Each year, Maryland lawmakers propose a number of climate-focused bills. This year, a few are cutting it close to key legislative deadlines that loom. A bill expanding the Empower program is making its way through the House to the Senate.​ “This legislation is about helping Marylanders save money on their electric bill and reducing pollution,” said Josh Tulkin, director of the Maryland Sierra Club.

 

A majority of Frederick’s aldermen appear open to expanding the size of the city’s legislative body, but were undecided about how many seats should be by district and how many at large. The aldermen on Wednesday discussed two of the 19 recommendations of a committee that reviewed the city’s charter. One recommendation discussed Wednesday was to expand the number of seats on the city’s legislative body from five to seven. Another recommendation was to divide the body into a combination of members elected from districts around the city and others elected citywide.

 

The Harford County Council voted Tuesday to approve modifications to the county’s Agricultural Land Preservation program, which include reducing the number of acres required to be admitted into the program and setting a timeline for landowner applications to be accepted. Council President Patrick Vincenti and council members Tony Giordano, Aaron Penman, Dion Guthrie and Jacob Bennett voted to approve the updates; council member Jessica Boyle-Tsottles was absent.

 

The chair of the House Ways and Means Committee said she expects her committee will cobble together a revenue package meant to help the state cover billions in looming deficits and ensure the legislature can continue to pay for an education reform plan. The effort by the House panel comes days before a key deadline in the 2024 legislative session. Moving such a package would keep the idea of tax increases on the table even though Senate leaders have declared them dead this year.

 

As lawmakers and consumer advocates in state capitols — including in Annapolis — begin to more closely scrutinize the political activities of utilities across the country, a good government group is due to release a report that attempts to quantify the utilities’ level of political spending and lobbying activity in the Maryland State House. A new study from the Maryland PIRG Foundation, which is being released on Thursday, found that the state’s monopoly utilities have undue influence in state government policymaking. They employ an army of State House lobbyists, Maryland PIRG said, and spend millions of dollars on advertising and association membership in an attempt to sway state policy.

Whether Marylanders go to their favorite salon for a shampoo and blowout, or take their dog to the groomer for a fluffy new look, they could be paying more under a proposal from a state lawmaker. Del. David Moon, the House Majority leader in Annapolis, told the Ways and Means Committee this week he had been keeping a “nervous eye” on the state’s fiscal outlook, and said his plan to cut the sales tax from 6% to 5% but add taxes to a range of services, is a needed “conversation starter.” Moon, who found his bill facing a long list of opponents in Annapolis, said, “I’m not an economist, but I can do some basic math.”

Ted Vlahoyiannis has sat in the same seats in M&T Bank Stadium’s west endzone since the stadium opened 25 years ago, but soon he’ll have a different view of the action. Vlahoyiannis is one of hundreds of Baltimore Ravens permanent seat license (PSL) holders in the west endzone who will have their seats moved to make way for new field-level endzone suites. Vlahoyiannis said he feels betrayed by his favorite team, and that the organization is prioritizing executives and money over the Ravens’ loyal fanbase.

Some things in life are certain: death, taxes and roadwork on Interstate 695. The next phase of an ongoing, multiyear construction project that aims to ease congestion and improve safety on I-695, the Baltimore Beltway, begins Monday, the State Highway Administration announced in a press release. The agency is warning drivers to expect “significant off-peak delays” along the northeast section of the Beltway as crews tackle shoulder work along a roughly 1½-mile section between White Marsh Boulevard and Lillian Holt Drive.

When Maria Duran first came to the United States in 1995 from El Salvador, she was seeking a better life, and she embarked on a journey that would ultimately help her reach her American dream. “I started making food at home and selling it outside,” Duran said. Duran developed a passion for food and flavors when she was young, and was able to turn that passion into opportunity when she settled into her new home in the D.C. region. During the day, Duran would go to small businesses, salons, stores, soccer fields and pretty much anywhere else people wanted her food.

Carroll County school officials are weighing a ban on cellphones in the classroom. Students in the school district are allowed to have their phones with them and are permitted to use them at certain times throughout the day. School board members discussed at Wednesday’s meeting a proposed cellphone ban for students, saying it is a distraction to their education. “I don’t want to say we can’t have cell phones but we need to have a certain time,” Carroll County Public Schools board member Marsha Herbert said.