EMBATTLED JUVENILE SERVICES CHIEF STEPS DOWN: Maryland Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi said he resigned as head of the state agency responsible for rehabilitating children entangled with the legal system. Gov. Wes Moore’s office announced Monday they’d appointed his replacement, Betsy Fox Tolentino, as acting secretary, but did not confirm Schiraldi’s resignation. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
- For months, many have called for Schiraldi’s job, including community leaders that continued to see crime committed by youth in Baltimore. In May, an audit alleged multiple counts of systematic failure within DJS, revealing poor oversight of departmental facilities, personnel, and financial resources, all under Schiraldi’s tenure. Dominick Philippe-Auguste/WMAR-TV News.
- “We knew when we took office that the Department of Juveniles Services was one of the most troubled in all of state government. We need to continue to move fast and diligently in order to turn it around,” Moore said in a statement. William Ford and Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND ‘LANGUISHES’ IN MIDDLING REPORT ON CHILD WELL-BEING: Maryland has made strides in economic stability for families, according a new report, but drops in education and childhood health indicators have muddied the picture for child well-being in the state. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2025 Kids Count data book, the 36th version of the annual report, ranked Maryland 21st in the nation in overall child well-being. While still ahead of the majority of states, Maryland only finished one place higher than last year’s report, frustrating some advocates who hoped to see greater improvements. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
BALTIMORE TEACHER SUES 4 GOP LEGISLATORS, MOMS FOR LIBERTY, LIBS OF TIKTOK USER: A Baltimore teacher is suing four Republican state legislators, members of the conservative parent group Moms for Liberty, and the user behind the popular rightwing social media account Libs of TikTok for defamation. Alexa Sciuto, an LGBTQIA+ advocate who formerly taught in Baltimore County, claims the conservative legislators falsely accused her of making online death threats toward a Moms for Liberty member. Kristen Griffith/The Baltimore Banner.
- “Officer I swear I didn’t mean to murder her,” Sciuto wrote on X, above a photo of Hart. Moms for Liberty supporters quickly jumped on the post, calling it a “cryptic” threat to kill Hart, while Sciuto defended it as “online political satire.” Luke Parker/The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLAND ACTIVISTS JOIN IN PROTESTING ICE ACTIONS: Benches at McKeldin Square were filled Monday as community organizers protested anti-immigrant speech from politicians and ICE deportations — rhetoric that’s flooded social media as tensions increased between progressive activist groups and federal agents after recent Los Angeles protests became violent over the weekend. Ben Mause, Gabriella Fine, Brooke Conrad and Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.
BA CO REDISTRICTING PANEL RECOMMENDS NINE-DISTRICT MAP: The Baltimore County Redistricting Commission voted 4-3 Monday evening to recommend a new map that would divide the seven existing County Council districts into nine. The proposed map would create two majority-Black districts on the west side of the county, and two majority-minority districts — one on the county’s east side and one on its west. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
- The 2-2-5 plan was first introduced on Thursday by commission member Michelle Davis, who lives in Windsor Mill and represents the existing District 1. Davis said she knew it wasn’t what some had hoped for, but expanding the Baltimore County Council from seven to nine districts wouldn’t come without sacrifice. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
CYBERSECURITY ISSUES PLAGUED PRINCE GEORGE’S FOR YEARS: New leadership was installed in Prince George’s County’s Office of Information Technology earlier this year, with former director Wanda Gibson suddenly resigning, or — according to some inside the department — being pushed out amid complaints about her management and the culture fostered there. Sources said that under her management, along with the merry-go-round of deputies underneath her, security issues were only detected when agency leaders were alerted to the situation by outside monitors. John Domen/WTOP-FM.
TALBOT TO REVISIT REMOVING DEI STATEMENT TO SAVE AIRPORT FUNDING: The Talbot County Council will revisit the prospect of removing its diversity, equity and inclusion statement amid concerns for Easton Airport’s federal funding. Though voted down in March, a resolution to remove the diversity statement found in the county’s employee handbook is on the agenda for Tuesday’s council meeting. Its reappearance is fueled by a directive from U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy that could put millions of dollars for an ongoing Easton Airport project at risk, council members say. Konner Metz/The Easton Star Democrat.
CAMPAIGN FILING ERROR COULD COST SHELLENBERGER $60,000: Contributions worth $60,000 that Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger made to his own campaign with the hopes of one day getting them back may be irretrievable. Shellenberger’s campaign amended almost three years’ worth of finance reports earlier this year in an effort to reclassify $60,000 worth of contributions he made in 2022 as personal loans. But Maryland campaign finance regulations prohibit a contribution from being retroactively labeled a loan. Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER GUN TRIGGERS: Maryland has joined a coalition of states to sue the Trump administration over its plan to allow the sale of forced-reset triggers that make semiautomatic rifles fire more rapidly and return devices already seized to their owners. Bruce Shipkowski/Associated Press.
- The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, said the plan would not only expose residents of those states to greater amounts of deadly violence, but it would be contrary to federal law that calls for the seizure of machine-gun conversion devices. And it would cause federal officials to “aid and abet violations of state law” by distributing the devices in states where they are outlawed, the suit said. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
