Children from low-income families in 35 states, four tribes and all U.S. territories will now receive permanent food assistance during the summer months when schools are closed, leaving children in 15 states excluded from the benefits. Low-income families will now receive $40 each month for each eligible school-aged child, up to $120, to buy groceries beginning in the summer of 2024. The cash will come via electronic benefit transfer, often called EBT, and will be added to food assistance debit cards.

Transportation Security Administration officers stopped 20% more guns in 2023 at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport over the previous year. TSA released a statement Wednesday, saying officers stopped 105 handguns at airport security checkpoints in the Baltimore-Washington region last year, which is 16 more than the 89 guns caught in 2022. TSA said its officers discovered each of the firearms during routine screening of carry-on property at airport security checkpoints.

 

 

The marble hallways of the Maryland State House echoed with laughter and backslapping Wednesday as the 188 members of the General Assembly — one in a top hat, another in a Maryland flag dress — settled in for an annual marathon of policymaking that will focus on cutting spending or raising taxes to pay for big ambitions. The festive start, a political ritual attended by dignitaries from across the state, launches a 90-day session controlled by Democrats, who have held supermajorities in both chambers for decades.

The unexpected shutdown of Maryland’s light rail system last month cut many commuters and sports fans off from downtown Baltimore, and left many with questions. The Maryland Transit Administration did not give a time frame when making the suspension announcement for safety reasons but resumed light rail services about two weeks later. Now, here’s what to know about the suspension, the resumption of services and how it’s affecting potential future projects.

Baltimore County will perform safety audits along 17 roads, many in the western part of the county, thanks to a $3.5 million federal grant, officials recently announced. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All program, or SS4A. A yet-to-be-determined external contractor will perform the audits. The contractor will not make infrastructure changes to the roadways but will develop proposals aimed at increasing safety for drivers and pedestrians.

 

With one in four Baltimore EMS positions currently vacant, the city’s spending board approved a recruitment and retention bonus of $7,500 per employee Wednesday. The bonus, which is expected to cost the city about $2.2 million, requires employees to remain with the city for three years in exchange for the payment. Eligible employees, who agree to remain with the force for the next three years, will receive the retention bonus over three installments in January, March and July.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. recently opened up a branch on land owned by Woodholme Country Club, giving the club funds that a past club president said will “assure [its] survival in the future.” The branch is the latest opened from Chase, which has been opening locations all over the state as part of an aggressive expansion. The branch, located at the corner of Reisterstown Road and Woodholme Avenue in Pikesville, is the result of years of work by the country club and bank to get the proper zoning approvals from Baltimore County for the project.

Whether it’s a textbook or a library book, it won’t be allowed in Carroll County Public Schools if deemed sexually explicit by school officials. That’s thanks to a new policy passed unanimously by its school board Wednesday. The vote came after a monthslong campaign by the conservative parent group Moms for Liberty, whose members challenged dozens of school library books they say are inappropriate for students.

It’s easy to get lost in the pomp and grandeur of the Maryland State House. The splendid marble floors and staircases, the historic artwork and sweeping glass-paned ceilings of the chambers can transport one to another place and time. But as lawmakers mixed and mingled among lobbyists and local officials on the first day of the legislative session, what kept them anchored to the reasons they ran for office in the first place?

 

Never ones to be outdone, the organizers of the Kentucky Derby are increasing the purse of America’s most famous thoroughbred race to $5 million, placing it just behind the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic as one of the richest races run in the country. Last year’s Run for the Roses, the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, was contested for $3 million, the biggest prize of any race in the series.