MOORE SAYS NO TO PRESIDENTIAL RUN; STAUNCHLY DEFENDS BIDEN: Gov. Wes Moore said Sunday that he will not seek the Democratic nomination for president this year and he does not foresee President Biden leaving the race, making clear that the president is staying the course despite the bruising debate performance that sparked concern among some members of the party last week. Kaia Hubbard of Face the Nation/CBS News.
- In this TV interview, Gov. Moore defends Biden, saying he stood strong and responsive when the Dali took down the Key Bridge back in March while Brennan pushes back. “What how they lead in a time of crisis,” Moore says. Margaret Brennan of Face the Nation/CBS News.
MOORE RED LINE PROJECT ADDRESSES LONG-TERM ISSUES: Gov. Wes Moore’s announcement that Baltimore’s multibillion-dollar Red Line transit project will be a light-rail system rather than a bus fleet advances one of Moore’s key campaign promises: to redress generational disinvestment in Black communities by linking high-poverty neighborhoods to regional job centers. It comes after his predecessor and Republican Senate nominee Larry Hogan canceled plans for the Red Line, which he called a “wasteful boondoggle.” Danny Nguyen/The Washington Post.
HEALTH DEPT ENDS RESEARCH RELATIONSHIP WITH SPRING GROVE: The Maryland Department of Health is ending its 35-year-old arrangement with Spring Grove Hospital Center in Catonsville for the Treatment Research Unit, which provides “state-of-the-art” clinical care to people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia and researches treatments to help them manage their symptoms. The unit will continue providing clinical care to patients, though it will no longer be a specialized research unit. Angela Roberts/The Baltimore Sun.
MORE THAN 400 NEW LAWS TAKE EFFECT TODAY: Inmates might get a break, magic mushrooms might get a fair shake, more data centers could be coming here and door-to-door deliveries could include beer. And while vending-machine contraceptives could soon be coming to a community college campus near you, a sharply higher vehicle registration bill will almost certainly be arriving in the mailbox. Those are just some of the more than 400 new laws set to take effect today, among more than 1,000 signed into law this year. Staff/Maryland Matters.
BIDEN ADMIN REITERATES SUPPORT FOR FEDERAL KEY BRIDGE FUNDING: The White House on Friday reiterated its support for full federal funding to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge in a request to Congress for $4 billion in emergency disaster relief funding. The letter from Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young to House Speaker Mike Johnson said the money, an add-on to an October supplemental budget request, is needed to respond to the Key Bridge disaster, the wildfires in Maui and tornado victims in Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and the Midwest. Staff/Maryland Matters.
BGE PIPELINE UNDER KEY BRIDGE SITE OPERATIONAL: A pipeline that BGE purged of gas shortly after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore is again “fully operational,” the company said Friday. The cargo ship Dali crashed March 26 into the Key Bridge, decimating the span and killing six construction workers. Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Sun.
MARYLANDERS COOL ON LEGAL CANNABIS: A year after its legalization, many Maryland residents are less rosy in their outlook of cannabis use. Two-thirds of state voters approved recreational cannabis in 2022, with the understanding that, in addition to creating a new revenue stream, it would help correct social equity imbalances that led Black people in particular to be disproportionately punished for marijuana use. But a recent Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found that Maryland voters’ feelings have become cooled since then, with only about a third of voters now saying legalization has been a good thing. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.
AG RUNOFF, CLIMATE CHANGE TO CONTINUE TO HAMPER BAY CLEAN: Agriculture and stormwater runoff from developed land — key reasons the Chesapeake Bay is not on target to meet 2025 cleanup goals — will continue to limit pollution reduction efforts until federal and state agencies come up with new approaches to tackle these longstanding problems. That’s according to a recently published paper in the Environmental Law Reporter, which also warns that climate change makes cleanup efforts harder as increased rainfall and floods overwhelm stormwater systems and supercharge runoff pollution. Aman Azhar of Climate News/The Baltimore Banner.
EX-TRUMP HUD SECTY CARSON MOCKS BIDEN: Former Trump administration HUD Secretary Ben Carson mocked President Joe Biden’s shaky debate performance in an attempt to reinforce the Republican Party’s initiative to vote for former President Donald Trump at a reception in Pikesville on Friday evening. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
MAYOR SCOTT BLASTS TRUMP OVER ‘BLACK JOBS’ REMARK: Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott joined the chorus of Democratic politicians and Black Americans in pushing back at former President Donald Trump’s remarks about “Black jobs” during the first 2024 presidential debate. John John Williams/The Baltimore Banner.
GUN VIOLENCE IN B’MORE SEES NOTABLE DECLINE: A Baltimore Sun review of public data reflects that the first six months of 2024 likely will see Baltimore city’s lowest levels of gun violence during that period in a decade, following a more than 10% drop in gun homicides and shootings from 2022 to 2023. The city is on pace in 2024 for fewer than 200 homicides, and, so far this year, also has seen decreases in the number of young shooting victims, after troubling spikes. Darcy Costello/The Baltimore Sun.
11,700 HARFORD EMS TRANSPORTS FAILED TO GET BILLED: A recent audit of Harford County’s Emergency Medical Services found that nearly 11,700 EMS transports were not billed by the county government, resulting in a loss of about $4.9 million in county revenue in 2023. Matt Hubbard/The Aegis.
BA CO COUNCIL TO VOTE ON PUTTING EXPANSION ON BALLOT: Since 1956, a County Council of seven — most of them white and most of them men — has represented Baltimore County. That could change after a vote Monday to put the question of whether the council should expand on the ballot. Rona Kobell/The Baltimore Banner.