HIGH COURT TO HEAR COX APPEAL ON EARLY COUNT OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS: On Friday, Maryland’s highest court will hear an appeal challenging the early start to mail-in ballot counting this fall. The Maryland Court of Appeals will hear arguments from the Maryland State Board of Elections, which asked to begin counting ballots Oct. 1, and from Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox, who has challenged the move. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Sun.
HOGAN GATHERS SUPPORTERS TO DISCUSS POSSIBLE PRESIDENTIAL RUN: Gov. Larry Hogan continues to take tentative steps toward seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. On Thursday evening, Hogan convened a meeting of about 50 supporters and donors in an Annapolis hotel ballroom and served them cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, to discuss his prospects and his timetable for making a decision, according to several people who attended or were briefed about the gathering. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
MDOT IN COURT OVER TOLL LANES BIDDER: Lawyers for the Maryland Department of Transportation and a losing bidder on the Interstate 495/I-270 toll lanes project tangled before a Maryland appeals court Monday. At issue: whether the bidder, Capital Express Mobility Partners, waited too long to file a protest against the agency. Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
PROSECUTORS SEEK TO BLOCK USE OF RECORDINGS IN McGRATH TRIAL: Prosecutors in the Roy McGrath fraud trial are asking a federal judge to block the use of recordings of phone conversations allegedly made by Gov. Larry Hogan’s former chief of staff, including recorded calls with Hogan. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
ADVOCACY GROUPS TO OFFER POLICY EXPERTISE TO INCOMING GOVERNOR: A coalition of nonprofit Maryland service providers and policy experts is organizing a policy, personnel and spending agenda to assist the next governor. The 2023 Project, as organizers are calling it, aims to leverage the expertise of dozens of Maryland nonprofits and community organizations to develop an ambitious platform of policy initiatives, state agency recommendations and budget options to pass along to the new governor’s transition team. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
TU STUDENTS PROTEST GOP CANDIDATES: Student demonstrators crowded outside a Towson University event Monday evening where Republican Attorney General candidate Michael Peroutka and lieutenant governor candidate Gordana Schifanelli were scheduled to speak. Cadence Quaranta/The Baltimore Banner.
WHAT ARUNDEL VOTERS NEED TO KNOW: With general election mail-in ballots already headed to mailboxes of military and overseas voters and the rest expected to hit the mail Friday, Anne Arundel voters have a lot of information to keep track of including where, when and how to vote and what candidates made it past the primaries in July. Dana Munro/The Capital Gazette.
STATEWIDE CANDIDATE FORUMS: Please join us for online virtual forums for the candidates for comptroller (Oct. 6), attorney general (posted later) and governor (Oct. 13) Here’s the flyer. Register there to see the comptroller and governor forums live. All the candidates on the ballot except Democrat Wes Moore chose to participate. The League of Women Voters is the lead sponsor along with MarylandReporter.com, MarylandMatters.org, Maryland Nonprofits, Maryland Latinos Unidos and the University of Baltimore’s Schaefer Center for Public Policy, the online host.
COMMENTARY: FISHER’s CHARISMATIC, VISIONARY LEGACY AT TOWSON UNIVERSITY: James Fisher had Towson University moving. Under his reign as president, a Women’s Studies program was begun; new buildings and facilities were erected; and Towson State College became Towson State University. In 1977 under Fisher, Towson built the stadium, Hawkins Hall, the Lecture Hall, and the Psychology Building. Fisher’s legacy is positive to everyone that counts. Kim Schatzel, Towson’s current president, accurately describes his leadership as “transformational” and says she “stand[s] on his shoulders” Richard Vatz/MarylandReporter.
VOTERS SUE TO BLOCK JHU-B’MORE POLICE AGREEMENT: Three voters have filed a lawsuit to block the Baltimore Police Department from executing an agreement with the Johns Hopkins University that’s necessary for the research institution to develop a private, armed police force that would have the power to patrol certain areas and make arrests for some crimes. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.
A FIRST IN 60 YEARS: B’MORE TO REDRAW POLICE DISTRICTS: For the first time in more than 60 years, Baltimore’s police district map will be overhauled following approval from Baltimore City Council Monday. City Council members voted 12 to 3 in favor of the proposal, which will shrink the size of the city’s sprawling Northeastern District, the city’s largest by population and police workload. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Sun.
- The new map, which Mayor Brandon Scott intends to sign into law, redistributes the workload of Baltimore law enforcement across the city’s nine police districts. It’s a step officials say is needed to modernize and streamline Police Department workloads in a city whose population concentrations and crime trends have fundamentally changed in the decades since current lines were drawn. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
