JUDGE DISMISSES CHALLENGE TO MARYLAND ELECTIONS: A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the state elections board Wednesday — part of a planned nationwide legal push against election officials — saying that the plaintiff failed to make a case and that they filed it in the wrong court. Plaintiffs Maryland Election Integrity LLC and Missouri-based nonprofit United Sovereign Americans, which alleged problems with Maryland’s voting system, failed to prove that their case has standing in a federal courts. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
- “Despite plaintiffs’ numerous assertions of problems with Maryland’s voting system, this Court can begin and end its analysis with Plaintiffs’ standing,” Judge Stephanie Gallagher wrote in her nine-page opinion. Both corporate entities “lack standing to seek relief for injuries to themselves,” she wrote. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
HOSPITALS HAVE YET TO PAY BACK POOR PATIENTS: It’s been two years since the General Assembly ordered nonprofit hospitals to give back the money they collected from their poorest patients between 2017 and 2021. Hospitals were supposed to treat those patients at no cost in exchange for a tax break, but charged them anyway. What has happened since the law passed in 2022 has involved multiple state agencies, dozens of hospitals, a couple of work groups and one big flow chart. Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE SUPREMES TO CONSIDER TIME LIMITS ON SEX ABUSE CLAIMS: The Maryland Supreme Court has agreed to decide the constitutionality of a new state law that eliminated the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits and allowed more people to sue the institutions that enabled their victimization. The Child Victims Act of 2023 took effect on Oct. 1, 2023. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.
ALSOBROOKS SUPPORTERS FIND ‘REPRESENTATION MATTERS:’ Laura Clime-Coates said she agrees with Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks on many issues, but her support for the candidate also has to do with the fact that Alsobrooks is a Black woman — and would be only the third Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate, the first from Maryland. “We definitely don’t need another rich white man in the Senate,” she said. “Representation matters.” Rachel Baye/WYPR-FM.
TRONE’s SELF-FUNDING ATTRACTS SUPPORT: David Trone’s ability to self-fund his campaigns is one of the main reasons Romera Ferguson said she came to the event for the Senate candidate — the first time she has ever volunteered for a political campaign. “I like how he is not beholden to any of the PACs,” she said. “He pays for his own campaign.” Rachel Baye/WYPR-FM.
MORE RICH CANDIDATES SELF-FUND CAMPAIGNS: Wealthy office-seekers plowed more of their own money than ever into runs for Congress last year. Now, the biggest one of all is facing an important hurdle. Democratic Rep. David Trone has given more than $57 million of his own money to his campaign for the Senate in Maryland ahead of next week’s primary — a staggering sum that already ranks among the biggest self-funding campaigns in U.S. history. But he’s not alone. Ben Kamisar/NBC-News.
SENATE HOPEFUL HOGAN SEEKS BIPARTISAN SOLUTIONS: If elected to the U.S. Senate, Republican Larry Hogan said he would be “part of the solution and be part of cleaning up the mess (in Congress) and trying to get people to work together in a common sense, bipartisan way.” “Toxic politics is out of control,” Hogan said. “It seems as if the extremes of both parties are the only ones that get all the attention, and nothing ever gets done.” Nick Iannelli/WTOP-FM.
2 LAWMAKERS HAVEN’T TAKEN ANTI-HARASSMENT TRAINING: A Democratic state senator and Republican delegate are the last of their colleagues who have yet to complete anti-sexual harassment training required of all lawmakers. Of all 188 lawmakers, only Sen. Mary-Dulany James (D-Harford) and Del. Barrie S. Ciliberti (R-Frederick) haven’t completed the training. All of the sessions were offered virtually by the legislature’s human resources department. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
RECONSTRUCTION OF ANOTHER PORT BRIDGE CAUSES DELAYS: The Francis Scott Key Bridge is not the only structure being replaced in the region that has thrown truck traffic into a tailspin. The Colgate Creek Bridge, located near the Port of Baltimore, is taking years to rebuild due to delayed construction. Those delays are creating a glaring bottleneck for trucks as they try to access the Port of Baltimore in the wake of the nearby Key Bridge’s collapse. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
NAACP, OTHERS SEEK PRESIDENTIAL PARDON FOR MOSBY: The NAACP and a coalition of more than a dozen organizations on Tuesday sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling on him to pardon former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, describing her prosecution on perjury and mortgage fraud charges as a “miscarriage of justice and an example of the last administration’s misuse of authority.” Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.
