If there is a word to describe Constellation Energy’s performance in 2023, it would be one that CEO Joe Dominguez frequently uses in talks with analysts: “overperformance.” The Baltimore company (NASDAQ: CEG) recorded record profits last year, reporting adjusted earnings before taxes (EBITDA) of $4.025 billion for the year, which was above the top end of the company’s guidance range. Dominguez said on Tuesday he expects 2024 to be another strong year for the company as it continues to benefit from federal energy legislation, increased energy demand and a rise in data centers. Constellation expects to grow its earnings per share by 10% over the next decade, the company said.

Sixteen percent of Marylanders are over the age of 65, and that number will continue to grow. Although aging is often portrayed as a villain, the reality is that people are living longer now than ever before. Soon, your “older” years will far outlast your youthful days. Carmel Roques, secretary of the Maryland Department of Aging, explained that to prepare for this future, we need to shift the paradigm for how we think about aging and longevity.

West Baltimore is on the brink of opening a new multi-million dollar community space. The plan is to restore the historical Public School 103 on Division Street, which served as Thurgood Marshall’s elementary school. The building has sat vacant in the Upton community for decades. Come this summer, its new life will begin as the Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center. “I have my historic consultants there,” said Dr. Alvin Hathaway.

Standing in front of a 40-foot electric bus, Gov. Wes Moore asked the crowd gathered inside the Kirk Street Depot to take a deep breath. The hum of an industrial fan some 50 yards away and camera shutter clicks filled the silence. “That’s the power of this progress — the fact that we are standing right in front of an active bus and we hear nothing. The fact that we’re standing right toward the tail end of an active bus, and we smell nothing,” Moore said.

Barbara Smith decided it was time. After years of attending the CIAA Basketball Tournament in Charlotte, the North Carolina native made the five-hour drive on Sunday from Durham to Baltimore. “It gets in your blood, and you can’t get it out,” Smith said the following day in her seat at CFG Bank Arena for the tournament’s opening night. As a DJ warmed up the crowd with songs by Ice Spice and Pop Smoke, Smith showed off her heather gray 25th anniversary CIAA Tournament sweatshirt as the women’s teams of Bowie State and Winston-Salem State ran up and down the court.

The General Assembly proposed a bill last session to reverse an arcane welfare policy limiting cash assistance for low-income families. Maryland was one of only a handful of states with this rule. The Department of Human Services told lawmakers it would change the policy without need for legislation. A year later, it still hasn’t. The inaction has confused legislators and advocates alike, who said the policy change could be funded through a multimillion-dollar surplus in federal funds set aside for Maryland’s cash assistance program.

 

One of the country’s largest producers of cannabis edibles is expanding to Maryland as the state prepares to give out over 100 new licenses. Oregon-based Wyld began selling its products in dispensaries across the state this week after building a cannabis production kitchen in White Plains in Charles County. Maryland stood out to the company because it offered an opportunity to get established early in the recreational market, Vice President of Marketing Ben Gaines said.

Clarence Crawford, president of the Maryland State Board of Education, started Tuesday’s meeting with a declaration. “Business as usual in Maryland public education is over,” he said. “It’s dead.” The state is overhauling its public education system as part of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a 10-year reform plan with billions in funding. Public school leaders are contending with significant changes to teacher salaries, literacy instruction and academic standards while figuring out how to budget for those reforms.

 

The Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee voted Tuesday to move forward a bill to address the rise in certain crimes among juveniles by providing more diversion and rehabilitative services to children alleged of committing crime. The bill, now headed to the Senate floor where it is likely to face debate, was amended to closely match its companion bill in the House. The legislation brought in response to constituent anecdotes regarding youth crime and a rise in car thefts, carjackings and firearms charges among Maryland children passed on a vote of 7-2. Sens. Jill P. Carter, a Democrat representing Baltimore City, and Charles Sydnor, a Democrat representing Baltimore County, were the only opposition votes.

 

One of the few tall ships that still navigate the globe will sail by Fort McHenry before making a dramatic entrance and docking in the Inner Harbor next month. BAP Unión, a Peruvian naval vessel, is scheduled to arrive in Baltimore on March 2 and remain docked until March 5. The boat is scheduled to pass Fort McHenry at 9 a.m. and reach its destination and berth in the Inner Harbor at 11 a.m., according to PromPeru, the country’s tourism agency.