Ten energy retailers on Tuesday called for Gov. Wes Moore to prevent new regulations for utility marketing and sales from becoming law, contending that the policies will drive business from Maryland. Executives, including from the Fortune 500 companies Constellation and NRG Energy, wrote that the legislation will increase energy costs and remove choice from the market. They also requested a meeting with Moore.

An estimated 8,500 young people ages 16 to 24 in Baltimore, including nearly 16% of all Black residents in this age group, were neither working nor in school, according to an estimate by Baltimore’s Promise based on 2022 U.S. Census data. Too many of these young people are at risk of instability as they transition into adulthood. These are our kids, our family and friends.

 

P. David Bramble doesn’t want to mess this up. The developer and West Baltimore native controls the city’s most intriguing piece of real estate: Harborplace. The Inner Harbor’s dilapidated pavilions with green roofs are the result of a controversial bargain struck nearly five decades ago. Under a plan approved by voters, the city ceded public land to a private developer. In return, Baltimore got a dazzling festival marketplace on a waterfront promenade a block away from the central business district.

Talks in the resort town over short-term rentals are heating up. Officials are eyeing possible regulations, especially for rentals located in residential areas. Right along 15th street, positioned near multiple homes is a short-term rental property. The sign out front proudly displays that the one story home “sleeps up to 10”. While it may seem out of place, Joan Roache, who lives right near the rental property said it is right where it belongs.

Frederick County has launched a loan program to help underserved small-business owners who are in or graduated from the county’s entrepreneur mentorship program get early-stage investments for their businesses. Individuals who participated in or completed the county’s EmPOWER Mentorship Program can now apply for loans of up to $10,000 through the EmPOWER Loan Program to help grow their businesses, according to a news release from the county.

Super Tuesday is over, and Maryland is looking forward to its presidential primary in May, with the state’s Attorney General Anthony Brown issuing a heads-up to voters: Beware of misleading robocalls related to election activity. Karen Straughn, director of the Mediation Unit with the Consumer Protection Division in the Office of the Attorney General, said there’s no particular issue right now, but that, “We are always concerned about scams coming in.”

 

Maryland lawmakers are weighing whether to create legal guardrails for when rap lyrics and other forms of artistic expression can be used as evidence against criminal defendants. The Senate Judicial Proceeding Committee heard testimony Tuesday about a proposed bill that would require a court to find a defendant’s creative expression has some connection to the alleged crime before admitting it as evidence.

Nobody asked me, but the idea of spending $9 billion to build a third bridge across the Chesapeake Bay still seems absurd, even more so than when I first heard the idea. I say that for several reasons: The effects of climate change on sea-level rise; the need to reduce harmful emissions as the transition to electric-powered cars and trucks takes many more years; the desire to preserve open space, the Eastern Shore’s rural character, and the general quality of life on both sides of the bay; the likelihood that the cost of a new bridge will surpass the current estimate; and Maryland’s many other spending priorities, well ahead of a third bridge.

 

If Baltimore ever does add an outdoor pro soccer team, the club might make their home a couple of miles south of downtown. The state’s Department of Commerce recently requested the Maryland Stadium Authority study two city-owned sites — Carroll Park and Swann Park — for a potential stadium that would hold between 7,500 and 10,000 spectators and host an MLS Next Pro team, a men’s minor league club that would feed to MLS side D.C. United.

 

With the costs of housing stretching budgets, some students in Howard County are getting a little help making ends meet. County Executive Calvin Ball announced a new student Rental Subsidy Program that offers Howard County community college students who already have housing, assistance with rent costs. To qualify, you must be a student enrolled in fall and spring semesters, be in good academic standing and make 60% less than the median income in the area.