PRE-SESSION SCRAMBLE TO RAISE CAMPAIGN FUNDS: With every state elected official barred by law from raising money during the 90-day General Assembly session, which runs from Jan. 10 to April 8, lawmakers and top statewide officers are scrambling to raise money in the hours leading up to the session’s noontime start. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
POLICE BLAST LAW GIVING JUVIES CALL TO LAWYER BEFORE QUESTIONING: A Maryland law that requires minors in police custody to call an attorney before an interrogation has drawn criticism from some law enforcement officers, who say the added step stalls investigations and keeps them from questioning young suspects who may have knowledge of a crime. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND ROAD WORK PLANS FACE UPHILL CLIMB: In Maryland, transportation officials putting together their six-year transportation plan warned recently that construction projects, commuter bus service and road maintenance face severe cuts. The state has a $3 billion shortfall for the plan, blamed on higher costs and reduced tax and fee collections. Beyond maintenance cuts, the state may consider pulling back on several planned highway expansion projects, officials said. Maryland also has seen the effects of inflation on labor and materials, and a decline in gas tax revenues, said Maryland Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld. Erika Bolstad/Maryland Matters.
CANNABIS COMMISSION DELAYS NEW LICENSES: The Maryland Cannabis Administration is delaying the awarding of new cannabis business licenses to have more time to review 1,708 cannabis business applications. Matt Hooke/The Baltimore Business Journal.
OPINION: VOTE FOR ME! I TRIED TO SUBVERT DEMOCRACY: In an unsuccessful bid to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election, 147 Republicans formally supported objection to counting Joe Biden’s electoral votes. Some have already left office. But as many as 117 members of Congress are running for reelection in 2024. Here they are, drawn together; a collection of American politicians engaged in using democracy in order to attain the power to subvert it. See if you can pick out Maryland’s Rep. Andy Harris without scrolling down. Steve Brodner/The Washington Post.
EMBATTLED PG JUDGE SUES FELLOW JURISTS: A Prince George’s County judge who is facing two sets of disciplinary charges has filed a federal lawsuit against three of her fellow jurists, escalating what was already a messy dispute between colleagues on the bench. Madeleine O’Neill/The Daily Record.
NEW CHAIR OF BA CO COUNCIL ELECTED: Baltimore County Councilman Izzy Patoka was elected to lead the council this year, becoming the first new chairman since 2021. The second-term Democrat was the 6-0 choice at a Tuesday evening legislative session to lead meetings and set the agenda of the seven-member council; Councilman Todd Crandell was absent. Taylor DeVille/The Baltimore Banner.
- It is Patoka’s first time serving as chair, which lasts for one year, and is typically rotated among members of the majority party. A former community planner, Patoka said his priorities for the new year were the 2030 Master Plan, the 2024 Comprehensive Zoning Map Process, addressing legislation to improve public facilities capacity, revisiting impact fees legislation, and the fiscal year 2025 budget. Lia Russell/The Baltimore Sun.
12 CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS TO BE HONORED: Twelve local civil rights leaders will be honored at the 36th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards next month at Casino Live Hotel Ballroom in Hanover. The event, hosted by the Annapolis Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, will feature remarks by Gov. Wes Moore and keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, of Illinois, a son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Martin Luther King’s godson. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. John Sarbanes, both Maryland Democrats, will be in attendance. Dana Munro/The Capital Gazette.
DAVE HUMPHREY, RADIO HOST, DGS SPOKESMAN, DIES AT 80: Dave Humphrey, a radio host known for anchoring the news on WCBM-AM in the 1970s and early 1980s who later served in Maryland government, died Thursday at a hospital in South Carolina. The former Ruxton resident was 80. In 1993 Mr. Humphrey was asked by then-Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer to join the Maryland Department of General Services as a public relations and communications director. He later served Govs. Parris Glendening, Robert Ehrlich and Martin O’Malley during his 18-year state government career. Jacques Kelly/The Baltimore Sun.
