FEDS SEEK $100 MILLION IN LAWSUIT AGAINST DALI OWNERS: The Justice Department said Wednesday it is suing the owners of the cargo ship that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, seeking unspecified punitive damages and $100 million for the cost of cleaning up the debris. Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.
- The DOJ asserted that the companies’ conduct in sending the container ship Dali down the Patapsco River was “outrageous, grossly negligent, willful, wanton, and reckless.” The suit claimed that “the Dali got underway with known unseaworthy conditions in confined waters where a ship of its magnitude had every opportunity to cause catastrophic damage and loss of life, which in fact happened.” Cait Kelley and Calley Fox Shannon of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter
- The federal government accused the operators of the container ship that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge of negligence and mismanagement, alleging that the Dali’s crew “jury-rigged their ship.” Justin Fenton and Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Banner.
REP. ANDY HARRIS ELECTED TO CHAIR CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS: Hard-line conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives elected Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st) chair of the House Freedom Caucus on Tuesday evening — a position he’ll hold at least through the end of the year. Harris emerged as a consensus choice after another caucus member, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), withdrew from the competition. He will replace Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) as leader of the House GOP’s most conservative group. Good stepped down after losing a Republican primary earlier this summer. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
AA CO GETS NEARY $3.9 MILLION FOR ELECTRIC FERRIES: Anne Arundel County received nearly $3.9 million in federal grant funding Monday to buy electric ferries in preparation for a proposed passenger ferry system connecting waterfront destinations on the bay. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
HARFORD COUNTY SHERIFF VISITS SOUTHERN BORDER AMID IMMIGRATION DEBATE: Tuesday, the Maryland Freedom Caucus sent a letter to Gov.Wes Moore, asking him to enact an executive order which would allow law enforcement to honor ICE detainers. Currently, it is not a mandatory requirement for law enforcement to hold immigrants wanted by ICE, even if they are in custody for a felony or violent crime. Vincent Hill/Fox45- News.
- A top Maryland Democrat said that Republicans are disingenuous in their call for Gov. Wes Moore to order local jurisdictions to coordinate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to turn in people unlawfully in the U.S. who have been convicted of a violent crime. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
DEADLINE NEARS AS HOUSE STUMBLES ON STOPGAP SPENDING BILL: Congress has 12 days left to approve a short-term government funding bill before the shutdown deadline, though leaders in the Republican House and Democratic Senate haven’t felt the need to start negotiations just yet. House GOP leaders, instead, attempted to pass a six-month continuing resolution Wednesday that carried with it a bill requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, but were unsuccessful. Jennifer Shutt/Maryland Matters.
MAYOR SCOTT SAYS CRITICS OPPOSE HARBORPLACE PLAN BECAUSE DEVELOPER IS BLACK: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott today publicly asserted that opposition to apartment towers along the city’s Inner Harbor waterfront stems from the fact that the developer, P. David Bramble, is Black. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
HOW DO SCHOOLS STOP GUNS FROM GETTING INSIDE? A parent sat down in front of the Baltimore County school board last week, prepared to talk about how her daughter was stabbed in a Baltimore County high school in January 2023. The board chair cut her off when she started naming students and describing violence, a violation of board policy. Kristen Griffith/The Baltimore Banner.
- A grand jury indicted the 16-year-old accused of fatally shooting a fellow Joppatowne High School student on charges including first-degree murder on Tuesday, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s office said. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
DEMOLISHED MIDDLE RIVER POWER STATION MAKES WAY FOR WATERFRONT PARK: The implosion in August 2022 brought down two 300-foot-tall towers as a first step to clearing the 157-acre property. Now comes the welcome news that the former plant’s site will be transformed into a public waterfront park. Meg Walburn Viviano/Chesapeake Bay Magazine.
MORE THAN 2000 TREES TO BE PLANTED IN MO CO: More than 2,100 trees will be planted in urban parts of Montgomery County, thanks to grants from the Chesapeake Bay Trust in partnership with the state government and the utility Baltimore Gas and Electric, the Chesapeake Bay Trust announced last week. The annual grant program was created through the Maryland General Assembly’s Tree Solutions Now Act of 2021, which calls for 5 million trees to be planted across Maryland by 2031, with 500,000 of them targeted for urban, underserved areas. Ginny Bixby/MoCo 360.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND PRESIDENT’S RESEARCH TO BE REVIEWED FOR PLAGIARISM: University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines announced Wednesday that he has requested an independent review of his research following accusations that he plagiarized a research paper more than 20 years ago. Maya Lora/Baltimore Banner.
***Would you like to get beyond the political rhetoric and stereotypes that Americans have about China? Take the China Today seminar by Maryland Reporter’s Len Lazarick at Montgomery College in Rockville on four Monday afternoons in October. For more information and to register see page 11 of the Lifelong Learning Institute’s fall brochure.***
COMMENTARY: PATIENTS MUST BENEFIT FROM COST REVIEWS BY DRUG AFFORDABILITY BOARD: Maryland patients, particularly those living with chronic health conditions, need consistent access to medications that manage symptoms and enable them to live healthy and fulfilling lives. Patients often have to navigate a complicated health system where multiple health system middlemen impact that access, and what patients pay at the pharmacy. Tiffany Westrich-Robertson/Maryland Matters.
CARROLL FARMERS LOSE PROFITS DUE TO LITTLE RAIN, LOWER GRAIN PRICES: Farmer Harry Sellers, owner of Panora Acres Inc., north of Manchester, has seen his profits drop by about $500,000 between 2022 and 2023, due in part to dry weather and lower grain prices. The past president of the Carroll County Farm Bureau, Sellers said rising fertilizer prices, slipping grain sales and unpredictable weather impacted his 2,000-acre farming operation, where he grows wheat, corn, soybeans, green beans and hay. Sherry Greenfield/Carroll County Times.
B’MORE TRIAL BEGINS WITH TYING TWO DISTRIBUTORS TO OPIOID CRISIS: Lawyers for the city of Baltimore laid out their case that two opioid distributors shirked their responsibility to monitor, report and stop drugs from going to pharmacies that were giving out suspicious amounts of opioids on Wednesday. Scott Maucione/WYPR.
