SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH SUES STATE OVER EMPLOYMENT LAW: The Seventh-day Adventist Church is suing Maryland, arguing that its fair employment law prevents religious organizations from being able to hire — and fire — people based on their beliefs, bridging those groups’ constitutional right to religious independence. The church said in its lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore, that it only employs people who are members of the church and adhere to its religious standards, which bar consuming alcohol and drugs and “adultery and homosexual practices.” Alex Mann/The Baltimore Sun.
OCT. 7 EVENTS AT UM OCCUR WITHOUT TROUBLE: Fears of violence did not pan out Monday, as pro-Palestine and pro-Israel groups held competing – and peaceful – events under a heavy security presence on the University of Maryland, College Park campus. The university had tried to block all student-sponsored activities on Monday, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks that killed 1,200 in Israel and sparked the Israel-Hamas war. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
- By the time the interfaith vigil for the lives lost in Palestine started, the crowd at McKeldin Mall had swelled to a few hundred. They were called to attention by a chant of “Free, free Palestine!” Until that burst of energy, perhaps the most notable part of the scene was what it lacked. There’d been no shouting or chanting on the University of Maryand’s grassy quad. Students weren’t in each other’s faces. There wasn’t a line of campus police officers facing off protesters. Maya Lora/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE’s MAIN PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL TO UNDERGO THIRD-PARTY EVALUATION: Independent evaluators will visit Maryland’s main state-run mental hospital Tuesday and Wednesday to survey its processes, policies and procedures. A letter sent to employees and signed by Maryland Health Secretary Dr. Laura Herrera Scott on Oct. 4 said that a national mental health organization will be at the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center this week to “ensure that we are doing our best to treat patients while maintaining a safe and healthy working environment for our employees.” Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
POLL: ECONOMIC PRESSURES DRIVE OPINIONS ON STATE SPENDING: Most Marylanders oppose increases in state government services and taxes, according to a poll released Tuesday that also found the vast majority expressing concern about their personal finances. The poll is the first from the new Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Part one of the survey asked voters their opinions on the economy, the direction of the state and Gov. Wes Moore’s job performance two years into his term. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MORE LAWMAKERS GET HIGH MARKS WITH CONSERVATION GROUP, BUT … Taken one way, the Maryland League of Conservation Voters’ report card on the most recent General Assembly session, which was released Monday, has great news for the environmental movement. A record number of lawmakers rang up 100% scores, meaning they were fully aligned with the green group on its priority bills that received floor votes during the 2024 session. And, as the LCV report laid out, several substantial pieces of legislation that will bolster the state’s efforts to confront climate change made it through. But the LCV also gave state policymakers a few mulligans. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
OPINION: I WON’T VOTE FOR LARRY HOGAN FOR THE SENATE: I’m not going to vote for Larry Hogan to become Maryland’s next senator, and I feel sort of bad about that. Hogan seemed, on the one occasion I met him, like a decent guy — and I thought he was a pretty good governor, all things considered. … given how pathetically servile Senate Republicans have been when it comes to Donald Trump and his nationalist, nativist ideology, I don’t know why Hogan or any other thinking person would believe it was a good idea for them to hold a majority. … Hogan had an option here. He could have formally left his party and run as an independent. Matt Bai/The Washington Post.
D.C. ISSUES $47,580 BILL TO ALSOBROOKS: The District of Columbia has issued a bill to U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks — it totals $47,580 — to account for her receiving property tax credits she was not qualified for. The bill, which is due by Oct. 31, is for a combination of back taxes and interest, according to a copy obtained by The Baltimore Sun following a public records request to the Washington, D.C., Office of Tax and Revenue. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.
DELANEY VS. PARROTT: THE VITRIOL CONTINUES: A day after the Fracas in Frederick where former state Del. Neil Parrott and former U.S. Commerce Department official April McClain Delaney got into a very heated exchange, complete with finger-pointing, the two candidates for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District exchanged more vitriol Monday, with each accusing the other of perpetrating the nastiness. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
PRINCE GEORGE’S CONSIDERS TYING MINIMUM WAGE TO COST OF LIVING: Prince George’s County officials on Monday began considering legislation that would tie the county’s minimum to fluctuations in the cost of living. The county’s current minimum wage is $15 per hour — an amount set in 2017 under a 2013 law that implemented incremental increases to what the lowest-paid workers in the Maryland county have a right to earn. Lateshia Beachum/The Washington Post.
BALTIMORE COUNTY COUNCIL KEEPS COUNCIL EXPANSION MAPS: The Baltimore County Council voted 4-3 against changing the maps that accompany a ballot question on whether to expand the council, finding Monday evening that such a bill undermined the spirit of compromise that led to the most significant effort to reform the legislative body since it was formed in 1956. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.
CARROLL ELECTIONS BOARD SENDS OUT 19,705 MAIL IN BALLOTS: With less than a month until the Nov. 5 general election, Carroll County Board of Elections officials say they are seeing a surge of voter interest. Erin Perrone, the county’s election director, said Monday that election staff have sent out a total of 19,705 mail-in ballots to Carroll County residents. Of that, 8,949 were sent to Democrats, 6,954 to Republicans and 3,802 to those voters registered in other political parties, Perrone said. Sherry Greenfield/The Carroll County Times.
REHABBING, TAXING VACANT HOMES IN BALTIMORE: The first steps of a new $3 billion effort to acquire and repurpose thousands of vacant homes across Baltimore have begun with a state pledge and a package of bonds being considered by city lawmakers aiming to undo blight. Maryland is pledging more than $75 million per year as the city gets to work on its latest attempt to rehabilitate thousands of vacant homes with state funding as well as bonds from a new tax increment financing zone. Dillon Mullan and Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
- Baltimore City hopes to raise property tax rates on owners of vacant homes. A bill introduced to the City Council on Monday night would triple the property tax rate the first full tax year a property is classified as a vacant structure. The property tax rate would increase the original rate by four times any year after the property is still vacant. Dillon Mullan/The Baltimore Sun.
