Ben Cardin, Maryland’s senior senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chose not to run for re-election, opting to retire after serving in Congress since 1987. In this, the first in a series of exit interviews, Cardin, a Democrat, talks about U.S. foreign policy and the nation’s standing as a democracy and global power. The interview was edited for clarity and brevity.

The most consequential moments of history are not always decided at the tip of a spear, the edge of a sword or the barrel of a gun. On Sunday afternoon, the future of the United States turned on a seven-paragraph statement signed by the 46th U.S. president in which he announced he will not be seeking a second term in office. Fellow Democrats had urged 81-year-old Joseph R. Biden Jr. to take this action.

Baltimore Councilwoman Odette Ramos said she might consider a “different” approach in the future following a dustup over a list of demands she sent to Johns Hopkins University, but the councilwoman maintained that her actions were for the good of her constituents. The letter in question was sent to the university in April amid discussions between the school and the councilwoman about a proposed Data Science and AI Institute.

Robert Moody, the newly appointed music director of the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, lost his beloved husband five months ago to a sudden heart attack. That devastating loss is changing everything about how the acclaimed conductor approaches his art form. This fall Moody, 57, will become just the third music director in the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra’s history.

The Humane Society of Washington County is waiving its adoption fee for dogs and cats, encouraging folks who can adopt or foster pets to stop by, and wants to hear from businesses with large properties interested in adopting working cats. The humane society’s animal shelter near Hagerstown has been full for nearly six weeks, Executive Director Colin Berry said Monday.

 

Gov. Wes Moore on Friday congratulated Belgian company Cenergy Holdings on its plans to establish a cable manufacturing facility in Maryland. Its U.S. subsidiary, Hellenic Cables Americas, has officially acquired a 38 acre property in Wagner’s Point along the Patapsco River in Baltimore, where it will support hundreds of direct and indirect jobs.

D.C.-area institutions — including hospitals, courts and transit services — modified operations Friday due to a global technology outage. The three major D.C. area airports saw delays and cancellations Friday morning, with some disruptions continuing into the afternoon and even spilling into Friday. Buses and trains are back on schedule after the region’s largest transit agency experienced delays early Friday morning with some of its services — including its website — as it dealt with the impact of the communications outage.

With President Joe Biden announcing Sunday that he won’t run for re-election after all, all eyes are turning to the next generation of Democrats, including Maryland Gov. Wes Moore. For more than a year, Moore has been one of Biden’s most stalwart surrogates, serving on a national advisory board for the campaign.

A coal-fired power plant near Baltimore will be operating past its planned retirement date next year, pumping out pollution, while the cheaper clean energy projects that could help replace it are stuck in a queue to connect to the region’s electric grid. That’s the type of snarl a recent federal order aims to reduce by requiring regional grid operators to carry out long-term planning that accounts for states’ needs, including their clean energy targets.

Now that President Joe Biden has dropped his reelection bid, what happens to the Maryland ballot? According to the Maryland State Board of Elections’ 2024 calendar, the ballots have yet to be certified and displayed on the board’s website. That deadline comes on Sept. 3. The deadline for a registered voter to seek judicial review of ballot printing errors is Sept. 4. The deadline for a registered voter to seek judicial review of content and arrangement of the ballot is Sept. 5.