SPECIAL SESSION SET ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR REDISTRICTING: After months of back and forth, lawmakers will head back to Annapolis next month for a special session to consider a constitutional amendment language surrounding redistricting in Maryland. Mikenzie Frost/WBFF-TV News.
- The legislature is set to return Aug. 3-5 to consider legislation that would clarify how congressional districts can be drawn — a reaction to a 2022 court decision that resulted in the current maps in which the Democratic Party holds seven of the state’s eight districts. House and Senate Republicans were quick to follow with statements rebuking the decision to call lawmakers back to Annapolis. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
SZELIGA TO RENEW PUSH TO BAN TRANS ATHLETES FROM GIRLS SPORTS: A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling has energized a renewed push in Maryland to restrict girls sports teams to biological females, setting up another legislative fight in Annapolis over transgender participation in school athletics. Del. Kathy Szeliga called the decision a boost for legislation she has tried to pass in Maryland for the past five years without success. She said she plans to return to Annapolis with a similar measure for a sixth attempt. Jeff Abell/WBFF-TV News.
COMMENTARY: PROTECTING GIRLS SPORTS: In last week’s decisions in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox, the Supreme Court opened the way for states to protect girls’ sports. Maryland lawmakers should now follow West Virginia and Idaho by enacting similar protections for girls’ sports. As the court explained, neither Title IX nor the Equal Protection Clause requires states to allow biological males to compete on girls’ athletic teams simply because they identify as female. Paul McCosby/Maryland Reporter.
MARYLAND COULDN’T FIX ONE RIVER; HOW CAN IT FIX THE BAY? Gov. Robert Ehrlich stood on the banks of the Chesapeake one September day more than 20 years ago to unveil a “a grand experiment:” Maryland would revive the Corsica River, 6 miles of deeply sickened waters that empty into the bay. His idea was ambitious: If Maryland could show that they could rewrite the future of the Eastern Shore tributary, it might prove a blueprint for cleaning up the nation’s largest estuary. But two decades later, the EPA says the Corsica is still impaired. Much like in the Chesapeake Bay itself, basic aspirations for clear, clean water remain elusive. Adam Willis and Allan James Vestal/The Baltimore Banner.
GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL DAN COX ON THE ISSUES: Four years after losing to Gov. Wes Moore by more than 30 percentage points, Dan Cox says rising living costs and dissatisfaction with Maryland’s economy have created a different political environment. In an interview, the Republican gubernatorial nominee about his platform and his plans to win over Democratic voters. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
IS MOORE BECOMING FACE OF DEMOCRATIC PARTY FOR 2028 WHITE HOUSE RUN? With Maryland voters four months away from choosing their next governor, Gov. Wes Moore’s reelection campaign is unfolding on two fronts. There’s a bare-bones effort in Maryland, where residents are facing rising electricity costs, long-term state budget pressures and continued questions in the Sun about the governor’s military records. And there’s also a national media blitz, where Moore is increasingly being introduced and questioned as a potential face of the Democratic Party in 2028. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.
COMMENTARY: IS THE UNITED STATES NOW IN DECLINE? One historian has found that many empires of the past lasted just about 250 years, having started small, expanding to great size and prosperity over time, then slipping into decline. By almost any standard, the USA is the richest and most powerful country the world has ever seen. The power is not just military, but financial, cultural and legal. That has happened mostly in the last 80 years since the end of World War II, in which much of the rest of the developed world was devastated. But is the ever optimistic United States now in decline? Len Lazarick/Maryland Reporter.
HARFORD CANDIDATES SEEK BAN ON FOR-PROFIT HOUSE PARTIES AFTER FATAL SHOOTING: A fatal shooting at a ticketed house party in Fallston that drew 100 people to a residential neighborhood is prompting Harford County political candidates to push for legislation banning for-profit gatherings in private homes — following the lead of Howard County, which began fining hosts $5,000 for such events last year. Matt Hubbard/The Aegis.
MOORE CALLS ON PLATNER TO END MAINE SENATE CAMPAIGN: Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday joined a chorus of Democratic Party leaders calling on Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner to end his campaign following a sexual assault allegation that surfaced Monday. Platner, a military veteran and oysterman, has been the subject of troubling accusations from former romantic partners. “These are horrific allegations, and he needs to get out of the race right now,” Moore said. Bryan P. Sears and Mayah Nachman/Maryland Matters.
OFFICERS CLEARED IN FATAL SHOOTING OF AUTISTIC MAN IN HOWARD: Four months after police in Maryland fatally shot a 25-year-old autistic man, who had called them for help related to an extortion scam and made suicidal statements, state authorities have decided not to charge the officers in the case. Jasmine Golden and Juan Benn Jr./The Washington Post.
- Alex LaMorie was holding a kitchen knife while experiencing a mental health crisis in the early hours of March 1 when Pfc. Joseph Riebau, Officer Cody Bostic and Officer Joel Rodriguez fatally shot him outside of Columbia’s newly opened Patuxent Commons, a complex dedicated to supporting adults with autism and other disabilities. Lillian Reed/The Baltimore Banner.
PRISON GANG FIGHT ENDS IN 8 HOSPITALIZATIONS: Eight inmates at Roxbury Correctional Institution were stabbed and hospitalized Saturday after a gang fight at the Western Maryland prison, according to the state’s correctional officers’ union. Luke Parker/The Baltimore Sun.
