Happy Memorial Day weekend. The State Roundup will return Tuesday morning.
MOSBY GETS 1 YEAR HOME DETENTION FOR PERJURY, MORTGAGE FRAUD: A federal judge sentenced Marilyn Mosby, Baltimore’s trailblazing and embattled former top prosecutor convicted of perjury and mortgage fraud, to 12 months of home detention followed by two years of supervised release Thursday — a punishment that comes after a lengthy, highly publicized criminal prosecution that spurred tensions over race, politics and justice. Jasmine Hilton and Katie Mettler/The Washington Post.
- Prosecutors sought 20 months in jail plus supervised release, as well the forfeiture of Mosby’s Florida vacation home in Longboat Key. That was more than the 12-18 months in prison recommended in a presentence report, along with as much as five years supervised release. The judge rejected the prison sentence but did make Mosby forfeit the vacation home. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MARINERS WARNED OF KEY BRIDGE ‘SHIP STRIKES’: The warnings came, sometimes in eerily specific terms, years before a giant cargo ship struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge: A ship could lose power “in close vicinity to a bridge,” an out-of-control vessel could cause “a bridge collapse,” and the Key Bridge was “not designed to withstand collisions from large vessels.” Warnings from a Baltimore Port safety committee and ship pilots were never acted on or even brought to the attention of higher officials. Steve Thompson and Ian Duncan, The Washington Post.
ARCHDIOCESE FINAL PLAN RESHAPES CHURCH’S FOOTPRINT ON CITY: While some Baltimore-area Catholics got sudden relief, others expressed disappointment, frustration and betrayal following the release of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s final plan to radically change operations in the city and several suburbs. Several local Catholics said they feel the plans to close their parish have already altered their relationship with the archdiocese, which set out on the painstaking task to reshape the church’s footprint on the city as already-declining Mass attendance failed to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
- When Baltimore-area Catholics learned the fate of their respective parishes on Wednesday, those who attend eight churches may have been pleasantly surprised to see them spared in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s final merger plan. But the surprise wasn’t a pleasant one for members of three other churches that initially were recommended to stay open, but since have been slated for closure. Sixty-one Catholic parishes will become 23 under the final Archdiocese of Baltimore plan. Seven ‘additional worship sites’ will remain partially open. Norman Gomlak, Daniel ZZawodny and Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND DEMOCRATS UNITE AFTER BATTLING IN PRIMARY: Members of the Maryland Democratic Party met Thursday morning at a unity breakfast nine days after the primary election that ended a heated contest between Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) for the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. Trone, who lost that race to Alsobrooks, walked to the stage as “kumbaya” blared through the speakers Thursday. “Soak it in. Kumbaya,” he said to his fellow Democrats at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt, the same venue where Alsobrooks held her election night watch party. William J. Ford/Maryland Matters.
VINEGAR IN JONES FALLS COSTS $1.3 MILLION IN WATER POLLUTION VIOLATIONS: A lawsuit filed last year against Fleischmann’s Vinegar Company – after two fishkills were discovered in the Jones Falls – has been settled, with the company agreeing to pay $1.3 million for alleged water pollution violations into the Baltimore waterway, which drains to the Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Bay. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
ANIMAL CONTROL ADMINISTRATOR GONE AFTER 13 YEARS: Anne Arundel County Animal Care and Control Administrator Robin Catlett is no longer with the agency, county police said. Circumstances leading to her departure remain unclear. This comes a year after The Capital reported on allegations from former employees that animals at the shelter were being overmedicated to make them appear calmer to potential adopters. Catlett denied the allegations. Dana Munro and Megan Loock/Capital Gazette.
LEGISLATION HONORING SLAIN TEEN FALTERS FOR SECOND TIME: Gov. Wes Moore waded through hundreds of pieces of legislation and has signed over a thousand since the 2024 legislative session ended in April. But one juvenile justice bill sponsored in honor of a slain teen girl never saw ink from his ceremonial pen. The NyKayla Strawder Memorial Act, or Senate Bill 2, would have required that cases in which children under 13 are alleged to have participated in an act that leads to the death of another be automatically forwarded to the Department of Juvenile Services. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLAND JOINS ANTITRUST LAWSUIT AGAINST TICKETMASTER: Maryland joined the Justice Department, 28 other states and the District of Columbia on Thursday in an antitrust lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation Entertainment, alleging a monopoly in the live entertainment industry that harms concertgoing fans. The move could retune the music industry by splitting up the concert promotion and ticketing giant, and comes on the heels of state legislation regulating online ticket sales signed into law this month by Gov. Wes Moore. Abigail Gruskin/The Baltimore Sun.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY GETS $5.46 BILLION OPERATING BUDGET: The Prince George’s County Council passed a $5.46 billion operating budget in a majority vote Thursday, focusing on priorities such as public safety while faced with limited funding. Chair Jolene Ivey (District 5) said a $171 million budget shortfall, higher interest rates along with rising inflation and the end of the coronavirus pandemic funds meant the council had to be judicious in what it was going to fund for the fiscal year. Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
SCOTT REDIRECTS BALTIMORE’S PANDEMIC FEDERAL AID: When Baltimore received a windfall of $641 million in federal pandemic aid, Mayor Brandon Scott spread it across dozens of projects touching nearly every corner of city government. But with federal deadlines to earmark and spend the money bearing down, the mayor’s plan is changing. Scott’s top pandemic aid official said Thursday that the city will redirect tens of millions of dollars to different causes. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
MD’S LAND CONSERVATION GOALS ARE MET WITH 1.85 MILLION ACRES PROTECTED: Six years ahead of schedule, Maryland’s land conservation organizations have reached their goal for protecting nature from development. Under the Maryland the Beautiful Act of 2023, the state set targets of conserving 30% of its land by 2030 and 40% by 2040. Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and other officials announced May 15 that the 30% goal had been met with a total of 1.85 million acres put under protection. Jeremy Cox/Bay Journal.
***CHINA TODAY: Would you like to get beyond the political rhetoric and stereotypes that Americans have about China? Maryland Reporter’s Len Lazarick is leading a short seminar on China at Montgomery College’s Lifelong Learning Institute in Rockville. Four Thursdays, 2-4 p.m. on June 6, 13, 20, 27. The seminar is based on Len’s 30 years dealing with China and Chinese journalists. It combines lectures, PowerPoint, videos and discussion. It is designed for people who know little about China or may have been to China and would like to learn more. It examines the last 150 years of China-U.S. relations, Chinese society, culture, economy and politics. Tuition (but not fees) is waived for those over 60. The full course description and other information is in the institute’s brochure on page 8. Questions? Email Len@MarylandReporter.com
83 DOGS, 1 CAT, RESCUED FROM B’MORE ROWHOME: Baltimore City Office of Animal Control and the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office seized 83 dogs and one cat Thursday from a single resident in Northwest Baltimore. All 84 animals were transported directly to the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (often called BARCS) for housing and medical care. The dogs are a mix of ages, sizes and breeds. They were being housed “in small crates stacked on top of one another,” according to BARCS. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
