Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones, a 38-year veteran of the department, will retire in July, he announced Tuesday. Jones, 59, has held the post since 2019. He commands a staff of about 1,300 sworn officers and 650 support personnel that protects the busy Washington suburb and the most populous county in Maryland. “It has been an honor to lead such a dedicated and talented department of officers and professional staff,” Jones said in a statement. “I am immensely proud of what we have accomplished together.”

The all-male Baltimore County Council with only one Black member is being presented as “Exhibit A” as to why the structure of the body needs to change. A workgroup is preparing to make recommendations to the council on whether the seven member County Council should be increased to nine or even 11 members. Because it would be the first such change since the county charter was established in 1956, one member of the workgroup, Sheila Lewis, called it a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.

 

An experimental housing program that paired permanent shelter with social services in an effort to keep some of the state’s most medically fragile adults from becoming unhoused and out of hospitals would expand if a budget commitment from Maryland’s governor becomes law. The spending plan, set to take effect July 1 if approved by lawmakers, includes $5.4 million for the Assistance in Community Integration Services, or ACIS — a little-known housing program that supports some 900 households statewide, including more than 200 in Baltimore.

Before taking on the challenge of addressing youth crime during the 2024 legislative session, Maryland lawmakers listened at town halls and to briefings from prosecutors, defense attorneys, police, medical personnel and impacted families. So did Maryland Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi, Gov. Wes Moore’s controversial, reform-focused cabinet pick. Schiraldi, chosen by Moore to helm an understaffed and financially mismanaged agency as firearm possession and car theft charges among Maryland youth increased, is heralded by many juvenile justice advocates as an expert in his field and an exciting pick to head the department responsible for tamping down youth crime.

 

Densely packed in Lawyers Mall in Annapolis on Tuesday morning, mothers, advocates and policymakers celebrated a decade of legislative wins limiting firearm access and laid out plans to establish civil liability for gun dealers in 2024. Since 2013, the General Assembly has passed legislation mandating universal background checks and requiring gun owners to apply for handgun qualification licenses, banned the sale and possession of ghost guns, implemented red flag laws, created guidelines on safe gun storage, limited who is eligible to receive a concealed-carry license and restricted where guns may be carried.

Frederick County Councilman Mason Carter is hoping the county’s state delegation will sponsor a bill to let volunteer fire companies and similar nonprofits accept credit cards as payment at gaming events. The proposal is meant to address one fire company’s interest in accepting credit card payments for online raffles. Carter proposed the bill as part of the county’s 2024 legislative package in September 2023. It was the only initiative put forward by the County Council, which voted unanimously to support it.

 

As Howard County’s school board works to close a $103.8 million budget gap, members of the school community have spoken out against a fairly small number of proposed cuts that total roughly $2.3 million. At a school board public hearing last week, residents pushed back on proposals to defund third grade orchestra, eliminate an environmental educator position and reduce Gifted and Talented offerings to elementary schoolers.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is revisiting discussions on blue crabs, this time focusing on the containers. A public hearing is scheduled later this week to clarify regulations before any formal proposals are considered. The primary topic of discussion revolves around the use of plastic lugs, which have the capacity to hold significantly more crabs than traditional wooden bushel baskets.

They target the U.S. Post Office’s “blue boxes” on street corners where people drop in their checks and letters. They break into mailboxes at town houses and apartment complexes. And they’ll pluck mail out of mailboxes at the end of driveways. A new bill proposed in Maryland would go after the thieves who steal mail and checks by making it a crime to steal from U.S. mailboxes.

Some Montgomery County, Maryland, parents are upset that their child’s middle school waited two days to tell them about a fight that sent a student to the hospital. The fight between two girls happened at Lakelands Park Middle School in Gaithersburg last Wednesday during dismissal; and according to the school’s principal, it was broken up by adults who were nearby. On Friday, more than a day after the fight occurred, the school’s principal Sofía Vega-Ormeño sent a letter to parents notifying them about the serious fight.