AS SPECIAL SESSION BEGINS, REDISTRICTING OUTCOME MAY BE WEAKER THAN SOUGHT: Gov. Wes Moore’s redistricting push was supposed to oust Maryland’s only Republican in Congress this November and boost House Democrats’ ability to check President Donald Trump’s agenda. Instead, the effort has been mired in months of debate, has deeply divided Democrats, and won’t affect congressional maps until 2028 — if ever. State lawmakers are slated to return to Annapolis on Monday for a brief special session on a constitutional change that could help reshape Maryland’s congressional districts. The Democratic-led legislature is expected to approve the measure, which would appear on the November ballot. Pamela Wood, Lee O. Sanderlin, Brenda Wintrode and John-John Williams IV/The Baltimore Banner.
- As lawmakers return to Annapolis today for a rare three-day special session, Marylanders hoping for action on soaring electricity bills, disability services or other affordability concerns will likely have to wait until the General Assembly reconvenes in January. Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk have limited the session almost entirely to legislation related to a proposed constitutional amendment governing future congressional redistricting, saying the compressed timeline leaves little room for unrelated measures. Mennatalla Ibrahim/The Baltimore Sun.
A LITTLE DRAMA, A LITTLE TENSION: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS SESSION: Rewriting part of the state constitution — subject to voter approval in November — would give Democrats a freer hand in drawing districts in the future, should they choose to do so. But getting to this point meant some leaders had to give up their goals, at least for now. And it inflamed tensions, tested relationships and perhaps led to the end of one political career. Pamela Wood and Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
- Debate will be tightly controlled and legislative leaders hope to be done before Wednesday. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be drama along the way. While Democrats are believed to have the votes to pass the legislation, they would all need to show up, which was still a question last week. And Republicans have long made their displeasure apparent, both at the overall concept of redistricting, which is expected to target the only GOP seat in the state’s congressional delegation, and at what they call the rushed and straitjacketed process.William Ford and Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
- A special session is an official gathering of the legislature outside the annual 90-day session that begins each year on the second Wednesday in January. They are not often called, but they’re not all that special either: There have been eight in this century alone, the most recent in December when the House met to elect a new speaker. Bryan Sears and Will Hammann/Maryland Matters.
HUNDREDS OF NONPROFITS OUT OF COMPLIANCE WITH STATE REGS: The Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Baltimore, which offers youth and after-school programs and received more than $23 million in charitable contributions in 2024, is among hundreds of Maryland nonprofits that have fallen out of compliance with state registration requirements. Lorraine Mirabella/The Baltimore Sun.
WITH 2 MONTHS LEFT IN HEAT SEASON, MARYLAND HITS 38 DEATHS: Maryland has recorded 38 heat-related deaths so far this year, the second-highest total in the last 15 years, with two months left in the heat season, according to the latest data from the Maryland Department of Health. The state’s weather-related illness dashboard reported 31 deaths in July, which started off with a major heatwave and several 100-degree days. Those deaths pushed this year’s total past the 36 recorded in all of last year, and were second only to the 46 heat-related deaths recorded in 2012. Mayah Nachman/Maryland Matters.
1st HUMAN CASE OF WEST NILE VIRUS IN MARYLAND IN 2026 CONFIRMED: The Maryland Department of Health has confirmed the first human case of West Nile virus for the state this year, weeks after the mosquito-borne disease was traced to Anne Arundel County. Valerie Bonk/WTOP-FM.
SUN OWNER SMITH SUES MOORE FOR DEFAMATION: David D. Smith, owner of The Baltimore Sun, has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Wes Moore, claiming Moore defamed him and portrayed him in a false light by misrepresenting comments about President Donald Trump and suggesting he had ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The 12-page lawsuit filed Friday in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court stems from Moore’s June 16 appearance on MSNOW’s “The Weeknight.” According to the complaint, Moore falsely claimed Smith “has openly said, and not my words, his words, that he believes that the job of the Sun is to do Donald Trump’s work. That is his words….” Bridget Byrne/The Baltimore Sun.
EXTORTION CHARGES DISMISSED AGAINST SEN ATTAR, CO-DEFENDANTS; OTHER CHARGES REMAIN: A federal district judge Friday dismissed extortion charges against Sen. Dalya Attar (D-Baltimore City) and two co-defendants, saying their alleged attempts to coerce a political opponent did not rise to the level of extortion, which requires an attempt to get “tangible, transferrable things.” The three – Attar, her brother, Joseph “Yossi” Attar and Kalman Finkelstein, a Baltimore City Police officer and a political supporter of Attar – still face conspiracy and wiretapping charges. Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
MOORE TAKES CHAIR OF NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION: Gov. Wes Moore officially took over as chair of the National Governors Association on Saturday, assuming the prominent position just ahead of a high-stakes national election that could reset the balance of power in Washington and across the states. Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt handed the gavel to Moore, a Democrat, at Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. The pair repeatedly touted their close personal friendship as a model for more civil public discourse in these politically divisive times. Kevin Hardy/Maryland Matters.
- The National Governors Association is a bipartisan organization that presses the needs of governors and states, particularly with the federal government. That means that Moore is the spokesperson for his fellow governors when it comes to dealing with President Donald Trump and his administration. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
CANNABIS ODOR CAN TRIGGER POLICE SEARCH FOR MINORS, COURT RULES: An odor of marijuana is not normally sufficient cause for police to conduct a search, but it can be if police determine that the occupants of a car are minors and thus prohibited from possessing cannabis, a three-judge panel of the Appellate Court of Maryland ruled on Thursday. William Hammann/Maryland Matters.
COLUMN: CURBING THE DISTURBING TIDE OF PLASTIC: Tuesday’s storm washed billions of gallons of water from Baltimore and Annapolis into the Chesapeake Bay. And with it came the tide of plastic bottles. “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill” for cleanup, said Rick Kessler, director of landfill and waste programs at the Maryland Department of the Environment. Over the next three years, the department and some of the world’s worst polluters will develop a plan to cut plastic and increase recycling. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
POLITICAL NOTES: FERGUSON GETS NEW SENIOR ADVISOR; CHANGES AT BAY TRUST: Senate President Bill Ferguson announced Friday that Alexandra Smith will join his office as the senior adviser for strategy and external affairs — just days before lawmakers return for a special session on the contentious issue of congressional redistricting. Smith served as Ferguson’s campaign manager for his surprisingly tough Democratic primary win in June. After more than two decades with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, Jana Davis will step down as president on Sept. 18 and be replaced by another longtime trust veteran, Kacey Wetzel, the organization announced. Staff/Maryland Matters.
LINDSEY PARKER APPOINTED EXEC DIRECTOR OF STADIUM AUTHORITY: The Maryland Stadium Authority has appointed Lindsey V. Parker as its next executive director, starting in September. Parker will succeed Manervia W. Riddick, a 17-year member of the Maryland Stadium Authority board, who has served as interim executive director following the retirement of Executive Director Michael Frenz in April. Marcus Dieterle/Baltimore Fishbowl.
ARUNDEL COUNCIL TRIES AGAIN TO CURB DEVELOPER CAMPAIGN DONATIONS: Another bill taking a stab at curbing housing developer campaign contributions has been introduced to the Anne Arundel County Council, though this time by a lawmaker who opposed the previous proposal. Benjamin Rothstein/The Baltimore Sun.
MOUNT AIRY VOTERS TO PICK REPLACEMENT MAYOR NOV 17: Mount Airy residents will head to the polls in November to select a new mayor following Mayor Larry Hushour’s resignation. The town’s Board of Supervisors of Elections set Nov. 17 for a special election to fill the remainder of Hushour’s term, which runs through May 2029. Hushour announced that he will resign from office Aug. 31 as demands from his job as a commercial pilot have made it difficult for him to serve as mayor while also spending time with his family. Marissa Yelenik/The Carroll County Times.
PIRRO SEEKS TO DISMISS FELONY CHARGE AGAINST OLYMPIAN: In an extraordinary motion filed Friday evening, the U.S. attorney in Washington, Jeanine Pirro, said she was seeking to dismiss a felony charge against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoeist and Maryland resident who was accused of pulling up a piece of the pool’s lining two feet square. Madaleine Rubin and David A. Fahrenthold/The New York Times.
- According to Friday’s filing in D.C. Superior Court, internal Interior Department documents also chalked up the peeling of the pool liner to contractor errors made during the hurried effort to overhaul the pool ahead of celebrations to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary in July. DOJ lawyers said the information they received showed that “the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented” by the Interior Department. Dan Diamond and Jasmine Golden/The Washington Post.
LAWSUIT AGAINST WORKDAY HIRING PLATFORM SPARKS CONCERN: A lawsuit claiming that Workday, the dominant human resources platform, uses AI tools that discriminate against older, minority and disabled applicants could have far-reaching consequences here and elsewhere. With Maryland’s largest private employer, Johns Hopkins, preparing to shift much of its hiring process onto Workday next year, and other employers in the state already using it, the lawsuit is under close watch. Jean Marbella/The Baltimore Sun.
UM PHARMACY TEACHER GRABBED BY ICE AFTER TEXAS TALK: University of Maryland School of Pharmacy instructor Berhanu Kibret was in Texas in July to attend an industry association annual meeting, where he had been honored as a Teacher of the Year. “Grateful for the opportunity to learn, share, and contribute to the future of pharmacy education,” Kibret shared in a post on LinkedIn of the meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. But on July 21, after leaving the meeting, he was detained by federal agents at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. He remains in custody. Alissa Zhu and Clara Longo de Freitas/The Baltimore Banner.
HOPKINS RESEARCHER RELEASED FROM ICE CUSTODY: A public health researcher at the Johns Hopkins University who was arrested by immigration officials while boarding a domestic flight has been released after spending days in federal custody across three states. Daniel Zawodny/The Baltimore Banner.
- Her arrest, which came as a shock to her colleagues, appears to be part of a larger national campaign targeting immigrants at airports. Alissa Zhu, Clara Longo de Freitas, Daniel Zawodny and Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.
