LAWMAKERS GEAR UP FOR PARTISAN FIGHT OVER REDISTRICTING SESSION: Maryland lawmakers are gearing up for a partisan fight over congressional redistricting during next week’s legislative special session, and one GOP lawmaker has launched an attack ad campaign in anticipation of the constitutional change. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
STATE’s HIGH VACCINE RATE STOPS MEASLES FROM SPREADING, EXPERT SAY: Just seven months into the year, confirmed measles cases Maryland are already four times higher that they were for all of last year, but health officials say the situation could be much worse. Almost all of the 12 cases recorded so far this year — up from three for all of 2025 — were “imported” into Maryland after out-of-state or international travel. But once here, the infections have not spread further, which experts say is a sign that the state’s relatively high vaccine coverage at 96% is protecting residents from the potentially fatal illness. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
GEOTHERMAL TEST PROJECTS FACE DELAYS AMID COST CONCERNS: A program to install geothermal energy systems in several Maryland housing complexes is facing delays amid concerns about cost effectiveness, two years after its passage. A 2024 state law required the state’s two largest gas utilities to propose plans for installing the underground energy systems at a few pilot sites. But it also allowed them to pass the costs for the projects onto all of their customers, as long as they got approval from Maryland regulators at the Public Service Commission. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
TRUMP ADMIN THREATENS ARUNDEL SCHOOLS OVER STUDENT’s GENDER ID: The Trump administration on Monday threatened to punish Anne Arundel County’s school system with legal action or the loss of federal funding for allegedly withholding information about a student’s gender identity and transition from the student’s parents. Jessica Calefati/The Baltimore Banner.
COMMENTARY: MOORE WON’T DEBATE COX; WHO DOES THAT BENEFIT? The fight over whether Maryland should host full stage gubernatorial debates — with all four certified candidates — isn’t really about Andy Ellis or the Working Class Party. Their presence is symbolic, not electoral. The real question is what expanded debates do to the dynamics between Gov. Wes Moore and Republican nominee Dan Cox. And the answer is surprisingly simple: More debates help Cox more than anyone else — including the minor parties who are asking for them. Barry O’Connell/The Maryland Wire.
NEW VOTING SYSTEM MEETS 20-YEAR-OLD FEDERAL STANDARD: Maryland taxpayers will pay nearly $85 million for a new voting system that state officials acknowledge currently meets only 20-year-old federal standards — and whose planned security upgrades have not yet received federal approval. The Election Systems & Software machines will be used beginning with the 2028 elections and are scheduled for a software upgrade by 2030, said Maryland Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
COLUMN: HER DATA COULD KEEP MORE TEENS FROM KILLING EACH OTHER: Jen Pauliukonis, the first executive director of Maryland’s Center for Firearm Violence Prevention and Intervention, is not only collecting data but providing feedback showing that behavioral health therapy programs such as the nonprofit ROCA in Baltimore are working. What has she discovered thus far? Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
ELRICH SIGNS BILL TO AMEND RESTRICTIONS ON GHOST GUNS IN PUBLIC: Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) on Monday signed a bill amending the county’s restrictions on ghost guns and other firearms in public places after the Supreme Court of Maryland in April said some parts of an earlier law could not stand. Ceoli Jacoby/Bethesda Today.
SEATS REMAIN EMPTY ON BA CO COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL OVERCROWDING: A committee that was created two years ago to advise Baltimore County on school overcrowding finally held its first meeting last week. But it barely has a quorum. The County Council and County Executive Kathy Klausmeier have failed to fill four of the nine seats on the Advisory Committee on Public School Capacity. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
B’MORE MAYOR, IG HEAD TO COURT OVER RECORDS OVERSIGHT: Who is vying to be Baltimore’s overlord? Both Mayor Brandon Scott and Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming are pointing the finger at each other as their attorneys head to court this week. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Banner.
- Retired Baltimore City Solicitor and former U.S. Appeals Court Judge Andre M. Davis has issued a sharp rebuke to his successor’s claim that the Maryland Public Information Act restricts the Office of Inspector General’s direct access to city records. Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
