An expedited effort to hire a new state elections administrator should include publicly naming the candidates who will be interviewed, according to one public watchdog group. The Maryland State Board of Elections hopes to name a successor to long-time Elections Administrator Linda Lamone by June 5. It’s the first time in over two decades that the state has sought a new elections chief. The rare opening and compressed job search has some calling for greater transparency.

Among the potential and announced candidates running for Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin’s open seat in 2024, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin stands apart. In the last few years, Raskin has become one of the most visible members in the House of Representatives — taking key rolls in the second impeachment of former President Donald Trump, the January 6th Committee, and now, the House Oversight Committee.

Growing up, I loved to dance and took every opportunity to move my body, no matter the beat. Something about the structure of a choreographed dance gave me immense calm; I loved knowing that if I performed a pirouette and followed it up with a plié I would create something beautiful. I still love to dance but, six years ago at 33-years-old, noticing a waning capacity to move my body and take in air, I encountered what would be my most challenging routine yet: stage IV lung cancer.

Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 61 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures declined by 0.2%, and Nasdaq-100 futures were down 0.1%. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen previously warned lawmakers that a potential default in early June is “highly likely.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he had a “productive” discussion with President Joe Biden on Monday. Nonetheless, there were few indicators of progress made in negotiations on Tuesday.

 

The Maryland State Board of Education must decide this year whether to extend a new contract to State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury, whose continuity or lack thereof could be especially important as he continues to help lead implementation of the state’s multi-billion-dollar education reform plan. Choudhury, who began his tenure as the state’s public schools leader in July 2021 to replace former superintendent Karen B. Salmon, receives praise for being “incredibly intelligent,” “very bright,” knowledgeable on policy and “committed to working on behalf of students.”

 

 

Everybody loves the Blue Angels, right? It’s a great show. Parents let their kids play hooky to see it. Thousands of boats fill up the Severn River. If you plan to view the show, which gets underway at 2 p.m. Wednesday, one thing you want is a great memory. The other thing is a photo. Not just any photo, but a picture showing the power and audacity of the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Team.

If your workplace was a fictional company or TV show, which one would it be? That’s one of the questions we asked this year’s Best Places to Work winning companies as part of our Mad Libs-themed special section. We got a variety of answers but the most popular response was “Cheers,” a.k.a. the place where everybody knows your name. Perhaps it’s not surprising that amid all the uncertainty of the last few years, employees are giving high marks to organizations that make an effort to know them personally rather than just seeing them as another line on a spreadsheet.

Representatives of the Berlin Fire Company told town leaders the funding the municipality is proposing would not get the agency through the year. “We can’t operate on inadequate funds the entire year,” attorney Joe Moore said. Moore and David Fitzgerald, president of the Berlin Fire Company and Berlin Emergency Medical Services, met with Mayor Zack Tyndall and the town council on Monday during a work session.

It was billed as a town hall meeting on youth violence. But more than that, it was a transformative moment for two of Baltimore’s leading media organizations. Like the eclectic group of people — victims, parents, educators, community activists, cops and politicians — who were invited as panelists and audience members, The Baltimore Banner and WJZ-TV were drawn to the University of Baltimore’s mid-Belvedere campus by these chilling statistics: Seventy-three people 19 years old or younger had been shot in Baltimore by the first week of May — 19 of them fatally.

A trove of demographic and housing data for U.S. communities is to be released Thursday in the third batch of numbers from the 2020 census. The data including age, sex, race, ethnicity, homeownership and vacancy down to the neighborhood level is the first release from the decennial census since 2021. The figures will detail the aging of America’s population — the oldest baby boomers turned 74 in 2020 and the oldest millennials turned 39 — and provide insight into the living situations of the country’s 126.8 million households.