SCHOOL ABSENTEEISM IS A MAJOR PROBLEM; FINDING SOLUTIONS IS TOO: Advocates across Baltimore City and Maryland are quick to point out why kids chronically missing school is a problem. The hard part is coming up with a solution. There’s been some discussion of chronic absenteeism in the past at City Hall and the Maryland State House, but elected leaders say there’s more work to be done. Brooke Conrad/The Baltimore Sun.
LINES DRAWN OVER STATE’s ‘ENORMOUS’ BUDGETING PROBLEM: Lawmakers and Gov. Wes Moore (D) are staking out budget positions with less than a month before the start of the 2025 legislative session that will likely revolve around an “enormous” budget problem. A debate over taxes, the economy and business climate, and education will all dovetail into efforts to solve billions in projected deficits over the next five years. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
GROUP HOPES TO TACKLE MASS INCARCERATION THROUGH LEGISLATION: A group tackling mass incarceration in Maryland released recommendations Thursday and plans to produce a report by next month, in time for the General Assembly to possibly take up some of the recommendations as legislation during the 2025 session that starts Jan. 8. The 18 recommendations from the Maryland Equitable Justice Collaborative aim to fix the imbalance in state sentencings: Black residents accounted for 32% of Maryland’s population in 2023, but about 71% of those incarcerated in the state’s correctional facilities, the group notes. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
15,000 ATTEND VIRTUAL MEETING ON FEDERAL WORKFORCE FUTURE: About 15,000 people, mostly federal workers from the D.C. region who are bracing for possible workforce cuts that incoming President Donald Trump has pledged to implement, attended a virtual meeting last Thursday hosted by Maryland Rep. Glenn Ivey to talk with Ivey and union leaders who will defend their jobs from elimination. Kyle Cooper and Mitchell Miller/WTOP-FM.
UNAFFILIATED, THIRD PARTY VOTERS LEFT OUT OF PRIMARIES: Unaffiliated, Green Party and Libertarian voters don’t get to participate in primary elections in Maryland, with few exceptions, but their tax dollars still contribute to paying the cost — including for special elections that run into the millions. Under state law, Maryland’s “partially closed” primary system shuts out voters unaffiliated with the state’s two major political parties, the Democrats and Republicans. Glynis Kazanjian/The Baltimore Sun.
COURT UPHOLDS MARYLAND BAN ON PET STORE SALES OF CATS, DOGS: A federal appeals court upheld the constitutionality of a Maryland law banning the sale of dogs and cats through retail pet shops, rejecting a challenge by Missouri dog breeders and Maryland pet stores. Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
COMMANDERS OK REDEVELOPMENT PLAN OF LANDOVER STADIUM: The Washington Commanders have agreed to Maryland’s demands for assurances about the future of its stadium in Landover if the team left and built a new home at the RFK Stadium site in D.C., according to documents, but Gov. Wes Moore has not yet signed the deal. Sam Fortier and Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
BLADENSBURG SEEKS TO ANNEX 113 ACRE HOSPITAL SITE: Call it the second Battle of Bladensburg. Two centuries after the Maryland town was the site of a skirmish in the War of 1812, a fight is brewing over the Town of Bladensburg’s desire to annex valuable land owned by the Prince George’s County government that the nearby Town of Cheverly was already planning to annex. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
B’MORE TO USE $2M IN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS TO EXPAND INTERNET: Baltimore City plans to use $2 million in American Rescue Plan funding to expand internet access to 3,000 low-income households. The Connect Baltimore Broadband Grant Program will award a $2 million grant to Waves, a Baltimore-based internet service provider and division of the Digital Harbor Foundation. Lorraine Mirabella/The Baltimore Sun.
COMMENTARY: WHERE DOES FREDERICK STAND ON MASS DEPORTATIONS? To read the Frederick News-Post you’d think the city of Frederick going to be a San Francisco-style sanctuary city for illlegals being hunted down by President Trump’s agents as part of his promised “mass deportations.” To read the Wall Street Journal, however, you’d think we’re going to be zealous Trumpy ’round-em-uppers’ here in Frederick. Peter Samuel/Frederick Foibles.
CARDIN VOICES ‘MAJOR CONCERNS’ OVER TRUMP FOREIGN POLICY: U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland told reporters Thursday he holds hope for democratic values in the United States and around the world, but has “major concerns” about foreign policy under the incoming Trump administration. The retiring senior senator who is chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reflected on his nearly two decades in the upper chamber. Ashley Murray/Maryland Matters.
ARUNDEL JUDGE CHARGED WITH UNLAWFUL RECORDING: An Anne Arundel County Orphans Court judge finds himself on the wrong side of the law after being charged with recording his fellow judges without their consent. An Anne Arundel County grand jury handed up an indictment Friday against Judge Marc Knapp for unlawful intercept and misconduct in office. The Office of the State Prosecutor announced the charges Friday. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- Knapp is charged with secretly recording deliberations on June 4 “without the knowledge and consent of the other parties to the conversation,” the state prosecutor’s office said in a news release. Maryland law prohibits recording conversations without all parties’ consent. Darreonna Davis/The Baltimore Banner.
HOWARD ED BOARD TO USE SCHOOL RENOVATION FUNDS TO STUDY OTHER NEEDS: The Howard County Board of Education voted unanimously Thursday to take $2.5 million that was earmarked for the Hammond High School renovation and addition project and put it toward two studies on the school system’s building project needs. Kierstan Hacker/The Baltimore Sun.
HOWARD SCHOOLS TO START TWO WEEKS BEFORE LABOR DAY IN 2026: The Howard County Board of Education voted Thursday to approve an Aug. 24 start date for students in the 2026-27 school year. Due to Labor Day falling later on the calendar in 2026 — on Sept. 7 — staff recommended an Aug. 24 start date to align the calendar most closely with prior school years. Students will have two weeks of instruction before the holiday in 2026. Kierstan Hacker/The Baltimore Sun.
OVERDOSES IN HARFORD DECLINE AMOST 39%: The number of fatal and non-fatal overdoses has been on the decline in Harford County during the past year, according to data from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office. There were 303 reported overdoses between January and November 2023 in the county, but only 186 during the same period this year — a decrease of 38.6%, according to a November overdose report from the sheriff’s office. This equates to an average of 16.9 overdoses per month. Brennan Stewart/The Aegis.
CHRISTOPHER EDDINGS, FORMER DAILY RECORD PRESIDENT, DIES AT 75: Christopher Eddings embodied what he wanted to see from the Baltimore community and in the journalism business: professional success, mentoring and community service, those who knew him said. Eddings, the former president of The Daily Record and director of publishing operations for the publication’s owner, BridgeTower Media, was a Massachusetts native who called Baltimore home for nearly 30 years. Eddings, who earned many awards in his lifetime, died on Dec. 10 from complications of lung cancer. He was 75. Bria Overs/The Baltimore Banner.
