MARYLAND COULD LOSE ANOTHER 10,000 JOBS BY YEAR’s END: If federal job losses continue at their current rate, Maryland could lose another 10,000 federal positions by the end of the year, a top official in the state’s Office of the Comptroller said this week. Dana Munro/The Washington Post.
MARYLAND’s REDRAWN ‘ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE’ MAP OMITS RACE DATA: A state map showing “environmental justice” communities is back online, after the state lost access to federal data about communities considered overburdened by pollution and underserved by government services in a Trump administration purge. But the Maryland Department of the Environment removed race, ethnicity and language data from the calculus that determines an area’s environmental justice score on the updated map, leaving some environmental advocates scratching their heads. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
MD CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATES IN CROSSHAIRS OVER FEDERAL SPENDING FIGHT: Maryland and its Democrat-dominated congressional delegation sit in the crosshairs of the federal government spending fight. Shut it down, and the large federal workforce will lose paychecks. Keep it open, and Democrats surrender leverage to broker change. Brenda Wintrode and Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
NEW DIVISION OF AG’s OFFICE RECOMMENDS FEW POLICE PROSECUTIONS: Four years after its establishment, the Independent Investigations Division under the Maryland Attorney General’s Office has recommended relatively few prosecutions against police officers, raising questions from one lawmaker about its relevance. Todd Karpovich/The Baltimore Sun.
MEDICAID RECIPIENTS SUE A group of Medicaid recipients has sued the Maryland Department of Health for a “dysfunctional” system of determining eligibility for services that they say has denied services to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The failure of the department’s annual “redetermination” process has already caused a number of recipients to lose coverage, the suit says. Staff/Maryland Matters.
STUDYING INVASIVE CATFISH IN POTOMAC TO AID BAY CONSERVATION: Suddenly, they rise to the surface one by one, writhing briefly before they lie still — dozens of invasive blue and flathead catfish, previously hidden in the gray-blue depths beneath the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, connecting Maryland’s Oxon Hill to Virginia’s Alexandria. The fish, with their white bellies and small fins pointed skyward, aren’t dead — just stunned. This experiment in electrofishing helps give scientists a snapshot of what is normally concealed. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
LATINO CAUCUS ASKS MOORE ADMIN TO JETTISON DEPORTATION FLIGHTS FROM BWI: The Moore administration is facing increasing pressure from activists and the head of the Legislative Latino Caucus to boot a discount airline from Thurgood Marshall Baltimore Washington International Airport because it has been flying immigrants targeted for deportation to a detention facility in Louisiana. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
SOME TYPES OF CRIME REMAIN UNDER-REPORTED: A report by the Pew Research Center published last year found that U.S. residents reported fewer than half of household burglaries and incidents of trespassing — 45% and 42%, respectively. Meanwhile, instances of personal theft, larceny and other types of pilfering were reported about 25% of the time. Regarding violent crimes, robberies were reported at the highest rate (64%). That category was followed by aggravated assault, at 50%, simple assault, 37%, and rape/sexual assault, at 21%. Ruben Castaneda/The Baltimore Sun.
HAVE YOU BEEN VIOLATING THESE LAWS? More than 400 new laws are set to take effect in Maryland next Wednesday. But there are some still on the books that you may not know you’ve been violating and that “lawmakers should consider removing.” Those include dying or coloring baby birds; spitting in public places and creating and producing gaseous, noxious odors. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
ALBREGO GARCIA MOVED TO PENNSYLVANIA DETENTION CENTER: Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been transferred to a detention center in Central Pennsylvania while he awaits immigration proceedings, according to federal court documents filed by his attorneys. Maggie Trovato/The Baltimore Sun.
- Abrego Garcia’s lawyers expressed concerns in a letter to the court about their client’s transfer on Friday morning from the Farmville Detention Center in Virginia to a detention center in Philipsburg, Pa., according to court records. Sara Ruberg/The Baltimore Banner.
FREDERICK RESIDENTS SPEAK AGAINST DATA CENTERS AS COUNTY ATTEMPTS TO LIMIT SPACE: St. Joseph on Carrollton Manor was filled to overflowing on Thursday night as more than 200 Frederick County residents made their voices heard on data centers. The Frederick County Council drafted a map that would limit data centers to a 2,500 acre plot north of Adamstown. It was presented to the state for a 60-day review in July and the county expects to hear back by the end of the month or early October. Nathanael Miller/WYPR-FM.
SOMERSET SCHOOL BOARD SHUTS DOWN PUBLIC INTERACTION: After trying to fire the superintendent, rejecting a new curriculum and seeking to eliminate school librarians, the Somerset County school board has gotten an earful from the public. It reacted by limiting the way people can interact with its members. The board shut down public comment, retreating to online meetings “due to the increased violence, vitriol and disruption in the boardroom,“ Somerset County school board Chairman Matthew Lankford said in an email to a parent. Liz Bowie/The Baltimore Banner.
UNSAFE AND NASTY SHELTERS KEEP HOMELESS ON THE STREETS: Why do people choose to sleep outside or in vacant buildings rather than shelters in Baltimore? Unsafe and nasty conditions is a major reason, says a group of advocates, who surveyed 74 shelter residents and unhoused people over the summer about their experiences. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
2nd AFSCME LOCAL ELECTION ON HOLD: A second election, proposed to be held by a union representing Baltimore laborers, has been put on hold until a judicial panel can investigate challenges filed by the two candidates for president. Earlier this month, an internal election committee for AFSCME Local 44 ordered a rerun of an Aug. 24 election, citing a complaint filed by candidate Trevor Taylor that alleged non-dues-paying members of the union were allowed to participate. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Banner.
FREIGHT TRAINS RESUME RUN IN HOWARD STREET TUNNEL: Freight railroad CSX Transportation has reopened the Howard Street Tunnel, resuming train movements under the heart of Baltimore as the project to expand the rail line’s capacity nears completion. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
HOWARD’s DOLLY PARTON FREE BOOK AFFILIATE TO END: Nearly 1,800 Howard County kids will get an extra treat for Halloween this year in the form of a new, free book. But for the foreseeable future, it’ll be the last time. The Howard County Public Schools Educational Foundation, more commonly known as the Bright Minds Foundation, is the county’s affiliate for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Bright Minds has given over 97,000 books to nearly 4,300 kids since 2019. Maya Lora/The Baltimore Banner.
MO CO SCHOOLS CLEAR THOUSANDS OF EMPLOYEE BACKGROUND CHECKS: As Montgomery County Public Schools officials work to clear a backlog of outdated background checks for thousands of employees, the district said initial screenings have flagged three workers with histories that could make them ineligible to work in the district. Nicole Asbury/The Washington Post.
