Maryland’s recreational cannabis industry inched a step closer to reality Monday as a state Senate committee passed a bill to get the industry up and running this summer. Senate Bill 516, now closer to a full Senate vote in the coming days, is expected to go through some final changes as lawmakers settle on a plan in the next two weeks to regulate what could be a multibillion-dollar industry.

 

The confirmation of a historic nominee to lead the Maryland State Police remains in limbo after nearly an hour of testimony before the Senate Executive Nominations Committee. Retired Lt. Col. Roland Butler’s testimony before the committee was the culmination of three weeks of effort to shore up his faltering nomination. If confirmed, he would become the first Black man to lead the Maryland State Police.

 

While The Baltimore Sun detailed the “bundles of bills” recently moved by Maryland General Assembly (“On busy ‘crossover day,’ legislature advances abortion records protections, Senate introduces budget bill,” March 20), it missed mentioning a pair of bills that — despite having broad support among members — were given apparent death sentences this year in Annapolis.

“But the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption, the end is the creation of the beloved community.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Restorative Justice Practices (RJPs) in schools are intended to strengthen relationships in a school community and foster an inclusive, equitable, collaborative, and positive school climate. RJPs require training, practice and above all a mindset shift away from powering over- towards powering with- a school community and away from punitive responses to harm and towards restorative repairs with accountability measures.

 

Most cannabis dispensaries are cash-only businesses, constantly at risk of being robbed. Indoor growing facilities use harsh lighting, and plants get sprayed with pesticides. Those conditions can create daily hazards for cannabis workers, which is why labor organizers are trying to unionize them as legalization spreads and the marijuana workforce grows.

 

Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor has appointed residents, officials, merchants and others to an ad hoc committee to examine parking in the city. The group will look at changing demand for parking downtown, community needs, and parking and mobility options, and will recommend actions, according to a release from the city.

 

A joint offer from White’s Ferry owners and county government to buy the Virginia landing site could have seen the historic ferry reopened as soon as 30 days from the purchase—but the bid was rejected by Virginia landowners. Now Chuck and Stacy Kuhn are looking to sell White’s Ferry to Montgomery County. “This is not what we had hoped, but we understand the importance of White’s Ferry to the region’s economy—and the ferry needs to get moving again,” Chuck Kuhn said in a prepared statement.

 

 

The transition team appointed by Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater to help guide her new administration has produced a report that challenges the executive to meet many goals. Fitzwater has accepted the challenge and promised last week that she will take on the transition team’s blueprint and use it to prioritize the work of her administration for the next four years.

 

Ascension Saint Agnes has almost completed a new care center to consolidate the Catholic health care institution’s Howard County outpatient offices. The new clinic is set to open on April 28 and occupies a 63,000-square-foot office building at 6740 Alexander Bell Drive in Columbia. The facility is focused on women’s health with primary care, OB/GYN, cardiology, population health and surgical and medical specialty services. As a result, five of Ascension’s 10 outpatient facilities in Howard County will move into the new center.

With reported antisemitic incidents nearly doubling in Maryland last year, state lawmakers are proposing a package of bills aimed at preventing and addressing hate crimes. Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Montgomery) introduced five bills in the state Senate that he said target root causes of the increase in bias incidents in Maryland, which rose from 55 in 2021 to 109 in 2022, according to a report published this week by the Anti-Defamation League.
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