COUNTY EXECS JOIN CALL FOR CHANGES TO JUVENILE REFORM LAWS: Several Maryland county executives and jurisdiction leaders joined prosecutors, law enforcement officials and legislators recently in calling for action on the state’s juvenile interrogation and reform laws they believe are driving the state’s underage crime spree. Jeff Abell and Gary Collins/WBFF-TV News.
REDACTED NAMES FROM AG’s CHURCH REPORT COULD BE RELEASED TODAY: Dozens of redacted names could be released as early as Tuesday in a report detailing child sexual abuse in Maryland’s Catholic church. A Baltimore judge last month ordered that redactions be lifted for all but three of the names blacked out from a report on the history of sex abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Staff/WBAL-TV News.
ARUNDEL SCHOOL SUPER ISN’T INTERESTED IN STATE ROLE: Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell told employees Friday in an email that he isn’t interested in the eventual vacancy for the Maryland state superintendent of schools position following the news that Mohammed Choudhury will not seek a second term. Brian Jeffries/The Capital Gazette.
HARFORD EXEC TEMPORARILY BLOCKS AUDITOR FROM FINANCIAL DATA: Harford County Executive Robert Cassilly (R) added to political tensions in his county last week by temporarily blocking the county auditor from accessing financial information, a potential violation of the Harford County Charter. The move is yet another front opened in the ongoing tensions between the first-year executive and other officials — mostly Republicans — in the county. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
POLITICAL NOTES: DAN COX CONSIDERING RUN FOR U.S. HOUSE IN THE 6th: Former GOP gubernatorial Dan Cox nominee continues to contemplate whether he will run for the open seat in Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District, he told MoCo360 in an email Friday. “We have been carefully considering the sixth district race and have not yet made a decision on whether to run,” Cox wrote. “Our children must be safe and well educated with local jobs that actually pay enough to live here and I don’t see this priority in our current leadership.” Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
OPINION: RANKED CHOICE VOTING A PROMISING ALTERNATIVE: In the realm of American politics, we frequently find ourselves in the unenviable position of choosing between the lesser of two imperfect options. The 2020 presidential election vividly illustrated this dilemma. One promising alternative that can address the challenges of selecting a candidate when faced with a field of contenders, each with their strengths and weaknesses, is ranked choice voting. This system empowers primary voters to rank candidates in order of preference, thus offering a fairer and more representative outcome. Clayton Mitchell Sr./Maryland Matters.
30,000 ACCEPTED ONTO B’MORE’s HOUSING WAITLIST: All of the nearly 30,000 applications for Baltimore’s newly reopened low-income public housing program waitlist have been accepted following a surge in requests. The housing authority said in a news release that it will use a random sequence generator to determine the order on the wait list for the roughly 29,800 applicants, who will then have to complete eligibility interviews and provide documentation. As public housing units become vacant, residents will be pulled from the waitlist. Dan Belson and Cassidy Jensen/The Baltimore Sun.
JENKINS CONTINUES TO SEEK RELEASE OF GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS: Attorneys for Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins reiterated arguments in a federal court filing on Monday that grand jury minutes and witness testimony should be reviewed and released due to what they called inconsistent and potentially misleading comments from prosecutors. Grand jury proceedings are usually secret, but Jenkins’ attorneys said prosecutors may have misrepresented evidence to a grand jury to indict Jenkins. Clara Niel/The Frederick News Post.
PERDUE WORKERS IN SALISBURY PLAN TO UNIONIZE: Workers at Perdue AgriBusiness in Salisbury announced Monday they plan to unionize with the United Food & Commercial Workers Local 27 Union. Workers reached out to UFCW Local 27 to form a union following several incidents that raised safety concerns among the staff. Workers also want to address wages and fairness in the workplace. Kristian Jaime/The Salisbury Daily Times.
OPINION: MARYLAND HIT HARD BY STUDENT DEBT CRISIS: Remedies offered so far would do little to address inequities that are part of the student loan repayment crisis. One such inequity is tied to the U.S. racial wealth gap. In the U.S., 86% of Black students are taking out loans compared to 68% of white students. With Baltimore being a majority-Black city and Maryland borrowers averaging $42,666 in student loan debt — the second highest of any state — the student loan debt crisis has a particularly disparate and inevitable impact. Ian Williams/The Baltimore Banner.
BERNIE BERKOWITZ, WHO SERVED IN SCHAEFER’s MARYORSHIP, DIES AT 96: Bernard L. “Bernie” Berkowitz, who headed economic development during the administration of former Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer, died of cancer Thursday at his Northwest Baltimore home. He was 96. Jacques Kelly/The Baltimore Sun.
