The City of Annapolis received a $224,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Transportation to begin designing a bike path that will connect downtown to Quiet Waters Park. The announcement of the grant, from the department’s Kim Lamphier Bikeways Network Program, came Monday, two days before the city announced that an electric trolley would begin running in Eastport to popularize public, environmentally-conscious transportation in the city.

In June, Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced that Maryland will be receiving $268 million from the federal government to build out broadband to the unserved and underserved communities in our state. This would bridge the digital divide that makes it very difficult for many of our marginalized communities to connect to the internet at the necessary speeds. These funds are part of the $40 billion that was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that was passed in 2022.

Eight years ago, Congressman Elijah Cummings changed my life. His legacy initiative — the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel — was seeking a new director, and the congressman tapped me. Looking back, I had no idea how deeply this relationship would transform me personally and professionally. ECYP, as the program is commonly known, began 25 years ago as a partnership between Congressman Cummings and Baltimore Jewish community leaders.

New Greater Baltimore Committee president and CEO Mark Anthony Thomas is hitting the ground running to boost the prospects of Baltimore-area businesses and the regional economy. So far, Thomas has expressed the desire to make Greater Baltimore more competitive compared to regions anchored by cities such as Charlotte, Nashville and Atlanta. As Thomas told the Baltimore Business Journal in January 2023: “We have to be the best version of ourselves for the global economy.”

Beginning Oct. 1, people with concealed-carry permits will be banned from bringing their firearms into numerous public places. They include public and private elementary, middle or high schools, health care facilities, buildings owned or leased by the state or local government, public or private university buildings, active polling places, electrical plants or electrical storage facilities, gas plants, nuclear power facilities, stadiums, museums, racetracks, video lottery facilities, venues that serve alcohol or cannabis for on-site consumption, and private property unless the owner has given express permission to do so.

Maryland politicians were among the thousands who headed to Washington, D.C. this week for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 52nd legislative conference. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-4th) hosted a panel discussion on how this summer’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action could effect Black-owned businesses. Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D) served as a panelist with a focus on how to showcase “Black boy and men joy,” even though they continue to face higher rates of incarceration, health disparities and learning loss in the classroom.

 

It’s easy to be dissatisfied with the actions, or inactions, of government these days. While Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives dithered over a plan to keep the federal government funded in order to avoid a calamitous shutdown — a scenario that has “always been a loser for Republicans politically,” according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — their leaders still found time to schedule a hearing on their ill-advised impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden.

The leading Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate are ramping up their campaigns as 2024 approaches. Here’s a look at their latest moves: Angela Alsobrooks, currently the Prince George’s County executive, hit 100 political endorsers this week with the addition of U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey. “Angela is a fighter and I have watched her work hard on behalf of Prince Georgians and Marylanders as State’s Attorney and as Executive, advocating for resources for the community and the new FBI Headquarters to locate in Maryland,” Ivey said in a statement put out by the Alsobrooks campaign.

A light rain misted the Frederick Fairgrounds Sunday morning as people broke down their vendor tents, loaded their campers and cleaned out the stables on the last day of the 161st Great Frederick Fair. Despite some rain, total attendance for this year’s fair was on par with previous years at around 200,000 people, general manager Karen Nicklas wrote in an email Sunday. Friday had the largest number of attendees with 35,000 people, she wrote.

 

Now that summer has drawn to a close and legislators, government officials, nonprofits and service providers turn their attention to the 2024 legislative session in Annapolis, proposing legislative initiatives to address issues of crime, childhood poverty, education and more will be on their minds. According to the Department of Legislative Services, when the 2024 session opens, lawmakers will be faced with a structural budget deficit even before they have a chance to take off their hats and coats and get down to the business of appropriating taxpayer dollars.