VAN HOLLEN ‘FLIRTS’ WITH BECOMING SENATE MAJORITY LEADER AS CALLS GROW LOUDER: After a weekend of progressive drum-beating, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen seems to be flirting with the idea of challenging Sen. Chuck Schumer for the majority leader position. Just days ago, Van Hollen said he wasn’t interested in the Senate’s top job but was instead focused on exploring a possible 2028 presidential run. But Van Hollen’s name has been on the lips of political pundits, columnists and influencers as the man they want on the inside. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
MARYLAND SUPREMES TO CONSIDER SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY IN SEX ABUSE SUITS: Maryland’s highest court heard arguments on an appeal Monday that will affect 1,300 lawsuits filed under the Child Victims Act. The 2023 law effectively eliminated time barriers for someone to file a court claim of institutional sex abuse. At issue are the roughly 1,300 cases in which the alleged sexual assaults took place before 1982, a time when the state had absolute immunity from lawsuits. The Supreme Court of Maryland is being asked to decide if the General Assembly, when it passed the landmark 2023 law, clearly and knowingly waived that immunity. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
ALSOBROOKS CAMPAIGNED FOR SENATE HOPEFULS, SET TO FIGHT FOR CONSTITUENTS: U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks spent much of the midterm campaign season traveling the country to help Democrats win competitive races. Now, the Maryland Democrat says she wants a bigger role in the party’s Senate leadership, however not as majority leader. “I want Marylanders to have as much say at these tables as possible, so I absolutely have an interest in serving at the leadership table,” Alsobrooks said. “I want my constituents’ voices to be heard loud and clear at these tables on issues like preserving funding for the Chesapeake Bay, fighting hard to get the FBI headquarters here, and making sure that we’re fighting for every resource.” Tinashe Chingarande/The Baltimore Sun.
- Long before the rest of the country realized Mississippi was in play for Senate Democrats, Alsobrooks knew. Alsobrooks campaigned for Scott Colom starting in June. The Maryland senator has her former campaign operations director, Gerard Henderson, to thank for the tip. After working for her, he returned home to Mississippi and became Colom’s campaign manager. John John Williams/The Baltimore Banner.
B’MORE HOPES DEM CONGRESS WILL HELP FUND HOUSING, INFRASTRUCTURE: Baltimore leaders are looking to a new Democratic majority in Congress for more federal money for housing and infrastructure. The city has secured $15.5 million for the Hanover Street Bridge and $85 million for West Baltimore United, an effort to address the Highway to Nowhere. U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume, who represents most of Baltimore, has requested nearly $10.8 million for wastewater treatment improvements, harbor ferry upgrades and a public park. Lauren Breunig/The Baltimore Sun.
MORE MOORE SPECULATION; DONOFRIO TO HEAD CONSERVATION VOTERS: Fresh off his reelection, Gov. Wes Moore (D) appeared Monday on MS NOW’s “State of Play with Peter Alexander,” fielding questions on a number of national political issues. including midcycle redistricting and the potential for a government shutdown in December. And, inevitably, the discussion turned to speculation of Moore’s political future and whether he is planning to run for president in two years. The Maryland League of Conservation Voters has named Jason Donofrio its next executive director. Donofrio most recently was the VP of development at the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation in Silver Spring. Bryan P. Sears, Christine Condon and William J. Ford/Maryland Matters.
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NONPROFIT HEALTH ORG GOT MILLIONS IN GOVT FUNDS DESPITE CONCERNING AUDITS: A nonprofit health care organization in Maryland received millions of dollars in taxpayer funds amid a series of federal audits showing repeated accounting failures. CCI Health Services markets itself as providing “high-quality, affordable” health care and has provided services in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties for more than 50 years. It recently reported $55 million in revenue in the 2025 fiscal year, including more than $20 million in government grants. But several recent audits raise concerns about how CCI is managing those funds. Brooke Conrad/The Baltimore Sun.
STATE TENTATIVELY DENIES PETROL CLEANUP COMPANY TANK PERMIT: State officials have denied the permit a Curtis Bay company that provides petroleum spill cleanup services needs to expand its operation in the far South Baltimore community. The Maryland Department of the Environment informed community leaders Monday it has “made a tentative determination to deny” the request by Petroleum Recovery and Remediation Management Inc. to construct two mixed-waste petroleum tanks on its East Patapsco Avenue property. Fern Shen/Baltimore Brew.
BLUE WAVE HEADS FOR N. BALTIMORE CO., A REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD: The blue wave that swept across the country last week could reach northern Baltimore County, where council member Nino Mangione is at risk of losing a seat Republicans have held for more than a generation. Democrat Shawn McIntosh pulled ahead of Mangione by just over 300 votes Sunday evening as election workers continued to canvass tens of thousands of mail-in ballots. Sapna Bansil/The Baltimore Banner.
CASE SUSPENDED AGAINST MAN THREATENING B’MORE COUNCILMAN: Prosecutors on Monday agreed to suspend the case against a Baltimore County man accused of threatening Baltimore City Council member Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer. Alex Crane was facing two counts of threatening a local official in Baltimore Circuit Court after detectives alleged he sent an email on April 27 to Schleifer warning that he’d be harmed, even on Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. Crane, 43, agreed to refrain from contacting Schleifer except through an attorney; write a letter acknowledging the harmful effect of the email; sell a commercial property; and refrain from conducting business in District 5, which covers neighborhoods in Northwest Baltimore. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.
BROWN PELICAN POPULATION PLUMMETS: The brown pelican population around the Chesapeake Bay has plummeted by about half from its peak in the late 2000s and early 2010s, avian researchers say. And what’s causing the decline, given the lack of funding to investigate the phenomenon, is anyone’s guess. There are many theories. But the hypothesis gaining the most traction involves one of the Bay’s most controversial industries: the loss of menhaden. Jeremy Cox/The Bay Journal.
