House Bill 588, which would have allowed immigrants without documentation to gain access to health coverage through the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, failed to gain approval in the General Assembly this year. This unfortunate result spells trouble for many state residents who are at high risk for delaying essential care. While advocates regroup to try again next session, what are families to do?

A simmering dispute between Major League Baseball and the Hunt Valley-based broadcaster Sinclair erupted into public view Wednesday in federal bankruptcy court. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in court that Sinclair’s executive chairman threatened to force its Diamond Sports Group regional sports networks into bankruptcy, potentially hurting the league, if MLB refused to give it baseball game streaming rights.

One of the hardest parts of running a restaurant coming out of the pandemic has been hiring good workers, and keeping the ones who are good from leaving. It doesn’t help that other jurisdictions around the D.C. region pay more, with D.C., specifically, phasing in a raise from $5 per hour to $16.10 in the coming years.

The owners of Pimlico Race Course are reconsidering plans to shut down off-track betting at the historic venue, a day after a news report indicated the track would stop carrying simulcast wagering by the end of the month. In an email sent to employees Thursday afternoon, 1/ST Racing and Gaming CEO Aidan Butler wrote that ownership is “reassessing” the move, which he indicated would have occurred only “during the summer months when it is not as utilized by our patrons.” A

To give perspective of what pedestrians experience traversing Georgia Avenue, Montgomery County Council member Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) took Gov. Moore (D) on a walking tour of Downtown Wheaton on Wednesday to see firsthand the lack of bike lanes, narrow sidewalks and the challenge of crossing a busy road.

When Gov. Wes Moore (D) took office in mid-January, he vowed to shake up the Maryland Public Service Commission, a powerful but obscure agency that regulates gas and electric utilities. Critics in recent years have complained that the PSC hasn’t been proactive enough when it comes to the state’s strategy for fighting climate change.

The race for western Maryland’s 6th congressional district has two new candidates, including a Frederick County resident and a Montgomery County state delegate. Del. Lesley Lopez, a Democrat, on Thursday announced her bid for the seat currently held by Democratic U.S. Rep. David Trone, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat.

 

Potomac Edison’s effort to make an early buyout of its contract with AES Warrior Run is getting pushback from a utility watchdog agency. Potomac Edison, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., announced in April that it submitted a proposal to the Maryland Public Service Commission to buy out the contract with AES seven years early for $357 million.

Back in the 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed an enormous functioning hydraulic model of the Chesapeake Bay. Although long ago replaced by much more accurate computer simulations, there was one extremely valuable lesson passed along to the busloads of schoolchildren who would visit the 14.5-acre indoor facility on Kent Island: How shallow it all was. Sure, the deepest part of the bay (in real life, a 174-feet “hole” near Bloody Point not far from Annapolis; in the scale model, 21 inches deep) was impressive, but most of the display would hardly raise a splash if you stomped on it.

The U.S. House took a broadly bipartisan vote Wednesday night on the debt limit package, sending it to the U.S. Senate where lawmakers are expected to vote quickly to clear the measure. The bill would extend the nation’s borrowing limit through Jan. 1, 2025 and set caps on discretionary spending for two years. It would also make changes to work requirements on some federal safety net programs and overhaul aspects of the energy permitting process.