One member of Maryland’s eight-man congressional delegation, Rep. David Trone (D-6th), is running for U.S. Senate. Another, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th), thought seriously about a Senate bid before deciding to seek reelection. Two members of the delegation, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th), who is 84 years old, and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-2nd), who is 77, are the constant objects of retirement speculation.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of legalized gambling in Maryland. It started out modestly enough with the lottery in 1973, then expanded to scratch-off tickets and “Pick 3″ tickets three years later, and now includes multi-state drawings like Powerball and Mega Millions along with slot machines, casino table games and, as of last year, online sports wagering. Spending on traditional lottery games has grown to $2.5 billion annually and casino wagering to $2 billion each year.

The other day I was scrolling Twitter (now called X, a dumb thing I will never get used to), and read a thread by professor and Christian podcaster Heather Thompson Day that was both familiar and terrifying. She told the story of a man who followed her in his car while she was on a prayer walk. He then materialized on a different street, “rolls down his window and asks where I live. I just yell ‘NO SIR’ because I was terrified but also still felt the need to be polite,” Day wrote.

Consumers are getting some relief from higher prices as core inflation, which excludes food and energy, continues to show signs of cooling — an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy, according to economists. The Department of Labor’s report on Thursday showed the consumer price index rose 0.2% in July, in line with expectations, and 3.2% in the past year compared to 3% in June. Despite that slight uptick, economists say that it’s still good news for the economy overall and for consumers.

 

Maryland state officials and health insurers are reviewing how to run and fund a program that aims to keep individual health insurance premiums low. The state-operated reinsurance program — a special fund through which insurers are reimbursed for a portion of the costs of patients requiring the most expensive care — was recently reapproved by the federal government. By helping to offset the most expensive insurance claims, premiums stay lower for the wider insurance pool, and Maryland was one of the first states to implement such a program.

Baltimore’s nominee for police commissioner faced an early test in his tenure leading the agency when a series of shootings at a Brooklyn neighborhood block party wounded 30 people, two fatally. Richard Worley, who was tapped as acting commissioner less than a month before the early July tragedy, points to how he handled the aftermath as indication of his leadership potential. Worley implemented a comprehensive internal review of the police’s actions, expected to be released soon, and acknowledged shortcomings in a tense City Council hearing weeks later.

LaTonya Cunningham spends hours each day looking for housing. The 47-year-old is searching for something better than her current living arrangement, a basement room on North Fulton Avenue, where she sleeps on the floor on top of a blanket. When she wakes, she walks through neighborhoods in West Baltimore looking for rental signs with affordable prices. So when Cunningham heard that, for the first time in four years, the Housing Authority of Baltimore City was opening preliminary applications to get onto a waiting list for public housing, she promptly signed up.

Marylanders are among hundreds of volunteers on the mainland who are headed to Hawaii to assist with relief efforts after wildfires. American Red Cross officials told 11 News it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation, but they’re not estimating yet how long they’ll be on the ground for in Maui and across the islands, saying they’ll be there as long as they’re needed. “Our sympathies go out to everyone in Hawaii who are affected by one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in 100 years,” said Stephanie Babyak, with the American Red Cross National Capital and Chesapeake Region.

 

 

For 90 seconds that must have felt like an eternity, a young woman implored a 911 dispatcher to rush an ambulance to Brooklyn Homes. “Somebody was shooting, there was like 60 shots let off,” she pleaded as the dispatcher implored her to give a specific street address. “I need an ambulance right now. Can you please hurry up?” That’s when another volley of shots — it seems like dozens more — can be heard.

DEK: Decisions have set county on an unsustainable path. Let’s look at the work from home (WFH) trend. There are basically two sides. Many businesses have mandated “go back to the office” and return to life before the pandemic. Many workers say, “I’m never coming back into an office so just pay me as you did before COVID but now I’m doing it from wherever I want with no windshield time.”