighing Baltimore’s unique risk of contagion in Maryland due to its tightly packed blocks of rowhouses, dense urban streets and high rates of chronic disease, Mayor Jack Young announced Friday the city would join the rest of the state in the next phase of coronavirus recovery that evening, Yvonne Wenger of the Sun reports.
- Young cautioned that just because he’s loosening restrictions that doesn’t mean the threat of infection is gone and these activities are risk free, Mary Rose Madden reports for WYPR-FM. “We will strongly recommend socially distancing and residents are required to wear cloth face covering when in public,” he said.
TRUMP TELLS TRUTH ON B’MORE: Repeating one of his often-used lines, President Donald Trump again called attention to Baltimore’s street violence, noting during his rally Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., that the city suffers a higher homicide rate than Afghanistan. The president is accurate that Baltimore’s homicide rate is higher than those countries, writes Tim Prudente for the Sun.
RODRICKS ON NURSING HOME WITH ZERO COVID CASES: Here’s a key question for the Rev. Derrick DeWitt, director of the Maryland Baptist Aged Home in West Baltimore, a 100-year-old nursing facility that has had no coronavirus infections: What was the moment you realized the threat was real and that you had to take action to protect your residents and staff?
STATE FAIR IS ON, BUT CHANGES IN THE AIR: Shish kebabs, check. Sausage and peppers, check. Cotton candy, funnel cake and lemonade- check, check and check. As of now, the Maryland State Fair still plans to hold the annual event this summer, but what the fair will look like is still to be determined, Sean Streicher reports for WJZ-TV.
PUGH PLEADS GUILTY TO PERJURY: Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh pleaded guilty in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Friday to a perjury charge stemming from the sale of her self-published “Healthy Holly” children’s book while she served as a state senator, Adam Bednar of the Daily Record reports.
ZELIG ROBINSON, 85, DIES: Edward Lee of the Sun writes that Zelig Robinson did not just dip his toe into politics. He dove in headfirst. Mr. Robinson served as the late Gov. William Donald Schaefer’s personal lawyer. He died June 9 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 85.
