COX AND MOORE DEBATE TODAY: Maryland’s top two candidates for governor will meet Wednesday in their first — and likely only — televised debate. Republican Dan Cox and Democrat Wes Moore will meet Wednesday afternoon at the studios of Maryland Public Television to record the debate. The debate will be broadcast Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. on MPT, WBAL-TV and WBAL radio. And it can be streamed at The Baltimore Banner. John O’Connor/The Baltimore Banner.
- Both candidates are expected to make their strongest pitches to voters and, potentially, their most forceful rebukes of each other in their lone joint public appearance of the election season. What else do you need to know to watch? Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
- With a lack of money to purchase ads and trailing by double-digits in polls, the stakes are high for Cox, a hard-right, Trump-endorsed conservative delegate from Frederick County. Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
SEVERAL JURISDICTIONS WON’T COUNT BALLOTS EARLY: Although multiple court rulings have cleared the way for mail-in ballot counting to begin ahead of Maryland’s Nov. 8 election, several local jurisdictions, including Baltimore County, do not plan to start until afterward, officials said this week. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Sun.
From left, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan recommitted to their efforts to fulfill bay restoration goals by 2025.
REACHING BAY CLEANUP GOALS PROVE ELUSIVE: The leaders of efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay by 2025, a group that includes six governors including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the mayor of the District Columbia, acknowledged Tuesday they have not been doing enough to reach their goals. Staff of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
- “It is clear that so many positive developments have been made despite the emerging threats of climate change and with the growing population,” said Kandis Boyd, the new director of EPA’s 39-year-old Chesapeake Bay Program. But the enthusiasm was dampened by knowledge that some states won’t meet their targeted goals by 2025. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
‘UNITE THE RIGHT’ EVENT RENAMED ‘MARYLAND UNITED:’ A planned rally for Maryland Republican candidates dubbed “Unite the Right” — the same name as the deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville — has a new name: “Maryland United.” Organizer Kim Klacik, a WBAL radio host who twice ran unsuccessfully for Congress, posted about the new name on her social media accounts on Tuesday, one day after The Baltimore Banner reported on the connection. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
WATCH HERE: MARYLAND COMPTROLLER CANDIDATE FORUM: Here is the recording of the candidate forum for Maryland Comptroller between Barry Glassman (Republican) and Brooke Lierman (Democrat). held on Oct. 6. MarylandReporter is one of the sponsors.
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.
PARROTT HITS TRONE OVER PARTISANSHIP: Republican congressional candidate and Washington County state Del. Neil Parrott Tuesday fired back at incumbent Rep. David Trone after the Democrat said Parrott would make the House of Representatives an even more partisan place if he is elected. “All you need to do is look at his (Trone’s) voting record,” Parrott said. “Congressman Trone votes 100% with Nancy Pelosi. That is not bipartisanship. That is a joke.” Bryan Renbaum of the Baltimore Post-Examiner/MarylandReporter.com.
JUDGE RULES AGAINST USING McGRATH’s WIFE’s MESSAGES: Federal prosecutors will not be able to use texts and other messages sent by the spouse of Roy McGrath during the fraud and embezzlement trial for the former Gov. Larry Hogan aide. U.S. District Court Judge Deborah L. Boardman said in a Tuesday hearing that the request to admit the texts and photos raised serious questions about the trustworthiness of messages sent back and forth to the father of Laura Bruner, McGrath’s wife, during alleged vacations to Italy and Florida. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
NEW GUARANTEED INCOME PROJECT SHOWING RESULTS: Leaders of a pilot project – the Baltimore Young Families Success Fund – that gives a guaranteed income of $1,000 a month for two years to 200 participants say the effects have been immediate. For many, the first two payments have also delivered stability, said Robin McKinney, CEO of CASH Campaign of Maryland. They’ve freed recipients to catch up on bills, enroll in new job training courses, and, in at least a handful of cases known to CASH, allowed recipients to secure stable housing. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
CYCLISTS FAIL IN BID TO SAVE NICE BRIDGE: A coalition of cycling groups has fallen short in their efforts to block the state from dismantling the old Nice-Middleton Bridge in Charles County. A federal judge in Baltimore said late Tuesday that the organizations failed to meet the high legal threshold for blocking demolition, which lawyers for the state said will begin later this week. Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and other dignitaries are scheduled to open the new span this morning. Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
LEGAL AID AIDS THOSE SEEKING RECORDS EXPUNGEMENT: Three dozen people attended a clinic last month hosted by Maryland Legal Aid and Loyola University Maryland to prepare free petitions of expungement, saving them a total of $1,890 in filing fees. In Maryland, convictions for some civil citations, nuisance crimes and marijuana possession are eligible for expungement. Sapna Bansil of CNS/MarylandReporter.com.
SEN. CASSILLY CONCERNED ABOUT UNGENDERED LOCKER ROOMS: State Sen. Bob Cassilly has raised concerns with Harford County schools after he heard about a middle school student who felt uncomfortable changing in a school locker room with a student of a different biological gender. Tony Roberts/The Aegis.
Erica Suter, an assistant public defender and Adnan Syed’s attorney, answers questions in a video press conference following the news that Syed’s charges were dropped Oct. 11. (Abby Zimmardi/Capital News Service)
AFTER DNA RESULTS, MURDER CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST SYED: With an unannounced, one-minute hearing Tuesday, Baltimore prosecutors abruptly dropped murder charges against Adnan Syed. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby later said newly performed DNA tests on the shoes of the victim, Hae Min Lee, found a mixture of multiple people — none of them Syed. Dylan Segelbaum and Tim Prudente/The Baltimore Banner.
- Betty Gaskins recalled waving to Adnan Syed just a few weeks ago as he walked into his family’s home in Windsor Mill, a Baltimore suburb, still on house arrest after spending 23 years in prison for murdering his former high school girlfriend. Her two children and Syed would play together in the yard and throw balls against the walls of the house, she recalled. Gaskins said she never thought he committed the crime. Shannon Clark and Abby Zimmardi of CNS/MarylandReporter.com.
- “The case is over,” Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said at a news conference. “What I’m saying is that he’s been wrongly convicted.” Omari Daniels and Emily Davies/The Washington Post.
MO CO PLANNING BOARD CONTROVERSY GROWS: An investigation into Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson’s conduct has expanded to include the actions of Vice Chair Partap Verma and the abrupt firing of Planning Department director Gwen Wright, County Council President Gabe Albornoz said Tuesday. Daniel Wu/The Washington Post.
ANGELOS FAMILY SEEKS TO KEEP FINANCES SECRET: The legal battle that already made public the private dynamics of the family of Peter Angelos has shifted into terrain they also likely would want to keep secret: their finances. Lawyers for the wife and elder son of Angelos, the Orioles owner and legal titan incapacitated by illness, have asked a judge to limit the amount of financial information that bankers must reveal about the team, his law firm and other assets. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.
