TRUMP CUTS TO SCHOOLS DEEP, BUT NOT AS DEEP AS FIRST THOUGHT: The good news is that the state’s schools are not going to lose $418 million in federal funding they feared was lost last month when federal officials abruptly announced they were clawing back unspent pandemic recovery funds. The bad news is that the state could still be out $232.1 million, the Maryland Board of Education was told Tuesday. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND LEADS COALITION SUING TRUMP OVER DISMANTLING AMERICORPS: Maryland was one of the lead states in a coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia that sued the Trump administration Tuesday in an effort to block its push to “dismantle” AmeriCorps, the domestic volunteer service agency. The suit said that within the past two weeks, agency officials, at the direction of Elon Musk’s DOGE Service, put 85% of the administrative staff on leave as well as all of the members of the National Civilian Conservation Corp, who were told their service would be terminated. Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
STATE AG INSPECTORS NOW TO CHECK EV CHARGERS: The little-known team of 18 Maryland Department of Agriculture inspectors that typically checks equipment such as gas pumps and grocery store scales for accuracy has a new target: electric vehicle chargers. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
LABOR DEPT BRIBERY PROBE COULD EXPAND, DEFENSE ATTY SAYS: An ongoing corruption investigation involving bribery at the state Department of Labor could involve “much larger fish,” a defense attorney involved in the case said in court Tuesday. The attorney’s client, Mark Anthony Sykes, 51, was sentenced to three years of supervised probation in connection with the case. Sykes owned a cleaning company that received $174,900 for cleaning services from the state between 2020 and 2021, and prosecutors said he paid “$20,000 or more” to a state official to ensure he received the contracts. Justin Fenton/The Baltimore Banner.
TASK FORCE OFFERS GUIDANCE ON CELL PHONE USE DURING SCHOOL: A task force is offering Maryland schools statewide guidelines on student cell phone use during school hours, but is being careful to say local systems should have the flexibility to adopt policies to their own circumstances. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
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FORMER SEN. MIKULSKI TO BE HONORED FOR COMMITMENT TO MARYLAND: Barbara Mikulski, a good friend to Anne Arundel County during her many years in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, will receive an award for effective governance and a lifelong commitment to Maryland next week. Mikulski, a Democrat who served a combined 40 years in Congress, is set to be honored at The University of Baltimore’s annual William Donald Schaefer Conference on May 5. James Matheson/The Baltimore Sun.
VAN HOLLEN TELLS TRUMP HE IS DEFYING COURT ORDER ON ABREGO GARCIA: Sen. Chris Van Hollen has sent President Trump a letter writing that in his conversations with Salvadoran leaders, he learned that the administration continues to defy a court order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States. Van Hollen said the administration has “taken no action” to comply with the court orders, in what he says is the ability to do so. Phil Yacuboski/WBAL -Radio.
- The Maryland Democrat detailed for Trump what Vice President Félix Ulloa said when the men met earlier this month in El Salvador to discuss Abrego Garcia’s release. Ulloa conceded that El Salvador had no access to evidence justifying Abrego Garcia’s detention in a Salvadoran prison but were holding him because the Trump administration was paying them to do so. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
JHU TO DIP INTO ENDOWMENT TO COVER SOME TRUMP CUTS: The Johns Hopkins University faces a dramatic loss of up to $1 billion — so far — amid the Trump administration’s cuts to research, foreign aid and higher education. On Monday, the university announced it was using some of its endowment earnings to temporarily replace some federal grants, a rare stopgap measure to sustain what the university considers critical research. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
TRUMP’s FIRST 100 DAYS: In his first 100 days, President Donald Trump moved quickly to reshape policy and politics, leaning on executive orders, a Republican-controlled Congress and Senate and his newly appointed executive leadership. Capital News Service took a look at key milestones from the 47th president’s early efforts to leave his mark on a turbulent political landscape and a deeply divided nation. Mennatalla Ibrahim and Jess Daninhirsch of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WON’T AID POWER LINE DEVELOPER: Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins says he won’t allow his officers to help developer Public Service Enterprise Group access the private properties of landowners along the route of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. Nathanael Miller/WYPR-FM.
- Additional law enforcement agencies say they will not help PSEG get access to land against the landowner’s wishes for the company’s power line project. As of Monday morning, all of the local and state law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over the path of the project have said that they will not intervene and will not help the company access land against the owners’ wishes, calling it a civil matter for the courts. Kate Amara/WBAL-TV News.
CANDIDATE STEWART PROMISES TO FIX BA CO HOUSING CRISIS: Proclaiming himself the outsider candidate, attorney Nick Stewart Tuesday night announced he is running for Baltimore County executive in 2026. Stewart, a Democrat, is running on fixing the county’s housing crisis, which he says is a moral issue. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
MO CO COUNCIL OVERRIDES ELRICH VETO OF DEVELOPER TAX BREAKS: The Montgomery County Council voted 9-2 Tuesday to override County Executive Marc Elrich’s veto of legislation allowing tax breaks for some developers that create workforce housing units. Ginny Bixby/Bethesda Today.
