President Joe Biden announced his campaign re-election bid Tuesday; the same day Vice President Kamala Harris visited NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. “This is not a time to be complacent. That’s why I’m running for re-election,” Biden said in a video announcing his 2024 campaign. Meanwhile, Harris toured the facility at Goddard, and delivered remarks.

Before her election, Brooke Lierman had not even been inside the treasury building in Annapolis. Now, Maryland’s first woman to hold the office of comptroller is focused on making tax season easier for citizens, updating her department’s aging infrastructure and her next 100 days in office. A former member of the House of Delegates, Lierman was busy most of her first 100 days in office with the 2023 legislative session, which ended April 10. She said she sought to use her new role to collaborate with her former colleagues.

Baltimore provides water and wastewater services to approximately 1.8 million people, many of whom are Black and low-income. Unfortunately, aging infrastructure, due to systemic underinvestment, has led to continuing problems with management, water quality and affordability. A new Baltimore Water Regionalization Task Force aims to rectify some of these issues. Yet, serious questions have arisen about the structure of this new task force and what it seeks to achieve.

Some of the aisles — those for the snacks and the dollar deals — were empty. But as the Walgreens at Erdman Shopping Center in East Baltimore prepared to close permanently, many shelves were still fairly stocked as shoppers from neighboring communities roamed the store. Lillian Warren surveyed the beauty supplies with bright orange clearance tags.

Those who have been vocal about their concerns regarding noisy helicopters flying over residential areas in Northern Virginia are getting some renewed attention from the Federal Aviation Administration. According to the FAA, helicopter pilots are being ordered to make changes as a direct result of “helicopter complaints” filed by residents over the past year.

Frederick County’s schools are facing a “perfect storm” of growth, inflation, and increases in the needs of students, and need more money to meet the challenges, the county school board’s president told the Frederick County Council Tuesday night. Frederick County Public Schools has seen 10% growth in the number of students over the past five years, creating pressure on all facets of the school system, Board of Education President Sue Johnson told the council at a hearing on County Executive Jessica Fitzwater’s proposed budget.

Amid a rise in incidents of hate bias, racism, antisemitism and LGBTQ+ prejudice across Montgomery County Public Schools in recent months, the district is hosting a virtual event at Rockville High on April 27 where Superintendent Monifa McKnight will announce new “districtwide actions in response,” according to a press release.

 

Lucas Tessarollo, the student member of the Frederick County Board of Education, recently made a strong pitch to the school board that the student member should get to vote on board matters. Impressed board members indicated they would consider at least some voting rights.

The April 13 commentary “With new policy, PSC is ordering a disaster” has it wrong. The Maryland Public Service Commission’s recent decisions cracking down on retail energy suppliers who telephonically enroll customers into high-cost contracts for electricity and gas without first obtaining the customers’ signed consent has nothing to do with pizza. While the PSC’s job is vast, it has never regulated food and never will. And its recent decisions protecting ratepayers from unscrupulous retail suppliers have interpreted the Maryland Telephone Solicitations Act (MTSA) the same way the Maryland Attorney General has for decades — without consequence to your dinnertime pizza plans.

 

Recent high school graduates in Maryland will have the option for a paid service year under a bill Gov. Wes Moore signed into law Monday. Moore, a Democrat, has said the program will be the first state-government-sponsored service year option in the country. The inaugural cohort is expected to be chosen for the fall, according to the governor’s office.