Baltimore’s spending board approved contracts Wednesday for Mayor Brandon Scott’s appointees to lead the police and fire departments, two days after both agency veterans were officially confirmed by the City Council. The contract for acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley calls for a starting annual salary of $285,000 for three years, a $10,000 jump from the starting salary of his predecessor, Michael Harrison.

This week, I am stepping down from my position as Maryland state superintendent of schools and transitioning to a role as senior advisor to the State Board of Education. It has been my great honor to serve the children and families of this state, and to lead the Department of Education, as we’ve worked to recover from the pandemic and transform public education through the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future.

A group of 500 commercial office cleaners in Baltimore voted unanimously Wednesday afternoon to authorize a strike as their contract with a Washington-area contractor is set to expire. The cleaners, who are unionized with 32BJ Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and work in 50 buildings including the 100 Light Street and 250 W. Pratt St. towers owned by COPT Defense Properties, are pushing back on the Washington Service Contractors Association’s proposal to cut 1,100 workers’ shifts across the region from five to four hours.

T. Rowe Price Group Inc. has launched its first fund with Oak Hill Advisors since purchasing the company in 2021 as the money manager looks to expand into the private credit market. T. Rowe (NASDAQ: TROW) recently released a new business development company fund (BDC) with Oak Hill, which T. Rowe purchased for $4.2 billion in its largest-ever deal, called the T. Rowe Price OHA Credit Select Fund, or OCREDIT.

Cycling will return to Baltimore for another lap around the county and into the city in 2024. Weeks after the second Maryland Cycling Classic, the organization announced the race has been renewed for its third year in 2024, with four days of festivities and family-friendly activities focused on wellness throughout Labor Day weekend. Organizers cited growth from the 2023 event as the reason for renewal, declaring the event surpassed “every major milestone in year two,” in its press release.

County officials approved emergency legislation regulating cannabis establishments this week. On Tuesday, the Worcester County Commissioners approved legislation amending the Public Health Article to establish regulations for certain cannabis establishments. Commissioner Joe Mitrecic said the regulations needed to be in place before the state began issuing new business licenses. “It’s coming and we want to be prepared when it gets here,” he said in an interview.

 

Uninsured residents will be given priority when it comes to government distribution of the new COVID-19 booster, county Health Officer Dr. Kisha Davis said during a Tuesday presentation to the Montgomery County Council in Rockville. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved new COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer and Moderna that is formulated to target the XBB.1.5 subvariant of the virus. But for the first time, the federal government will not be covering the cost of the vaccine.

A handful of members within the Maryland congressional delegation are asking the Internal Revenue Service to waive rules that would financially burden families who paid into the college trust program Maryland 529. In August, State Treasurer Dereck Davis announced that his office would allow Maryland 529 account holders to electronically view their account balances and accrued interest earnings, modernizing a troubled agency that had almost entirely relied on paper documents since its 1997 inception.

Five young people, including four Morgan State University students, were shot Tuesday night on the institution’s campus in Northeast Baltimore, leading the school to cancel classes and homecoming festivities for the week. University police heard the gunshots around 9:30 p.m. Responding officers, including Baltimore Police and federal agents, found five shooting victims near a campus residential building and a fine arts facility. Those five — four men and one woman, who range in age from 18 to 22 years old — suffered injuries that were not life-threatening.

The Baltimore County Council will explore the possibility of adding more council members, following years of pressure from voting rights advocates. Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, introduced a resolution Monday proposing a work group to study “whether any changes to the structure of the council are appropriate and [will] serve the goal of improving representation for county residents.”