STATE JOB GAINS GUT-PUNCHED BY FEDERAL WORKFORCE LAYOFFS: Maryland added around 4,900 new jobs in April, but labor officials said those gains were dragged down by a loss of 2,600 jobs in the federal workforce in the same month. The Maryland Department of Labor reports that mass federal layoffs and other actions by the Trump administration are “tempering the state’s overall jobs growth.” The federal impact was even sharper in March, when the state’s 2,300 new jobs were eclipsed by the loss of 2,700 federal jobs for the month. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND’s LARGE GLOBAL NETWORK IMPERIL BY TRUMP TARIFFS: Last year, trade linked Maryland’s economy with more than 200 countries, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on foreign imports — and retaliatory levies by several countries — have cast uncertainty over that integrated global network. Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.
AS MIDTERMS APPROACH, MD DEMS LOOK FOR FIGHTERS: As midterm campaigns begin to ramp up, the Maryland Democratic Party is focused on giving voters a seat at the table and will support candidates who are “willing to fight like hell versus” those interested in maintaining the status quo, said Maryland Democratic Party spokesman Joe Francaviglia. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
FALLEN FRUITLAND VET HONORED AT MEMORIAL DAY SERVICE: The first piece of evidence that Jacob Mullen wanted to serve in the military is a kindergarten assignment: “If I were president, I would be in the Army,” the lined paper says below a young boy’s drawing of a soldier. The Fruitland native, who ended up serving at Fort Stewart Army Base in Georgia, will be honored this year at a statewide Memorial Day service at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. He and a fellow service member, Staff Sgt. Shelbe Butner, were killed in January during a training operation. Mullen was 25, and Butner was 28. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
WESTMINSTER, CARROLL POST 31 CONTINUE MEMORIAL DAY PARADE TRADITION: Westminster observed Memorial Day with the 158th annual Memorial Day Remembrance Parade and Observance Ceremony, presented by American Legion Carroll Post 31. For over 80 years, Carroll Post 31 has remembered our fallen servicemen and women on Memorial Day. This parade is considered by many, to be the longest, consecutively run, parades in the country. This photo package captures the event. Thomas Walker/The Carroll County Times.
OYSTER BEDS SURVIVES KEY BRIDGE COLLAPSE: Ben Carver, a boat captain for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, assumed the worst when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, killing six construction workers and sending thousands of tons of concrete and steel hurtling into the Patapsco River. Carver feared that the foundation’s nearby oyster reef would be smothered beneath the sediment and debris. When he was able to visit the site six months later, he was surprised by what he found. Healthy oyster after healthy oyster. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
- Once so abundant in the Chesapeake that ships had to navigate around towering reefs, they serve as both food and habitat for fish, crab and underwater life. Oysters are also little vacuum cleaners for the bay, filtering harmful algae and preserving oxygen for other creatures to breathe. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
SOME BLACK LEADERS QUESTION MOORE’s VETO OF REPARATIONS STUDY BILL: Gov. Wes Moore’s veto of a bill that would have launched a two-year study into whether the state should provide reparations to those affected by the state’s history of slavery and inequality has raised eyebrows among some Black leaders in Baltimore. Rev. Dr. Robert Turner, senior pastor at Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church, said his initial reaction to the veto was “great disappointment.” Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.
OPINION: AD SHOWS MOORE WORRIED HOGAN WILL RUN FOR GOVERNOR: A new ad paid for by a Super PAC affiliated with the Democratic Governors Association and made by Wes Moore’s campaign ad team tells us one very important thing: Maryland Democrats and Wes Moore’s campaign apparatus are terrified that Larry Hogan is running for governor next year. Brian Griffiths/The Duckpin.
MOODY’S DOWNGRADES PRINCE GEORGE’S AAA BOND RATING: The bond rating agency Moody’s downgraded Prince George’s County’s triple-A credit last week, citing the Maryland county’s sensitivity to federal spending cuts and its long-standing budget problems amid rising debt and interest rates in the country. Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
RETIRED MARIJUANA K-9s CALLED BACK INTO SERVICE: In just a handful of months, K-9 Knox is making an impact at the Easton Police Department. In 2025’s first quarter alone, she was deployed 17 times, making six drug arrests alongside her handler. Last year, three dogs trained in marijuana detection were forced into early retirement due to the legalization of recreational cannabis in Maryland, which took effect in 2023. Across the state, law enforcement agencies are working to fund and fill their K-9 units, which serve crucial roles not only in deterring crime, but also in connecting with the community. Konner Metz/The Easton Star Democrat.
TO PREVENT VIOLENCE, STUDENTS LEAN INTO SANDY HOOK PROMISE: During her freshman year at Oakdale High in Ijamsville, Evie Graham became a “promise leader” with the Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit founded by several family members of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, which claimed 26 lives in December 2012. Through Sandy Hook Promise, Graham learned how young people can engage and teach others about preventing gun violence. Soon, she founded a SAVE club at her school. Emely Miranda-Aguilar of Capital News Service/Maryland Matters.
HOME TO SPECIAL OLYMPICS MOVES FORWARD AS HISTORIC SITE: The Montgomery County Planning Board voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to add Timberlawn, the 1901 Georgian-revival house and rolling estate just south of downtown Rockville that was home to Eunice Kennedy Shriver and site of what would become the Special Olympics, to the county’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation. The vote followed a unanimous endorsement last fall by the county Historic Preservation Commission. The designation still must be approved by the County Council in a vote expected to take place as soon as this fall. David Montgomery/Bethesda Today.
VANCE TELLS ACADEMY GRADS THEY COULD LEAD TROOPS AGAINST ‘EMERGING POWERS:’ Vice President JD Vance, addressing the Naval Academy’s Class of 2025 on Friday, advised the newest crop of Navy and Marine Corps officers that they were entering a changing military. After being greeted by protesters gathered in Annapolis to protest Trump administration policies, Vance told the 1,048 graduates, 786 of whom received Navy assignments and 262 of whom will serve in the Marines, that they would be leading troops against emerging international powers, such as China and Russia, armed with evolving weapons. Alex Mann/The Baltimore Banner.
