MOORE’s SUPPORT OF MAGLEV ANGERS THOSE IN ITS PATH: When Gov. Wes Moore was in Japan expressing amazement at magnetic-levitation train technology, residents in the path of the proposed high-speed train back home were less than impressed. “I thought it was a slap in the face,” said Susan McCutchen, a resident of Bladensburg in Prince George’s County who has spent the better part of eight years fighting a maglev train proposed to zip between Washington and Baltimore. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
SPORTS BLIPS AND HITS ON MOORE’s TRADE MISSION: A blip in what otherwise appeared to be a successful two-way charm offensive during Moore’s $250,000 trade trip to Japan and South Korea came in one of its final moments. Whether the adulation and gift-giving will translate into deals that spur the kinds of economic growth that inspired the voyage, though, is another question. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
- Between a tour of the Port of Yokohama and his third investment seminar in less than a week, Gov. Wes Moore made time to celebrate one recent import from Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture to Baltimore: Orioles pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, who joined the Major League Baseball team in December. Katie Shepherd/The Washington Post.
- Moore talked baseball with Japanese leaders, was inadvertently trolled with a Pittsburgh Steelers’ reference in a meeting with aerospace and defense executives and made tentative plans to play golf with the governor of South Gyeongsang, Maryland’s sister province in South Korea. Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE KNEW OF TOXIC CHEMICALS IN PERDUE WASTEWATER A YEAR BEFORE RESIDENTS: State officials found toxic chemicals in the wastewater of the Perdue AgriBusiness factory more than a year before neighboring residents in the Salisbury area were informed about any contamination, according to emails between the company and state environmental officials. Matti Gellman/The Baltimore Banner.
CHILD WELFARE ADVOCATES CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NEW LEGISLATION: Maryland foster children placed in hotels or left to linger in hospitals for days or weeks when no other options are available may soon see some relief. Legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly has child welfare advocates cautiously optimistic about efforts to increase options for children housed in hotels, office buildings, hospitals and other temporary settings when home isn’t safe. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
CARROLL LAWMAKERS SECURE STATE FUNDING FOR 8 CAPITAL PROJECTS: Though the 2025 legislative session was marked by a structural deficit of more than $3 billion, tax increases and federal funding cuts, Carroll County lawmakers were able to secure several hundred thousand dollars in funding for eight capital projects. Sherry Greenfield/The Carroll County Times.
STATE TECHNOLOGY DEPT PUSHES BACK ON AUDIT FINDINGS: Officials at the state Department of Information Technology pushed back on a new audit that raises questions about how much progress has been made on issues found in earlier reviews. The new report updates a 2024 review that cited more than a dozen concerns, including some redacted cybersecurity issues, at the department. While some progress had been made on those issues, auditors said the department “had not resolved some or all of the recommendations” from the earlier report. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND JUDGE HEARS U.S. ED DEPT CASE OVER DEI LETTER TO SCHOOLS: Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Education argued Friday that its letter criticizing some diversity, equity and inclusion practices was merely a reminder to schools that civil rights law protects white children from discrimination too. To opponents, the letter compels teachers to restrain their speech about diversity for fear of losing critical federal funding. The arguments were part of hearing in U.S. District Court for Maryland over a lawsuit by the American Federation of Teachers, its Maryland chapter and the American Sociological Association seeking to block enforcement of the letter, which says schools that do not comply with civil rights law “face potential loss of federal funding.” Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
VAN HOLLEN CONTINUES TO PUSH FOR ABREGO GARCIA’s RETURN: Handcuffed, shackled and unable to see out the plane windows or know where they were headed, Kilmar Abrego García and others were flown to El Salvador. Authorities placed him in a cell with around 25 others at CECOT, the country’s most notorious prison. Jade Tran and Jess Daninhirsch of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
TAKEAWAYS FROM VAN HOLLEN’s MEETING WITH ABREGO GARCIA: Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s diplomatic mission to El Salvador culminated in a face-to-face meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the mistakenly deported man whose case has inflamed national immigration debates in recent weeks. Here are a few takeaways from their meeting, including that Van Hollen appealed to human rights. Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.
- Van Hollen’s meeting Kilmar Abrego Garcia has almade him the target of Republican officials like Georgia Rep. Mike Collins. On Friday night, Collins posted an image showing the plaque outside Van Hollen’s Senate office reading “El Salvador.” If taken literally, Collins’ post would imply Van Hollen represents El Salvador instead of Maryland in the Senate. Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.
COLUMN: WHAT MAKES A MARYLAND MAN? U.S. Rep. Andy Harris knows a Maryland man when he sees one. To the Republican congressman from the Eastern Shore, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is no Maryland man. “Calling him a Maryland man just because he happens to have illegally entered the country and ended up in Maryland does not make him a Maryland man,” he told The Washington Reporter, a conservative political newsletter. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
FOR MARYLAND CRABBERS, GOVERNMENT LAYOFFS DRAW BIG CONCERN: As Maryland’s blue crab season begins, local watermen have their eyes on the weather — and the economy. Jeff Harrison, president of the Talbot Watermen Association, said that he’s expecting this year’s crabbing outlook to be fair, perhaps slightly better than last year. He says the association’s main concern this year is the economy. “We are in Maryland, where a lot of government workers have been laid off,” he said. “Those are the people that buy our crabs more than likely. …” Konner Metz/The Easton Star Democrat.
ACTOR CLOONEY PRAISES MOORE AS POSSIBLE PRESIDENTIAL CONTENDER: Actor George Clooney praised Gov. Wes Moore (D) as a strong contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, with the top of the ticket up for grabs as Democrats look to regain a strong voting base after their disastrous November election loss. “He’s smart. He ran a hedge fund. He ran the Robin Hood Foundation. He’s a proper leader,” the filmmaker said in a sit-down interview Tuesday with CNN’s Jake Tapper. Ashleigh Fields/The Hill.
SURVIVORS CHALLENGE ARCHIOCESE OVER ‘CHARITABLE IMMUNITY:’ The Archdiocese of Baltimore believes that it doesn’t have to pay any of the more than 1,000 sexual-abuse claims filed in its bankruptcy case — at least with its own money, a new lawsuit alleges. Alex Mann/The Baltimore Banner.
WATCHDOG GROUP PUSHES AGAINST SINCLAIR’s STATION SALE: A consumer watchdog group is challenging Baltimore County-based Sinclair’s latest TV station sale, citing concerns about the broadcaster’s past regulatory issues. Garrett Dvorkin/The Baltimore Business Journal.
- Sinclair is selling five of its local broadcast television stations to an industry executive who once oversaw advertising sales for the company’s line-up of Bally Sports-branded regional networks. Matthew Keys/Editor & Publisher.
- A new public interest group with ties to a Washington, D.C.-based communications law firm has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission seeking to block the transfer of five broadcast television licenses from Sinclair to a new company founded by one of its former sports executives. Matthew Keys/Thedesk.net.
JACK FITZGERALD, CAR DEALER AND PERSISTENT LOBBYIST, DIES AT 89: Fitzgerald not only built a car sales empire but was a frequent advocate in Annapolis and on Capitol Hill for car dealers and what he saw as consumer interests in how cars are sold, often opposed by other dealers. His bills often met with defeat, but he would bring them back year after year. Dana Hedgpeth/The Washington Post.
Please don’t label Rep. Andrew P. Harris as the “Republican congressman from the Eastern Shore.” Why? Because the majority of his voters live in Harford and Baltimore counties.