HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: COMMUNICATION KEY TO GOP SUCCESS: Newly elected House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) said Republicans “need to do a better job” of communicating their party’s message on key issues to voters in the predominantly Democratic Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metropolitan area if they are to remain competitive in statewide elections, Bryan Renbaum reports for Maryland Reporter.
STATE POPULATION UP; ALL HOUSE SEATS RETAINED: Maryland’s population grew by 7% in the past decade, one of its slowest paces ever, according to U.S Census Bureau data released Monday. The figures were released as part of the once-in-a-decade process of redistributing the 435 seats in the House of Representatives among states. They showed that Maryland will keep its eight seats, Alison Knezevich reports for the Sun.
- Even as several surrounding states lost seats in the House of Representatives, Maryland kept the same number it has had since the 1960 population count, Madeleine O’Neill of the USA Today Network writes.
FOR YEARS, FAMILIES HAD SOUGHT PROBE OF MEDICAL EXAMINER: For years, the families of Anton Black, Karreem Ali and Tyrone West have tried to get someone — anyone — to listen. They filed lawsuits, held vigils and investigated, all in hopes of making people take another look at former Maryland Chief Medical Examiner David Fowler’s conclusion that police weren’t responsible for their loved ones’ deaths, Phillip Jackson and Christina Tkacik report in the Sun.
HBCUs SEE BRIGHTER FUTURE WITH NEW FUNDING: When Gov. Larry Hogan signed legislation in March that will provide $577 million over the next decade for Maryland’s historically Black colleges and universities, top officials at those schools rejoiced, writes Pete Pichaski for the Daily Record. “This could be a significant game-changer for us,” said Dr. Anthony L. Jenkins, president of Coppin State University, in Baltimore. “This is going to allow us to advance, to do what we do and do it at a much higher level.”
ANTI-ASIAN HATE CRIMES UP IN MARYLAND: Hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Maryland have more than doubled since 2018, according to an April 9 press release from the governor’s office. To better address this surge, lawmakers, state leaders and victims of anti-Asian hate say that Maryland’s government and law enforcement agencies must improve their reporting of and response to hate crimes, Jack Hogan reports for Baltimore Fishbowl.
BLACK B’MORE LEADERS SEEK COMMUNITY INVESTMENT: As the conversation around police reform continues to evolve, Black community leaders in Baltimore City seek to scrap the narrative of reimagining policing, instead urging lawmakers to invest in existing community resources, Hannah Gaskill reports in Maryland Matters.
PASTOR CHARGED WITH FRAUD IN PPP LOAN USE: A Maryland man has been arrested and charged with wire fraud after federal prosecutors say he misused more than $1.5 million in federal coronavirus relief loans to buy 39 cars and property in Baltimore, Taylor DeVille reports in the Sun.
FORMER ARUNDEL EXEC, NOW STATE OPIOID CHIEF, TOURS RECOVERY HOME: With more than 25 years of service, the Champ House in Bowie has never seen the number of recovering patients as they have during the COVID-19 pandemic, Donovan Conaway reports in the Capital Gazette. Former Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh, now executive director of the Maryland Opioid Operational Command Center, visited the Champ House on Monday to tour the facility with Todd Turner, a Prince George’s County Council member, and county health officer Dr. Ernest Carter.
MO CO SEES ANOTHER DROP IN COVID CASES: Montgomery County recorded 56 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday — the second-fewest the county has added this month. The county has had 69,476 cases since the pandemic started more than a year ago, Bethesda Beat staff reports.
CEO RUMORED TO BE ENTERING ARUNDEL EXEC RACE: Sources tell The Duckpin that packaging executive Marwan Moheyeldien is planning on entering the Republican primary for Anne Arundel County executive. Moheyeldien is the owner, co-founder, and CEO of Maryland Packaging, a food-service packaging company based in Elkridge and Halethorpe. Brian Griffiths writes that Moheyeldien would be the fifth Republican in the race, joining announced candidates Chris Jahn and former Del. Herb McMillan, and presumed candidates County Council member Jessica Haire and Del. Sid Saab.
HOGANS PURCHASE NEW HOME: Gov. Larry Hogan has purchased a $1.1 million, 6-acre estate in Davidsonville for his and his wife Yumi’s post-Government House life, Melody Simmons of the Baltimore Business Journal reports.
POLITICAL JOURNALIST C. FRASER SMITH, 83: The intersecting worlds of Maryland journalism and politics are mourning C. Fraser Smith, a longtime chronicler of state government and politics who died Sunday after suffering a massive stroke earlier this month. He was 83, Josh Kurtz writes for Maryland Matters.
