AG BROWN ANNOUNCES SUIT AGAINST OWNERS, OPERATORS OF DALI: Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced Tuesday that he is filing suit against the owners and operators of the container ship that collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse into the Patapsco River last spring. Brown said in a news conference that the state wants to hold Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited accountable for the tragic loss of life and undetermined economic and emotional damage to residents. Steven Jacobs Jr. and Morgan Leason of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
- In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Maryland leaders said the collapse of the bridge, which killed six workers, was going to end up costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars, from the rebuilding of the Key Bridge to the excess wear on roadways that have had to absorb all the traffic that would have used the crossing. Campbell Robertson/The New York Times.
- The state’s lawsuit — coming on the deadline set by a federal judge for claims to be filed in the case — becomes one of the last of about a dozen actions against Grace Ocean Limited and Synergy Marine, the owner and operator, respectively, of the Dali. Claims in those suits could be in the billions, but the companies filed their own petition in U.S. District Court in Baltimore seeking to limit their liability to $44 million – the value of the ship and its cargo. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- “A bridge was destroyed. A port was closed. Communities were shattered. The lives of six Marylanders were lost and those of their families were irrevocably changed. And the state of Maryland lost an iconic symbol of strength and prosperity, threatening the state’s economy and leaving taxpayers on the hook for the gross negligence of the Dali’s owner and operator,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said Tuesday. “But that injustice — leaving Marylanders to pay for this tragedy — cannot and will not stand,” Brown added. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE SEEKS TO SETTLE JUSTICE DEPT PROBE INTO STATE POLICE HIRING PRACTICES: Maryland state officials are seeking approval of a $2.75 million settlement to resolve a Justice Department investigation into the Maryland State Police over claims that Black troopers were harmed by the agency’s discriminatory hiring practices. The request, filed by the state police and the attorney general’s office, was placed on the Maryland Board of Public Works’ publicly available agenda Tuesday and will be considered at its meeting Oct. 2. Katie Mettler and Jasmine Hilton/The Washington Post.
CARDIN EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER TWO HIGH PROFILE PROJECTS: U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D), a leading Maryland environmentalist for decades, is weighing in on two related high-profile controversies over energy supply and the environment. In a letter Tuesday to Gov. Wes Moore (D), Cardin urges the state to proceed cautiously as it seeks to become a major hub of data centers for the tech industry. In a separate letter Tuesday to the Maryland Public Service Commission, the senator expresses concerns about a proposed high-voltage transmission line project that would run through the state en route to data centers in Northern Virginia. The two issues are interrelated. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
BLUEPRINT PRE-K PLANS OFF TO SLOW START: One of the requirements for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future 10-year education reform plan was to expand prekindergarten, but it’s off to a slow start. None of the state’s 24 school districts came anywhere close in the past two school years to the Blueprint’s requirement that at least 30% of pre-K students should be in privately run facilities, according to data presented Tuesday to the state Board of Education. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
- With the school year underway, the Maryland State Board of Education is met with questions about literacy plans, implementation of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan, closing opportunity gaps, and how to address cellphone use in schools. Kiersten Hacker/The Baltimore Sun.
HOGAN KILLED RED LINE; NOW SAYS IT SHOULDN’T BE SENATE FUNDING PRIORITY: Larry Hogan said Tuesday the revival of the Red Line project he canceled nearly a decade ago is a mistake and should not be a priority as officials seek federal assistance for Maryland transportation projects. “I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Hogan, a former Republican governor running for U.S. Senate, says. “I think there’s almost no chance whatsoever.” Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
OPINION: ALSOBROOKS SAYS ‘LIKE HOGAN, JUST DON’T VOTE FOR HIM:’ If Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive, loses her Senate race, her party can pretty much kiss goodbye any chance of retaining control of the Senate. History says Alsobrooks should win; Maryland hasn’t elected a Republican senator in 44 years. But history also says Maryland chose Republican governors in three of the last five elections, and Larry Hogan, winner of two of those votes, remains a popular guy. Marc Fisher/The Washington Post.
KING OF JORDAN TO MEET WITH GOV. MOORE TODAY: The King of Jordan will visit the State House in Annapolis today to meet with Gov. Wes Moore, a rare visit from a head of state to Maryland’s capital city. But first, King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein had to address the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, accompanied by his wife Queen Rania al Abdullah and the couple’s son, Prince Hashem bin Abdullah II, according to the Jordan Times. Brenda Wintrode and Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
BA CO PARK PURCHASE NEAR OLSZEWSKI’s HOME RAISES QUESTIONS: Baltimore County paid $2.25 million to two political supporters of County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. for a marshy slice of waterfront property to be turned into a park less than a mile from his Millers Island home, raising questions about transparency even among the county councilmen who approved it. Rona Kobell and Hallie Miller/The Baltimore Banner.
MOUNT AIRY MAN GETS 30 MONTHS FOR CAPITOL RIOT PARTICIPATION: A Mount Airy man was sentenced Monday to 30 months in prison by a U.S. District Court judge after pleading guilty to assaulting a law enforcement officer during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Nicholas Ortt, a 43-year-old bar manager, traveled to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, to attend former President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally to protest the results of the 2020 election, according to the sentencing memorandum. Tony Roberts/The Baltimore Sun.
