Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force Co-Chairs Reps. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), and John Sarbanes (D-Md.) introduced a trio of bills to reauthorize federal conservation programs yesterday. The three-bill House package would extend three federal programs from fiscal year 2025 through 2030 with the following funding increases: Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program – $100 million annually, up from $92 million annually

 

During their recent State of the City presentation, Hagerstown officials discussed benefits and concerns with the upcoming opening of a new downtown ballpark as well as issues developers of smaller projects are facing. The Washington County Chamber of Commerce hosted the State of the City on Tuesday morning in The Maryland Theatre ballroom. About 200 people attended the event, sponsored by Wright-Gardner Insurance.

For a lot of people, the term “organized crime” conjures up images of backroom mafia deals or highly structured street gangs dealing drugs and getting engaged in turf wars. But like everything else in the world, things are changing. “We are witnessing the emergence of smaller, more agile criminal groups that lack the hierarchical structure traditionally associated with larger crime syndicates,” Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy told a House committee in Annapolis, Maryland, on Tuesday.

Now that Maryland lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved juvenile justice reform measures, members of each chamber must determine how to resolve differences in separate bills. House Bill 814 and Senate Bill 744 have similar provisions such as requiring the state Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) to offer programs for youth at the highest risk of being a victim or perpetrator of gun violence.

Cancer, an unyielding adversary in our lives, has marked its presence in every community. For far too long it has been a story of diagnoses coming too late, treatments too burdensome and cures too elusive. The disparities in cancer outcomes are stark and unsettling. A report from the American Cancer Society brings this sobering reality to light: despite strides made in recent years, significant gaps remain—gaps that disproportionately impact people of color, those with lower socioeconomic status and rural residents.

I get my dogs’ food delivered by Amazon. It started during the pandemic. Stores in Annapolis ran out of the brand they eat, and if you’ve ever suddenly changed your pets’ food, you know it can have messy consequences. All over the carpet. But it also saved me the trouble of schlepping all those bags and cans across town. It cost less, too.

 

More Amtrak trains will be stopping in Baltimore. The rail company is adding four weekday round trips and two on weekends between New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Union Station that will stop in Baltimore, Amtrak said in a Monday news release. The changes are part of a new schedule on the Northeast Regional line that amounts to a 20% increase in weekday service and a 10% increase in Sunday service, according to the release.

New polling paints a picture of two very different races for open congressional seats in the Baltimore suburbs. In the 2nd Congressional District, the Democratic primary appears to be Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s to lose. The Baltimore County executive enjoys 50% support, compared to 5% support for his chief rival, Del. Harry Bhandari, according to an internal campaign poll. Meanwhile, in the 3rd Congressional District, no one among a slew of Democratic candidates is getting out of single digits and more than half of voters are undecided, according to another poll.

 

While Tuesday marked a big day when it comes to recycling in Baltimore, some city leaders are not pleased with the reasons for years-long delays. City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, D-District 5, said weekly recycling pickup is required by the City Charter, but recycling service was suspended altogether in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The reality was there was a point in time two years ago recycling was being picked up every single week,” Schleifer told 11 News. “It’s just important that the most basic city functions that people are paying for, the city is delivering.”

Dozens of individuals testified on Monday before members of the Maryland Legislature regarding a resolution that calls for a ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, with the vast majority echoing the sentiments of the vice president of the United States, who called for an “immediate ceasefire” over the weekend. The calls come as about 100 hostages remain captive of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel (that killed about 1,200 people).