AS STEEL TARIFFS TAKE EFFECT, CAN COMPANY OWNER EXPECTS A BIG HIT: A Maryland business owner said the Trump administration’s 50% tariff on steel will be a blow to his business and his costs will rise. The owner of the 100-year-old Independent Can in Rosedale says it’ll soon cost more to produce products like baby formula, candle tins, custom and decorative tins, coffee containers, peanuts and popcorn. The company CEO said that in the coming months, consumers could see his prices increase by as much as 12.5%. David Collins/WBAL-TV News.
DESPITE NEED, MO CO IMMIGRANTS STAY AWAY FROM FOOD BANK: Until a few months ago, the Germantown-based nonprofit Upcounty Hub would manage to serve roughly 200 families during its Saturday food distribution at a Gaithersburg church. Now, the number of families who line up each week has dwindled to around 50. However, data shows that food insecurity is on the rise in Montgomery County, and a 32% increase of homelessness. And Hub Executive Director Marko Rivera-Oven said immigrants are now scared to visit the food pantry for fear of potential interactions with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Ginny Bixby/Bethesda Today.
OPINION: REPARATIONS ARE A MORAL AND MATERIAL DEBT STILL UNPAID: Last week, a Wall Street Journal columnist dismissed reparations as “yesterday’s fad,” praising Gov. Wes Moore for vetoing a bill that would have created a state commission to study them. Reparations are not a trend that’s passed. They are a moral and material debt — centuries old, still unpaid. To call them “yesterday’s fad” isn’t just wrong. It’s offensive. And it follows a long American tradition: declaring the fight for justice over before it has even begun. Michelle Miller/The Afro.
ORANGE CRUSH MAKES ITS DEBUT AS OFFICIAL STATE COCKTAIL: On a warm afternoon in late May, just feet away from the Camden Yards, hundreds of people pack into Pickles Pub. It doesn’t take long to recognize Maryland’s new state cocktail with the distinctive orange color. The General Assembly voted the Orange Crush as the official cocktail earlier this year, and Gov. Wes Moore signed it into law. On June 1, it entered the books and made the crush part of history. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
BRAVEBOY JUMPS INTO HIRING SOON AFTER DECLARING VICTORY: Democrat Aisha Braveboy was on her way to becoming Prince George’s County’s next county executive Tuesday night after sweeping the majority of the county’s vote in a special election that drew more than 31,000 votes. Lateshia Beachum and Jasmine Hilton/The Washington Post.
- Less than 24 hours after Braveboy declared victory, the Democrat and current county state’s attorney is already making moves. Braveboy announced Wednesday that Maxene Bardwell will serve as chief administrative officer and second-in-command for the county. Bardwell, a Prince George’s resident, currently works as an internal audit manager in the Montgomery County Executive’s office. William Ford and Steven Crane/Maryland Matters.
MO CO ADDRESSES MENTAL HEALTH OF COUNTY WORKERS: Montgomery County has been addressing mental health through workplace wellness initiatives that program leaders say can make a real difference. That’s especially true in cases where those same employees are dealing with members of the public who are experiencing their own crises. Lily Rojas, wellness program manager for Montgomery County government, put it simply: Whether it’s police officers or social service workers, “We want them to be able to do their jobs and, in order to do that, they have to be able to take care of themselves.” Kate Ryan/WTOP-FM.
BA CO IG MADIGAN TAGS CORRECTIONS OFFICER WHO COMMITTED FRAUD: Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan has found that another county corrections officer committed fraud, in this case by receiving an $18,125 federal Covid loan for a business that did not exist. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS UNSEALING OF ABREGO GARCIA COURT DOCS: A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the unsealing of several court documents in the lawsuit over Prince George’s County resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s deportation, rejecting the Trump administration’s arguments that it would risk national security. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland issued her order after media organizations argued that the public has a right to access court records under the First Amendment. Ben Finley/The Associated Press.
- “The Press Movants rightly contend that, at common law, the public enjoys a presumptive right to access court records, overcome only when outweighed by competing interests,” Xinis wrote Wednesday. President Donald Trump has said Abrego Garcia, who was removed in March due to an “administrative error,” will not return to the U.S. and Department of Justice attorneys have argued in that the Maryland man is in the custody of El Salvador and the federal government has no authority to bring him back. Ariana Fiqueroa/Maryland Matters.
APPEALS JUDGE UPHOLDS ORDER REINSTATING 1,300 U.S. ED DEPT EMPLOYEES: A federal appeals court late Wednesday upheld a lower court’s order requiring the U.S. Education Department to reinstate more than 1,300 fired employees and blocking an executive order to dismantle the department and a directive to transfer some services to other federal agencies. Maryland was one of 20 states and the District of Columbia that had sued the Trump administration on U.S. District Court in Massachusetts to block orders to lay off the workers and shift some of its responsibilities to other federal agencies. The appeal involved the states’ case and another by education and labor organizations. Shauneen Miranda/Maryland Matters.
STATE ORDERS CROFTON DOULA BUSINESS TO PAY $600,000 IN PENALTIES: A Crofton couple who operated a business to support expectant families has been ordered to pay more than $600,000 in penalties and more than $60,000 to former customers for not providing promised services. According to the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, Heather and Ryan Delaney, owners of Maryland State Doulas, will have to make the payments for violating the Consumer Protection Act. Maggie Trovato/The Baltimore Sun.
