State Roundup: Maryland labor market remains uncertain after end of enhanced jobless benefits

State Roundup: Maryland labor market remains uncertain after end of enhanced jobless benefits

Chicks at the fair: Gov. Larry Hogan looks at a display of chicks at the Maryland State Fair in Timonium, which ended Monday. Behind him is State Fair Board Chair Gerry Brewster. Governor's Office photo by Patrick Siebert

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WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MARYLAND’s LABOR MARKET? Will the state’s unemployment rate go down now that the enhanced benefits are no longer available? Business leaders told Bryan Renbaum of MarylandReporter.com that while that is certainly a possibility, it is important to note the extra benefits were just one of many factors responsible for limited labor participation.

MD CONSUMER ADVOCATE FILING SPOTLIGHTS LINKS TO INSURRECTION: At first, it sounds like the typical arcana associated with the regulation of gas and electric utilities: The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel last week intervened in a case before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dealing with industry trade associations, writes Josh Kurtz for Maryland Matters. But the filing by the OPC, the state agency that represents consumers in legal cases and regulatory proceedings involving utilities, touches on several high-profile and very current issues, including climate change, the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and political corruption.

95% OF MARYLANDERS 65 AND UP ARE VACCINATED: Ninety-five percent of Marylanders 65 years and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Tuesday. For those who are age 12 and older — the population currently eligible to receive the vaccine — 80.4% have gotten at least one shot, Angela Roberts reports for the Frederick News-Post.

HOSPITALS URGE MARYLANDERS TO GET VACCINE: After treating more than 45,500 COVID patients during the pandemic, most of them unvaccinated, Maryland’s hospital staffs are “tired” but fear more cases are on the way. Officials from 60 hospitals and health systems in and around the state penned an open letter urging Marylanders to help by getting vaccinated, Meredith Cohn of the Sun reports.

ARUNDEL MAY INSTITUTE VAXX PASSPORTS: Vaccine passports could be coming to Anne Arundel County, Bryan Sears of the Daily Record reports. County Executive Steuart Pittman told reporters he has been having discussions with his staff on the use of the passports and is working on finding a vendor.

8 DIE OF COVID IN WA CO: Eight people in Washington County died last week as a result of the coronavirus, a USA Today Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows, the Hagerstown Herald-Mail reports.

COVID CASES CONTINUE TO CLIMB IN CARROLL: While Carroll County’s coronavirus case total continued its consistent climb that started in mid-July, the county health department reported three residents died last week as a result of the virus, Madison Bateman of the Carroll County Times reports.

800 IN BA CO SCHOOLS NOW IN QUARANTINE: Nearly 800 students and staff are in quarantine following the first week of classes in the Baltimore County Public Schools. The school system reported they are people who came in close contact with someone in a school or in the community who tested positive for COVID-19, John Lee reports for WYPR-FM. 173 students and staffers tested positive for COVID. More than half of those cases, 90, were in elementary schools.

  • As Baltimore City, Baltimore County and Howard County school systems welcomed students back to buildings this week, officials tracked the numbers of students, teachers and staff testing positive for COVID-19, Lillian Reed reports in the Sun.

***Transformation to the Grid of the Future: Regulators are implementing directives to transform the grid for the future. What impacts can ratepayers and consumers expect to result from FERC Order 2222 and the Maryland Order PC 44 process? This FREE webinar on September 14th examines the deployment of distributed resource markets for load balancing and reliability, and kicks off the Maryland Clean Energy Center’s Connecting to the Energy Economy Speaker Series.***

‘VITAL’ ROADS PROJECTS STILL UNFUNDED: Deputy Transportation Secretary R. Earl Lewis Jr. has said that if plans to add express lanes to the two highways died, the state would have to pull funds from 15 other projects to bring relief to long-suffering Washington-area commuters. But as a re-vote in July neared, Lewis sent a second letter, with just five of the projects — totaling more than $1.2 billion — instead of the original 15, Bruce DePuyt of Maryland Matters reports.

B’MORE URGES HOMEOWNERS TO GET PROPERTY TAX CREDIT: Baltimore officials are pushing for city homeowners to apply for a valuable property tax credit that helps those with modest incomes, particularly seniors, Pamela Wood of the Sun reports. Homeowners have until the end of the month to apply for the Homeowners Property Tax Credit, and some are worried that residents might miss out because government buildings and libraries have largely been closed for much of the year.

  • The state tax credit applies to homeowners who own their primary residence, have a gross household income of less than $60,000 and have a net worth less than $200,000, not including the value of their primary residence or retirement savings, Emily Sullivan of WYPR-FM reports.

MO CO TO BEGIN REDRAWING COUNCIL MAPS: With campaigning for next year’s elections under way, the Montgomery County’s redistricting commission will soon start drawing maps proposing new County Council districts, Steve Bohnel of Bethesda Beat reports.

POLICE CHARGE GREENBELT MAN IN TU SHOOTING: Baltimore County Police said Tuesday they arrested a 19-year-old man who they allege shot himself and two others on Towson University’s campus early Saturday morning, Alex Mann of the Sun reports. The suspect is Samuel Nnam of Greenbelt. He faces more than half a dozen charges, including attempted first-degree murder, assault and handgun violations, according to court records.

 

 

About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

cynthiaprairie@gmail.com
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: cynthiaprairie@gmail.com

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