MOORE MOVES FORWARD WITH B’MORE LIGHT RAIL EVEN AS RIDERSHIP LAGS: Gov. Wes Moore is moving forward with a new east-west light rail project in Baltimore that could cost up to $7.2 billion to build and millions more to operate. Yet ridership on the region’s current north-south light rail system is about half of what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, and its costs keep ticking up. Dana Munro/The Baltimore Sun.
MOORE, HOGAN CALL FOR LESS VITRIOL IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE: Maryland’s current and most recent governor separately called for a less vitriolic form of American politics Monday. Neither Gov. Wes Moore (D) nor his Republican predecessor, Larry Hogan, are known for their support of Donald Trump. Both, however, said the failed assassination attempt on the former president and presumed Republican presidential nominee is a “clarion call” to turn down the heated rhetoric that dominates American politics. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
ALSOBROOKS’ CAMP COMPLAINS OF HOGAN’s FAKE ALSOBROOKS WEBSITE: Amid calls for cooler rhetoric, supporters of Maryland Democratic Senate nominee Angela Alsobrooks are complaining her opponent, former Gov. Larry Hogan (R), is doing the opposite with a spoof campaign website. The new Hogan website, angelaalsobrooks.org, looks almost identical to the official Alsobrooks campaign website, angelaalsobrooks.com. But instead of extolling the Democrat’s virtues, the website calls her “another partisan machine politician who is part of the broken system and doesn’t deliver on her promises.” Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
ALSOBROOKS, HOGAN RAKE IN MILLIONS: In Maryland’s competitive race for the U.S. Senate, candidates Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan are raking in millions of dollars to make their case to voters. Republican nominee Hogan, the former two-term governor, raised $6.6 million during April, May and June. Alsobrooks, meanwhile, has brought in nearly $4.7 million since winning the Democratic primary. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND DELEGATES TO GOP CONVENTION MIX OF POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: The Maryland Republican Party has sent 24 delegates and 24 alternates from its eight congressional districts to the 2024 Republican National Convention in Wisconsin. The delegation is a mix of GOP elected officials, political activists and some newcomers. Delegates were elected to their positions in the May 14 primary election. Emily R. Condon and James Matheson of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
MARYLAND RNC DELEGATES HAPPY WITH VANCE PICK AS TRUMP RUNNINGMATE: Delegates at the Republican National Convention certified Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance Monday afternoon as Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, a pick that stirred resounding endorsements from Maryland and other state delegations. “I couldn’t be happier. A great selection, I’m 100% for it,” Jerry DeWolf, a delegate from Washington County said on the convention floor. “I’m just so excited to be here. And I’m proud that President Trump is fighting for America. I’m proud that Senator J.D. Vance gets to fight right alongside him.” James Matheson and Caley Fox Shannon of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
ADVOCATES SEEK STORMWATER RUNOFF CONTROLS FOR NEW KEY BRIDGE: With the problem of polluted stormwater washing off highways only projected to get worse with climate change, environmental advocates are calling on the Maryland Department of Transportation to do more to curb it. One dramatic example of the kind of mitigation they would like the agency to require: Stormwater runoff controls could be built into the Francis Scott Key Bridge replacement. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
MOORE’s YEAR OF SERVICE EXPERIENCE CALLED ‘POSITIVE:’ As the inaugural year of Gov. Wes Moore’s signature service year program comes to an end, participants and host organizations preparing for a commencement celebration at Camden Yards on Tuesday afternoon said the experience has been positive. Kiersten Hacker/The Baltimore Sun.
NEA ENDORSES McCLAIN DELANEY FOR CONGRESS: The National Education Association, the national labor union affiliated with the Maryland State Education Association, endorsed Democratic nominee April McClain Delaney on Monday in the 6th Congressional District race. Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
BA CO SPENDING $500,000 TO SHIELD FRIEND OF COUNTY EXEC’s BROTHER: Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s administration secretly paid his friend’s brother an $83,675 settlement after backing out of an agreement to increase the retired firefighter’s pension, which county lawyers said would have violated state law. And now, the administration could pay more than half a million dollars on a fight in court to keep secret details about the settlement. Cassidy Jensen and Lia Russell/The Baltimore Sun.
OPPONENTS OF TOWSON HOUSING PROJECT SEEK STATE INTERVENTION: A fight over an affordable housing project in East Towson is not over, with opponents now zeroing in on its environmental impact. The debate over the project pits an historically African American neighborhood that says it has been taken advantage of for decades against a developer that counters it’s planning to build a quality apartment complex that would provide much needed affordable housing. Opponents of the project are hoping they can stop the building through a resolution the County Council unanimously passed last November that asks Maryland’s Department of the Environment to study any adverse environmental impact of developing the 2.5 acre wooded site on Joppa Road. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
