It’s a girl. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and wife Hana Pugh are expecting a girl early next year, the mayor said Wednesday. The understated announcement came during an emotional news conference for the mayor. Hours earlier, Scott, first elected mayor in 2020, clinched a second term, the first time city voters have reelected a mayor to a second term in two decades.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the rampant meme asking whether most women would choose to be trapped in the woods with a bear or a man. The consensus seemed to be fairly pro-bear, because, as an expert pointed out, a bear usually won’t go out of its way to mess with you unprovoked. The same sadly can’t be said for humans.

It was overshadowed by the national party’s failure to head off another Donald Trump presidency, but Tuesday’s election again showcased the muscle of the Maryland Democratic establishment, most notably in a decisive Senate victory over the state’s popular former Republican governor. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks defeated former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan to become the first Black candidate elected to the U.S. Senate in Maryland history.

The Novel Refuge, a newly established used bookstore in Laurel, is using books as a way to support refugees in the region. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to support local asylum seekers and refugees by selling books, games, puzzles and other literary-related items, and sending profits to an organization who can assist them.

Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said his administration will begin evaluating the impact of potential cuts to federal agencies following the apparent reelection Tuesday of former President Donald Trump. Trump’s victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has Elrich and others concerned that the Republican will use his second administration to implement a massive realignment of the federal government, which could dramatically impact Montgomery County’s budget and its residents.

As I have every election night since 2016, I mixed myself a very stiff cocktail, turned off my phone and went to bed. At that point, there wasn’t anything I could do about the outcome of any races, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to stay up doomscrolling. When I turned my device back on just before midnight, the phone lit up with a torrent of messages that can best be described as wildly disparate.

Ed Leicht came to William Faber’s Holly Neck Road boarding house for the same reason everyone else did — he was out of options. The 76-year-old retired musician had been living with his wife at her sister’s home nearby. Last year, around Christmas, his wife died, and his sister-in-law immediately sold the house. The Leichts had funneled most of their savings into fixing up that house.

President-elect Donald Trump came nowhere close to winning reliably blue Maryland’s 10 electoral votes Tuesday, but he performed better in every one of its 23 counties and Baltimore City. A Baltimore Banner analysis of preliminary voting data suggests that Maryland followed a pattern that seems to be playing out nationally, with Trump gaining vote shares in every geographic corner compared to 2020.

 

Growing concern in Baltimore over the safety of dockless vehicles such as electric scooters and bikes is understandable considering the spate of recent crashes including one that caused the death of a 16-year-old in Upton who was riding with a friend last month when their moped collided with a Jeep or the death of a 31-year-old scooter rider who was struck in East Baltimore last July by a car driven by a teen.

As we write this editorial, the presidential race remains too close to call. Officials are still counting ballots. Anxiety is running high. The undeniably good news is that, by all credible indications, this was a free and fair election. For the most part, the inevitable Election Day glitches did not affect counting or voter access; turnout was high.