CORRECTIONS WON’T FIX HEALTH CARE AT BALTIMORE JAILS BY DEADLINE: State attorneys told a federal judge this week that Maryland’s corrections department won’t meet the court’s December 2024 deadline to fix health care and mental health in Baltimore jails. Instead, officials are targeting the end of 2025 to be fully compliant with the terms of a 2016 settlement. Ben Conarck/The Baltimore Banner.
HORSE TRAINING LIKELY TO MOVE FROM PIMLICO TO LAUREL: Approximately 200 horses currently stabled at Pimlico Race Course for training could be moved to Laurel by the end of the year. At a meeting of the Maryland Racing Commission on Aug. 1, Maryland Jockey Club acting President Mike Rogers confirmed that the MJC and members of the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association are working on a plan to consolidate training at Laurel Park in order to save money. George Berkheimer/The Business Monthly.
STADIUM AUTHORITY MEMBER ‘FRUSTRATED’ BY LACK OF O’s LEASE: The Orioles’ lease keeping them at Camden Yards expires in less than five months, and state officials have sought to focus attention on the lease — or lack thereof. Maryland Stadium Authority board member William Cole ended the board’s monthly meeting on Tuesday by saying, “I just wanted to express my frustration over the Orioles’ lease situation,” Cole shared with the board during a meeting at The Warehouse at Camden Yards.” Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Sun.
GOV. MOORE PREDICTS COMMANDERS TO STAY IN LANDOVER: In a wide-ranging town hall televised Tuesday evening, Gov. Wes Moore predicted that the Washington Commanders would keep the team’s stadium in Landover and said using public cash to build it will be part of ongoing negotiations with the team’s new leadership. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
MOSQUITOS WITH WEST NILE VIRUS FOUND IN TWO COUNTIES: Four mosquito traps set out by the Maryland Department of Agriculture tested positive for West Nile Virus. The results are the first of a season that typically starts in late July and goes through September. The positive traps were found in Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
MARYLANDERS SPEND $87M ON LEGAL CANNABIS: Marijuana users dropped $87.43 million on cannabis in Maryland during a strong first month of recreational sales, according to state officials, spending an average of about $2.8 million on the substance each day in July. Katie Shepherd/The Washington Post.
IN RUN FOR PRESIDENT, O’MALLEY SAID HE COULD FIX SOCIAL SECURITY: Eight years before Martin O’Malley was tapped to manage Social Security, he was running for president and claiming to be the only candidate with a plan to fix it. The vision, the former Maryland governor said, was not just to address the long-term outlook for a program expected to be incapable of paying full benefits by the mid-2030s, but to expand the benefits while raising wages and inspiring more private investment in retirement. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
CARDIN TOURS FREDERICK SMALL BUSINESSES ON POST-COVID ECONOMY: U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin met with entrepreneurs in downtown Frederick on Tuesday to discuss the challenges small businesses face in the post-pandemic economy. Cardin, a Maryland Democrat who announced in May that is not running for re-election, began the day with brief visits to several area shops. Ceoli Jacoby/The Frederick News Post.
HARFORD SCHOOLS OK 200-PAGE BLUEPRINT EDUCATION PLAN: Harford County Public Schools’ 200-page plan to implement policies and programs to bring it in alignment with the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a statewide education reform plan, was approved last week without conditions by the Maryland Accountability and Implementation Board. Katia Parks/The Aegis