The University of Maryland, College Park will start construction in July on a new $52 million facility for its basketball teams after four years of fundraising. The 44,000-square-foot Barry P. Gossett Basketball Performance Center will serve as a practice space for the Maryland men’s and women’s basketball teams. The athletic department has long sought a basketball practice space to compete with other athletic programs and attract top basketball talent.

The Board of Public Works unanimously approved the purchase of two drugs that will be stockpiled to ensure access to medication abortions in Maryland. Gov. Wes Moore (D) said a cache was necessary because of federal court challenges to Food and Drug Administration approval of the drug mifepristone. The governor called a Texas federal judge’s ruling in April invalidating that approval “a very unique and distinct attack.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order this week to protect gender-affirming health care. Baltimore Safe Haven called it a huge move by the governor that is putting Maryland on the map as a sanctuary state. Sheresse Jackson moved to Baltimore from Philadelphia to find sanctuary. She said she did not feel safe there as a transgender woman.

It is possible Baltimore drivers do not have the lead feet the city once thought? As the city approaches the one-year mark since the installation of speed cameras along an infamously dangerous section of Interstate 83, transportation officials are finding the number of citations issued has been significantly fewer than expected — leaving a substantial hole in the municipal budget.

Ivan Bates emerged victorious in the pivotal Democratic primary last July to become Baltimore’s state’s attorney with the message that he would not only get tougher on those who commit acts of violence but that he would also hold accountable low-level offenders. Not that those convicted of loitering, drug possession or public drunkenness would all be locked up and the key thrown away, but that there would be enforcement and “consequences” depending on the “case and offender.”

The government’s right to take privately owned real property by means of eminent domain is one of few circumstances where a private property owner may be forced to part with his or her property. We saw an example of this with Baltimore’s use of eminent domain in the Poppleton neighborhood to make way for an apartment complex.

The release of the new “Madden” cover athlete every summer is a joyous day on the football calendar, for players and fans alike. For Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen, it was one to forget. On Wednesday, EA Sports announced that Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen will grace the cover of “Madden NFL 24″ when it’s released Aug. 18, joining Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson as stars to receive the honor in recent years.

I was going over my monthly Amazon subscription order a few days ago and settled on my regular haul of KN95 masks I’ve kept on hand since the start of COVID-19. I wondered if I’ll ever be comfortable taking them out of my cart. Well, certainly not this week! That distinctive haze and terrible burning smell across the state and up the East Coast is the result of wildfires in Canada that have put the air quality at a code red, making it dangerous to breathe.

The first phase of Amazon’s heralded HQ2, Metropolitan Park, which is now officially opening its doors, is a noteworthy milestone in its own right. But that opening represents only the lesser tip of the total HQ2 iceberg. Met Park has two 22-story towers that together weigh in at some 2.1 million square feet. PenPlace, HQ2’s second phase that promises to be even bigger, has been paused for the past few months as Amazon.com Inc. evaluates its needs and next steps — but, apparently, not for much longer.

On a summer Sunday almost three years ago, then-Gov. Larry Hogan received a phone call from his lawyer about a brewing scandal. Hogan’s new top aide, Roy McGrath, had negotiated a $200,000 payout when he left the Maryland Environmental Service earlier that summer for the governor’s office. McGrath negotiated the deal under the pretext that the governor had given his blessing.