MOORE SAYS HE HAS ‘GRAVE CONCERNS’ ABOUT 70-MILE POWER LINE PROJECT: Gov. Wes Moore on Friday evening voiced “grave concerns” about a controversial proposal to build 70 miles of overhead power lines that would cut across Carroll, Baltimore and Frederick counties. In a statement posted to social media, Moore said he will ask leaders of the New Jersey-based Public Service Enterprise Group and PJM Interconnection, which manages the power grid for Maryland and several other states, to meet with his office to “discuss serious reservations about how this process has been conducted thus far, and the type of engagement I expect with our communities.” Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.
CANNABIS RELATED ER VISITS CLIMBED IN EARLY LEGALIZATION: Cannabis-related emergency room visits climbed steadily through July 2023, when recreational use was first legalized in Maryland, but have never reached that peak again, fluctuating up and down in the months since. That was just one of the findings of a new Maryland Health Department interactive dashboard that tracks cannabis-related ER visits, poison control calls and substance use treatment as well as data on marijuana use by age, gender, race and county. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
HEALTH SECTY DEFENDS ADDED PAPERWORK DISABILITY ADVOCATES CRITICIZE: State officials pushed back against critics of new Medicaid regulations that took effect Thursday, saying the tighter rules are needed to stop fraud and ensure that taxpayer dollars go to services that assist people with disabilities. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.
POST-ELECTION, ARUNDEL TRANS STUDENTS FACE DIFFICULTY: For transgender and nonbinary students – including those in Anne Arundel County – being the subject of speculation can be difficult and even frightening. After the election, the Trevor Project, a national nonprofit organization that offers mental health hotlines for LGBTQ+ youth, reported a 700% increase in calls, texts and chats compared to prior weeks. Bridget Byrne/The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLAND LEADERS VOW TO PUSH BACK AGAINST MASS DEPORTATION: In anticipation of Trump’s presidency, some local leaders in Maryland are vowing to push back against his mass deportation plans. “This election cycle did not go as I had hoped,” Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor said last week. “I want to make clear to our immigrant community that we will use any and all avenues to ensure you know you are safe in Frederick.” Rebecca Pryor/WBFF-TV News.
AFTER BRIDGE COLLAPSE, SMALL BIZ RELIED ON STATE AID: When Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March, Jeff Fraley asked a question on the minds of many Baltimore-area business owners: How can he keep the lights on and pay his staff? Fraley, president of recycling and dumpster service Fraley Corp., surveyed a variety of federal, state and city programs designed to keep his trucks rolling and his staff employed. Fraley received a worker retention grant sponsored by the Maryland Department of Labor. Sasha Allen and Emily R. Condon of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
***Maryland Reporter is happy to join with the Community Foundation of Howard County in honoring our long-time colleague and friend Jean Moon, our friends at HoCoPoLitSo (the Howard County Poetry & Literature Society that Jean co-founded 50 years ago), and major local philanthropists Greg and Roberta Kahlert and their Kahlert Foundation at the Community Foundation’s Annual Dinner and Celebration of Philanthropy on Dec. 10 at Turf Valley. Individual tickets are sold out, but sponsorships are still available. Contact Dan Flynn via [email protected].***
MOORE PUTS $1.8M TOWARD CYBERSECURITY TRAINING: Gov. Wes Moore announced a $1.8 million award to all 16 community colleges in the state last week to boost cybersecurity training and career opportunities. The Maryland Association of Community Colleges and BCR Cyber, a private company that provides cybersecurity training programs and job placement services, received the awards with funding from the Accelerating Cyber Careers grant by the Maryland Department of Labor. Steven Jacobs Jr. of Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.com.
MONTGOMERY POLITICAL ELITE MEET: The annual Committee for Montgomery legislative breakfast is a highly anticipated ritual in the Maryland political world. It’s geared, of course, to the political elite of Montgomery County, Maryland’s largest jurisdiction — political, business, civic, community, nonprofit and labor leaders. But statewide officeholders and pols aspiring to higher office often make the scene, too. Josh Kurtz/Maryland Matters.
WHO WILL BE NEXT MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXECUTIVE?: Now that Marc Elrich is term-limited, longtime Montgomery Co. political analyst Adam Pagnucco polled his extensive sources to rate the potential candidates for county executive in a six-part series,. At the top were Council members Andrew Friedson and Evan Glass but six other familiar names were in the mix. Adam Pagnucco/Montgomery Perspective
TRUMP NOMINATES HOPKINS SURGEON TO HEAD FDA: Dr. Marty Makary, a prominent Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who opposed some pandemic lockdown measures and Covid-19 vaccine mandates, was nominated Friday by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Food and Drug Administration. Frederick Rasmussen/The Baltimore Sun.
- Trump said Makary would report to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the vaccine skeptic and Trump supporter nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Norman Gomlak/The Baltimore Banner.
ONCE MORE, TU CANNOT MOVE ON DOCTORATE PROGRAM: Once again, Towson University cannot move forward with a new doctorate due to its similarity to a degree program at Morgan State University, the Maryland Higher Education Commission has ruled. Eight of the nine commissioners present Wednesday upheld a previous ruling that the doctorate in sustainability and environmental change proposed by Towson University duplicated Morgan State’s bioenvironmental science Ph.D. Todd Karpovich/The Baltimore Sun.
MONTGOMERY MAN SENTENCED TO 18 MONTHS FOR JAN. 6 INSURRECTION: A Montgomery County man who threw rocklike objects and a smoke bomb at police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol, then went on to briefly work as a police officer himself in Montgomery, was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison. Spencer Hsu and Tom Jackman/The Washington Post.
ATTORNEY FOUND GUILTY OF UMMS ATTEMPTED EXTORTION: Stephen L. Snyder, the flamboyant plaintiff’s attorney who won hundreds of millions of dollars over a five-decade career, was convicted of attempted extortion and other violations by a federal jury Friday. Prosecutors say he tried to shake down the University of Maryland Medical System for $25 million. Justin Fenton/The Baltimore Banner.
‘ADMIRAL OF THE CHESAPEAKE’ VINCENT LEGGETT DIES AT 71: Vincent O. Leggett, a historian and conservationist of black culture along the Chesapeake Bay, died Sunday. He was 71. Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman paid tribute to him in a social media post: “I was shocked and deeply saddened to find out this morning that our beloved Admiral of the Chesapeake, and Blacks of the Chesapeake founder, Vincent Omar Leggett has passed away. All of us must now come together and carry on his great work.” Dillon Mullan/The Baltimore Sun.
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