One is secluding himself at a mountainside retreat with a tight circle of advisers, poring over briefing binders, honing attack lines and bracing for personal smears. The other is workshopping responses and retorts with vice presidential hopefuls, sharpening policy lines while working to rein in his bombastic rhetoric. In some ways, aides to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump describe similar goals heading into next Thursday’s presidential debate: painting their opponent as presiding over disorder and wholly unfit for office.

A decade of conflict and tension between Republican county executives and the Republican-dominated Wicomico County Council came to a boil Tuesday, as the council voted 5-2 for a ballot referendum asking voters to amend the county’s charter to do away with the elected executive — just two decades after that office was created.

Down among the rumpled, sandy hills of Millersville lies a secret stream. The rivulet is unseen by the drivers of 112,000 cars and trucks passing every day on Interstate 97. Farmers, home builders and highway engineers carved centuries of careless decisions into it. Choking on the muck they unleashed, the stream sent a brown plume into the Severn River with every passing storm.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on June 17 issued pardons for 175,000 low-level criminal marijuana convictions — one of the nation’s most sweeping clemency acts that could affect as many as 100,000 people who were convicted on certain possession charges in Maryland state courts over the past four decades. The move will create a record of formal forgiveness and is part of a national movement to unwind criminal justice inequities as marijuana use is increasingly legalized.

The Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the Federal Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine case marks a direct rebuttal of the challenging of scientific and political authority in the pharmaceutical sector. AHM attempted to use the argument of “legal standing” claiming “personal injury” to their affiliates who, despite conscientious objections, are encouraged to provide abortion medication and information.

Whatever criticism Gov. Wes Moore may draw for his decision to issue a staggering 175,000 pardons on misdemeanor marijuana charges, one has to acknowledge the unreasonableness of maintaining the status quo. Maryland has today not only legalized pot but now rakes in huge fees from its licensed dispensaries. Yet there still are individuals — and they are disproportionately likely to be Black men — disadvantaged for having been charged with cannabis possession in the past.

Our Baltimore City Council’s Ways and Means Committee recently engaged in political grandstanding during a fiscal oversight hearing instead of listening when valuable information was presented by the State’s Attorney’s Office. Rather than focusing on the historic charging and conviction data provided by State’s Attorney Ivan J. Bates and his team, Councilman Kristerfer Burnett used the budgetary bully pulpit to demonstrate his ire and ignorance of the citation docket.

The BGE Energizing Small Business grant program, presented in partnership with Hello Alice and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), Monday announced it is offering $20,000 grants to central Maryland businesses. To be eligible, applicants must be a for-profit business and an existing BGE electric and/or gas customer in good standing with BGE.

Residents in a West Baltimore neighborhood still have questions and concerns after a woman was attacked and killed by two stray pit bulls Friday evening. “Why were the dogs not on a leash?” Tiara asked. “It could have been more than one person getting killed.” Two stray pit bulls were roaming North Pulaski Street around 9 p.m. when they mauled multiple women. A 50-year-old woman died at the scene, according to police.

 

During their first joint campaign appearance since Angela Alsobrooks announced her campaign to succeed him, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin on Monday touted the Prince George’s County executive, saying she was the best candidate to boost U.S.-Israel relations. Cardin told a panel of Baltimore-area Jewish leaders that Alsobrooks would be the best choice to stand up for Jewish Marylanders against rising antisemitism and would support congressional efforts to promote peace in Gaza.