News

Legislation would delay Hogan plans to expand beltway, I-270

Gov. Larry Hogan’s plans for expanding the Capital Beltway and I-270 could be pushed back for a year by a bill that would first require a completed environmental assessment. Maryland House Bill 91 would require all pre-solicitation reports for Public-Private Partnerships — or P3s — to be held until an Environmental Impact Statement is finished. This would force Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transportation Authority to pull their current pre-solicitation report, and not present a new one until 2020.  

Homepage Featured

Maryland courts begin using artificial intelligence in bail decisions

From selecting the stories that pop up in our Facebook feeds to deciding whether we’ll get a loan, artificial intelligence algorithms make countless choices that influence our lives. Now, they’re permeating courtroom judgments. In some jurisdictions, “risk assessment” algorithms help determine sentences for those convicted of crimes. And increasingly, similar algorithms are being used in the beginning stages of the criminal justice process, where they have a hand in deciding where a person will spend their time before trial — at home or in jail.

General Assembly

Md. lawmakers look to ban untraceable guns in next session

With about a month until the 2019 legislature convenes on Jan. 9, the new Democratic House of Delegates majority leader is looking to continue the progress made last session on gun violence prevention by banning 3D and ghost guns in the state.  House Majority Leader Kathleen Dumais, D-Montgomery, said she will be introducing a bill banning the possession of 3D-printed guns — plastic guns capable of shooting live ammunition and made in a 3D printer — and ghost guns — nearly complete and without serial numbers — in Maryland. Federal law already prohibits the creation of untraceable guns.

General Assembly

Md. lawmakers demand answers from regents over football decisions

Lawmakers on Thursday admonished the chancellor and chair of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents for the panel’s lack of transparency and overreach in a controversial decision to retain the University of Maryland, College Park football coach and athletic director, while accepting the university president’s resignation. 

Election 2018

Five graphics show Hogan’s victory by the numbers

Gov. Larry Hogan picked up a greater proportion of the vote in every county than he did in 2014. Voter turnout increased in every county. The Republican governor got a greater proportion of those new votes and also pulled in non-Republican voters. He got a greater proportion of early votes, too.