Prince George’s County officials on Monday began considering legislation that would tie the county’s minimum to fluctuations in the cost of living. The county’s current minimum wage is $15 per hour — an amount set in 2017 under a 2013 law that implemented incremental increases to what the lowest-paid workers in the Maryland county have a right to earn.

You may notice them around the county, vending machines that do not dispense candy and snacks, soda or cigarettes.Rather, they offer, for free, a drug that can save lives. The Frederick County Health Department set up distribution boxes in four locations this past spring — three in the city of Frederick and one in Thurmont.

 

The Baltimore County Council on Monday night approved new leadership for the Planning Board and the appointment of the county’s first Black fire chief. Last week, County Executive Johnny Olszewski nominated researcher C. Scott Holupka to be chair and real estate professional Emily Brophy to be vice chair. He had previously tapped Joseph W. Dixon, a longtime leader in the Howard County fire department who recently moved to Florida to lead the Gainesville department, to be fire chief.

I’ve taught Spanish in Baltimore County Public Schools for six years. This is only the second year that I’ve worked in a fully staffed department, and still, we have classrooms with too many students to get the individualized attention they deserve. My school, Overlea High, is designed for 1000 students but serves 1,500. Eleven trailers are used for classrooms, and special educators without offices sometimes have to use the faculty lounge to assess students.

Maryland voters continue to express deep economic concerns about the price of consumer goods while at the same time having more positive than negative views about the state’s direction and of Gov. Wes Moore, a new poll from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County found. The statewide UMBC Poll — conducted just over a month before Election Day — also found more Maryland voters have a favorable view of the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

Baltimore City Council is moving forward on legislation to tax vacant properties at a higher rate than occupied ones, the latest strategy rolled out in recent weeks to combat the city’s thousands of abandoned buildings. Council President Nick Mosby, a Democrat, introduced the plan Monday, the last day current councilmembers could do so with enough time to pass before a new council is sworn-in in December. The bill is backed by every councilmember.

Montgomery County Council members will hold a public hearing on Tuesday before voting on a proposal to provide $2 million in supplemental funding that would help pay for installing vape detectors in the Maryland county’s public high schools. Council President Andrew Friedson told reporters in a briefing Monday that it’s “all hands on deck” when it comes to addressing the “vaping epidemic” in its schools.

The heads of two city agencies have acknowledged that a statistic they used to try to flip the narrative of the latest inspector general report about working conditions faced by sanitation workers was off by a wide margin. Originally, Human Resources Director Quinton Herbert and Public Works Director Khalil Zaied reported that “approximately 56% of the DPW employees” who attended a city-run digital training class were from the Bureau of Solid Waste.

At least 25,000 plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) are now on the road in Montgomery County, according to an analysis of state car registration data. The county is home to more EVs than any other jurisdiction in Maryland, the data also showed. Howard County has fewer electric vehicles overall, but boasts the highest percentage in the state, with 3.28% of registered vehicles being EVs.

PepsiCo on Tuesday lowered its full-year outlook for organic revenue after its second straight quarter of weaker-than-expected sales. The repercussions of the Quaker Foods North America recalls, weakening demand in the U.S. and business disruptions in some international markets weighed on the company’s performance in the quarter, CEO Ramon Laguarta said in a statement.