A conservative super PAC funded by Trump skeptics and backers alike jumped into the Maryland Senate race in the past week, airing three political ads with strikingly different tones — all aimed at swaying voters to support Republican Larry Hogan in the increasingly expensive and unexpectedly close contest that could determine which party controls that chamber. One ad praised Hogan as an independent-minded former governor who would work with both parties if he wins in November. Two others were scathing attacks on his opponent, Democrat Angela Alsobrooks.

In this week’s episode of Center Maryland’s The Trail, Damian, Candace and Don discuss The Baltimore Banner article, “How Black fraternities, sororities and professional groups build support for Black candidates.” They also discuss Vice President Harris’s economic proposals, Former Governor Larry Hogans promise to kill the red line project, and more.

The District of Columbia has determined that U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks owes $18,000 — and potentially another $41,000 in penalties and fees — for receiving property tax credits she was not qualified for, a campaign spokesman said Friday. Connor Lounsbury, a campaign senior adviser, said the figures resulted from talks between Alsobrooks representatives and Washington, D.C., tax officials.

College Park-based quantum computing company IonQ Friday announced it has signed a $54.5 million contract with the United States Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). With a quarter remaining in the fiscal year, IonQ has announced $72.8 million in bookings year-to-date and reiterated its confidence in meeting or exceeding its bookings guidance of $75 million to $95 million for the year. Governments, businesses and academia are investing in quantum computing to tackle complex, multibillion-dollar problems in areas such as health care, finance and chemistry.

Long-awaited heat protection regulations for workers have been finalized and will go into effect Monday – two days after the official end of a deadly “heat season” that took the lives of dozens of Marylanders this summer. With just days left in the annual Heat-Related Illness Surveillance Report monitoring period – the so-called heat season – the Maryland Health Department had recorded 25 deaths and just under 1,200 emergency room visits due to heat-related illnesses this year.

In one of Democrat Angela Alsobrooks’ ads for her U.S. Senate campaign, she’s barely featured at all. Instead, for 27 seconds, the ad shows clips of her opponent, Larry Hogan, saying over and over that he’s a Republican. Hogan, meanwhile, seems to avoid the party label as much as possible in his ads, mail and on the campaign trail, instead focusing on his two terms as governor and professing that he’ll be an independent voice in Washington.

There’s a wonky, long-running and almost entirely under-the-radar hitch that makes it harder for some women in Maryland to get an abortion. Maryland is one of 17 states that covers the full cost of the procedure for low-income women enrolled in its Medicaid health program — unless the women qualified for the coverage because they were pregnant. The obscure loophole has persisted in the administration of Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, and past administrations of both parties, even after an attempt by the General Assembly to close the gap after the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade two years ago.

 

Maryland has increased its revenue projection for the current fiscal year, and state officials said Thursday that they continue to be “cautiously optimistic” about the state’s economic growth. The state has recently seen moderate growth and, for at least the last six months, there haven’t been signs of an imminent recession, officials said during a Board of Revenue Estimates meeting Thursday.

A proposal to create a land bank to help dispose of Baltimore’s thousands of vacant properties fell victim to political forces rather than opposition to the idea, the bill’s sponsor said this week. Councilwoman Odette Ramos, a Democrat and the bill’s primary backer, said the decisive vote taken last week against her proposal to create a quasi-governmental agency to acquire and sell vacant properties appeared to be personal in nature rather than substantive.

Southwest Airlines executives on Thursday outlined for Wall Street their vision to boost profits: extra legroom seats starting in 2026, assigned seating, international partnerships and overnight flights. Southwest’s new plan comes as its leaders seeks to fend off activist Elliott Investment Management, which has called for leadership changes.