POWER PROJECT FIRM FILES ANOTHER SUIT AGAINST LANDOWNERS: The company that plans to build a controversial power line, known as the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, through Baltimore, Frederick and Carroll counties has filed an additional lawsuit to get access to more people’s property. Public Service Enterprise Group filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court against nearly 200 landowners, saying the company needs access to the private land so it can survey the properties. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
- Following months of back-and-forth and federal lawsuits surrounding the Piedmont Reliability Project, people in Baltimore County were left wondering, is there anything they can do to stop PSEG from accessing their property? Raven Payne/WMAR-TV News.
- PSEG spokesperson Bill Smith said Wednesday that the company’s April lawsuit was just round one. The case filed this week, involving 149 properties, is round two and the company expects there will be a round three, Smith said. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
- Despite the lawsuit, elected officials and hundreds of landowners who were sued, are remaining firm in their opposition to the project. Del. Nino Mangione, a Republican who represents northern Baltimore County, said that PSEG has misled area residents about the project and the need for it. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLAND’s CLIMATE GOALS: WHAT THEY ARE & WHAT’s IMPACTED: Maryland touts its climate goals as some of the most ambitious in the country. State law requires Maryland to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2031 and hit net zero carbon emissions by 2045. Legislation passed in 2022 and a pollution reduction plan published in late 2023 lay out a road map to reaching these goals. But what does this plan involve, and what does it mean for Marylanders? Rachel McCrae of Capital News Service/Maryland Reporter.
MARYLAND JOINS 19 STATES IN SUIT AGAINST END OF BRIC PROGRAM: Maryland joined 19 other states this week in a lawsuit aimed at reversing the Trump administration’s termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, a key disaster mitigation program. Alexander Castro/Maryland Matters.
MO CO TO GIVE LAID OFF FEDERAL WORKERS PREFERENCE FOR COUNTY JOBS: Federal workers affected by mass layoffs this year are getting support from Montgomery County, which is home to more than 70,000 federal employees. Over 4,000 residents have lost their jobs since January. In response, the County Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve a bill that will give displaced federal workers preferential treatment for county job openings. Only qualified veterans and people with disabilities will receive higher priority. Michelle Murillo/WTOP-FM.
- The hiring advantage will be in place for a year. To qualify for preferential hiring, candidates must live in Montgomery County, demonstrate a loss of income due to an unexpected layoff and have received notification from the federal government that their position was no longer needed or that they were subject to reduction in force on or after Jan. 1. Aline Behar Kado/The Baltimore Banner.
FORMER USAID OFFICIAL PIVOTS TO A PASSION: MAKING SAUSAGES: Within a week of President Donald Trump’s election in November, Rockville resident Kevin Gash knew his career was in jeopardy. Gash, 50, was the legislative strengthening adviser for USAID in charge of delegating federal funds to support legislatures in foreign partner countries. So Gash decided to pivot by starting a business in late April focused on his longstanding passion: sausages. Gash’s business is Plan B Sausages, a food truck that sells a variety of sausages he makes by hand in his rented commercial kitchen in Rockville. Max Schaeffer/Bethesda Today.
***CHINA TODAY: Maryland Reporter’s Len Lazarick is leading a short seminar on China at Community College of Baltimore County’s Owings Mills campus on four Wednesday’s 10:30-12:30 Aug. 13-Sept. 3. Based on Len’s 30 years dealing with China and Chinese journalists, the seminar is designed for people who know little about China or may have been to China and would like to learn more. It examines the last 150 years of China-U.S. relations, Chinese society, culture, economy and politics. To register, click on https://javawebapp.ccbcmd.edu/QuickReg/Register.jsp?frc=CE Questions? Email [email protected]***
YOUR CAR MAY NO LONGER BE OLD ENOUGH FOR THAT HISTORIC TAG: Thousands of Maryland drivers will soon need to replace their historic vehicle tags following a significant policy change. Previously, vehicles needed to be at least 20 years old to qualify for historic car tags. As of July 1, vehicles must be model year 1999 or older to qualify for historic car tags, a change that affects approximately 72,000 vehicles, or one-third of all current historic tag holders in the state. Mallory Sofastaii/WMAR-TV News.
MARYLAND TO FUND $4.6M IN HERITAGE/ECONOMIC GROWTH PROJECTS: Maryland will fund more than $4.6 million worth of heritage-related, place-based projects across the state in an effort to support local economic growth. The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority will provide 91 matching grant awards to these projects. Marcus Dieterle/Baltimore Fishbowl.
BROCHIN WEIGHS ANOTHER RUN FOR BA CO EXEC, NOW AS AN INDEPENDENT: Former state Sen. Jim Brochin, who in 2018 lost the race for the Democratic nomination for Baltimore County executive by 17 votes, is considering another run for the office, this time as an independent. He declined to be interviewed but said in a text that he is concerned about someone winning next year’s county executive race opening up the north county for development. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
B’MORE TURNS TO NIST FOR HELP AFTER MASS OVERDOSE: Less than a week after 27 people overdosed on drugs in the Penn North neighborhood of Baltimore, city officials are still working to figure out what exactly caused the incident. The mayor’s office is turning to the National Institute of Standards and Technology for help. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
WHERE DO MARYLAND’s CONGRESSFOLK STAND IN FUNDRAISING? Members of Congress submitted their campaigns’ fundraising and spending numbers on Wednesday. While it’s early in the cycle, the reports shed some insight into where Maryland’s congressional delegation stands, from Reps. Jamie Raskin and Andy Harris. Ben Mause/The Baltimore Sun.
TAKOMA PARK TAKES ITS IRREVERENT ACTIVISM SERIOUSLY: Takoma Park officials weren’t alarmed when their liberal, quirky suburb appeared on a recent list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” at risk of losing federal funds because the Trump administration says they defy its immigration policies. To the contrary, leaders of the defiant city, nicknamed “The People’s Republic of Takoma Park” and “Granola Park,” would have been surprised if the memo excluded the irreverent activists’ enclave, whose charter explicitly forbids its police from enforcing federal immigration laws that could lead to deportation. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
ABREGO GARCIA ATTORNEYS ATTACK FEDERAL HUMAN SMUGGLING CLAIM: Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Wednesday tried to poke holes in the human smuggling case the government is pursuing against him in Tennessee, while a federal judge said he won’t rule this week on freeing Abrego Garcia from jail, a decision that could precipitate his deportation. Staff/The Associated Press.
MARYLAND JUDGE WOULD BLOCK BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP RESTRICTIONS: A federal judge in Maryland could soon become the second to block President Donald Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship from taking effect nationwide, if an appeals court were to allow it. Staff/The Associated Press.
