MD NATIONAL GUARD STAFF ABUSED AT-RISK TEENS, COMPLAINTS SAY: At the Maryland National Guard Freestate Challenge Academy, a residential boot camp and educational program for at-risk and troubled youth owned and operated by the Guard, staff abused the teens in their care, according to court records and criminal complaints. The teens then, in turn, assaulted each other, even participating in an after-hours fight club. Kate Cimini/The Baltimore Sun.
HEALTH OFFICIALS URGE MARYLANDERS TO GET FLU VACCINES: Holidays are a time for tradition, and for state officials and health advocates that means renewing the annual call for Marylanders to get vaccinated for respiratory illnesses ahead of holiday gatherings. But with a difficult influenza variant emerging this season, combined with contrary messaging from federal health agencies and an anticipated rise in vaccine hesitancy, public health experts worry that the 2025 flu season will be more challenging than in previous years. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
FEDERAL AG BILL WOULD BE A CHRISTMAS GIFT TO STRUGGLING FARMERS: Members of Congress entered 2025 optimistic that they could pass updated legislation to help farmers by the end of the year. They partially succeeded. But now, lawmakers fear that the government shutdown harmed the chances of finishing the job before Christmas. “They are having a very difficult, challenging time,” says Rep. April McClain Delaney, a Western Maryland Democrat and member of the House Agriculture Committee. “Budgetary pressures, operational pressures, decimated markets.” It’s a crisis. Ben Mause/The Baltimore Sun.
CHESAPEAKE BAY OFFICIALS CONSIDER INCLUDING NATIVE TRIBES: When Chesapeake Bay governors and other leaders gather at the National Aquarium on Tuesday to consider the next bay clean-up agreement, they’ll be joined by leaders from several federally recognized Native American tribes in Virginia as state and federal leaders spend the next seven months determining whether the tribes can have a seat at the table as decisions are made about the bay. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
AG WINS $2.5M JUDGMENT AGAINST LANDLORD FOR HARASSMENT, ASSAULT: Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General announced that its Civil Rights Division was awarded a $2.5 million judgment against an Eastern Shore landlord for sexually harassing and assaulting tenants. Mathew Schumer/The Baltimore Sun.
DEM FURY RAGES AROUND FERGUSON, EVEN IN HIS HOME DISTRICT: A hurricane of political rage had pummeled Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson (D), and he walked through south Baltimore to see if the same ire swirled in his district. Ferguson knew blocking mid-cycle redistricting in Maryland would cause some fury. By refusing to allow his chamber to help redraw Maryland’s political map, he torpedoed his party’s plans to retaliate against President Donald Trump and the Republicans using redistricting to secure GOP power in Congress. Erin Cox/The Washington Post.
COLUMN: ARE DEMOCRATS LOSING THEIR SOULS FOR ONE SEAT? Democrats will tell you, as they’ve told me, they would never support a president who trashes the rules, acts like a despot and widens American divides for political and personal gain — but does it to advance ideas they support. And yet, in a way, here we are. Gov. Wes Moore, House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and others seem resigned to reconfiguring the state’s eight districts to get rid of Andy Harris in Congress, betting two wrongs add up to a right. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
HOUSING SUBSIDIES AID HEALTH; NOW ARE IN PERIL: Federal housing subsidies can open doors to jobs, experiences and opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach. For some, housing subsidies also can mean the difference between life and death. A study by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that older adults using federal housing assistance had earlier cancer diagnoses than those who didn’t get help with rent. Housing subsidies are under threat from President Donald Trump’s administration. Hallie Miller and Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.
RETIRED FEDERAL WORKER TO CHALLENGE IVEY FOR HOUSE SEAT: Jonathan White fought the first Trump administration’s efforts to separate migrant families, doing bureaucratic battle with officials such as Stephen Miller while working to reunite children with their parents. Now 56 and freshly retired from the Department of Health and Human Services, White has a new mission: challenging Democrats that he believes aren’t doing enough to fight the Trump administration. He’s starting with an unlikely bid to unseat his own popular, two-term congressman, Rep. Glenn Ivey. Dan Diamond/The Washington Post.
HOPKINS GRAD STUDENT STUCK IN CANADA: Ehsan Rajabi and his wife were at the American border by Buffalo, N.Y., driving home to Baltimore after visiting his brother in Toronto. Rajabi, an Iranian graduate student studying art history at the Johns Hopkins University, presented his papers to border officials. But the officers, Rajabi said, searched his car and phone, and interrogated him for hours. Then one of them took a bright red marker and drew a big diagonal cancellation line on his student visa. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND ENERGY PRICES RISE FASTER THAN VIRGINIA, FOR NOW: Energy prices in Maryland have increased faster than in neighboring Virginia, though the leadership change coming to Virginia next year could have big energy implications for the mid-Atlantic region. Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.
CALVERT ALSO BACKS HARRIS FOR SENATE SEAT; TRONE SEEKING A RETURN? The Calvert County Democratic Central Committee voted Saturday to endorse Del. Kevin Harris (D-Charles and Prince George’s) for the vacant District 27 Senate seat, giving Harris a sweep of all three counties in the district. And David Trone, the Democratic former member of Congress from Maryland’s 6th District, appears to be sniffing around his old stomping grounds for a possible run for his old seat. Staff/Maryland Matters.
AFTER CHILD’s DEATH, PG COUNCIL REFORMS POLICE PURSUIT POLICY: A 3-year-old girl was killed eight months ago, one of three bystanders killed in Prince George’s County as a result of drivers fleeing traffic stops, and the subsequent police pursuits, within the span of a month. The tragedy pushed Zoey’s family to advocate for stricter safety guidelines. Days before what would have been her fourth birthday, the Prince George’s County Council passed a law named for Zoey aimed at reforming police pursuits in the county. Jasmine Golden/The Washington Post.
ONE FOCUS OF NEW PG SCHOOLS SUPER IS LITERACY IMPROVEMENT: Nearing 100 days in office, Prince George’s County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Joseph is proud of some of the trends happening in local education and ready to tackle challenges through a comprehensive approach. A key focus of Joseph’s administration is literacy improvement, in alignment with Maryland Superintendent of Schools Carey Wright’s efforts statewide. Richard Elliot/The Washington Informer.
OUTGOING ANNAPOLIS MAYOR ASSESSES EIGHT YEARS IN OFFICE: Gavin Buckley, the Australian restaurateur-turned-politician, has experienced highs and lows during eight years as Annapolis mayor. Buckley, 62, recently sat down to discuss his time in office. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
PURDUE PHARMA BANKRUPTCY DEAL ALLOWS B’MORE TO SUE SACKLERS: When a judge approved Purdue Pharma’s long-awaited bankruptcy restructuring plan last month, he included a unique provision protecting the city of Baltimore’s ability to sue the family behind the OxyContin-making giant. Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Banner.
B’MORE TRAFFIC INVESTIGATOR DIES AFTER ON-JOB ASSAULT: A traffic investigator with Baltimore’s Department of Transportation died Wednesday after investigators say he was beaten while on the job last month, according to charging documents and a joint statement from city officials. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
DESPITE HIS CRIME CLAIM, TRUMP TO ATTEND ARMY-NAVY GAME IN B’MORE: President Donald Trump said he will be in Baltimore on Dec. 13 for the annual Army-Navy football game, four months after a back-and-forth with Gov. Wes Moore over crime in the city. Adam Thompson/WJZ-TV News.
MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY PROGRAM FOCUSES ON WHAT LIES IN BAY’s DEPTH: For centuries, the Chesapeake Bay has been Maryland’s restless storyteller — its depths said to hold pirate gold, lost souls, and even a lurking sea monster known as Chessie. Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program, one of 10 state organizations in America that focus exclusively on what lies beneath the waters within their boundaries, works with private and public entities to survey those waters often when a project aims to carry out dredging or construction that could threaten sites of value. Johnathan M. Pitts/The Baltimore Sun.
REJECTED ROOSTERS OVERWHELM MARYLAND ANIMAL SANCTUARIES: A yearslong surge in displaced roosters is overwhelming animal sanctuaries in Maryland and across the country, fueled by a pandemic-born boom in backyard chicken coops and the noisy realities of owning a male bird. Luke Parker/The Baltimore Sun.
