One of the great things about working at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, was the constant stream of candidates for U.S. House and Senate who would come by for interviews. When I was there, from 2002 to 2010, Roll Call shared offices with The Rothenberg Political Report. Getting grilled by our reporters and the Rothenberg folks became part of the ritual for congressional contenders on their visits to Washington, D.C., along with meetings with party leaders, campaign strategists, interest groups, lobbyists, and donors.

Democratic candidates seeking the U.S. Senate seat continued their push for support through a new ad, an endorsement in the city of Baltimore and a gathering with supporters in Florida. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) released his ninth campaign ad Saturday, the same week the congressman received an official endorsement from the National Education Association. The 60-second video entitled “Teachers” features public school educators, who only use their first names, summarized the need for more funding, counselors and other educational resources.

 

Last Christmas, Robin “Robbie” Young filmed a short video on her phone showing off an elaborate Christmas setup at her East Baltimore rowhouse: silver tinsel, bright string lights, a small tree perched on a dresser. With music humming in the background, she points the phone toward wall mirror, smiles and waves. A year later, Young’s holiday season looks different. She and her adult son, Curtis, 26, were evicted from their home in October and moved into a long-term stay hotel near the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Curtis, who is autistic and has other health problems, has not adjusted well to the disruption of his routine, Young said.

Responding to last night’s meeting about safety in Leakin Park following the assault of a 71-year-old woman, City Councilman Kristerfer Burnett has outlined a number of steps being taken to address the community’s concerns. Baltimore Police have promised increased police presence in the sprawling West Baltimore park where the November 7 incident took place. “The district commander personally committed to increasing their own patrols in the park,” said Burnett, whose 8th District includes the park.

 

Students tell Hopkins researchers about impact on their lives and education And I know, maybe, it’ll probably be a little bit more expensive, but at the same time, it’s, “How much do you care about the student?” That comment came from Kendra, an 18-year-old Baltimore City Public Schools student who participated in one of 187 interviews conducted and analyzed by the Nobody Asked Me research team in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University.

Narcan — the medicine that counteracts an opioid overdose — has been administered twice in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) as of three months into the academic year, according to the school system’s medical officer. The medicine was administered 18 times during the last school year, with no deaths, MCPS Medical Officer Dr. Patricia Kapunan said during a joint council committee meeting Wednesday. Councilmembers received an update Wednesday on youth safety and crime as well as substance use and overdose trends.

The installation of a video camera system has begun on the Harford County hiking trail where Rachel Morin’s body was found in August. Morin, a mother of five, was found dead off the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail the day after she went to the trail for a walk. Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly directed his administration to develop the security system, which will be able to quickly detect unusual activity and locate a specific person or vehicle of interest.

After five straight years of troubling data on the population of young rockfish in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland officials plan to enact emergency regulations canceling this spring’s trophy season for recreational anglers. The rules would eliminate the once exciting two weeks each spring when anglers targeted large fish swimming up the bay to spawn. But this period had been delayed from April into May in recent years in an effort to protect the spawning fish, which diminished its allure.

As Maryland continues its push to expand access to reproductive health care, a new collaboration will look to improve contraception services in areas where people don’t have access to all of their birth control options. Maryland, by some measures, has some of the highest rates of unplanned pregnancies and is home to hundreds of thousands of women without easy access to comprehensive contraceptive care.

For anyone suffering from addiction, denial is the easiest way to avoid unpleasant truths. Unless one admits to an addiction, it will never be addressed. So it is with gambling addiction, but so it also is with the Maryland General Assembly’s desire to find the easiest possible fix to help balance projected budget deficits. And, unfortunately, the two circumstances may soon align as lawmakers return to Annapolis in January with a need to fill some budgetary holes.