The U.S. Supreme Court let stand an Anne Arundel County ordinance that requires gun shops to provide buyers with information on suicide prevention, gun safety and conflict resolution. The court, without comment, declined Monday to hear a challenge to the law from a Maryland gun-rights group and four gun shops, which claimed the measure violated their free speech rights by compelling them to provide information they disagreed with.

Even for Americans with memories of deadly East Coast storms like Katrina in 2005 or Maria in 2017, there continues to be something jarring about witnessing the terrible destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene with its record-breaking size and storm surge. This wasn’t about the Bahamas and Gulf states like Katrina, or U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands like Maria.

A September jobs report from the nonprofit and nonpartisan National Federation of Independent Business released Monday found 34% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in September, down six points from August and the lowest reading since January 2021. NFIB Maryland State Director Mike O’Halloran said the worker shortage has been a consistent issue for Maryland’s small businesses and although it has eased slightly, it is still a challenge.

More than 1,500 members of the region’s Jewish community and local and state politicians somberly gathered Monday night at Beth El Congregation of Baltimore for a ceremony on the anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel. Howard Libit, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, said the goal was to bring multiple organizations together. Maryland has the eighth-largest Jewish population and the seventh-largest Muslim population among American states. (Photo: KT Kanazawich for The Baltimore Banner)

U.S. Senate candidates Angela Alsobrooks and Larry Hogan will debate Thursday for the first — and likely only — time during the general election campaign. Alsobrooks, a Democrat who is the Prince George’s County executive, and Hogan, the Republican former two-term governor, are vying for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin.

The Baltimore County Council voted 4-3 against changing the maps that accompany a ballot question on whether to expand the council, finding Monday evening that such a bill undermined the spirit of compromise that led to the most significant effort to reform the legislative body since it was formed in 1956. Democrat Mike Ertel of Towson joined his Republican colleagues — David Marks of Upper Falls, Todd Crandell of Dundalk and Wade Kach of northern Baltimore County — to vote against the proposal.

One of the Baltimore area’s largest public companies has named a new chief operating officer. Columbia’s BigBear.ai (NYSE:BBAI) disclosed the appointment of Carl Napoletano as COO on Friday. Napoletano is a familiar face at the cybersecurity firm. He has worked for the company since 2020 and helped spearhead the firm’s $70 million acquisition of facial recognition company Pangiam.

The Annual Caw to Action event was focused on ways to help local communities across Eastern Shore Maryland. United Way partnered with local agencies to help give back. Victoria Stone, the Program Director for Diakonia, said this was all done to make sure the community gets the care it needs. “In partnership with the Baltimore Ravens and United Way, helping the community take action to help out other agencies such as ourselves, that need to help with resources in the community.”

Members of the region’s transit commission had been talking for more than two hours when an advocate asked Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold a question that got everyone’s attention. “Are we at risk — if the draft CTP [Consolidated Transportation Program budget] goes forward, do we have to give back the federal grant?” asked Brian O’Malley, president of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance.

Urban search and rescue task forces from the D.C. region, supported by National Guard helicopters from Maryland, have rescued dozens in North Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, according to mission organizers. “We’ve been primarily conducting water searches, searching rivers and river banks and utilizing our canines,” said Maryland Task Force 1 scene commander Josh Kerwin from the team’s current assignment in Haywood County, North Carolina in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter.