POWERLINE PROJECT ASKS PSC FOR TIMELINE ON DECISION: The lawyer representing PSEG, the company contracted to build the 67-mile Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project powerline through Carroll, Frederick and Baltimore counties, urged the Maryland Public Service Commission on Tuesday to set a timeline for a decision on granting or denying the project. A timeline is needed, Joseph Curran said, so that the powerline project can be online, providing power by June 2027. Thomas Goodwin Smith/The Carroll County Times.
WEATHER CAUSES CHESAPEAKE BAY TO BE DOWNGRADED TO A ‘C:’ Last year’s weather didn’t treat the Chesapeake Bay too kindly, if you ask Bill Dennison. “It was too wet, and then it was too dry — and always too hot,” said Dennison, the vice president for science application at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Those conditions are part of the reason the bay got a “C” on this year’s UMCES report card, down from last year’s all-time high grade of “C+.” Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
HARRIS OUTPACES MARYLAND COLLEAGUES IN SEEKING FUNDS FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS: Rep. Andy Harris has asked his fellow appropriators for more than $99 million in earmarks targeting special projects in his district, part of the more than $300 million requested by Maryland’s congressional delegation this year. The requests by Harris, an outspoken GOP budget hawk and among the most influential people in the Republican-controlled capital, far outpaces those made by his Democratic colleagues individually. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
DEL. FELDMARK OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES RUN FOR HOWARD EXEC: Del. Jessica Feldmark made official Wednesday what was well-known in Democratic circles for months: She’s running for Howard County executive next year to succeed Calvin Ball who is term limited. A crowd of more than 150 people filled the North Pavilion at Blandair Park in Columbia, a major recreation complex Feldmark played a role in implementing as chief of staff to Howard County Executive Ken Ulman and as administrator of the Howard County Council for eight years after that. Len Lazarick/Maryland Reporter.
- Feldmark’s run for Calvin Ball’s seat comes more than a year ahead of the primary election on June 23, 2026. Councilwoman Deb Jung, also a Democrat, launched her campaign for county executive in late April. Lillian Reed/The Baltimore Banner.
- Feldmark, 50, who has lived in the county for more than 27 years, served as chief of staff for former County Executive Ken Ulman and then as County Council administrator when Allan Kittleman took office as county executive. In 2019, she was elected as a state delegate, representing Howard County in the Maryland General Assembly. Kiersten Hacker/The Baltimore Sun.
FORMER JUVENILE JUSTICE CHIEF TOLD MOORE OF INTENT TO RESIGN LAST MONTH: Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi, who resigned Monday after a tumultuous two years while tasked with overhauling the agency amid a spike in crime among teens, said in an interview Tuesday that he told the governor’s office last month of his intent to leave the agency by the end of the calendar year, but would depart sooner if it made more sense logistically for the administration. Schiraldi was Gov. Wes Moore’s most unorthodox cabinet pick and a nationally renowned youth justice reformist. Katie Mettler/The Washington Post.
BUT MOORE SAYS HE ORDERED THE RESIGNATION: Gov. Wes Moore said it was his idea for Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi to resign, rejecting the agency head’s statement Monday that he’d made the decision on his own.“It was my decision. I ordered his resignation,” Moore told WBAL News Radio host T.J Smith on Tuesday. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
DEM CANDIDATES FOR ANNAPOLIS MAYOR DEBATE: Rhonda Pindell Charles and Jared Littmann cordially debated, and mostly agreed, Tuesday on how they would improve Annapolis if they were elected the next mayor of the capital city. Both would form partnerships with community and nonprofit organizations. Both would work to eliminate environmental hazards in some of the city’s underserved communities. And both Democrats bestowed high praise on current Mayor Gavin Buckley (D), who is term-limited from serving a third, four-year term. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
- The evening began with a question about how the candidates would handle a scenario where a $33 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that would help pay for a multimillion dollar flood protection project at City Dock was canceled. Megan Loock/The Baltimore Sun.
REP. HARRIS’s LONG FEUD WITH D.C. AND MARIJUANA SALES CONTINUES: In every congressional session since 2014 — including the current one — the “Harris Rider” (as in Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland) has appeared in appropriations bills, and Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents D.C. in the U.S. House, and marijuana legalization advocates have vehemently railed against it. The rider means people can possess or use limited amounts of marijuana at home in Washington, but no one can sell it for recreational use. In 2014 Norton said, The Maryland Republican, is “violating his own principles regarding local control of local affairs.” Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
HARFORD HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BARRED FROM CELLPHONE IN CLASS: Harford public high school students won’t be able to have cellphones in the classroom starting next school year and can only use phones or smartwatches at their lockers between classes or at lunchtime. The new policy was approved unanimously by the Board of Education Monday night. Matt Hubbard/The Aegis.
BREW CONTENDS CREW CHIEF WHO MISUSED TIME, VEHICLE WAS OLSZEWSKI’s UNCLE: Over a two-year period, a Baltimore County crew chief drove his county-assigned vehicle to the campaign offices of “a relative” during work hours, spending up to six hours a day there in violation of personnel policy, a report by County Inspector General Kelly Madigan disclosed Tuesday. The report does not name the person involved, but a Baltimore Brew review of personnel and work records pinpoints the employee as Robert W. Olszewski Sr., the uncle of former county executive and now U.S. Rep. Johnny Olszewski. Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
NAVAL ACADEMY HISTORY CHAIR RESIGNS OVER ORDER TO REMOVE SYMPOSIUM PAPER: The chair of the Naval Academy History Department resigned after reportedly being ordered by the academy’s superintendent to remove a previously approved paper from the list of those to be presented at an upcoming symposium. Tom McCarthy, in a letter dated June 3, cited the removal of a paper “for reasons having nothing to do with scholarship.” He resigned to avoid being involved in what he called a violation of trust and the possibility of harming the department’s reputation. James Matheson/The Baltimore Sun.
