HOGAN WEIGHS POSSIBLE PRESIDENTIAL RUN: Gov. Larry Hogan is weighing a bid for the presidency in 2024, embarking on a virtual book tour this month that will continue to elevate his national profile in Republican circles, Erin Cox reports for the Post.
- Pamela Wood of the Sun reports that Hogan’s memoir — delayed by the coronavirus pandemic — is coming out at the end of the month. A political memoir is often seen as a precursor to running for higher office, and the Republican governor has flirted with running for president. Others have suggested he might consider running for the U.S. Senate.
- Brandon Weigel of Baltimore Fishbowl writes that Hogan will kick off a book tour later this month, joining well-known Republican figures to discuss his political memoir due out July 28, titled “Still Standing: Surviving Cancer, Riots, and the Toxic Politics that Divide America.”
- Luke Broadwater of the New York Times is also writing about Hogan’s book tour and possible run for president.
PPP LOANS BY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Businesses and nonprofits in four of Maryland’s seven congressional districts were awarded almost three-quarters of the state’s Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling less than $150,000. Baltimore accounted for approximately a tenth of these small loans, more than any city in Maryland, Bryan Sears and Ellie Heffernan of the Daily Record report. Nevertheless, the 7th Congressional District, which covers part of Baltimore City, received only 2.7% of them – less than any other district.
PPP LOANS BY INDUSTRY: The Sun reports that across the state, full-service restaurants received the highest number of loans of any single industry. These are the 10 industries in Maryland that received the most federal loans. Together they represent 22% of total loans to Maryland businesses and nonprofits.
- Daniel Oyefusi of the Sun offers five takeaways about the PPP loans that Maryland businesses and non-profits received.
CARES ACT COVERS HAGERSTOWN AIRPORT PROJECT: Airport Director Garrison Plessinger said Tuesday that the federal government will not only cover 100% of Hagerstown Regional Airport’s construction costs for the upcoming runway repaving project, but also costs associated with design and engineering, Colleen McGrath of the Hagerstown Herald-Mail reports.
BPW CUTS TO IMPACT HIGHER ED: The $186 million in cuts to higher education approved last week by the Maryland Board of Public Works likely will cause faculty furloughs, pay cuts and reductions in student financial aid, school officials told Hallie Miller and Christine Condon of the Sun.
UMCP TO HOLD 20% OF FALL CLASSES IN-PERSON: In an email to students Tuesday, the University of Maryland, College Park said it plans to hold “about 20%” of undergraduate courses at least partially in-person for the fall semester due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Daniel Oyefusi of the Sun reports.
UM HOUSEKEEPERS CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY: Housekeepers and service workers at the University of Maryland have been working on a voluntary basis since the pandemic sent all students home in mid-March, said Todd Holden, interim president of AFSCME Local 1072, which represents several campus workers. But on June 15, all staff in residential facilities were asked to return back on campus to prepare for the fall. Since then, workers have been concerned about the university’s inadequate safety protocols, Elizabeth Shwe reports for Maryland Matters.
500 MO CO COLLEGE STUDENTS MAY BE FORCED OUT: Dana Gerber of Bethesda Beat writes that more than 500 Montgomery County college students could be forced to transfer or leave the country if their schools conduct classes entirely online in the fall, after ICE announced that international students who attend college in the United States on certain visas will not be allowed to remain in country if the college they attend does not offer at least some in-person instruction.
DELEGATES PUSH FOR TELEWORK TO CUT TRAFFIC: Frederick County Del. Carol Krimm and Del. Marc Korman of Montgomery County are urging the state’s transportation secretary to examine ways to increase teleworking and other alternative work techniques in an effort to reduce traffic congestion, Ryan Marshall reports for the Frederick News-Post.
492 NEW COVID CASES, 19 MORE DEATHS: Maryland confirmed 492 new cases and 19 more fatalities from the coronavirus Tuesday, pushing the state’s caseload beyond 70,000, Nathan Ruiz of the Sun reports.
EXPERT: STATE ACTION LIMITED VIRUS SPREAD: Maryland’s coronavirus positivity rate is lower than that of most states because the state took swift action to limit the spread of the virus, according to one of Maryland’s top doctors, Bryan Renbaum of MarylandReporter writes.
BA CO ED BOARD MEMBER APOLOGIZES FOR BLM POST: A Baltimore County School Board member created fireworks during Independence Day weekend when she called the Black Lives Matter movement “political” in a Facebook post that has been deleted, Wilborn Nobles of the Sun reports. “Our resolve that black lives matter is the only point that matters,” Julie Henn stated in an apology posted Monday on Twitter. “I apologize for diverting the conversation and losing focus on what is truly important.”
FIRM MAY LOSE CITY CONTRACT OVER BLACK FACE PHOTO: Last year, the landscape architecture and urban design firm West 8 won a contract, potentially worth up to $2 million, to re-envision miles of the Middle Branch waterfront. Now, Ian Rounds reports for Baltimore Brew, the contract is coming under question after a community member found a photo allegedly depicting a West 8 employee participating in a controversial Dutch black-face tradition at a Christmas party at the company’s headquarters in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
RED LINE DERAILS: A Metro Red Line train derailed in Silver Spring on Tuesday, after the operator ran a red light signal, the agency responsible for safety oversight of Metrorail said. No one was injured in the mishap in which two cars left the tracks, Justin George, Justin Moyer and Emily Davies report for the Post.
RODRICKS: PELOSI FOR THE PEDESTAL: Sun columnist Dan Rodricks offers a suggestion from a reader for replacing the statue of Christopher Columbus with a famous Italian American with strong Baltimore roots: Nancy Pelosi — the former Nancy D’Alesandro of Albermarle Street, Little Italy, the daughter and sister of Baltimore mayors and a history-maker as the first woman to serve as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
BONIFACE MADE GLASSMAN CHIEF ADVISER: Billy Boniface, who has served as Harford County Executive Barry Glassman’s director of administration since he was elected in 2014, is moving into a new role as Glassman’s chief adviser, S. Wayne Carter Jr. and James Whitlow report in the Aegis. Working in an advisory role — and not having as much of a hand in the county’s day-to-day operations — will give Boniface time to campaign for county executive, which he is seeking in 2022.
FREDERICK STUDENTS, ALUM ADDRESS RACISM: For some, the idea that racism is still prevalent in modern-day society is a preposterous idea. Slavery is over. Segregation is over. Equal opportunities seem to exist for everyone. But, writes Katryna Perera of the Frederick News-Post, Sirad Hassan, Crystal Yuille and Amya Diggs know that is not the case, because they experienced it almost daily within the walls of each Frederick County Public School they attended.
MO CO STUDENTS CONTINUE PUSH TO RENAME SCHOOLS: Montgomery County students have gathered more than 1,000 signatures in a push to rename Winston Churchill High School in Potomac. The call for change joins a growing list of demands to rename local high schools, Caitlyn Peetz of Bethesda Beat.