At the Community College of Baltimore County, 85% of students attend school without paying tuition, but that could change because of proposed cutbacks in Gov. Wes Moore’s budget. CCBC President Sandra Kurtinitis said a proposed cut to the state funding of community colleges may force her 48,531-student institution to roll back one of its biggest aid programs, an offer of free tuition to any student whose family makes less than $150,000 a year.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Wednesday evening to assist low-income families through an expansion of the child tax credit, with all members of the Maryland delegation voting for the measure, except for Rep. Andy Harris (R-1st). The bill now awaits approval in the Senate. But some organizations are also highlighting a separate tax credit for child and dependent care, which they say is not providing adequate assistance to families and providers amid rising costs.

 

A low-cost, transatlantic airline carrier has launched a free stopover option in Iceland for passengers traveling out of BWI Airport who are en route to one of dozens of European destinations. The no-cost feature being offered by PLAY, an Iceland-based carrier, allows passengers to add up to 10 days in the Nordic country as part of their layover at Keflavík International Airport in Reykjavík. All of PLAY’s flights to and from North America already include a layover in Reykjavík, which can range in length from as little under two hours to about half a day.

Does this mean Wes Moore and John Angelos aren’t besties anymore? Throughout this long soap opera — the Angelos family feud over the stewardship of the Baltimore Orioles, the protracted negotiations for a new team lease at Camden Yards, worries and rumors about the O’s moving to Nashville, the governor’s very public celebration of a 30-year lease that wasn’t, then a 15-year, extendable lease with conditions, and now the surprising sale of the team to a billionaire and his partners — we kept hearing that Gov. Wes Moore and Orioles CEO John Angelos were friends.

 

As environmental advocates begin to push an audacious plan to make polluters compensate the state for the ravages of climate change, they are now armed with a poll showing voters want policymakers to be tough with fossil fuel companies. The Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) released the poll Tuesday, as lawmakers start to consider legislation that would make the 40 largest emitters of greenhouse gases in Maryland pay vast sums of money to the state for environmental degradation.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks on Thursday filed the paperwork with the State Board of Elections in her run for U.S. Senate. “Early childhood education and affordable childcare are absolutely critical for Maryland families. As a working mom, I know that affordable childcare is a necessity for parents, and it’s often cost prohibitive,” Alsobrooks said in a news release.

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), the state’s economic engine for technology companies, Thursday announced the newly appointed board of directors for the Cyber Maryland Program. The program was established by the Maryland General Assembly during the 2023 legislative session to develop and implement a strategy to address Cybersecurity related workforce vacancies in the state.

In a bus lot in East Baltimore, city school officials, members of the Biden administration and school bus manufacturers braved the cold on Tuesday to cut the ribbon for 25 new electric buses for Baltimore City Public Schools. These are not the noisy, sputtering, diesel-stenched yellow behemoths of many a childhood; in fact the vehicles are practically silent when turned on.

Several local agencies have teamed up to form the Allegany County Resuscitation Committee — a groundbreaking partnership focused on improving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates in Allegany County. The committee is composed of members of the Cumberland Fire Department, UPMC Western Maryland and Allegany County Department of Emergency Services.

Over 20 pro-labor legislators gathered with members of six different unions on Thursday to show support for three bills that would, if passed, extend the right to unionize and collectively bargain to Maryland workers who are currently ineligible. “It is not picking and choosing among our brothers and sisters, it is we all move together,” Maryland State and DC AFL-CIO President Donna Edwards said at a news conference in Annapolis. “As we move forward together, so do workers that don’t have the ability to be in a union right now.”