ANGELOS SAID TO BE FIRM ON CAMDEN YARDS DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS: With only weeks remaining on their lease at Camden Yards, Orioles officials are pushing back against the idea of signing a long-term lease without including development rights at the complex. One source is saying that Orioles chairman and CEO John Angelos is not inclined to make major adjustments to the MOU. Andy Kostka/The Baltimore Banner.
VIRGINIA ASKS BIDEN ADMIN TO PAUSE FBI HQ MOVE TO MARYLAND: Virginia lawmakers are asking the Biden administration to “pause” work on a new headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation until a government watchdog can complete a review into how a Maryland site was selected. The letter from 11 members of Virginia’s congressional delegation to Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, urges her agency to place a temporary hold on the project. Jennifer Shutt and Danielle Gaines/Maryland Matters.
NEW FEES ON EVs, TOLL HIKES TO BE CONSIDERED: New fees for electric vehicle owners and increases in tolls are on the table as part of a set of interim recommendations due later this year from a blue-ribbon transportation panel. The Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission will meet later this month to consider at least three recommendations made by the commission’s chair, Frank Principe. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
ALSOBROOKS, TRONE JAB AT EACH OTHER IN FIRST FACE-TO-FACE: While few, if any, significant policy differences were evident as Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Rep. David Trone of Potomac had their first face-to-face encounter in the contest for an open U.S. Senate seat, the frontrunners for the Democratic nomination nonetheless jabbed at each other’s records Sunday during a 90-minute forum in Alsobrooks’ home county. Louis Peck/MoCo 360.
OPINION: FIND A BETTER WAY TO FILL LEGISLATIVE VACANCIES: When lawmakers return to Annapolis next month, some are vowing to end the appointment practice of filling legislative vacancies and instead running a special election in the presidential election year if the vacancy takes place early enough in a four-year term. … They argue that … bypassing the electorate is among the most undemocratic actions … And it’s not a small one, given that about one in four of the current state delegates and senators got their seats through the appointment process. Editorial Board/The Baltimore Sun.
WITH STATE’s NEW AI ADVISOR AT WORK, LEGISLATORS CALL FOR PRIVACY LAW: With applications of generative artificial intelligence like ChatGPT having gobbled up data, at least one state legislative leader is calling for Maryland to join a dozen other states with laws to protect citizens’ data and personal information The state’s new senior adviser for responsible AI nodded toward privacy, but stopped short of explicitly calling for a new law. “Privacy will have to be one of the key values that we center a lot of this work around,” said Nishant Shah, hired in August from a position at Facebook’s parent company, Meta. Dwight A. Weingarten/The Hagerstown Herald-Mail.
STATE ARCHAEOLOGISTS BATTLE SEA-LEVEL RISE TO FIND TUBMAN’s PAST: On a patch of soggy ground in Dorchester County, Julie Schablitsky and her team of archaeologists are digging, sifting and sorting. What they’re looking for is the exact location of Ben Ross’ cabin — and they’re running out of time. Almost 200 years after Harriet Tubman’s father settled on this hidden 10-acre patch near Indian Landing in the woodlands around where Tubman’s extended family was enslaved, the once-fertile soil has given way to wetlands plants and salt patches. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
PROTESTERS SUPPORT PALESTINE, B’MORE COUNCIL RESOLUTION FOR ISRAEL FAILS: A Baltimore City Council resolution, which was largely symbolic and not on the scheduled agenda for council members to review in advance, called for “Condemning the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct.7, 2023 and antisemitism.” With four council members deciding to abstain, and two others absent, it did not get the required 12 votes to pass. Emily Hofstaedter/WYPR-FM.
- But before the vote at Monday night’s council meeting, protesters in the council chambers lifted their voices in support of Palestine. Keith Daniels/WBFF-TV News.
WHERE’s JOHNNY O BEEN TRAVELING? In the nine months since assuming his second term as Baltimore County executive, Johnny Olszewski Jr. has partied with state officials in Las Vegas and lunched with Orioles General Manager Mike Elias at a private Towson country club. He’s sipped Guinness at a Halethorpe brewery with U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, and toured the White House with President Joe Biden. While his office regularly promotes some of his appearances and public events, the Sun obtained a more detailed look at Olszewski’s schedule between Jan. 1 and Sept. 21 via a Maryland Public Information Act request. Lia Russell/The Baltimore Sun.
BA CO COUNCIL DELAYS VOTE ON NEWEST PROPOSALS ON IG’s OFFICE: The Baltimore County Council is giving itself more time to consider proposed bills to bolster the county’s Office of the Inspector General, after draft amendments sought by the council chair’s office to create an oversight panel were leaked less than an hour before an expected Monday night vote. Taylor DeVille/The Baltimore Banner.
- Council chair Julian E. Jones Jr. drafted amendments that will restrict Inspector General Kelly Madigan’s powers to investigate fraud, waste and abuse in county government and publish her findings without interference, The Brew learned. The amendments, which Jones privately circulated to Council members over the weekend, would fundamentally change a charter bill now before the council that would solidify the standing of the four-year-old office. Mark Reutter/The Baltimore Brew.
POLITICAL LEADERS CELEBRATE THE LATE GEORGE OWINGS III: The celebration of life for George Owings III, who died Oct. 31 at age 78 a few months after being diagnosed with cancer, was a two-hour service that was quite fitting for a man who was a decorated Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran, state legislator, lifelong Calvert County resident and longtime Maryland Veterans Affairs secretary. Marty Madden/Southern Maryland News.
