ONLINE PREDICTION MARKETS RILE UP STATE LAWMAKERS: Prediction market platforms say they are like commodity markets that offer contracts to speculate on the future price of corn or oil — not sportsbooks that allow gamblers to place bets. Maryland is among the states taking steps to rein in markets like Kalshi, Polymarket, but feds claim jurisdiction. Kevin Hardy/Maryland Matters.
JOHNS HOPKINS PRESIDENT HELPED CRAFT TRUMPS HIGHER EDUCATION FRAMEWORK: President Ron Daniels helped the Trump administration craft a new higher education framework released this week, calling on universities to hire more conservative faculty, lower tuition, combat grade inflation and make other institutional changes in line with the administration’s agenda. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
SURVEYS FOR PIEDMONT POWER LINES CAN CONTINUE APPELLATE COURT RULES: Land surveys for the planned Maryland Piedmont power line project can continue, despite landowner opposition, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
FORMER HOLY CROSS HOSPITAL CEO TO LEAD HOSPITAL RATE COMMISSION: Kevin Sexton, former president and CEO of Holy Cross Health hospitals, has been tapped to chair a powerful state commission charged with setting hospital rates in Maryland, the Moore administration announced Thursday. Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters.
TOWN HALLS HELD TO HEAR IDEAS ON HOW SETTLEMENT FUNDS SHOULD BE USED: Maryland’s Office of Overdose Response started its town hall meetings with the public to figure out how the state will use a quarter of a billion dollars it will receive from opioid companies over the next 15 years. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.
LAWSUIT AGAINST DAHLI SHIP BUILDER DISMISSED: A lawsuit alleging that negligence by the cargo ship Dali’s shipbuilder led to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse was dismissed this week by a federal judge, who ruled that another jurisdiction would be a more appropriate forum for the suit. Maggie Trovato/The Baltimore Sun.
TRIBUTES POUR IN FOR FORMER DIST. 14 STATE SENATOR KAREN MONTGOMERY: Karen Montgomery, the Brookeville resident who represented legislative District 14 for more than a decade in the Maryland General Assembly, died last month, according to statements from officials who knew her. She was 90. Ceoli Jacoby/Bethesda Today.
ICE FEARS ARE KEEPING SOME WITNESSES OUT OF COURT PROSECUTORS SAY: Some Maryland prosecutors say heightened federal immigration enforcement is making it harder to hold offenders accountable, as fears of possible immigration arrests leave witnesses reluctant to report crimes or testify in court. Brian Carlton and Maggie Trovato/The Baltimore Sun.
SENATOR’S CAR PARKED ON TREE RAISES ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS IN ANNAPOLIS: Three days after a Maryland state senator’s luxury SUV became the focus of a viral social media storm, Annapolis Police have yet to say whether they are investigating witness allegations that the vehicle struck a parked car before coming to rest partly on a sidewalk and against a tree. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.
MAYOR SCOTT’S WIFE RECEIVED $51K TAX PAYER DOLLARS THROUGH YOUTH FUND: Mayor Brandon Scott’s wife received $51,000 Baltimore City taxpayer dollars from 2024 to 2025 through a nonprofit that collapsed last year, according to documents obtained by Spotlight on Maryland. Patrick Hauf/FOX 45 NEWS.
