COUNTY LEADERS LOOK FOR OPTIONS AS BUDGETS GET TIGHTER: County leaders said they need more options to help weather mounting budget pressures driven by reductions in state aid coupled with costs shifted to local governments and mandated education spending. Bryan P. Sears/Maryland Matters.
RIPPLE EFFECTS OF AHEAD MODEL COULD ‘TOPPLE’ STATE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, CAREFIRST WARNS: Insurance companies like CareFirst are watching Maryland officials navigate a multiyear transition into a new structure that will ultimately remove the state’s authority to set hospital rates for services covered by Medicare, an authority it’s had for decades. Danielle J. Brown/Maryland Matters.
NEW COLLABORATION ON CONOWINGO DAM : That fact was on display Thursday at the Maryland Association of Counties summer conference in Ocean City, when leaders from all three camps convened — this time to discuss a settlement agreement through which Constellation will pay $340 million for various environmental projects over the next several decades, in exchange for a crucial water quality certification from the state. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
PG CO SAYS ITS OWED $8 MILLION AFTER JUDGE HALTS $39 MILLION TRANSFER: Prince George’s County says it’s owed more than $8 million from the bicounty Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. But that amount, and about $31 million more the county’s budget requires from the commission, is held up in court. Jack Hogan/the Baltimore Banner.
FBI-LED CRIME SWEEP RESULTS IN 109 ARRESTS: A three-week law enforcement operation targeting violent offenders across Maryland and Delaware resulted in 109 arrests, federal officials announced Thursday. The FBI-led effort brought together more than a dozen federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies as part of the agency’s nationwide Summer Heat 2.0 initiative to reduce violent crime. Jared Adkins/WMAR 2.
AGENCIES RESTRICT ANSWERS TO NEWS OUTLETS, CITING PRIVATE LAWSUIT AGAINST WES MOORE: Some Maryland agencies have stopped providing answers to routine government questions from four news organizations and say they are instead sending their inquiries for legal review, citing a private defamation lawsuit filed personally against Gov. Wes Moore by Baltimore media executive David D. Smith. The Baltimore Sun/Gary Collins.
ELECTION BOARD ‘EXTENDED’ BALLOT COMMENT DEADLINE, DEMARINIS SAYS IT DIDN’T: The Maryland State Board of Elections’ website said the public-comment deadline for 10 Prince George’s County ballot questions had been “extended” to Aug. 11. But the county’s elections administrator said she was never notified of an extension and closed the comment period under the original July 30 deadline. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
HEISER ENLISTS 3 AA CO OFFICIALS TO FILL CENTRAL OFFICE CABINET: Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Bill Heiser pulled staffers from the roster of his last school district in Anne Arundel County this week to fill key vacancies at his new post. Racquel Bazos/The Baltimore Sun.
ACLU ANALYZES DATA IN 143 POLICE CUSTODY DEATHS: Many police in-custody deaths in Maryland resulted of institutional failures, according to a report released Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union. Barry Simms, Hannah Hoffman and Rachel Duncan/WBAL TV.
TEACHER OF THE YEAR WAS DETAINED BY ICE WEEKS AGO. HIS DAY IN COURT IS COMING: After more than three weeks in immigration detention, a University of Maryland School of Pharmacy instructor is expected to appear in court Friday for the first time. Alissa Zhu/The Baltimore Banner.
