Listen to this articleVACCINATED MDERS GET SHOT AT JACKPOT: The state of Maryland will offer a grand total of $2 million in lottery money to Marylanders who get vaccinated for COVID-19, Bryan Renbaum reports for Maryland Reporter about Gov. Larry Hogan’s announcement.
- All state residents 18 and older who received coronavirus vaccinations in Maryland will be eligible, Ovetta Wiggins reports for the Post. It doesn’t matter when the dose was administered and no registration or entry is necessary.
- The state health department will use vaccination records to randomly assign numbers to people who have been vaccinated, and the state lottery will pick one number a day – shots for shots at cash, reports Joel McCord for WYPR.
- The final drawing will be for $400,000 on July 4, Shen Wu Tan reports for The Washington Times.
FEDERAL AID EXPECTED SOON: Maryland is expecting to receive about $3.7 billion in federal relief very soon, a state budget official said Thursday during the first meeting of a state work group on coronavirus pandemic-related spending, Brian Witte reports for the AP. It should come within a “within the next week or so,” said deputy budget secretary Marc Nicole.
PACS CONTINUE WITHHOLDING FUNDING AFTER CAPITOL ATTACK: “Months after the attack on the U.S. Capitol, many deep-pocketed corporations say they are continuing to withhold campaign donations to 147 Republican lawmakers — including Maryland’s Andy Harris — who refused to certify last year’s presidential election results,” Jeff Barker and Jean Marbella report for the Sun. Companies withholding donations include some big names like Exelon Corp and Comcast Corp.
FRANCHOT CONVENES WORKGROUP TO SCRUTINIZE PANDEMIC SPENDING: Pledging to “learn what could be done better,” Comptroller Peter Franchot convened a workgroup to track pandemic spending on Thursday, and will look at billions in state and federal relief funding, Bennett Leckrone reports for Maryland Matters.
ANNE ARUNDEL PLANS INVESTMENT IN MENTAL HEALTH RESPONSE FOR POLICE: As national conversations about policing consider whether emergency calls for mental health crises should be handled by mental health experts and social groups in the community, Anne Arundel County is proposing more funding for the crisis intervention police unit that’s integrated into the county mental health agency, Lilly Price reports for the Capital Gazette.
COMMENTARY: PUBLIC WORKERS SHOULD HAVE RIGHTS TO FORM UNION: Former Del. Jimmy Tarlau argues in Maryland Matters that next year’s General Assembly should pass comprehensive public bargaining legislation giving the right to form a union to all of Maryland’s public employees. Thousands of public employees in Maryland do not have the right to form a union and negotiate with their employer, he said.
SCHOOLS TAKE STEPS TO RELAX PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS: The school board for Anne Arundel County Public Schools has approved deviating from CDC guidelines on distancing during lunch and buses in order to get more students back in the classroom, Rachel Pacella reports for the Capital Gazette.
- Baltimore County public schools will offer all students the option to attend classes in-person four days a week, Lillian Reed writes for the Sun. All students will be able to return beginning Monday next week, made possible in part by setting the minimum distance between two people at three feet.
- In Montgomery County, high school graduates will be allowed to invite more guests to their ceremonies and student-athletes won’t have to wear masks outdoors, Caitlynn Peetz reports for Bethesda Beat.
MOSBY RAISES MIDDLE FINGER: City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby acknowledged an obscene gesture toward a Keith Davis Jr. supporter who had video taped the interaction and said she felt threatened when he approached her at the waterfront bar Sandlot, Tim Prudente reports for the Sun. Mosby’s office had previously said it was her thumb, not middle finger, but the Sun presented a zoomed in image.
HARFORD EDUCATORS FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT: Four Black, female former assistant principals of Harford County Public Schools have filed a federal lawsuit against the school system, the superintendent and the former president of the administrators’ union, James Whitlow reports for The Aegis. The women argued they were discriminated against and demoted without due process and they were replaced with white women who were less qualified.
SAVING FARMLAND: The Maryland Board of Public Works approved 26 new Maryland Agricultural Preservation Foundation (MALPF) easements to permanently preserve 3,273 acres of prime Maryland farmland, the Maryland Department of Agriculture writes in the Southern Maryland Chronicle. The easements cost $13.6 million in state and local funding and preserved 26 working farms.
BALTIMORE CO WATCHDOG FACES CRITICISM FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS: The Baltimore County Council scolded the head of a 15-month-old inspector general’s office during a budget hearing, Mark Reutter reports for Baltimore Brew. The government watchdog was told the office “is giving Baltimore County a black eye.”
- The Inspector General was accused of being an unprofessional, intimidating bully, John Lee reports for WYPR.
