State Roundup: AFSCME complains of dire working conditions at hospitals, prisons; Hogan company clients received state awards while he was gov; Hogan, Alsobrooks face off in debate tonight; Libertarian Senate candidate left out

State Roundup: AFSCME complains of dire working conditions at hospitals, prisons; Hogan company clients received state awards while he was gov; Hogan, Alsobrooks face off in debate tonight; Libertarian Senate candidate left out

The Chesapeake Bay. Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash

CORRECTIONS WORKERS COMPLAIN OF DIRE CONDITIONS: Two years into Gov. Wes Moore’s administration, which promised to bring back thousands of government jobs, the union for Maryland’s state employees is warning lawmakers that their patience is running out. They need more staffing, more money and critical repairs to the state’s aging hospitals and criminal justice facilities, AFSCME Maryland President Patrick Moran said Wednesday at a news conference in Hagerstown. Further failures to invest, Moran said, will put state employees — and Marylanders — in danger. Katie Mettler/The Washington Post.

  • At the Roxbury Correctional Institution in Hagerstown, parts of the medium-security prison’s fencing were “completely down,” according to a local union president. Hiring and retaining correctional officers has become increasingly difficult, and expensive, leading to low staffing levels that then cause a ripple effect for prison staff and prisoners alike. Officers routinely work double shifts, burning out the ranks, the union said. Ben Conarck/The Baltimore Banner.

HOGAN COMPANY CLIENTS RECEIVED STATE AWARDS WHILE HE WAS GOVERNOR: Over Larry Hogan’s eight years as Maryland governor, nearly 40% of the competitive affordable housing awards overseen by the governor went to developers listed as clients on the website of HOGAN, his real estate brokerage, according to a TIME review of public records. Those awards were concentrated among six developers who competed against more than 60 other companies during that time. Eric Cortellessa/Time Magazine.

ALSOBROOKS, HOGAN FACE OFF TONIGHT IN FIRST – AND LIKELY ONLY – DEBATE: U.S. Senate candidates Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan will face off Thursday in what’s likely to be the only debate in this campaign. The candidates will record a 60-minute debate at Maryland Public Television in the afternoon to be broadcast later in the evening. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.

LIBERTARIAN SENATE CANDIDATE SHUT OUT OF DEBATE: When former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D) meet to tape the lone televised debate of the Maryland Senate election on Thursday afternoon, Mike Scott will be campaigning in Easton. He isn’t happy about it. Scott, 52, is the Libertarian nominee for U.S. Senate. He says he was never contacted by the debate organizers and has never been offered an explanation for why he is being excluded. “I’m studiously ignored, and I’m pissed,” Scott said in an interview. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.

OPINION: WE MUST INVEST IN MARYLAND’s TRANSPORTATION FUTURE: It would be superfluous to argue that Maryland’s transportation network is vital. In a civilized society, the free flow of goods and services, and indeed the movement of people, is foundational. The transportation network is the very bloodstream of our economy. Therefore, the current state of disrepair and inadequacy — due to a lack of visionary public investment — should be seen not merely as a civic inconvenience but as an affront to common sense and prudence. Clayton Mitchell Sr./Maryland Matters.

HOSPITALS SCRAMBLE IN FACE OF IV FLUID SHORTAGE: Hospitals across Maryland are scrambling to conserve IV fluids after damage from Hurricane Helene last month halted production at the country’s leading manufacturer and triggered a national shortage — which could worsen as Hurricane Milton drenches Florida this week. Baxter International shut down its plant in Marion, N.C., about 35 miles east of Asheville, after it experienced severe flooding and a nearby bridge collapsed. Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.

HARBORPLACE BALLOT QUESTION AWAITS MD SUPREME COURT RULING: The fate of an effort to redevelop Baltimore’s Inner Harbor will be decided by the state’s highest court after attorneys argued Wednesday whether votes for a Baltimore ballot question tied to that development should be counted. The Supreme Court of Maryland is expected to swiftly make a decision. Lia Russell/The Baltimore Sun.

  • But the justices did not rule after the hourlong hearing, which came less than four weeks before Election Day and as thousands of mailed-out ballots with the question on them have already been returned by city voters. Chief Justice Matthew Fader, writing in a motion in the case last week, said “it is the court’s intention to resolve … this case in an expeditious manner.” But Fader gave no indication of a timeline in that order or from the bench on Wednesday. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

HARBORPLACE REDEVELOPMENT FOES SAY VOTERS ARE BEING MISLEAD: Opponents of the proposed Harborplace redevelopment say voters are being led astray with misleading ads. Exhortations to vote yes on “Question F, Inner Harbor Park” have appeared over the last week on the homepages of the Baltimore Banner and Baltimore Sun as well as on Facebook and other social media platforms. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.

MOTHER OF SLAIN WOMAN SUES HOMELAND SECURITY, HHS: Tammy Nobles, the mother of Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old autistic woman who was killed by an undocumented MS-13 gang member in Aberdeen in 2022, has filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. California-based attorney Brian Claypool and Maryland co-counsel Daniel Cox filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, Monday. The suit claims that DHS and DHHS were negligent and violated protocol when processing Walter Javier Martinez when he illegally entered the U.S. in March 2022. Matt Hubbard/The Aegis.

ARUNDEL DEMS ASK SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE YOCUM TO DROP OUT OF RACE: Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, and five other Democrats representing the county are calling on Charles “Chuck” Yocum to drop out of the race for school board, saying that prior allegations of sexual abuse and harassment disqualify him from holding office. Pittman, along with County Councilwoman Allison Pickard, Del. Dana Jones and two state senators, Dawn Gile and Sarah Elfreth, who is running for the 3rd Congressional District, said they were troubled by reports in The Baltimore Banner. Liz Bowie and Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.

OPINION: REPUBLICANS AID YOCUM CAMPAIGN DESPITE HIS PAST: What do you do with a problem like Chuck Yocum? If you’re Anne Arundel County Public Schools, you tuck him into an obscure job and never, ever let him teach children again. If you’re a Pasadena voter, you might elect him to the county school board next month. And if you’re state Dels. Nic Kipke or Brian Chisolm, County Councilman Nathan Volke, departing school board member Corine Frank or county Republican Party Chair Susan McConkey, you enable his campaign with donations. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.

REP. IVEY TOURS PG COMMUNITY COLLEGE CYBER CLINIC: Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey visited the Cyber Clinic headquarters at Prince George’s Community College’s Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 4, part of the congressman’s ongoing efforts to explore and promote innovation within the cybersecurity and computer training sectors. The tour highlighted existing partnerships between the Cyber Clinic and corporations including Cloudforce and Microsoft. Richard Elliott/The Washington Informer.

TALBOT COUNCIL CONTINUES TO PUSH FOR ELECTION JUDGE BALANCE: Members of the Talbot County Council revisited the ongoing dialogue Tuesday surrounding the partisan breakdown of election judges in Talbot County for the upcoming election. Council Member Dave Stepp originally raised concerns in September regarding an imbalance of election judges selected to work polling places this November. At the time, the board’s breakdown of judges was 62 Democratic, 50 Republican and 11 unaffiliated. At Tuesday’s meeting, Stepp said the difference between Democratic and Republican judges had lowered to seven. “I ask that we keep up that work,” Stepp said. Konner Metz/The Easton Star Democrat.

About The Author

Cynthia Prairie

[email protected]
https://www.chestertelegraph.org/

Contributing Editor Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor since 1979, when she began working at The Raleigh Times. Since then, she has worked for The Baltimore News American, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Prince George’s Journal and Baltimore County newspapers in the Patuxent Publishing chain, including overseeing The Jeffersonian when it was a two-day a week business publication. Cynthia has won numerous state awards, including the Maryland State Bar Association’s Gavel Award. Besides compiling and editing the daily State Roundup, she runs her own online newspaper, The Chester Telegraph. If you have additional questions or comments contact Cynthia at: [email protected]

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