NUMBER OF ICE ARRESTS IN MARYLAND MORE THAN TRIPLE IN YEAR: ICE arrests in Maryland more than tripled during the first year of Trump’s second term when compared to former President Joe Biden’s last year in office, an analysis of newly released data shows. Federal agents made more than 4,800 arrests in Maryland between Jan. 20, 2025 — Trump’s second inauguration — and Jan. 19, 2026, compared to 1,478 over the same period during the prior year. John-John Williams IV and Sahana Jayaraman/The Baltimore Banner.
THREE LAWMAKERS CRITICIZE $1,000 CHECKS DEL BOUCHAT LEFT FOR THEM: There are many possible reactions to being handed a $1,000 check out of the blue. Anger is not typically one of them. But that was the case Tuesday when Del. Christopher Eric Bouchat left checks for the senator and two fellow delegates in his district. Bouchat said the checks were a gift for his colleagues to donate to the charities of their choice. The check recipients, who last week had called on Bouchat to resign, saw it differently. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOUSE, SENATE ENERGY BILLS: Key differences have begun to emerge between House and Senate versions of a wide-ranging energy bill, setting up a potential battle between the chambers with just two weeks left in the legislative session. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
JUDGES COULD SEE BIG SALARY BUMP; NOT SO FOR STATE WORKERS: Maryland judges could see a $23,000 salary jump in the next four years, despite already making $200,000 a year, under Gov. Wes Moore’s budget, which was passed by the General Assembly on Monday night. Meanwhile, state workers — most of whom make less than half of this — aren’t any closer to similar wage increases. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
POLL FINDS GOV MOORE’s APPROVAL RATING SLIPS BELOW 50% FOR FIRST TIME: A new poll released Wednesday finds Gov. Wes Moore (D) with less than 50% job approval. The survey is the first to show Moore under 50% since he was sworn in three years ago. At the same time, nearly six in 10 said the state is moving in the wrong direction. Mileah Kromer, director of the poll, said the overarching tone of the survey is the concern, frustration and anger over affordability issues. Sooner or later, the governor becomes the focal point. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- About 48% of Marylanders approve of the job Moore is doing, while 42% disapprove and 9% aren’t sure. Those who approved of Moore’s work cited his handling of the state’s economy, his leadership and integrity, and belief that he is working hard for Marylanders and standing up to Republican President Donald Trump. Those who disapproved of the governor were likely to cite increased taxes and fees, poor leadership, excessive state spending, and cost-of-living increases. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- The survey, released Wednesday by the UMBC Institute of Politics, found that nearly 60% of Marylanders believe the state is on the wrong track — a nearly 10% decline from the institute’s November survey. Simultaneously, 76% rated the state’s economy as “poor” or “fair,” a 7% jump underscoring widespread concerns about affordability and financial stability. Mennatalla Ibrahim/The Baltimore Sun.
- Rising costs of groceries, electricity, and other household expenses are front of mind for many Marylanders, according to the poll. One-third of respondents said cost of living, affordability, or prices were the most important issue facing Maryland. Marcus Dieterle/Baltimore Fishbowl.
SUPREME COURT RULING ON ‘CONVERSION THERAPY’ MAY IMPACT MARYLAND: The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against a law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, a ruling that also could apply to Maryland’s ban on the discredited practice. An 8-1 high court majority sided with a Christian counselor who argues the law banning talk therapy violates the First Amendment. The justices agreed that the law raises free speech concerns and sent it back to a lower court to decide whether it meets a legal standard that few laws pass. Pamela Wood, John-John Williams IV and Madeleine O’Neill/The Baltimore Banner.
B’MORE YOUTH FUND REFUSES PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST AGAIN: The Baltimore Children and Youth Fund is refusing to release records showing how taxpayer money is spent, denying a public information request and leaving key questions about millions in public funding unanswered. Patrick Hauf/The Baltimore Sun.
FULL TIME OR PART TIME? BALTIMORE CO COUNCIL TO VOTE: Baltimore County officials will take a vote next week over a fundamental question: Should County Council members be considered full time when it comes to salary — or part-time lawmakers with part-time pay? Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
UMCP STUDENTS TO VOTE ON REGENT McMILLEN, WHO HAS TIE TO EPSTEIN: Students at the University of Maryland, College Park, will vote this week on whether regent Tom McMillen, who has ties to Jeffrey Epstein, should step down. The second-term regent, a former U.S. representative and professional basketball player, briefly corresponded with the convicted child sex offender in 2013, according to DOJ files. McMillen has called the interaction with Epstein “incidental” and suggested that the student government association, which wrote the referendum, had an ulterior motive. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
-Ice arrests increase. If these people have detainers or have committed crimes then it is not a big deal and is actually a good thing. If they are just here earning a living and being upstanding citizens then we are being heavy handed with the enforcement.
-The state has slowly gotten us into this energy crisis over the last 20 years as they push their anti-fossil fuel policies. They pushed their aspirations without giving a damn about having a good plan that would both balance current tech and new power plants. We were sold a false bill of goods that “Green Energy” would be picking up the heavy lifting by now. It is clear and always has been that the energy production is not enough from these sources. We need Nuclear yesterday to achieve these extremely ambitious goals and unfortunately we are late to the party and it took an energy crisis for our legislature to finally realize they are a bunch of idiots and need to do something. Any perceived quick fix at this point is a farce and only to quell the angry hoard of MDers that know Annapolis is broken and this is not Trumps fault.
-As always we increase the wealthier positions in gov’t and not give a shit about the lower wrung employees just like in corporate America. Remember you are not in the club.
– I am not shocked by the Govs approval numbers they have been sliding for the last 6months on a downward trend. It will get worse by Nov. and we may see a closer race for Gov than anyone expected. I still do not expect him to lose considering our states Make-Up. But it is starting to feel like when both Ehrlich and Hogan got elected. We are a better state when we have a Repub as Gov to put the Breaks on the out of control Dem legislature. Maybe Gov Moore should be looking at Gov Hogan’s time in office for some pointers. He certainly seemed to understand MDers better than any other Gov in my lifetime.
-The 8-1 Supreme Court decision was somewhat of a shock to me. Justice Jackson is again out on an island. It is still good to see the Supreme Court is still interpreting the 1st Amendment liberally. Jackson wanted to criticize the fact that this is actually regulating medical care. But I am going to disagree as “Talk Therapy” has to be an exception to this rule. Who are you to say I can’t seek certain “Talk Therapies” whether or not they are shown to be successful. The key word here is Talk and the gov’t has no right to regulate speech even when it comes to Medical Care, as Medical Care is often times a Doctors Opinion, that’s why they say to seek out another opinion. They don’t know everything and some Doc are better than others. We have a right to make those decisions.
-Youth fund corruption at its finest. There is only one reason to try and stop this and that is because they know for a fact those funds are corruptly being spent and they do not want criticism. Our gov’ts are not trustworthy and we need to correct these issues, there is only one way to heal and increase trust and that is to open the books. We have that right as MDers and citizens to know how our money is being spent. This is incredibly insulting.
-Bal Co wants to know if they are full time or part time. I have some question they need to answer to solve this. Do They work year round? Do they clock 35-40 hours a week year round? If the answer is No then they are part time, problem solved. Now stop screwing your county over and stop preventing the IG from doing their Jobs.
-This is part of the problem with the Epstein files. Just because you had 1 or 2 interactions with him doesn’t mean they knew anything, had any business dealing nor support child rape. However it still does not look good. Every single one of us deal with people that have private lives beyond our understanding and knowledge. Then one day you open up the news to find out someone you met a couple times got arrested on some kind of charges. I have had to unfriend at least 1 person on facebook who was convicted for child sex crimes (she was a female btw). I was completely unaware and had not interacted with them in about a decade at that point. That is something similar that some of these people in the files are dealing with and we all need to remember before we throw everyone into the pit of fire.