POLL: ALSOBROOKS HAS A SLIGHT EDGE OVER HOGAN IN SENATE RACE: Does Angela Alsobrooks help Democrats keep control of the U.S. Senate or does Larry Hogan provide the seat that flips the Senate to the Republicans? This is the question inquiring minds are asking. Among voters today in Maryland, 46% support Angela Alsobrooks, 41% favor Larry Hogan, 1% vote for someone else, and 11% are undecided, according to the latest Gonzales Research poll. Patrick Gonzales/MarylandReporter.com.
- Gonzales surveyed 820 registered voters who said they are likely to vote in November. The poll, conducted between Aug. 24-30, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- Hogan maintains the kind of broad popularity that he enjoyed during his two terms as governor, and while a fifth of Democrats say they will vote for him, he’d need to pull in a larger share of them in a state packed with Democrats to win in November, according to poll director Patrick Gonzales. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
- Alsobrooks has a different challenge: an enduring lack of name recognition among voters this far into her campaign. The poll found that 34 percent of registered voters do not yet recognize her name. Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
TRANSPORTATION DEPT OUTLINES BUDGET SHORTFALLS, PROJECT DELAYS: For the second year in a row, Gov. Wes Moore’s administration is proposing to delay expansion of the heavily congested American Legion Bridge and other infrastructure projects because of a transportation budget shortfall of over a billion dollars, according to a new spending plan released Tuesday. Rachel Weiner/The Washington Post.
- The Maryland Department of Transportation is facing a roughly $1.3 billion gap over six years. Structural factors choked off some revenue streams. But the department also found about $1.8 billion in new revenues thanks to legislative changes that helped minimize the gap. It all adds up to nearly $19 billion worth of work over six years. How did transportation officials make their six-year capital spending plan work? Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
- Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld said the state’s transportation funding shortfall is driven, in part, by an end to federal COVID-19 aid. Other factors include inflation, increased construction costs, less than expected revenue from the state’s gas tax, and reduced federal funding. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND, DC ATTY GENS SUE THREE ROCKVILLE GUN SHOPS: The attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, D.C., filed suit Tuesday against three Rockville gun shops that authorities said sold 34 guns to a straw buyer who then trafficked the weapons in the District. The suit, filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court, claims that Engage Armament LLC, United Gun Shop and Atlantic Guns Inc. knowingly sold multiple guns to Demetrius Minor, “an obvious straw purchaser” who transferred the weapons to Donald Willis, a relative with “a record of violent felonies,” according to the complaint. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
- Together with the gun control group Everytown Law, Brian Schwalb (D) of D.C. and Anthony G. Brown (D) of Maryland allege that the stores repeatedly sold the guns to a man who peddled them to others in violation of local and federal laws, crimes for which he was later convicted. At least nine of those guns, originally purchased by Demetrius Minor, have been recovered by police at crime scenes or in possession of people accused of crimes, according to the lawsuit filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Jenny Gathright/The Washington Post.
SOME VETS SAY MOORE COULD LOSE CREDIBILITY OVER BRONZE STAR CLAIM: Military veterans said Gov. Wes Moore may lose some credibility as a voice for his party within their ranks after he apologized for a White House application that inaccurately claimed he received a Bronze Star. The up-and-coming politician and former U.S. Army Captain with the 82nd Airborne Division has been courting veterans on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
NEW TEACHERS UNION CHIEF HAS SOME WORDS FOR ITS MEMBERSHIP: Paul Lemle’s mandate to members of the 75,000-member Maryland State Education Association is short and straightforward: It’s time to invest in ourselves. “I want to talk to [teachers] about power, and why it’s important that our own voices matter in education policies and how schools get funded,” said Lemle who, on Aug. 1, became president of the MSEA. “I want to build that power by recruiting our members into action.” In short, he said, teachers stumping for change is in, while their suffering in silence is out. Mike Klingaman/The Baltimore Sun.
FORMER STATE SCHOOLS SUPER USED ENCRYPTED MESSAGING APP, WATCHDOG FINDS: Maryland’s education watchdog says former Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury and members of his administration used an encrypted messaging app to discuss state business, raising questions about transparency in state government. Lillian Reed/The Baltimore Banner.
- Despite a former executive team member’s concern regarding the optics and potential implications of using such an application, the practice continued until public scrutiny increased,” the two-page investigative summary says. Choudhury told investigators that he used Signal “for its ease and security features” and that work matters would sometimes get “mixed in” with personal issues when he used the app to communicate with members of the education department’s executive team. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
BALTIMORE COUNTY COUNCIL: A MOSTLY WHITE, ALL MALE CLUB: Fourteen years ago, Baltimore County voted in two female County Council members at the same time. Only three women had ever been on the council before them, so the 2010 election seemed to mark a change. But no women have been elected since. And by 2022, both had left the council. Baltimore County has never elected a woman of color to the council, nor have there been any Hispanic or Asian members. There have been only two Black members, both from the same district. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
EX-MARYLANDER SENTENCED FOR HARASSING CONGRESSIONAL OFFICES: A former Maryland resident was sentenced on Tuesday to more than a year behind bars for making thousands of threatening and harassing telephone calls to dozens of congressional offices across the country. Staff/The Associated Press.
FIRED B’MORE EMPLOYEE INTENDS TO SUE MAYOR FOR ‘POLITICAL RETALIATION:’ The former vice president of East Baltimore Development Inc., a city-controlled urban renewal corporation, says he was fired at the behest of Mayor Brandon Scott for supporting Sheila Dixon in the Democratic mayoral primary. In a claims notice hand-delivered to City Hall Tuesday, Andrew C. Freeman said he intends to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the mayor “for retaliation on the basis of political expression or association in violation of the First Amendment and Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.” Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
