TU TO WITHDRAW DUPLICATE DOCTORAL PROGRAM: With the fall semester scheduled to begin today, Towson University will withdraw its plan to establish a business analytics doctoral program. The school’s decision, according to a statement released Friday from spokesperson Sean Welsh, is based on the Maryland Higher Education Commission’s request last month for institutions to “pause” new degree proposals if an objection is raised by another university. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
NOTRE DAME U ADMITS MEN: Friday’s new student move-in at Notre Dame of Maryland University looked a little different than in years past. For the first time, male students joined the women carrying suitcases and pushing carts of dorm essentials into Doyle Hall. After 128 years of operating as an all-women’s institution, 50 male undergraduates will attend classes this fall at the private Baltimore university. Bri Hatch/WYPR-FM.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OPENING AMID SAFETY, LEADERSHIP CONCERNS: Thousands of children will go through the doors of their schools this morning even though concerns remain about school safety and leadership of the state’s entire school system. Chris Berinato/WBFF-Fox News.
IN FUTURE, STATE MAY BACK AWAY FROM GAS TAX FOR NEW REVENUE STREAMS: Decreases in revenues flowing to the state’s Transportation Trust Fund could trigger dramatic changes in how the state pays for future road and transportation projects. Moving to a surcharge based on the number of miles driven is one change the state’s new Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission could suggest to the legislature over the next two years. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
JUDGE’s OPINIONS INCLUDED IN UNREDACTED CATHOLIC PROBE DOCS: When a judge called for “more transparency, not less,” it was in reference to his decision to reveal 43 blacked-out names in a Maryland attorney general’s report on the history of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore. But it also applies to the inclusion in his opinion of some of the arguments those individuals made against being named publicly. Their contentions provide for the first time, in some cases, their comments on the allegations made against them. Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Sun.
AG PROBE OFFERS CLUES INTO 2022 FATAL ARUNDEL POLICE SHOOTING: An investigative report from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office offers new information on what led up to a September 2022 fatal police shooting in Anne Arundel County. Giacomo Bologna/The Baltimore Sun.
MOORE IN HAMPTONS FOR FUNDS AND FUN: Gov. Wes Moore is out of town again, spending time in the Hamptons for fundraising and “personal time,” according to his campaign. His trip to Long Island’s vacation resort area favored by the wealthy and the powerful came after he spent Thursday in New York City, appearing on cable TV interviews to promote President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. Several Republican candidates had debated on TV the night before. The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLANDERS COMMEMORATE 60th ANNIVERSARY OF MARCH ON WASHINGTON: On Aug. 28, 1963, about 250,000 people traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. There, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech as people stood near the Lincoln Memorial. Sixty years later, hundreds of people traveled from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to City Dock in Annapolis on Saturday to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Caitlyn Freeman/The Capital Gazette.
- Marylanders this weekend observed the 60th anniversary of two events — the March on Washington and the integration of Gwynn Oak Park — that were defining moments in the Civil Rights movement. But as Black history — and the way it is taught — comes under attack nationwide, both events serve as reminders that properly recognizing and teaching it is more important than ever, according to organizers and experts. John John Williams/The Baltimore Banner.
MO CO DEMS OKs IRS PAYOUT: The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee —apparently unable to negotiate away the penalties it owed the Internal Revenue Service—voted Friday to pay off the remaining balance of $4,635.72. The special meeting was opened to the public on Zoom, but all discussion was held in closed session until the closing vote, where members elected to “authorize the chair to remit the remaining balance to the IRS.” Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
IS SHEILA DIXON HEADING FOR A COMEBACK? As the end of her 2020 mayoral campaign neared, Sheila Dixon said she wouldn’t run for mayor again if she lost the race. Three years later, however, the former Baltimore mayor may be staging another potential comeback. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Sun.
BA CO DISORGANIZED WORK TRACKING FAULTED: Baltimore County’s Department of Public Works and Transportation’s disorganized tracking of utility work orders could put the county at risk of violating its federal consent decree with environmental regulators, according to an inspector general report posted online Friday afternoon. Taylor DeVille/The Baltimore Banner.
- A report from Inspector General Kelly Madigan’s office focused on five employees assigned to three service trucks within the grinder pump section of the Bureau of Utilities’ Pumping and Treatment Division, who spent approximately a third or more of their average workday sitting their trucks for “excessive amounts of time” at “locations that did not appear to be work-related,” and at times, going “entire days without completing a work order.” Lia Russell/The Baltimore Sun.
DEVELOPER JOINS BA CO TO OVERSEE COVID FUNDS PROGRAMS: A developer who was at the center of a dispute over a Dundalk recreation center a decade ago and has a history of financial problems recently joined the Baltimore County government to help oversee its COVID funding programs. Lia Russell/The Baltimore Sun.
