STATES NOW PICK UP 75% OF TAB FOR SNAP BENEFITS; UP FROM 50%: As of Oct. 1, states are now paying 75% of the costs it takes to run the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, instead of the historically even 50/50 split with the federal government. The change is one of the many impacts of President Donald Trump’s signature spending and tax legislation known as the “One, Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The 25% add-on in administrative costs comes out to an additional $43 million for Maryland this fiscal year. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
TRUMP RETURNS TO DUNDALK A LITTLE MORE DOWN ON ITS HEELS: Donald Trump was a long-shot presidential hopeful when, in September 2016, he made a surprise visit to Dundalk’s Boulevard Diner. His promise to revive American manufacturing spoke directly to this working-class community, still reeling from the loss of the Bethlehem Steel mill. In the decade since, Dundalk has continued to lose pieces of its past. As Trump makes his pitch to voters in the closing weeks before the midterm elections, he is expected to paint Tuesday’s announcement of 3,000 new jobs as a comeback story for old manufacturing towns like Dundalk. How he’ll be received this time is uncertain. Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.
LIVE UPDATES OF TRUMP VISIT TO TRADEPOINT ATLANTIC: President Donald Trump will deliver remarks today at Tradepoint Atlantic, the 3,300-acre industrial site in southeast Baltimore County. The president is scheduled to speak at an event where Anduril Industries, a defense technology firm, will announce the ”next chapter” of defense manufacturing. Staff/The Baltimore Banner.
JUVIE SERVICES SAYS IT’S READY FOR REFORM OF CHARGING STRUCTURE: Maryland’s Youth Charging Reform Act went into effect on Thursday, and the Department of Juvenile Service says it’s ready for the reformed juvenile charging structure. The new law takes seven crimes off of Maryland’s list of 33 offenses that automatically qualify a youth to be charged as an adult. Sarah Petrowich/WYPR-FM.
COX, MOORE FACEOFF IN DEBATE TONIGHT: Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox will debate tonight, replaying their 2022 matchup in what will likely be their only public faceoff ahead of Election Day. The hourlong event will be prerecorded and broadcast on local news channels and radio stations and streamed online at The Banner at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Here’s everything you need to know and what to listen for. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
NEW UMBC POLL GIVES MOORE A 27-POINT LEAD OVER COX: Gov. Wes Moore leads Republican Dan Cox 51% to 24% among likely voters, according to a new poll from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Institute of Politics. Another 14% of voters remain undecided. The poll surveyed 776 Maryland likely voters from Sept. 22 through Sept. 27 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Siobhan Garrett/WMAR-TV News.
- While about 14% of poll respondents were undecided, the remainder said they support Green Party candidate Andy Ellis, Working Class Party candidate Cathy White or someone else. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
- “If anything, what’s notable is that sometimes incumbents will pick up an anti-incumbency bias — people who are just sort of frustrated with incumbents in general,” said Mileah Kromer, director of the UMBC Poll. “You’re really not seeing a lot of that here.” Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
- Still, this month’s results show Moore with a commanding advantage but a smaller margin than the one he posted against Cox four years ago. Moore defeated Cox by about 32 percentage points in 2022. Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
WHO ARE THE THIRD PARTY CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR? Neither Green Party candidate Andy Ellis nor Working Class Party candidate Cathy White met MPT’s requirements for inclusion in the gubernatorial debate between incumbent Wes Moore and Republican Dan Cox. MPT requires, among other things, a candidate to be polling at 10% in a general election to take the stage. The most recent poll has both Ellis and White at 3%. But Roger Hartley, former dean of the University of Baltimore’s College of Public Affairs, said their ideas still hold value. Lee O. Sanderlin/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND DEM WOMEN SENATORS POOL MONEY TO ELECT MORE WOMEN: Maryland’s Democratic women senators are pooling their resources to elect more women to the chamber. The sitting senators and women who are running for the Senate are forming a slate, allowing them to share campaign cash for the rest of the cycle. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.
ARUNDEL ORPHANS COURT CHIEF JUDGE REMOVED FROM BENCH: The Supreme Court of Maryland ordered the immediate removal Monday of Anne Arundel County Orphans’ Court Chief Judge Vickie Gipson for what it called “egregious … misconduct” in office. The four-page order came just hours after Gipson pleaded her case to the court Monday, asking it to reject the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities’ recommendation and instead let her serve out the remaining few months of her term and retire. It’s the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between Gipson and former Orphans Court Judge Marc Knapp, who was ordered removed from the bench in June. Steve Crane/Maryland Matters.
ARUNDEL COUNCIL PUTS MORATORIUM ON DATA CENTERS: The Anne Arundel County Council voted 7-0 Monday night to approve an amended version of Bill 63-26, establishing a temporary moratorium on new data center development. The moratorium will run until Jan. 31, 2028, or until the county adopts comprehensive data center legislation, whichever comes first. Siobhan Garrett/WMAR-TV News.
BALTIMORE COUNTY BANS COMMERCIAL HOUSE PARTIES: The Baltimore County Council on Monday unanimously approved a countywide ban on commercial house parties, aiming to crack down on noisy, crowded gatherings that officials say deplete law enforcement resources. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
AMONG STARS AT POWER TO PEOPLE CONCERT: JACK SMITH: When Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters took to the Merriweather stage on Saturday for an electrifying anti-authoritarianism protest concert, he wore a black T-shirt with a yellow hawk on it — the logo of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. It was a visible nod to one of the attendees of the concert who walked quietly on the pavilion lawn amid 20,000 fans of peace and democracy: Jack Smith, the former U.S. assistant attorney general and the special counsel appointed to investigate Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents and role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. David Nitkin/Baltimore Fishbowl.
