SEN. CARDIN REVIVES PUSH FOR PASSAGE OF ERA: U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland has been advocating for the Equal Rights Amendment, either in Washington or Annapolis, for more than 50 years. A vote on his effort to revive the amendment is scheduled for Thursday and, for Cardin, it’s long been personal. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Monday that the Senate will vote on the Equal Rights Amendment this week — 100 years after it was first introduced in Congress. He said that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and efforts to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone, as well as state-level actions to roll back women’s rights, have made the ERA and its protections more critical than ever. Mariana Alfaro/The Washington Post.
AS RECREATIONAL POT TAKES HOLD, MEDICAL CANNABIS BOARD SAYS GOODBYE: A commission that has guided the state through its first wobbly steps into legalized access to marijuana had what is likely its final meeting. Members of the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission said their goodbyes Wednesday. The panel, which has changed over the last five years, goes away as the state enters a new era of access to cannabis for recreational purposes. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
POLITICAL NOTES: HARRY & PARRIS; NEW HOMELAND SECURITY CHIEF: Former Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening recalls meeting Harry Belafonte, who died recently at 96, when as Prince George’s County executive, he traveled to Senegal in the late 1980s and ran into Belafonte on a couple of occasions. Each time, the meetings were fortuitous. Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced this week that he has appointed Brig. Gen. Adam R. Flasch to serve as the director of the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
HRABOWSKI CONFIDENT SHEARES ASHBY CAN FILL HIS SHOES AT UMBC: When Valerie Sheares Ashby first visited University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2012, she had no idea, nor intention, to be the campus’s next president. But Freeman Hrabowski, a president who took the university to new heights, knew Sheares Ashby was destined to do the same thing. Kristen Griffith/The Baltimore Banner.
2 CATHOLIC U’s UNITE TO COVER NURSING SHORTAGE: To address the shortage of nurses, Notre Dame of Maryland University and Mount St. Mary’s University are teaming up to smooth the pipeline for nursing students. In a new agreement, the two Catholic schools will allow MSMU students finishing their Health Science degrees to matriculate directly into NDMU for a 15-month Bachelor of Nursing degree. Students get two degrees in about five years. After completing the program, students can take the test to become registered nurses. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
B’MORE REELS OVER BLUEPRINT EDUCATION DUES: At Wednesday’s Baltimore City Board of Estimates meeting, questions arose of why the city’s education dues have jumped so dramatically, even as state payments are holding steady this year. The increase is based on formulas in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the sweeping, 2021 law pitched as a way of funneling more money from both state and local governments into schools. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
B’MORE RENTERS ON VERGE OF EVICTION SEEK CITY AID: Appearing Wednesday at the city’s first Taxpayers’ Night on the proposed budget, city residents made the case for increased funding for renters facing eviction and public libraries while reminding city officials that they are under an election-year microscope. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Sun.
MO CO RESIDENTS TURN OUT TO SUPPORT FEWER POLICE TRAFFIC STOPS: Dozens of Montgomery County residents packed County Council chambers in Rockville Tuesday evening to voice their support of and opposition to the STEP Act, a proposed bill that would limit the reasons that county police could stop motorists and pedestrians. STEP stands for Safety and Traffic Equity in Policing. Several residents shared their experiences in support of the county legislation. Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
