NEW MOSH WORKPLACE STANDARDS TARGET HEAT ILLNESS PREVENTION: State health and labor officials hope that new workplace regulations will help workers avoid overheating on the job, as Maryland enters the annual heat season following a deadly 2024 summer. The Maryland Occupational Safety and Health division of the Department of Labor finalized new heat illness prevention standards in September, at the tail end of a 2024 heat season that saw 27 fatalities and more than 1,200 emergency room visits related to high temperatures. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
SENATE GOP SAYS DEMS FAILED TO ADDRESS ENERGY ISSUES: Maryland Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey, a Republican, is disappointed by what he sees as a lack of progress made on energy issues during the 2025 legislative session. “I think they failed dramatically to address the resource adequacy requirements that the state of Maryland has,” Hershey said of his Democratic counterparts. He described energy policy as Senate Republicans’ top issue for the session because Maryland generates more than 40% of its energy out of state, which he believes will deter economic growth if not addressed. Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.
STATE FREEZES CHILD CARE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR NOW: Faced with a sharp rise in children in the child care scholarship program — and costs for it — the state imposed a freeze on new enrollments May 1. New parents can still apply for a child care scholarship, but will be placed on a waiting list until enrollment declines. Officials hope to lift the freeze by September, when the number of recipients is expected to decrease to 40,000. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
HOW FEDERAL, STATE ACTION MAY IMPACT MARYLAND EV PROGRAMS: Maryland joined a coalition of states and Washington, D.C., in a lawsuit Wednesday to overturn an executive order from President Donald Trump that blocks billions in funding for electric vehicle charging stations. It’s one measure the state has taken to push back against recent federal action against electric vehicle expansion, which could impact Maryland’s shift away from gas-powered cars in the last decade. Here’s a look at how electric vehicle infrastructure and ownership has changed in Maryland and the federal and state legislation that threatens its success. Olivia Borgula of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
STATE FUNDS TO BUILD PARKS FOR NEEDIEST COMMUNITIES GO TO SOME OF THE WEALTHIEST: Compared to many concrete, sun-baked blocks around Baltimore, Roland Park can feel like an oasis. Georgian and Victorian-style homes stand on quiet streets shaded by verdant old trees. A privileged enclave in Maryland‘s poorest city, Roland Park is among the wealthiest — and greenest — neighborhoods in town. Yet state lawmakers granted $500,000 from a program meant to fund parks in poor and polluted neighborhoods for the Roland Park Community Foundation. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
SUPPORTERS OF REPARATIONS STUDY URGE MOORE TO SIGN BILL: Supporters of a measure to create a commission to study potential reparations for slavery in Maryland rallied by the governor’s residence on Friday, calling on Gov. Wes Moore to sign the legislation. Speakers at the rally said they were optimistic Maryland’s first Black governor would sign the bill, but they wanted to underscore how significant the legislation is to them, days before Moore’s fourth bill signing ceremony and possibly the last of the year. Brian Witte/The Associated Press.
ALSOBROOKS ANNOUNCES ‘NO CONFIDENCE’ RESOLUTION FOR HHS SECRETARY: Sen. Angela Alsobrooks is “sick of” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. On Saturday, Maryland’s freshman senator called for Kennedy, the nation’s Health and Human Services secretary, to resign as she announced a resolution of “no confidence” against him at a “Sick Of It” rally at the Medical Center Metro Station in Bethesda. Ben Mause/The Baltimore Sun.
STATE DEMS ANGRY OVER FIRING OF LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS CARLA HAYDEN: Maryland Democrats reacted swiftly, and angrily, Friday to news that President Donald Trump had fired the librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, a former director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore who drew raves for her work there. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
**Join Maryland Reporter at the Annual Spring Party of the Community Foundation of Howard County on Thursday, May 15, 5-8 p.m. in Columbia for food, drink, socializing and networking. Help raise critical operating funds for the foundation’s mission to connect people, places and organizations to worthy causes across Howard County and beyond. Click here for more information and tickets.***
COLUMN: THE PROBLEM OF SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION: Baltimore has a school problem. It‘s not among the ones you might be thinking of, like test scores below where they should be or students whose family dynamics find their way into the classroom. It‘s the basic task of getting kids to school on time. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
MORE THAN 170 FORMER SCOUTS SUE MARYLAND COUNCILS OVER SEX ABUSE: More than 170 former Boy Scouts filed lawsuits against six local councils that oversee troops across Maryland, accusing the councils of failing to protect generations of children from alleged sexual abusers. Clara Longo de Freitas/The Baltimore Banner.
EDGEWATER ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER NAMES NEW DIRECTOR: The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater recently named William “Monty” Graham its new director. The move comes as the Trump administration makes wholesale changes to climate initiatives. Benjamin Rothstein/The Baltimore Sun.
PG COUNCILMEMBER WANTED TO FREEZE HER EGGS; THEN SHE GOT THE LAW PASSED: The realization that her Prince George’s Cunty health insurance would not cover the $10,000 to $15,000 it typically costs for a single cycle to freeze one’s eggs moved County Council member Wanika Fisher to sponsor a recently passed law that offers such coverage to Prince George’s nearly 11,300 employees. Almost 2,500 of them are women 49 and younger, according to county data. Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
NEWS ORGS TOLD MOSBY DOESN’T HAVE TO DISCLOSE DEFENSE DONORS: Nick and Marilyn Mosby’s legal defense fund is not required to disclose its donors, a Maryland appeals court panel ruled May 2, denying an effort brought by two Baltimore news organizations to make the names part of the public record. Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
BOB EMBRY, HEAD OF ABELL FOUNDATION, TO RETIRE: After 37 years of leading Baltimore’s Abell Foundation, president Bob Embry will retire, confirmed the foundation’s spokesman Andy Green. The foundation contributes about $16 million each year to health, economic and educational projects and initiatives across the city and Embry has been one of Baltimore’s most influential figures spanning back decades. Alissa Zhu/The Baltimore Banner.
- Embry’s 38 years at the foundation, which funds more than $15 million in research and programs in the city annually, came after a public service career that included stints as a Baltimore city councilman, president of the city and state boards of education, assistant U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary and, perhaps most consequentially for his hometown, a top aide to Mayor William Donald Schaefer when the Inner Harbor waterfront was transformed and downtown revitalized. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.
DC’s COMMANDERS DEAL: A BALANCE OF EXCITEMENT VS FINANCIAL REALITY: The D.C. Council finds itself trying to balance the excitement of securing a team — the NFL’s Washington Commanders, who currently play in Prince George’s County — with the sobering duty of ensuring the public isn’t burdened with stadium funding it can’t realistically afford. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
AMID LAWSUIT, HARFORD LAUNCHES TOURISM INITIATIVE: Harford County has launched a new tourism initiative despite an ongoing lawsuit with the organization that had provided that service, Visit Harford. Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly launched Hello Harford last week during a gathering with more than 120 representatives from local hotels, museums, attractions and other tourism-related organizations. Hello Harford will be funded by revenue generated by the county’s 6% hotel tax. Matt Hubbard/The Aegis.
BETTY DEACON, MIKULSKI AIDE AND POLITICAL ORGANIZER, DIES AT 81: Betty Deacon, a longtime political organizer and progressive activist who also spent nearly a decade in former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski’s office, died May 1 of complications related to lymphoma. She was 81. Cayla Harris/The Baltimore Banner.
