HARRIS DEFENDS CONFRONTATION WITH STUDENT JOURNALIST: Republican Congressman Andy Harris defended his confrontation with a student journalist following a congressional forum in Cambridge, Md., after he threatened to involve police and pursue prosecution over the reporter recording him during a post-debate gaggle with reporters. Mikenzie Frost and Ellie Buckheit/Fox 45 News.
- U.S. Rep. Andy Harris declined to apologize for his confrontation with a student journalist following a debate earlier this week in an interview with Fox45 Thursday evening. Brenda Wintrode/The Banner.
- Cat Murphy, the Capital News Service reporter who confronted Harris, was interviewed by Jake Tapper on CNN. Brenda Wintrode/The Banner
MOORE ISSUES NEW DIRECTIVE ON COLLEGE SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION: Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday issued a directive to the Maryland Higher Education Commission requesting that the state agency issue a set of recommendations for improving policies related to campus sexual assault in the next 90 days. Ellie Wolfe/The Banner.
AACO EXEC CANDIDATES DEBATE AT CAP GAZ FORUM: Anne Arundel County executive candidates Allison Pickard, a Millersville Democrat, and Dave Crawford, a Severna Park Republican, met this week in the 2026 Capital Gazette debate. Jacob Baumgart/The Baltimore Sun.
MD ELECTION OFFICIALS AMONG THOSE SENT LETTERS WITH ‘SUSPICIOUS SUBSTANCE’: Federal authorities are investigating letters with “suspicious substances” that have been mailed to congressional and election offices nationwide, including Maryland, and are urging recipients to treat the mailings as “potentially hazardous.” Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti/Associated Press.
- A suspicious envelope intended for the Maryland State Board of Elections was intercepted before delivery Thursday, State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis confirmed. Konner Metz/The Baltimore Sun.
HOW MO CO MAKES SURE ITS VOTING EQUIPMENT WORKS: With less than three weeks before Election Day and early voting starting next Thursday, technicians are testing Montgomery County’s hundreds of ballot marking machines and ballot scanners. Ginny Bixby/The Banner.
BLUEPRINT BOARD MAKES LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATION, MORE COULD BE COMING: The board overseeing the state’s Blueprint education reform plan wants to pause expert review teams visiting schools through fiscal year 2029, and instead allocate funding toward coaching teachers. William J. Ford/Maryland Matters.
MARYLANDERS QUESTION WES MOORE’S CAMPAIGN RECORD: Moore said the state was in a “fortunate” financial position when he submitted his administration’s first budget proposal in 2023. By the 2025 legislative session, a structural deficit had grown to a projected $3.3 billion shortfall, ultimately resulting in a record $1.6 billion tax and fee hike to fulfill the state’s constitutionally mandated annual balanced budget requirement. Despite Moore’s claim that he turned a budget deficit into a surplus that year, the state’s underlying financial issues remain. Maryland is forecast to face another $2.57 billion fiscal cliff in 2028, with a $3.44 billion deficit by 2030. Gary Collins/The Baltimore Sun.
STATES OK SOLAR PANELS FOR BALCONIES. SAFETY GUIDELINES HAVEN’T CAUGHT UP: Over the past year and a half, a dozen states have embraced a new vision for solar power: small, cheap panels that can be hung from a balcony or porch, be plugged into a standard wall outlet and take a dent out of residents’ utility bills. Alex Brown/Maryland Matters.
COMMENTARY: ONLINE GAMING PAC ACCENTUATES THE NEGATIVE IN STATE SENATE RACE: Online betting interests are putting money on state Sen. Shaneka Henson, funding a wave of negative campaign ads against her Republican opponent, Jessica Haire. Yet neither candidate is the real target for the American Future PAC, or for the $289,000 it has spent on influencing their election. Rick Hutzell/The Banner.
CHESAPEAKE BAY HEALTH REBOUNDS TO A ‘C+’, BEST GRADE YET: The Chesapeake Bay’s ecological health rebounded in 2025 and scored its highest ever mark — by one percentage point — in the 40 years that the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) has been tracking it, according to the university’s latest report card. Emmett Gartner/Bay Journal.
CRIPPLED BY A SPRING COLD SNAP, WINERIES REPLANT AND RESET: For the Maryland wine industry, climate change is a paradox. It has helped the industry diversify and expand as average annual temperatures rise. But last spring an extreme temperature swing, another hallmark of global warming, devastated vineyards across the state. Amanda Loudin/Bay Journal.
SCOTT SIGNS BILL TARGETING CANNABIS-RELATED BUSINESSES ‘BREAKING THE LAW’: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott signed into law an ordinance giving the city’s police commissioner the ability to close a business selling cannabis products illegally for up to a year. Adam Bednar/The Baltimore Sun.
COMMENTARY: MARYLANDERS CAN’T AFFORD THE COST OF A CLIMATE SUPERFUND: Marylanders are already feeling the strain of rising costs in their utility bills, at the gas pump and in the everyday expenses of running a household or a business. Those pressures do more than squeeze budgets. They shape where people can afford to live, whether employers can hire and grow, and where businesses choose to make their next investment. Mary D. Kane/Maryland Chamber of Commerce/Maryland Matters.
FOUR CANDIDATES ON BALLOT FOR TWO CONTESTED SEATS ON MO CO SCHOOL BOARD: One is drawing particular attention. Brenda Diaz, a former Montgomery County Public Schools teacher who resigned after violating the mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic, has drawn the ire of a super PAC. And the president of the influential teachers union has labeled her a “MAGA sheep in wolf’s clothing.” Talia Richman/The Banner.
