Marylanders should be proud of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. But if it is to achieve equal educational opportunity for all our schoolchildren, its design must be strengthened. At the past session of the General Assembly about $580 million was added to Blueprint funding. A lot of money to be sure, but these funds did not add one penny to the funding that the Blueprint already promised. Alarming funding gaps remain, as I’ll explain later.
The Washington County Career Expo at Hagerstown Community College hosted 1,100 participants on Wednesday, April 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Athletic, Recreation and Community Center (ARCC) on the HCC campus. The event included 170 organizations, with 342 representatives and 787 attendees. Participants and employers networked about job opportunities, resources and pathways to employment in Washington County.
Laurel Peltier sat cross-legged at a table strewn with papers as she carefully scanned a utility bill she clutched in her right hand. Henry Burlock, 57, a short, stout African American man, sat to her left, wearing a chef’s apron and thick prescription glasses that accentuated the perplexed look on his face as he listened to Peltier describe what he needed to fix to avoid having his electricity cut off.
Maryland voters on Tuesday will decide which Democrat they want to compete in a looming battle of national consequence, likely against former governor Larry Hogan (R) in a November election that could help determine which party has control of the U.S. Senate seat. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. David Trone have been courting Maryland’s 2.2 million Democratic voters for more than a year in the costliest race in state history, a matchup that offered voters more choice on style and identity than on policy differences.
A University of Maryland geologist will help run a simulation this month that will help astronauts prepare for the lunar surface. He hopes it will be a step closer to putting people back on the moon. “The surface of the moon is a pretty hostile place to be,” said Patrick Whelley, geologist and assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland and Goddard Space Flight Center.
A decision to end an extended-year program at Roscoe Nix Elementary School in Silver Spring has frustrated some teachers who say they relied on the summertime salary. The move, made amid budget talks and questions over the program’s effectiveness, was first announced in February. But administrators and a letter from the school board had initially indicated that a change would not come into effect until the 2025-2026 school year.
Two new restaurants will fill the rum-soaked void left by Pusser’s Caribbean Grille in Annapolis after it closes this fall. A tequila bar called Armada and an Italian chophouse, Marmo, will replace Pusser’s, a destination on the Annapolis waterfront that’s slated to shut down in November after three decades in business.
Former Gov. Larry Hogan, who is seeking the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, sat down with Nick Iannelli of Maryland Matters’ news partner WTOP News late last week to talk about what will be different if he’s elected, his take on being called a “RINO” and the students protests regarding the war in Gaza. What follows is a transcript, lightly edited for clarity.
If you pay attention to local government, you are undoubtedly following budget deliberations this time of year. For the rest of you, well, your lack of interest is understandable. Too many numbers and not enough pictures. Money drives policy, though, and local government budgets are a form of pure power. Control the purse, control a community’s destiny.
Arch McKown thinks Sheila Dixon is what the city needs to be successful. In 17 years living in the city, he has observed her “leadership” and “effectiveness” on the Baltimore City Council in the ’90s and then as mayor in the early 2000s. “She has a real knack for cutting to the heart of the matter and listening to various viewpoints, taking things into account and getting things done,” said McKown, 54, a Butchers Hill resident and area business manager for a biotech company, who checked his ballot for Dixon in early voting.