REDISTRICTING COMMISSION VOTES BEHIND CLOSED DOORS TO REDRAW MAPS: A panel appointed by Gov. Wes Moore (D) to make recommendations on midcycle congressional redistricting voted behind closed doors Thursday to move forward with its work and solicit proposals from the public on how the state’s eight districts could be redrawn. The Senate president, a commission member, blasted the secret meeting as “pre-ordained” and “predetermined.” Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.
- The state will move forward with plans to redraw its congressional map in hopes that it will win one more seat for Democrats in Congress next year. Katie Shepherd/The Washington Post.
MDTA BOARD VOTES ON PLAN TO BUILD NEW WIDER, TALLER, BAY BRIDGE: The Maryland Transportation Authority Board voted Thursday to approve a plan to build a new Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Blair Young/WBAL TV.
- Adding a shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge’s future replacement could bump the overall project cost by more than $1 billion, according to officials from the Maryland Transportation Authority. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
MARIJUANA RECLASSIFICATION APPLAUDED BY CANNIBIS INDUSTRY: Maryland cannabis business owners are celebrating President Trump’s move to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III drug. Dennis Valera/CBS News.
MOORE ADMINISTRATION DELETES INTERNAL MESSAGES: Top officials in Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s administration, including Cabinet secretaries, have at times communicated using a system that auto-deletes messages after 24 hours, leaving no record of certain discussions while conducting government business. Brenda Wintrode and Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
OPINION: MOORE WAS RIGHT TO VETO REPARATIONS STUDY: Rather than reparations, state should address historical injustices by prioritizing immediate needs and curing inequities, writes Marc King in Maryland Reporter.
- The Washington Post agrees that the reparations commission is not a good idea.
NEW HOUSE SPEAKER GIVES SHOUTOUT TO CONVICTED B’MORE MAYOR PUGH: In her inaugural remarks Tuesday as speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, Democrat Joseline Peña-Melnyk singled out mentors she referred to as “so many sisters from other misters.” Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
CONGRESS SAYS ‘NO’ TO SECOND GOLF COURSE AT GREENBURY POINT: Parts of Maryland’s congressional delegation have again weighed in to prohibit the Naval Academy from building a golf course along the Chesapeake Bay. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
BLUEPRINT BOARD BACKS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES: The board that oversees Maryland’s multibillion-dollar education reform plan formally threw its support Thursday behind a list of legislative priorities adopted last week by the state Board of Education. William J. Ford/Maryland Matters.
MOORE TO STEP INTO NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT WITH CBS ‘THINGS THAT MATTER’ TOWN HALL: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will participate in a televised town hall on CBS early next year, part of a “Things That Matter” series championed by the network’s new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
STADIUM PRESS BOXES ARE SHRINKING, AND YOU SHOULD CARE: Traditional press boxes, and the sportswriters who fill them, are disappearing in Baltimore and other big-league cities across the country. Jon Morgan/Baltimore Fishbowl.
