BWI AT NEAR STANDSTILL DUE TO WORLDWIDE IT OUTAGE: A worldwide technology outage that’s grounded planes and impacted banks and other businesses brought flights to a near halt at BWI Marshall Airport early Friday morning. However, around 7 a.m., some flights were starting to take off. Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Sun.
- A global technology outage grounded flights, knocked banks offline and media outlets off air on Friday in a massive disruption that affected companies and services around the world and highlighted dependence on software from a handful of providers. WTOP-NEWS/The Associated Press.
- Networks such as CNN and the AP are reporting a Microsoft Outage causing several US air carriers to be grounded. The Federal Aviation Administration says they made the decision to ground flights due to communication issues. Megan Rodgers/Fox45 News.
LONG TRUMP SPEECH VEERS FROM UNITY TO ATTACKS: Accepting his party’s third consecutive presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention Thursday night, former President Donald Trump reprised his campaign themes by denouncing President Joe Biden and Democrats and claiming his myriad legal challenges were their work. Emily Condon, James Matheson and Caley Fox Shannon, Capital News Service in Maryland Reporter
HOGAN SKIPS MILWAUKEE; GOP DELEGATES FINE WITH THAT: Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is running for the Senate, was not here this week as fellow Republicans from his state cheered Donald Trump’s third nomination as the GOP presidential standard-bearer. Many Maryland delegates appeared comfortable with Hogan’s decision. “His tickets are at home. His votes are at home. He needs to be there cause he’s doing exactly what he needs to do to win in November,” Nicole Beus Harris, Maryland Republican Party chairwoman, told Capital News Service on the convention floor Wednesday night. Emily Condon, Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter
MARYLAND REP. RASKIN SAYS THERE’S “NO SHAME” IN STOPPING CAMPAIGN: U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who became a leading national figure in the party after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, in a lengthy letter to President Joe Biden earlier this month urged him to engage in discussions about exiting the presidential race. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun & Associated Press.
BALTIMORE CO. IMPROPERLY HIRING RETIREES SAY INSPECTOR GENERAL: Baltimore County is violating its own laws when it rehires county employees who have retired and either doesn’t notify the County Council or keeps the employees on the payroll for several years, the county inspector general said in a report released this week. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
BIGGEST BIDEN DONORS WEIGH PROSPECTS OF PRESIDENTIAL EXIT: After spending three decades as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill, Caroline Gabel has seen how chaotic the upper echelon of national politics can get. Gabel has made three $25,000 donations to a committee supporting Biden in the last year. She’s among a cohort of major Biden donors in Maryland who have a keen interest in the outcome of his decision to stay in the race. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
UMD COACHES AND ADMINISTRATORS HIGHEST PAID IN MD; University of Maryland coaches and administrators were the highest-paid employees in the state in 2023, mirroring soaring compensation costs across the country. College football and basketball coaches tend to be the highest earners in a state and often make more money than the administrators running public universities, according to higher education compensation experts. Lilly Price/The Baltimore Sun.
GOV. MOORE VISITS EASTON FOOD PANTRY: Gov. Wes Moore hauled a large basket of food to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s food pantry Wednesday evening, along with an even larger smile. The governor made his second public appearance on the Mid-Shore in as many months, speaking to local officials and volunteers of the Easton food pantry and thrift store. Konner Metz/The Star Democrat.
EX AACO REGISTER OF WILLS GETS SUSPENDED SENTENCE: Former Anne Arundel County Register of Wills Erica Griswold was sentenced Wednesday to two years of supervised probation for keeping and cashing a $6,645 check that had been sent to her office to pay estate taxes. Maryland Matters Staff.
MO CO FARMERS DIVIDED ON MORE CAMPGROUNDS PROPOSAL: Members of Montgomery County’s farm community are divided when it comes to the County Council’s proposed bill introduced last month that would allow campgrounds to be built in more types of zoned areas throughout the county, including the upcounty Agricultural Reserve. Ginny Bixby/MoCo360.
MO CO ALTERNATE DELEGATE SWEET RIDE IN MILWAUKEE: Part Batmobile, part Army tank, a Maryland alternate delegate’s truck has become a rolling advertisement for the state GOP at the Republican National Convention here.Parked across the street from the Maryland delegation’s hotel in downtown Milwaukee is a brand new, stainless steel Tesla Cybertruck belonging to Marcus Alzona, an alternate delegate from Montgomery County. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters
COMMENTARY: GOVERNOR’S RULING LAYS FOUNDATION FOR EFFICIENT CLEAN COOLING: The first day of summer in Maryland came with a warning: Code Red—Extreme Heat. Across the state — from the panhandle to Montgomery County to the Eastern Shore – residents endured temperatures above 90°F. This heat wave caused more than 1,600 emergency room visits in one day throughout the mid-Atlantic. Since then, the Washington metro area has endured weeks more of temperatures above 90°F, peaking at 104 degrees in both D.C. and Baltimore. Sarah Kogel Smucker/Maryland Matters.
B’MORE CO COUNCIL QUIET ON SETTLEMENT TO COUNTY EXECUTIVE FRIEND’S BRO: Baltimore County officials’ reaction has been muted since The Baltimore Sun reported earlier this week that the county could pay up to $550,000 to keep secret the details of a settlement paid to the brother of County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s friend. Lia Russell and Cassidy Jensen/The Baltimore Sun.
B’MORE CITY VIOLENCE REDUCTION STRATEGY WORKING: Baltimore City’s public safety leaders — including officials from the state attorney’s office, the Baltimore Police Department and the mayor’s office — held a news conference on Thursday, announcing the takedown of a drug organization that operated in the Gay Street neighborhood of East Baltimore. Wambui Kamau/WYPR-88.1 FM.
