WITH A C-, MARYLAND IN TOP 10 FOR MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH: A new report shows that Maryland is in the top 10 states when it comes to policies that support mental health among new mothers and pregnant people. But the state only received a C-, according to a nationwide report card from the policy think tank called Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health. According to the report card, 40 states either received a D or an F, and the highest graded state was California with a B-. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
ARUNDEL JOINS JURISDICTIONS SUING OVER ‘FOREVER CHEMICALS:’ Anne Arundel County joined with dozens of other jurisdictions and states, including Maryland, in suing companies that develop and sell products containing toxic PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” in firefighting foam. Dana Munro/The Capital Gazette.
AS MARYLAND COUNTIES COLLECT OPIOID SETTLEMENTS, B’MORE GOES TO COURT: Over the summer, Maryland county coffers will grow by a collective $13.6 million — their second annual payout from last year’s landmark national court settlement against opioid industry giants — companies whose drugs, plaintiffs contended, helped fuel a nationwide addiction crisis. But Baltimore City won’t get a dime. Instead, the city is taking them to court on its own. Sarah True/The Baltimore Banner.
600 TEACHERS LEFT B’MORE CITY, COUNTY SCHOOLS AFTER ONE YEAR: Six hundred teachers and school staff in Baltimore City and Baltimore County left the classroom on the last day of the 2022-23 school year — and they won’t be returning in the fall. According to data from school board meeting agendas, many of these resignees quit after working for a year or less in their positions — leaving key vacancies in special education and English for Speakers of Other Languages. Bri Hatch/WYPR-FM.
PROSECUTORS PRIVATELY CLASH OVER WHO SHOULD PROBE IN-CUSTODY DEATH: A push to reexamine the police-involved death of Tyrone West in 2013 has officials at odds over who should do the work, underscoring the challenges families seeking justice can face even when they have convinced a prosecutor that questions remain unanswered. Maryland’s top law enforcement official and the Baltimore City prosecutor have for weeks been trading letters about the case of West, 44, who died after being pepper-sprayed, hit with batons and pinned to the ground during a struggle with police following a traffic stop in Baltimore. Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
MASTERCARD MOVE ON DEBIT CARD CANNABIS SALES A BLOW TO INDUSTRY: National credit card company Mastercard dealt a blow to Maryland’s growing cannabis industry and legal weed retailers across the country last week, telling financial institutions to shut down marijuana purchases made with their company’s debit cards. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
WHEN SHOULD RUPPERSBERGER, HOYER RETIRE? Some of the most senior members of Congress, including two from Maryland – Reps.Dutch Ruppersberger, 77, and Steny Hoyer, 84 — must address a deeply personal question that has become prominent on Capitol Hill and in the emerging 2024 presidential race. When should an officeholder retire? Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
MO CO DEM CENTRAL COMMITTEE FINED FOR UNPAID FEDERAL TAXES: The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee owes approximately $14,000 in fines to the Internal Revenue Service for two years of unpaid federal taxes, a budget document shows — but committee leadership has kept quiet about the details, including where the cash was spent. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
LACKS FAMILY SAYS IT IT WILL SUE OTHER COMPANIES OVER HeLa CELLS: Lawyers representing the family of Henrietta Lacks say they intend to pursue claims against other companies that profit from the HeLa cell line using the unjust enrichment argument. The family had just settled a suit with biotechnology giant Thermo Fisher. Lacks was a Black woman from Baltimore County whose cells were taken from her in 1951 by a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital without her consent or knowledge. Angela Roberts/The Baltimore Sun.
41,799 LIVING PEOPLE LINKED TO DNA OF CATOCTIN FURNACE WORKERS: The journal “Science” has published research that connected 41,799 living people to 27 of the workers who were buried at Catoctin Furnace, located near the small bucolic town of Thurmont, a few miles from where the presidential retreat Camp David would be built decades later. It is the largest concentration of living relatives found in Maryland, suggesting many descendants of the workers remained in the area. Hugo Kugiya/The Baltimore Banner.
OPINION: MO CO OPT-OUT DEBATE NEEDS TO FOCUS ON FACTS: As long-time residents of Montgomery County who had or have children in its public schools, we have watched with dismay as an ugly debate threatens to unfold in our community over inclusive storybooks with LGBTQ+ characters. At issue is whether the Montgomery County Public Schools should permit parents to pull their kids out of class whenever a storybook with an LGBTQ+ character is read. David S. Fishback and Mark Eckstein of Metro DC Chapter of PFLAG/MoCo 360.
MALE-ONLY BURNING TREE GOLF CLUB KEEPS ITS HEAD DOWN: Bethesda’s Burning Tree Golf Club is one of about eight male-only golf clubs left in the nation, according to GolfLink. No other golf club in the D.C. region, or in Maryland, shares Burning Tree’s exclusionary policy. It has been home to presidents, Supreme Court justices and businessmen for decades. And it has fought against any move to accept women. Amy Halpern/MoCo 360.
