The promises echoed into a massive warehouse once used by Bethlehem Steel: $350 million in public and private investment, 2,000 new jobs and the return of manufacturing to Sparrows Point within a year. It was March 2022, the tail end of the Omicron wave of COVID-19 in the U.S., and a company called United Safety Technology hosted local politicians and federal officials at a groundbreaking of its state-of-the-art nitrile glove factory — jumpstarted by a $96.1 million investment from the federal government.

Gov. Wes Moore gave an update on recovery efforts Tuesday afternoon, four weeks after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. “Something that was a crown jewel for our city, our state, and for our nation, collapsed into the Patapsco River,” Moore said. “We also know that four weeks ago today, the lives of six families were changed forever. They’re facing a grief that does not go away in days. It doesn’t go away in weeks; it does not go away in years.”

 

Gov. Wes Moore issued an executive order Monday establishing an environmental literacy program in an effort to empower Maryland youth to conserve and restore the state’s natural resources in the face of climate change. “We owe it to the people of Maryland to keep our drinking water clean, keep our air safe, and preserve our national treasures — from the Western Mountains to the Chesapeake Bay,” Moore, a Democrat, said in a statement Monday evening.

I believe in journalism. At its best, journalism celebrates the good we have in common, shines light on the wrongs and points the way toward making things better. Call it my philosophy, if you want. I call it my life’s work. So, I listened with interest last week as the University of Maryland, the Knight Foundation and The Baltimore Banner rolled out and discussed the findings of the university’s study on the state of local journalism in Maryland.

 

Any serious list of Maryland’s major economic assets is certain to include its health care and scientific expertise, its transportation connections (water, air and land), and its proximity to East Coast markets and the nation’s capital. Yet there is at least one more important asset that’s often overlooked or discounted: the state’s immigrants.

I want more for Baltimore. Four years ago I ran for mayor out of a sense of desperation for this city. Persistent poverty, high crime rates, stagnant growth and population loss, poor public education and a dysfunctional transportation system drove my decision to run. While I did not win the race, I learned a lot about our situation. Fundamentally, Baltimore suffers from a lack of leadership that prevents us from solving problems at scale and lifting confidence in our city.

The shutdown of vessel traffic in and out of Baltimore’s harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse March 26 has caused shipping delays but so far no widespread price increases, a Federal Reserve report says. Businesses said they can manage a short-term disruption but are concerned about an extended shutdown, according to the Federal Reserve’s April 17 Beige Book report.

When Maryland lawmakers approved a $63 billion fiscal year budget earlier this month, it was no surprise that the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan represented a major part of the spending plan. To help pay for the Blueprint plan through fiscal year 2027, the legislature also approved the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, known as the BRFA, which provides a portion of revenue through an increase in the tobacco sales tax.

Just last year, Rebecca Hwa of Annapolis moved into a new home, choosing it partly due to its location. The bus was on the MTA 220 bus route, which runs from Maryland’s capital to D.C.’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood. Now the George Washington University employee is concerned because that route is on the chopping block as the Maryland Department of Transportation tries to address a $3.1 billion budget deficit.

 

Baltimore City is suing the owners and managers of the Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, causing it to collapse and killing six construction workers. The lawsuit claims the owners of the Dali were negligent in letting the ship leave the Port of Baltimore without failing to fix known power problems.