Ahead of the winter holiday season, some Maryland doctors and state health officials are urging residents to get vaccinated for COVID and influenza ahead of celebrations and family visits, as new vaccines are available to help protect from COVID-19 and other respiratory ailments. “This is the first fall and winter virus season where vaccines are available for the three viruses responsible for most hospitalizations — COVID-19, RSV, and flu,” according to a September press release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Founding Fathers asserted that elected officials should listen to and be influenced by the views of the electorate. As James Madison said, “it is the reason, alone, of the public, that ought to control and regulate the government.” However, the means for government officials to hear from the people are limited. Elected officials receive emails, letters, phone calls and input at town halls, and some agencies occasionally ask for public comments on complex regulations.

Michael Graves Architecture will move its headquarters to Downtown Baltimore early next year, consolidating its two offices in the region into one space. The international firm based in Princeton, New Jersey, recently leased 5,000 square feet at 233 E. Redwood St. and will relocate about 25 workers into the downtown space blocks from the Inner Harbor.

Maryland regulators are investigating whether SoLo Funds Inc., a fast-growing online lending marketplace started by a Baltimore native, charges excessive interest rates and late charges and failed to disclose finance charges. The Office of Financial Regulation, part of the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, has ordered the peer-to-peer platform to stop offering products to consumers in Maryland pending the outcome of the case.

An FBI official testifying before a U.S. House panel on Tuesday questioned the process that led to the Biden administration choosing a Maryland location for a new bureau headquarters instead of a competing site in Virginia. The General Service Administration rejected an advisory panel’s recommendation for a site in Springfield, Virginia, when it chose to plan a new FBI facility in Greenbelt, said Nicholas Dimos, the assistant director of the FBI’s Finance and Facilities Division.

Marking its first foray into the Texas renewable energy market, Rockville-based Standard Solar on Tuesday announced its latest acquisition Tuesday of a 9.9-megawatt (MWac) behind-the-meter solar project to sustainably power part of an industrial process load for Messer Americas in Texas. As a leader in the ownership, operation, funding and development of commercial and community solar assets across 23 states, this acquisition of the Bluebonnet project from EDF Renewables North America signifies a significant stride in Standard Solar’s dedication to sustainable energy solutions.

Democratic Gov. Wes Moore previewed his legislative initiatives during the Maryland Association of Counties winter conference in Cambridge on Thursday night, indicating his intent to introduce around a dozen bills during legislative session that begins in January. “Together,” said Moore, referring to members of the Maryland General Assembly, many of whom were in the crowd alongside county officials at the conference center, “we’re going to build a more competitive economy, we will protect and elevate our communities, and we will position our state to win this decade.”

Ashburn, Virginia, lies in the shadow of Dulles International Airport. It’s best known as the home of the Washington Commanders training facilities and corporate offices. But a drive around the community reveals a curious landscape. Mixed in with the suburban sprawl of townhouses and strip malls are dozens of enormous warehouse buildings, the size of airport hangars or even bigger. Many have no windows.

A group of Virginia state lawmakers voted Monday in favor of a deal to bring the Washington Capitals and Wizards to a new arena in Northern Virginia, according to four people with knowledge of the situation. Under the plan, which would still require approval from the full General Assembly and local officials, both teams would move to a new facility anchoring a massive mixed-use development in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood, according to three of those people and four others.

A coalition of Baltimore faith and business leaders and Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration Monday unveiled an estimated $8 billion plan to revive thousands of vacant and abandoned homes funded by the city, state and private donors. The coalition, which joined forces earlier this year, proposes spending $3 billion in public funds to leverage another $5 billion in private funds.