NURSING HOME PATIENTS SUE STATE OVER LACK OF OVERSIGHT: Maryland residents with severe mobility issues suffered bedsores, infections and falls, as well as emotional trauma from isolation and lack of sunlight, because state health officials failed to properly oversee their nursing homes, a new lawsuit alleges. Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.
HOW BALTIMORE BECAME THE OVERDOSE CAPITAL OF THE U.S.: People in Baltimore have been dying of overdoses at a rate never before seen in a major American city. In the past six years, nearly 6,000 lives have been lost. The death rate from 2018 to 2022 was nearly double that of any other large city, and higher than nearly all of Appalachia during the prescription pill crisis, the Midwest during the height of rural meth labs or New York during the crack epidemic. Alissa Zhu, Nick Thieme and Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner.
HOGAN DOUBLES DOWN ON PRO-CHOICE STANCE TO SKEPTICAL DEMS: Republican Senate nominee Larry Hogan doubled down Wednesday on his pledge to be a “pro-choice” senator, promising to support legislation codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade that guaranteed a right to an abortion up to 26 weeks. But his Democratic opponent, Angela Alsobrooks, shot back Wednesday, arguing that Hogan’s time as Maryland’s governor proves that voters “can’t trust” his newfound position on abortion. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
HOGAN PROPOSES PUBLIC SAFETY PLATFORM: A week after winning the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, Larry Hogan is turning his focus on public safety. A 10-point position paper released Wednesday by Hogan, his first since the May 14 primary, touches on some public safety themes that were part of his two terms as governor. It also includes red meat for voters in the Republican base who want tougher enforcement along the country’s southern border. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
OPINION: MONEY IS AND ISN’T EVERYTHING: The connection between money and power is obvious, whether in business, the courtroom or the halls of Congress and the State House. This primary season, there were ridiculous and record-breaking amounts flowing into the Democratic races for an unusual four open congressional seats. Yet money isn’t everything in politics. Len Lazarick of MarylandReporter.com/Business Monthly.
EX-PATIENTS, ACTIVISTS SEEK SAY IN CROWNSVILLE REDESIGN EFFORTS: As planning for the future of the Crownsville Hospital site continues, former staff members and activists are asking for a say in the redesign efforts. An event in February yielded suggestions of an addiction recovery center, mental health resources for young people and a therapeutic horse farm. Arundel county officials held a second meeting specifically for those affected by the hospital May 16. Roughly 100 people — many with some connection to Crownsville — offered suggestions. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
MOSBY SENTENCING TODAY; WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HER CLAIMS: Former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby will stroll into the U.S. District Court in Greenbelt today riding a wave of national support for her effort to convince President Joe Biden that she was the victim of a malicious prosecution. More than 70,000 people have signed a petition backing a presidential pardon, and busload of supporters are expected to make the trip south while civil rights attorney Ben Crump will speak outside the courthouse. Dylan Segelbaum and Justin Fenton/The Baltimore Banner.
- Baltimore’s former two-term state’s attorney said she was caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful Donald Trump and the racial profiling of William Barr’s Department of Justice because she had dared to indict (though failed to convict) six Baltimore police officers involved the 2015 death of Freddie Gray. Brew fact-checks all of Mosby’s claims. Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
- Marilyn Mosby remained uncharacteristically quiet at her first federal trial, never rising from the defense table to tell her story. She took a different approach at her second trial, offering bruising personal testimony about the end of her marriage and the internal struggles accompanying her time as Baltimore’s top prosecutor. Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Sun.
BLUE CRAB NUMBERS DROP SLIGHTLY: The estimated number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay fell from 323 million last year to 317 million this year, according to the annual Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Winter Dredge Survey. The number of crabs is an improvement from an all-time low in 2022, but still below average. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
FEDS TO END PURSUIT OF DEATH PENALTY AGAINST MARYLAND MAN: The last Marylander to sit on death row no longer faces the ultimate penalty. Federal prosecutors signaled Wednesday that they will no longer pursue the death penalty against a 41-year-old Maryland man who was sentenced to be executed for his role in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of a D.C. police lieutenant’s son. Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Sun.
