COX PULLS OUT OF KLACIK’s ‘UNITE THE RIGHT’ EVENT: Several Republican candidates are scheduled to attend a political event later this month called “Unite the Right” — the same name used at the deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Va. The event is hosted by Kim Klacik, a WBAL Radio talk show host and former candidate for Congress who is founder and president of Red Renaissance, a political action committee. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox abruptly withdrew from the GOP unity gathering on Monday after a Jewish group said the event’s name evoked memories of the deadly white supremacist event that occurred in Charlottesville. Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
- The denouncement, which came after news of the event was first published, was a forceful rejection for a candidate who has, at times, embraced conspiracy theories such as his continued support for false claims that former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election only because of widespread election fraud. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
UNIONS ASK BPW TO DELAY VOTE ON HOSPITAL CONTRACTS: Union members and advocates on Monday called on the Board of Public Works to deny the state health department permission to approve vendors and execute two private health care contracts on their own. Privatizing health care services for the Western Maryland Hospital Center in Hagerstown would effectively eradicate services for people who can’t afford to get health care elsewhere, critics of the contracts said. Brenda Wintrode and Rachel Baye/The Baltimore Banner.
- Brian Miller, a social worker at the hospital in Hagerstown for 31 years, said a state Department of Health proposal that seeks expedited procurement approval to find a private entity to provide similar services is a veiled attempt to try to close or privatize the hospital. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
- The powerful three-member Board of Public Works, which includes the governor, is scheduled Wednesday to vote on expediting contracts that would outsource key functions of the public, long-term-care hospital, which cares for patients with complex conditions who often have been turned away from private facilities. Jenna Portnoy/The Washington Post.
- Pat Moran, president of AFSCME Council 3, is looking to two Democrats on the panel— Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Dereck Davis — to block Hogan. A delay could potentially push action back long enough for a new governor to take office. Moran is hoping that the new governor will be Democrat Wes Moore. Delaying the vote has the support of Moore and Aruna Miller, the Democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant governor respectively. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR FORUM: Please join us for an online virtual forum for the candidates for governor (Oct. 13) Here’s the flyer. Register there to see the governor forum 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.
BWI NOISE COULD COST TAXPAYERS $800M OVER NEXT 30 YEARS: Findings from a new study by the University of Maryland’s School of Pharmacy show that Marylanders could pay $800 million over the next 30 years in medical expenses, lost productivity and lost time as a result of airplane noise around BWI Marshall Airport. Dana Munro/The Capital Gazette.
NEW POTOMAC CROSSING TO OPEN THURSDAY; NICE BRIDGE FATE UNKNOWN: Maryland officials plan to open a new Potomac River crossing Thursday, a date that is months ahead of schedule for a $463 million project. That timeline might normally be a cause for celebration, but the date was only disclosed amid a legal battle over the fate of an 82-year-old parallel crossing – the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton Bridge – that bike advocates hope to save. Ian Duncan/The Washington Post.
STATE ARCHIVES LAUNCHES NATIVE AMERICAN RESEARCH TOOL: The Maryland State Archives launched a new website on Indigenous Peoples’ Day Monday that allows students, residents and visitors to research Native American tribes and events in Maryland history. Dana Munro/The Capital Gazette.
MO CO PRES TO LOOK INTO PLANNING DEPT TURMOIL: Montgomery County Council President Gabe Albornoz said Monday that the council has questions about the county Planning Board’s ’s decision Friday to fire Planning Director Gwen Wright, and said he is “deeply troubled” by what has transpired in the Planning Department over the last several weeks. Ginny Bixby/Bethesda Beat.
MASKED PROUD BOYS PROTEST DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR IN WHEATON: Wearing skeleton-face masks and carrying signs, members of the extreme right-wing group Proud Boys showed up Saturday to protest at an outdoor session of Drag Queen Story Hour at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton. Akira Kyles/Bethesda Beat.
