MOORE LAUNCHES YEAR OF SERVICE PROGRAM WITH 280 PARTICIPANTS: The University of Maryland fight song echoed through the college’s Reckord Armory Friday as dancers performed routines and a tunnel of cheerleaders welcomed the participants of Gov. Wes Moore’s Maryland Corps and Service Year Option to celebrate its pilot launch. Kiersten Hacker of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
- While starting with 280 participants this year, Moore has talked about growing to become a major state-backed program, one available to every graduate in the state and a model for others to replicate across the country. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
- The effort is a key step toward one of Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s signature campaign promises: to eventually create a pathway for every recent high school graduate to spend a year in the workforce in jobs that serve the greater good. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
MARYLAND BILL TO SHIELD JUDGES DATA TO BE RE-INTRODUCED: State Sen. William Smith intends to bring back a bill designed to protect judges in the upcoming legislative session, saying that the recent killing of Washington County Judge Andrew Wilkinson has renewed calls to increase safety measures for judges. Smith, who chairs the Senate’s Judicial Proceedings Committee, said he expects the bill, which would shield the home addresses of the state’s judges from being posted on the internet, will be the first bill to get a vote before his committee. Kate Ryan/WTOP-FM.
DISPENSARY EXPANSION BRINGS WARNING TO COUNTIES ON RESTRICTIONS: County leaders are being warned to be reasonable when considering using zoning to restrict cannabis businesses. The warning comes as the Maryland Cannabis Administration is about to open the application window for a social equity round of licenses that will award more than six dozen new dispensary licenses. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
OPINION: ATTACK ON INTERROGATION LAW IGNORE TRUTH ABOUT CHILDREN: No one is served by a child’s false confession: The perpetrator of the crime remains unidentified, an innocent young person is locked up, and our communities are no safer. In 2022, the Maryland General Assembly came up with a common-sense solution, enacting the Child Interrogation Protection Act. Unfortunately, it’s already under attack. Jessica Feierman and Emily Virgin/The Baltimore Banner.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS’ FRESH FRUIT, VEGGIE PROGRAM TO EXPAND: Maryland’s education department is using $4.7 million in federal grant money to fund a program geared at expanding students’ access to fresh fruits and vegetables during the school day. The Maryland State Department of Education said it will distribute funds to 213 elementary schools statewide — up from 196 schools during the previous school year — from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Dana Sukontarak/WTOP-FM.
OPINION: WHAT IS STUDENT EXPECTATION OF SUCCESS IN BLUEPRINT? As if new state schools superintendent Carey Wright doesn’t have more than enough Halloween hobgoblins to contend with, the scariest one has been overlooked in public understanding and political debate about the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future: How many students are actually expected to succeed by the time the Blueprint sunsets in 2032? Kalman Hettleman/Maryland Matters.
FREDERICK, STATE OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS TRANSPORTATION NEEDS: Traffic congestion — including the state’s plan to widen U.S. 15 though the city of Frederick — is expected to be a main topic when Frederick County officials meet with representatives from Maryland’s Department of Transportation – including Secretary Paul Wiedefeld – next week. They’ll discuss the county’s transportation needs and the state’s 6-year, $21.2 billion Consolidated Transportation Program. Ryan Marshall/The Frederick News Post.
MOSBY PERJURY TRIAL TO BEGIN: The perjury trial of fomer Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby will start in the middle of the week at the federal courthouse in Prince George’s County. Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Sun.
- The case – rife with novel legal theories, charges of racism and political soap opera – is a stunning illustration of Baltimore’s political and legal culture. Edward Ericson/Baltimore Brew.
POLITICAL NOTES: HOGAN ‘NO’ TO HARVARD; ARUNDEL HOUSING BILL; TRANSIT SPENDING FOR BA CO: Former Gov. Larry Hogan said he’s bowing out from planned visits to Harvard University over concerns of antisemitism on campus. County Executive Steuart Pittman may not have the votes from the Anne Arundel County Council to pass the Essential Worker Housing Access Act bill he’s spearheading. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. lamented that his county would receive drastically less state funding for locally operated transit lines than other Maryland counties under the state’s draft transportation spending plan. Pamela Wood, Hallie Miller, Taylor DeVille and Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
BA CO’s BAG LAW GOES INTO EFFECT: On Wednesday, the Baltimore County’s Bring Your Own Bag Act goes into effect, which bars retailers from offering single-use bags of thin plastic film and requires them to charge at least 5 cents for each paper or reusable bag they provide. Lia Russell/The Baltimore Sun.
MEET THE BEETLES: A spooky, imported ladybug, often mistaken for a native bug, known as the Halloween beetle is preparing to migrate from gardens and into homes as Maryland heads for colder weather. And while they are extremely valuable to plant life, the little bugs bite. Halloween beetle home infestations could result in odors and stains, too. Cecelia Shilling of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
HOW THIRD-PARTY CANDIDATES CAN GET ON MARYLAND BALLOT: What would it take for some of the third party and independent candidates – including Robert Kennedy Jr. and former Gov. Larry Hogan – to get on the Maryland ballot in a potential Joe Biden-Donald Trump rematch next November, and what are the historical tides they’d be up against? Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
ELRICH TO UNDERTAKE TRADE MISSION TO INDIA, VIETNAM: Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) is headed to India and Vietnam for an economic development trade mission. “We’re looking for opportunities to bring new jobs, new technologies and new products to the county,” Elrich said. “India and Vietnam are two important economic engines with already established business and cultural ties to Montgomery County.” Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
MD SUPREMES HONOR 1st BLACK LAWYER WITH ADMITTANCE TO BAR: The Supreme Court of Maryland honored the state’s first Black lawyer posthumously Thursday at a special session in Annapolis, the first time ever by the court. Edward Garrison Draper was born in Baltimore in 1834 and received a law degree in 1855 at Dartmouth College, the Ivy League school in New Hampshire. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
- Nearly 166 years after he was first rejected, due to his race, Draper has been admitted to the Maryland Bar. When Draper presented himself as a candidate to practice law in 1857, a Baltimore judge found that he was “qualified in all respects” — except that he was not white. Darcy Costello/The Baltimore Sun.
‘TRISH’ BYRNES, WHO SERVED IN CARTER WHITE HOUSE, DIES AT 80: Mary Patricia “Trish” Byrnes, a writer and editor who worked in the White House in the Jimmy Carter administration, died of complications from lymphoma Sept. 24. She was 80 and lived in West Towson. Jacques Kelly/The Baltimore Sun.
WILBERT WALKER, OFFICIAL IN MD DEPT. OF HUMAN SERVICES, DIES AT 98: Wilbert L. Walker, a Maryland Department of Human Services official and philanthropist, died of COVID and pneumonia Sept. 29 at the Keswick Multi-Care Center. He was 98 and lived in Hanlon Park. Jacques Kelly/The Baltimore Sun.
