COURT STRIKES DOWN MARYLAND TAX ON DIGITAL ADS: Maryland’s first-in-the-nation tax on advertising by Big Tech companies was struck down by the state’s tax court Friday. The tax, first approved in 2020, is designed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for public schools by taxing Big Tech for ads that follow Marylanders around as they peruse social media platforms, websites and streaming services. But the Maryland Tax Court ruled in favor of three tech companies — Google, Apple and Peacock TV — and ordered the state to refund the taxes they paid. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- “In the context of the ITFA (Internet Tax Freedom Act) … the Court reasons that Congress could not have been any clearer that it did not want internet services of any kind taxed unless other similar services in the broader sense were taxed,” the tax court wrote. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
STATE URGES COUNTIES TO ‘MAKE A WISH LIST’ DURING DATA CENTER FREEZES: Gov. Wes Moore’s energy office has a message for all of the Maryland counties with temporary data center moratoriums: Make your wish list. “Use the time that you have bought yourselves with your local moratorium, talk to other communities that have figured this out,” said Ian Ullman, deputy director of the Maryland Energy Administration. “And make your wish list. This is the time.” Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
COX CALLS FOR ‘HYPERSCALE’ DATA CENTER FREEZE, BLASTS MOORE OVER TERAWULF-LINKED DONATIONS: As two-time Republican nominee for Maryland governor Dan Cox (R) puts it, hyperscale data centers are a “big difference between Wes Moore and me.” Cox has called for a statewide moratorium banning hyperscalers, and has targeted Moore on one project in particular: a project proposed in Charles County by TeraWulf, which recently received federal approval to purchase a retired coal plant that it plans to use for the project. Cox highlighted two $6,000 donations that Moore received in 2025 from TeraWulf’s founder and his wife. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.
MARYLAND TO USE $80M IN FED FUNDS FOR RURAL HEALTH PROGRAM: The Maryland Department of Health has announced its awarding of $80 million in grant funding as a part of the state’s Rural Health Transformation Program. The five-year grant program was authorized last summer under President Donald Trump’s massive reconciliation package commonly referred to as the One, Big Beautiful Bill or HR 1. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
HIGH WATER BILLS PLAGUE RURAL ALLEGANY COUNTY: Thanks to painstaking conservation, the Morgan family in rural Allegany County in June used about a quarter of the typical volume for an American household of five. Still, they pay as much as $300 a month for water. In the past year, neighbors have opened their bills to find $400, $700, even $1,000 monthly water charges. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
B’MORE SEES BIG DROP IN MURDERS AND ARRESTS: So far in 2026, Baltimore has recorded fewer homicides than ever at this point of the year, an incredible milestone in a place once morbidly referred to as “Bodymore.” The drop in crime in Baltimore has been almost entirely on the city’s own terms. The overall number of arrests in the city is far below what it was a dozen years ago. Campbell Robertson/The New York Times.
COLUMN: PICK & CHOOSE THE PARTS OF THE POLL YOU LIKE: Last Wednesday I got a phone call from a political person, and he asked me about the latest Cox- Moore poll showing Gov. Wes Moore winning by about 27 percentage points. I told him very bluntly that Republican Dan Cox was going to get an ass whipping in November. He just started laughing. Cox is dismissive of that poll. Ironically, when the first part of that poll came out showing that slightly more than half of voters describe themselves as really struggling financially or just getting by, Cox praised the poll. John Dedie/Substack.
HOGAN TO OPEN CIVICS INSTITUTE AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE: Former Gov. Larry Hogan has been on a sort of extended college road trip, touring the country and stopping at prestigious schools to share his views about the importance of bipartisanship and the political landscape today. A few colleges even asked him to lend his expertise and last name to establish a civics program. He chose Washington College, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, to open The Hogan Institute, designed to “advance a return to founding principles and common sense,” he said, and bridge the partisan divide. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE’s FEDERAL SETTLEMENT OVER B’MORE JAIL INMATE CARE EXTENDED AGAIN: A decade-old settlement requiring the state to improve medical care at a Baltimore jail was extended for the third time this June after the federal court found the state remained partially or fully noncompliant with several requirements. The 2016 settlement required the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to comply with a list of provisions related to facility maintenance and medical and mental health care for inmates at the Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center. Will Hammann/Maryland Matters.
GREENBELT’s HUNDRED ACRE WOOD NOW PROTECTED: A Maryland version of Winnie-the-Pooh’s fabled magical forest has been officially protected from development. Informally known as the “Hundred Acre Wood” in Greenbelt was transferred by NASA to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during a signing ceremony in July. The 105-acre property is now managed as part of the adjoining Patuxent Research Reserve, which is a publicly accessible national wildlife refuge. Jeremy Cox/The Bay Journal.
JUDGE RULES FOR B’MORE IG OVER RECORDS ACCESS: A judge ruled in favor of Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Cumming on Friday, in an ongoing legal battle with Mayor Brandon Scott over access to city records. Renee Anderson/WJZ-TV News.
- Circuit Court Judge Pamela White ordered the city to respond to subpoenas Cumming’s office had requested in an amended complaint. Cumming’s attorneys have said that the city has failed to fulfill 49 recent subpoena requests. Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
ARUNDEL VOTERS TO FACE THREE COUNTY-SPECIFIC BALLOT QUESTIONS: Anne Arundel County residents will be asked in November to vote on a change to how some county employee unions can resolve disputes during contract negotiations. Two other Anne Arundel-specific ballot questions ask if planning commission terms should be staggered and whether specific position titles for council-appointed officers should be removed from the charter. Katherine Wilson/The Baltimore Sun.
RESTAURANT OWNER PUTS EMPLOYEE’s PUBLIC SHAMING IN A SANDWICH: When restaurant owner Matty Wess of New Windsor saw that one of his employees was taking heat online for her years-old, racist social media posts that had resurfaced, he aimed to create a “public shaming” sandwich with profits heading toward a good cause. Krista Schultz’s racist posts gained public attention when a Carroll County Public Schools board member rescinded Schultz’s appointment to the school system’s family life committee. Gabriella Fine/The Carroll County Times.
MORE FREDERICK FAMILIES NEEDING FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Frederick County non-profits are worried they will run out of eviction prevention funds by fall as they see an exponential rise in families seeking services this year over last. Nathanael Miller/WYPR-FM.
MANGIONE PLEADS GUILTY TO STALKING UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO: Towson native and former Gilman School valedictorian Luigi Mangione on Friday pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in connection to the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. “I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan,” Mangione told the judge. “I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal.” Marcus Dieterle/Baltimore Fishbowl.
- Mangione faces up to life in federal prison when he is sentenced Dec. 18, a term which prosecutors said they’ll be requesting. “He’s been treated differently from every other defendant charged with this offense in New York,” his attorney Karen Agnifilo said. Instead of guilt or mental competency, the legal question now shifts to whether Mangione’s conviction prevents New York from prosecuting him for murder. Luke Parker/The Baltimore Sun.
THIRD BEAVER ATTACK AT STATE PARKS: A third beaver attack as occurred along a Maryland waterway. On Thursday afternoon, a beaver attacked a 10-year-old girl who was canoeing at Seneca Creek State Park in Montgomery County. She was taken to a hospital in Bethesda by family members. In the previous two situations, the beavers were captured and killed and both tested positive for rabies. The third one escaped, but is being pursued. Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Banner.
