WHAT’s NEXT IN BITTER FIGHT OVER REDISTRICTING BALLOT QUESTION? Advocacy campaigns for and against what will appear as Question 3 on Marylander’s November ballot are well underway, but voters can expect persuasive tactics to ramp up between now and November. Question 3 is the product of nearly a year’s worth of effort from some Maryland Democrats to try to alter Maryland’s Constitution to virtually legalize political gerrymandering when drawing congressional districts. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
COMMENTARY: WHAT HAPPENED TO BALLOT QUESTION CLARITY? On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Maryland approved a proposed amendment on congressional redistricting (Question 3) for the November ballot. This decision reversed two lower-court rulings that would have blocked it. I am surprised and confused that the Supreme Court’s opinion did not mention SB0029, which Gov. Wes Moore signed into law last May. The new law requires the State Board of Elections to make sure ballot question summaries use plain language. Howard Gorrell/Maryland Reporter.
FREDERICK OFFICIALS DEMAND ANSWERS TO VIOLENT ICE CONFRONTATION: Elected officials were demanding answers Tuesday after an ICE confrontation with protesters in Frederick turned violent over the weekend. And they weren’t the only ones. “People were legitimately scared and pretty much terrorized by ICE for two full days before things escalated on Friday night. If you didn’t take anybody into custody, why did you even show up?” asked Tatiana Santos, a member of Indivisible Frederick Forward, who witnessed some of what happened in the Tasker’s Chance neighborhood Friday night. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ASK PG TO REVOKE PERMIT FOR ICE LEGAL OFFICE: A coalition of immigrant rights and activist organizations called Tuesday for Prince George’s County to revoke the permit it granted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand its Hyattsville legal offices. In letters to The Bernstein Companies, which owns the building, federal attorneys have written that the government “intends for this space to serve exclusively as administrative offices” for ICE attorneys and that “no detainees or individuals in custody will be present or held within this facility.” Jack Hogan/The Baltimore Banner.
MOORE DOESN’T RULE OUT MORE TAX OR FEE HIKES IN 2027: Gov. Wes Moore declined to rule out additional tax or fee increases next year as Maryland confronts another multibillion-dollar budget gap. When pressed during a Friday visit to the Maryland State Fair on whether he would commit to no new tax or fee increases during the 2027 legislative session, Moore did not make that pledge. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.
OVERALL CRIME FALLS, BUT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DEATHS RISE: Domestic violence-related deaths in Maryland have risen for two consecutive years, reaching 47 in 2025 after falling sharply from the unusually high levels recorded earlier in the decade. The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence counted 38 deaths in 2023 and 41 in 2024. That followed three years in which the toll remained in the 50s: 56 deaths in 2020, 58 in 2021 and 56 in 2022.The increase comes as other categories of violent crime have fallen sharply and amid several deadly domestic violence cases in Baltimore County. Bryna Zumer/The Baltimore Sun.
EXPERT WARNS OF INCREASED CYBERATTACKS IN HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY: Cyberattacks on the healthcare industry, like the one that hit an Anne Arundel County hospital last week, are becoming increasingly common and state-level policymakers should prepare for even more, an expert said Tuesday. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
STATE SENATOR HOPES TO CLOSE LOOPHOLE IN PEEPING TOM CASES: After the trial for a man accused of peering into a private Towson residence highlighted a gap in the state’s visual surveillance laws, a Maryland state senator says she is working to close that loophole. Montgomery County Sen. Sara Love said she plans to introduce legislation in the General Assembly next session that would ensure that people can still be found guilty of looking into a private place even if no one is inside. Maggie Trovato/The Baltimore Sun.
MCEA UPDATES ITS APPLE BALLOT ENDORSEMENTS: The Montgomery County Education Association on Thursday announced updates to its influential Apple Ballot ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. In the County Council at-large race, County Executive Marc Elrich and incumbent Councilmember Laurie Anne Sayles (both D) retained their MCEA endorsements from the primary election cycle. Ceoli Jacoby/Bethesda Today.
B’MORE URGES BETTER SLEEP PRACTICES FOLLOWING 11 INFANTS DEATHS: Eleven infants died from sleep-related issues in Baltimore in all of 2025. The city has recorded that same number so far in 2026, with about four months left in the year. Noting the rise in sleep-related infant deaths, Baltimore City leaders on Tuesday urged parents and guardians to practice the “ABCDs” of safe sleep for their infant. Marcus Dieterle/Baltimore Fishbowl.
- To address the issue, the city is promoting the ABCDs of safe sleep, which emphasizes that babies should sleep alone, on their backs, and in a crib. Breana Ross/WBAL-TV News.
STATE SUES GROWING BAKERY OVER LOAN PAYMENTS: Ovenbird Bakery is being sued by Maryland for more than $650,000, the remaining principal, interest and fees on a loan that the bakery’s owners took out with the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development in 2023. The state is seeking a confessed judgment, which would allow it to collect the money without a trial, as authorized in the original loan agreement. Christina Tkacik/The Baltimore Banner.
AUDIT CITES POSSIBLE VIOLATIONS BY BA CO OVER CLUBHOUSE PROJECT: The uncensored audit of the millions of dollars spent on renovating the Rocky Point Golf Clubhouse cites potential charter and code violations by the Olszewski-Klausmeier administrations in their successful effort to divert public funds to underwrite a pet project championed by County Executive Johnny Olszewski before he left office. Mark Reutter/Baltimore Brew.
BA CO CONSIDERS BANNING COMMERCIAL HOUSE PARTIES: The Baltimore County Council is considering new legislation that would ban commercial house parties, following complaints from Catonsville neighbors about large, out-of-control pool parties during the summer. If passed, those who violate the law could face a $2,500 fine for a first offense and $5,000 for subsequent offenses. Kaicey Bailey/WJZ-TV News.
HARFORD COUNCIL REVISITS RESTRICTIONS ON WHO CAN SERVE: Another bill aiming to restrict who can serve on the Harford County Council has been introduced, marking the third time this year council members have discussed the topic. The bill would prohibit any council member from holding any other elected office or appointed position in the state government, Harford County government, or a municipality within the county as well as prohibit an employee in a county department or agency that is directly supervised or substantially controlled by the county executive or the county council from serving. Matt Hubbard/The Aegis.
OWNER OF GLOCK THAT KID TOOK TO SCHOOL IS SENTENCED: The owner of a Glock that a child took to an Anne Arundel County elementary school and accidentally shot himself with it will have to forfeit the weapon and undergo six months of unsupervised probation. Cody Boteler/The Baltimore Banner.
