STATE LEADERS REJECT CLAIM ON FBI HQ PROCESS: Maryland leadership – including Gov. Wes Moore, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer and U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen – in a news conference Friday, strenuously rejected claims that the decision process choosing Greenbelt for the new FBI headquarters was tainted and called the matter a done deal. Tommy Tucker of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
PRINCE GEORGE’S REVELS IN ITS SELECTION: As critics of the Biden administration’s decision to award a new FBI headquarters project to Maryland attacked the process, state and local officials said the prize was long overdue for Prince George’s County, a wealthy Black enclave whose leaders have long sought to secure parity with neighbors in the Washington metropolitan region. Lateshia Beachum and Erin Cox/The Baltimore Sun.
HOYER QUARTERBACKED FBI MOVE TO MARYLAND: It was 2009 when U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer began his quest to bring a new FBI headquarters building to Prince George’s County. The director of the FBI at the time, Robert Mueller, approached Hoyer. The FBI’s building in Washington was old and outdated, “designed for a law enforcement agency that no longer exists,” Hoyer recalled Mueller saying. Fourteen years later — after stops and starts and controversy — Hoyer and a slew of Maryland officials took a victory lap Friday, praising the federal government’s selection of a site in Greenbelt for the headquarters. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
LEADERS SEEK CLARITY ON BLUEPRINT FOR THEIR SCHOOLS: As Maryland rolls out the 2021 landmark education reform law called the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, many school administrators are unsure what the plan means for their schools. At the annual School Leaders Conference held in early November, state officials and school principals reviewed the details of the Blueprint and discussed how it will be implemented in each school district. Cait Kelley and Caley Fox Shannon of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
BOARD OF ED REDEFINES COLLEGE, CAREER READINESS: The Maryland State Board of Education is trying to define what career and college readiness looks like for students. In a public hearing Thursday night, representatives from the state education department presented a new proposed pathway for students to achieve the college and career readiness status. Under the new standards, students would qualify as career and college ready by earning a 3.0 GPA in their first two years of high school, and passing either an Algebra 1 course or the state standardized MCAP test. Bri Hatch/WYPR-FM.
CAR THEFTS SPOTLIGHTED AT B’MORE CITY HALL: The Department of Juvenile Services was under the microscope last week at Baltimore City Hall, during a discussion about car thefts. Lisa Garry, deputy secretary of Community Services, presented the department’s selection criteria regarding which juvenile should be detained and which should be released. Vincent Hill/WBFF-TV News.
ORGANIZATIONS LIGHT UP GREEN TO SUPPORT VETS: Over the past week, state agencies and small businesses across Maryland lit up with green lights to show their support for Maryland’s veterans as part of Operation Green Light, a national campaign to recognize veterans and provide educational opportunities highlighting the needs and well-being of those who served in the U.S. military. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
OPINION: DOMESTIC ABUSERS SHOULD NEVER HAVE GUNS: Understanding the danger that perpetrators of domestic violence pose to society, especially if they have access to firearms, is a highly relevant and important conversation, given last week’s Supreme Court review of U.S. v Rahimi, which will determine whether people under restraining orders for domestic violence can legally keep their guns. Possession of a gun by an abuser is the strongest risk factor for intimate partner homicide; thus, the stakes of this SCOTUS review are terrifyingly high. Chloe Lee/The Baltimore Sun.
NEW B’MORE POLICE UNIT UNDER FIRE FOR TRAFFIC STOPS, SHOOTINGS: Advocates and defense attorneys say they are seeing a repeat of a notorious pattern within the Baltimore City Police Department and its new District Action Team, the force created with the disbanding of the discredited Gun Trace Task Force. Officers seem to be using a thin pretext to justify an unconstitutional traffic stop. And as this story was being prepared, new questions were being raised about the latest DAT stop, on Tuesday afternoon that ended with officers shooting and killing a man. A man identifying himself as the victim’s brother says the victim was running away. Brandon Soderberg/Baltimore Brew.
SARBANES ON UNFINISHED BUSINESS, FINDING NEW WAYS TO SERVE: John Sarbanes will leave Congress with unfinished work: his Freedom to Vote Act — which calls for an end to partisan gerrymandering and making Election Day a holiday — is stalled for now in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Sarbanes is hopeful his bill will find success after he leaves office, and has lined up colleagues to carry on the fight. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
POLITICAL NOTES: MANCHIN’s FUTURE, ELFRETH’s TEAM, FICKER ON AIR: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) got headlines this week that former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) could only envy. Manchin announced that he wouldn’t run for reelection in 2024, all but guaranteeing that Republicans will pick up his seat — and move that much closer to grabbing control of the chamber in the next Congress. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND DELEGATION SPLIT OVER HAMAS-ISRAEL WAR: The Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed more than 1,400 people and Israel’s continuing response in Gaza, where officials said Friday the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 11,000 people, have generated passionate responses among Marylanders and put the state’s congressional delegation on the spot. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
MARILYN MOSBY’s FALL FROM GRACE: Marilyn Mosby, a Democrat once acclaimed as the youngest chief prosecutor in a major American city, now stands convicted of federal crimes. “It’s sad for the city, as well as sad for her, because you just don’t like to see publicity regarding the city of another elected official being convicted of a crime,” said University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke, a Democrat who previously served as the city’s state’s attorney and mayor. “It hurts not only her and her family, but the community.” Alex Mann, Darcy Costello and Cassidy Jensen/The Baltimore Sun.
ROCKVILLE ELECTIONS EXPERIENCE TECHNICAL GLITCHES: Before Election Day even began Tuesday in Rockville, some registered voters experienced technical problems with the online tracking of their ballots or received their ballots late in the mail—some not at all. Elia Griffin/MoCo 360.
CLIMATE EXPERTS QUESTION ANNAPOLIS DOCK PLANS: As Annapolis readies to start construction next spring on the first phase of its ambitious flood prevention project, businesses are grateful for the pending relief, but climate scientists are warning that it’s exactly the wrong way to tackle the problem of rising sea levels. By the end of the estimated three-year construction, the dock will be elevated and passive flood barriers along with a pumping station will be installed, according to the Annapolis government website. Cecilia Schilling of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
HUD LABELS ANNAPOLIS HOUSING AUTHORITY ‘TROUBLED:’ The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a new score report for the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis, and the news is not good. HACA scored just 42 points on a scale of 100 and was labeled a “troubled” performer, according to a Public Housing Assessment System report issued Nov. 2. Rebecca Ritzel/The Capital Gazette.
An observation and request for those making decisions re. how education should be, just who needs to have what GPA for “career and college” readiness: please include that each student must be given the educational components to be ready to succeed in life in all ways however a career choice may be defined. Expand beyond the idea of college to recognize and dignify a life choice in others who want careers in the technical/labor force, the military – whatever! something other that does not require a college sourced education. Why is it perpetuated that going to college is the seemingly only worthy pathway; that others are less so. Thank you!