B’MORE POLICE ADMIT FAILURES IN MASS SHOOTING TO CITY COUNCIL: Facing an angry Baltimore City Council demanding answers about how an annual community festival devolved into one of the city’s largest mass shootings, Baltimore Police leaders acknowledged their failure Thursday to learn of the event in advance and further admitted responsibility for failing to mobilize additional resources once the party was discovered. The July 2 shooting left two dead and 28 injured. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Sun
- The Baltimore City Council seized its first opportunity to grill Acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley at a marathon hearing Thursday night, demanding accountability and change from the top cop who still needs their approval to permanently enter the office. Emily Sullivan/Baltimore Banner
GROUP WARNS ABOUT POLLUTION OF MD. BEACHES: With hot summer weather now baked in for at least the next several weeks, an environmental group is offering a word of caution to all Marylanders who will seek relief on local beaches: Last year, 41 Maryland beaches were found to be potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day of testing. John Kurtz/Maryland Matters
COURT UPHOLDS MONTGOMERY CO. GUN LAW: The Montgomery County District Court announced July 6 that they rejected a challenge to Bill 21-22, a county law signed in November that prohibits carrying firearms within 100 yards of places of public assembly, including a park, church, school and public buildings, according to a press release. Maryland Shall Issue President Mark Pennak said that through this case, the county “extinguished” the right to carry a firearm, which greatly affected gun owners. Courtney Cohn/MontCo360
ATLANTIC LEAGUE FOUNDER WILL BRING NEW BASEBALL TEAM TO HAGERSTOWN: Frank Boulton is a major player in America’s independent baseball leagues. He recently partnered with Howard “Blackie” Bowen, his former college roommate, and others to create a new independent league baseball team for Hagerstown, which lost its old team in 2021. Sununu Bah/Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter
OWNERS OF NEW BASEBALL TEAM HAVE DEEP ROOTS IN HAGERSTOWN: The ownership group of the new baseball team in Hagerstown aren’t baseball people. But they are Hagerstown people, and history has shown that local ownership can lead to sustained success for a minor league ball club. Sam Ostry and Jessie Schwartz/Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter
B’MORE CO. LEADERS SIGN BILL AFFECTING SECURITY SQUARE MALL REDEVELOPMENT: Baltimore County leaders gathered on Thursday to sign the West Baltimore County Authority bill into law. The bill, unanimously passed by the Baltimore County Council, allows the county to target areas for redevelopment in an approximately 13-mile area between Liberty Road and Route 40, surrounding Security Square Mall. Edward Calkins/WBFF (Fox)
FIVE WINNERS WILL OPEN DOWNTOWN BALTIMORE STORES: Five businesses will be opening in downtown Baltimore over the next six months with the help of a pioneering program that helps merchants get started in business while filling vacant downtown storefronts. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Downtown Partnership of Baltimore President Shelonda Stokes on Thursday announced the five groups that have been selected from 50 applicants to open brick and mortar locations downtown. Ed Gunts/Baltimore Fishbowl
COMMENTARY: MD. STILL REELING FROM 1998 DEATH OF COMPTROLLER LOUIS GOLDSTEIN: Maryland was about to settle into a nice, quiet Fourth of July weekend in 1998. And while among the chattering classes there was some anticipation for the candidate filing deadline to come on July 6, Maryland political leaders were settling in for a quiet weekend as well. What followed was anything but quiet or orderly. And it’s easy to see that the chaotic events of that oft-forgotten weekend and the days that followed are still reverberating in Maryland politics today. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters
COMMENTARY: STATE HAS PLAN, LEADERSHIP TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS: Lawmakers have passed sweeping educational reform legislation with a $ 4 billion investment in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. This comes as Maryland has seen student performance decline even further than pre-pandemic levels. Now, the state has seen the percentage of middle school students proficient in math fall to single digits in a significant number of counties. There is a lot of work to be done. Clarence C. Crawford/The Baltimore Banner
