Hello, Taxes. It’s been a while. Yeah, almost no one thinks about me until it’s time. Me and Death: an afterthought. But it’s budget season in Maryland and beyond, when cities, counties and even those doofuses in Washington fight over me and my sister, Spend. So it’s a good time to catch up. You, mortals, have to deal with me sooner or later. I am eternal.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who recently completed his first 100 days on the job, has an approval rating of 53%, according to a new poll. Among 800 people surveyed by Goucher College Poll in partnership with The Baltimore Banner, 36% said they approved of Moore’s job performance and another 17% gave strong approval.

Baltimore is gearing up for another summer of crabcakes and cocktails on porches, patios and picnic tables. As the warm weather rolls in and a new outdoor dining season springs into action, the city has decided that one coronavirus pandemic innovation, the curbside dining parklet, is here to stay. Since 2020, Baltimore has allowed restaurants to set up tables and chairs in parking spots as a way to draw customers who want to eat out but are wary of contracting COVID-19.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has ousted two top officials in his executive team, according to a City Hall official with knowledge of the matter. Chief of Staff Chezia Cager and spokesman Cirilo Manego have been asked to leave their positions, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the departures had not yet been announced.

In as little as six weeks, the U.S. economy may suffer substantial and lasting harm. That’s when the United States could default on its debt, the product of the failure of Congress to raise the limit on how much money the nation can borrow to pay its bills. The debt limit itself is something of an oddity. It has nothing to do with spending or tax policy. It’s really just about paying the bills — the equivalent of a consumer maxing out the credit card but then deciding whether or not to make a payment to creditors.

A blind trust overseeing Gov. Wes Moore’s investment holdings will have to divest a large portion of the Democrat’s holdings in the state’s growing cannabis industry. The acknowledgement of what is called a rebalancing comes as Moore announced the creation of the blind trust — what is believed to be the first by any Maryland governor since Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

A Maryland Office of the Inspector General for Education report released on Monday found that Baltimore City Public Schools paid as much as $631,000 over three years to a cab company for rides to school that students may never have taken. Investigators for the education inspector general’s office compared records from Yellow Cab — which is now known as zTrip, according to the report — with city school attendance records and found that between the 2018-19 school year and the 2021-22 school year, there were 1,115 students and 3,900 instances when the students had not been in school when the taxi company said they were transported there.

A historic Annapolis building housing a 273-year-old tavern was sold to a group who says they plan to preserve and improve the structure. The Middleton Tavern building, which also includes Annapolis Glasswork and Chesapeake Properties, was purchased by Annapolis Capital Partners on April 28. The transaction is the latest for the real estate development group, which has invested in other historic buildings on Prince George Street and Church Circle in Annapolis.

Marylanders who have been using one of the state’s 529 savings plans to put away money for their children’s college education can finally see a glimmer of hope that the troubled program may be getting back on the right path. Maryland 529, named for a section of the federal tax code that offers tax incentives to parents and other family members to save, has been in turmoil since last spring.

April 5, 2023: Sun-streaked skies and the glorious length of a warm spring break evening downtown. Meanwhile, Baltimore Police Department officers descend, and the public fearfully condemns a “swarm of people” at Pratt Street and Market Place. Businesses are ordered to close early and helicopters circle with threatening speaker calls to “disperse.”