LOBBYISTS SPEND BIG ON ‘RELAXING’ DINNERS WITH LAWMAKERS: In Annapolis this year, lobbyists, companies and special interest groups spent nearly $1 million treating Maryland lawmakers to dinner at some of the city’s most expensive restaurants. But Del. Joe Vogel of Montgomery County has proposed a bill this year to ban committee dinners, pledging not to attend any more while in office. He says it’s an issue of fairness: The average Marylander doesn’t have the same opportunities to spend focused, lengthy time with their representatives that high-powered lobbyists and companies do. The bill didn’t pass out of committee and had no co-sponsors. Brooke Conrad/The Baltimore Sun.
SENATOR TO PUSH FOR REDISTRICTING; LONGTIME AP REPORTER TAKES BUYOUT: Sen. Arthur Ellis is set to hold a press conference at Lawyers Mall to call for a special session of the General Assembly to redraw the state’s congressional districts, in light of last week’s Supreme Court ruling that undid much of the federal Voting Rights Act. Brian Witte, a longtime State House reporter for the Associated Press, has announced he’s taking a buyout offered by the news agency. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MORGAN STATE WORKING ON SOLUTION TO END ROAD WORKER FATALITIES: After traffic crashes killed two Maryland road workers in the span of four days, a possible solution is in the works. Researchers at Morgan State University’s National Transportation Center have created a multisensory system to alert road workers to speeding or erratic vehicles that are approaching. Sensors detect how fast and where cars are going hundreds of feet away from the construction site and ping workers with three different alerts if there’s a sign of danger. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
COLUMN: THE AWARD FOR ZANIEST LEGISLATIVE VIDEO GOES TO… Lesley Lopez sits in the back of a moving car, blindfolded with a Maryland flag scarf and bound by a laptop sync cord. “Not to make this weird, but are you registered to vote?” the Montgomery County delegate says to the camera. It was the most gonzo social media post of the 2026 General Assembly, but probably not the last Maryland will see like it. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
WITH NO REPUBLICAN RUNNING, HOWARD EXEC COULD BE DECIDED BY DEMS: Howard County is the only Maryland jurisdiction where solely Democrats have filed to run for county executive — leaving that party to decide who will hold the county’s most powerful office for the next four years. Unless a last-minute candidate is put forth via petition before July 6 or a historically unlikely write-in campaign tips the scales in November, Democratic voters will dictate Howard County’s leader for the next four years. April Santana/The Baltimore Sun.
PENSION BOARD SEEKS PUBLIC TRUSTEES: The Board of Trustees for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) is seeking two trustees, one each from Montgomery County and Prince George’s County. Public Trustees serve a three-year term, from July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2029. The Board holds fiduciary oversight of the ERS for the sole benefit of members and beneficiaries. County residents interested in serving must submit a statement of qualifications and resume, by 5:00 p.m. on May 27, 2026 to [email protected]. For more information, contact [email protected] or (301) 454-1415 or
visit us at ers.mncppc.org.
COMBATIVE 6th DISTRICT RACE KEEPS GETTING HOTTER: Campaign rhetoric in the hotly contested 6th District Democratic primary has shifted in recent weeks from convincing voters why a candidate is the best person for the job to convincing them why their opponent isn’t. It’s the latest development as former Rep. David Trone attempts to reclaim his former seat from Rep. April McClain Delaney, who won the seat in 2024 after Trone mounted an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate. The shift comes with less than two months to the June 23 primary. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
B’MORE GETS $1.2M IN FED FUNDS FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION: Baltimore is receiving $1.18 million in federal funding aimed at reducing gun violence. Sen. Chris Van Hollen presented Mayor Brandon Scott with the check on Monday. The money will support the expansion of the city’s Group Violence Reduction Strategy. Baltimore police data shows homicides are down 15% this year, while non-fatal shootings are down 10%. Wambui Kamau/WYPR-FM.
ARUNDEL CLARIFIES DISPENSARY PLACEMENT RULES: An amendment added to an Anne Arundel County Council bill on Monday weakens legislation intended to clarify how close a dispensary can open to certain property types in the county. Introduced by Republican Nathan Volke, the bill defines minimum distances between dispensaries and properties, such as schools, daycare centers and churches. Those definitions were previously missing from both Maryland and Anne Arundel County law. Benjamin Rothstein/The Baltimore Sun.
MO CO SCHOOLS TO RELEASE STUDENT GENDER ID TO PARENT UPON REQUEST: Montgomery County Public Schools staff are now required to release information about a student’s gender identity if a parent or guardian requests it, marking a shift from previous guidelines that said disclosing the information provided by a student could violate privacy laws, according to a Thursday message from the school district. Ashlyn Campbell/Bethesda Today.
BANNER NAMED FINALIST FOR PULITZER: The Banner was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in local reporting for an investigation that used a first-of-its-kind data analysis to show that unreliable public transit makes it nearly impossible for Baltimore City students to get to school on time. The nearly three-year project by Liz Bowie, Greg Morton, Allan James Vestal and Ryan Little mapped thousands of student trips and tracked Maryland Transit Administration buses in real time, showing that transportation barriers undermine school choice, contribute to chronic absenteeism and create inequities when it comes to access to reliable transportation. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
Sucks for those dispensary owners. They bought a property for $3 million and now they wont be able to open. They do need to clarify how the measurement works. But people out here acting like this place will be a scourge on society or will cause church going people to be tempted by the Devil’s Lettuce. There is one solution, if you do not like the Dispensary do not go there. Your kids will not be buying from the dispo and it is illegal to smoke on the property. All the shit that people scaremonger about on these businesses never come true, they simply just do not want them and this is a reason to say nah uh, no go to the bar a block away instead and hang out with some spirits.