MOORE SIGNS CLIMATE CHANGE ORDER TO PUSH CLEAN TECH: Gov. Wes Moore advanced parts of the state’s ambitious, $1 billion-per-year climate change plan on Tuesday by signing an executive order. The most significant parts of the order will push manufacturers to sell more electric water heaters and space heaters, as well as nudge utilities and gas companies to offer more clean-tech options to consumers for home heating. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- His executive order also would require state agencies to deliver plans by Nov. 1 that move each agency toward achieving the state’s climate goals, and would direct the Department of Transportation to expand infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles. Elijah Pittman/Maryland Matters.
- As part of Moore’s marching orders, the Maryland Energy Administration also must submit a framework for reaching the goal that 100% of the energy generated in Maryland is from renewable sources by 2035. The state Department of Transportation will have to set targets for reducing the number of miles Marylanders travel by car each year, and slashing emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for a sizable portion of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. Christine Condon/The Baltimore Sun.
GROUP AIMED AT CUTTING MASS INCARCERATION GETS DOWN TO WORK: A group aiming to eliminate mass incarceration in Maryland plans to complete a rough draft of its recommendations by August and produce a final report by January, in time for the start of the 2025 General Assembly session. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND RIPE FOR SEX TRAFFICKING: Vulnerable victims, an organization that allegedly moved across Maryland, and the use of drugs as a tool of coercion are all common signs of sex trafficking that appeared in new allegations against a Baltimore woman charged with forcing nearly a dozen women to perform commercial sex work, experts say. The case spotlights some of the ways that Maryland is “uniquely situated” as a potential hot spot for trafficking. Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Sun.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT MARYLAND’s OPEN CONTAINER LAWS: Whether you’re at a park, a beach or a city square, drinking in a public area isn’t allowed in Maryland unless it’s part of an event that has permission to serve alcoholic beverages. “It’s not like New Orleans, where you can walk around with an open container,” said Randolph Rice, a partner at the law firm Rice Murtha & Psoras. “In Maryland, there really is nowhere that it’s legal,” Rice said. Amanda Yeager/The Baltimore Sun.
MO CO DEMS NOMINATE DEL. LOVE TO FILL KELLY’s SENATE SEAT: The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee Monday nominated Del. Sara Love to fill the vacant District 16 state Senate seat held by Sen. Ariana Kelly, who resigned earlier this year to lead the Maryland Commission for Women. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
O’DONNELL RETIRES FROM PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION: Anthony J. O’Donnell, who has been a member of the Maryland Public Service Commission for nearly eight years, retired on June 1, the commission said. O’Donnell, a Republican, represented Calvert County in the House of Delegates from 1995 to 2016, when he was appointed by then-Gov. Larry Hogan (R) to fill out the unexpired term of Anne Hoskins. He was reappointed by Hogan in 2021. Staff/Maryland Matters.
VP HARRIS TO CAMPAIGN FOR ALSOBROOKS; BOTH TO TALK GUN VIOLENCE: Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Maryland on Friday to campaign alongside Democratic Senate nominee Angela D. Alsobrooks, a longtime ally with a tough general election fight ahead of her that could determine whether the party holds control of the Senate. According to their campaigns, Harris and Alsobrooks, who leads the D.C. suburb of Prince George’s County, will talk about gun violence and draw a contrast with Republicans in the vice president’s first trip to deep-blue Maryland this year and Alsobrooks’s first major campaign event since winning the May 14 primary. Erin Cox and Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
WHERE DO SHIELA DIXON’s LOYAL SUPPORTERS GO NOW? Loyal Shiela Dixon supporters — a core base of African American and older voters in Baltimore city — have kept Dixon a front-runner in the past three mayoral elections but weren’t enough to put her over the top. Dixon has declared this is her last bid for the office, and her most steadfast supporters are left wondering who will speak for their interests. John-John Williams IV and Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
ACLU CLAIMS HO CO SCHOOLS VIOLATE STUDENTS’ RIGHTS: Administrators at a Howard County school are trying to silence Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian students who are speaking up in support of Palestine, the ACLU of Maryland said in a letter Tuesday. Clara Longo de Freitas/The Baltimore Banner.
BA CO COUNCIL VOTED TO BOOST PENSION FORMULA: The Baltimore County Council voted last night to enrich its members by tying their pensions to increases in future council salaries rather than a cost-of-living adjustment offered to other county retirees. Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
ARUNDEL REGISTER OF WILLS PLEADS GUILTY TO THEFT OF FUNDS: Anne Arundel County’s register of wills, Erica Griswold, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to misconduct in office stemming from her cashing of a $6,645 cashier’s check intended for her office, according to a news release from the state prosecutor’s office. Griswold was indicted in January by a county grand jury on charges of misconduct in office, misappropriation by a fiduciary and theft. Royale Bonds/The Baltimore Banner.
- “The sentence that the state will be requesting is 18 months suspended incarceration with three years of supervised probation,” Mary Setzer, senior assistant prosecutor for the Office of the State Prosecutor, said during Tuesday’s hearing. Prosecutors also asked for 50 hours of community service to be completed within one year of the date of the plea. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- Griswold, who in 2022 became the first Black woman elected to the position, was accused of taking a cashier’s check sent to her Annapolis office for personal use. As Register of Wills, she earned $146,117.91 a year. Luke Parker/The Baltimore Sun.
B’MORE COUNCIL QUESTIONS LACK OF CONTRACT FOR SCHOOL SUPER: Baltimore City Council members questioned why the school system’s board has yet to renew a contract for Sonja Santelises, chief executive of the Baltimore City Public School System, while reviewing the district’s budget Tuesday. Lilly Price/The Baltimore Sun.
