With a late budget maneuver, Maryland lawmakers are forcing a hard look at a three-year-old scheme to redevelop Pimlico Race Course, home of the middle jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown. The Maryland Senate voted to strip out a House of Delegates amendment from the state budget Wednesday that would have withheld $17 million from the Maryland Stadium Authority unless required agreements for the project — which also includes redevelopment of the track at Laurel Park — are signed in the next seven months.

 

A bill that would allow counties on the Eastern Shore to hike their hotel tax rates by 1% faces an uncertain future after a debate in the Maryland Senate on Wednesday. The bill would have amounted to a nearly $5 million tax on Maryland residents who vacation in Ocean City, Montgomery County Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer (D-Montgomery) said, as he questioned the policy on the Senate floor.

 

For parents, decisions about our kids’ education are among the most discussed and debated in families, among friends, and in the public discourse. Public or private. Neighborhood or magnet. Move to the suburbs or try the new charter. Now imagine that you are the parent of a child with a disability, like me and many of my closest friends whose families include someone with Down syndrome.

Tastee Diner in Silver Spring, where locals have been gathering since it opened in 1946, closed its doors Wednesday afternoon. The diner, located at 8601 Cameron St., closed Wednesday at 2 p.m., an employee confirmed. No reason was provided, and many employees didn’t know it was happening until Wednesday morning. The diner has become a staple of the neighborhood and was declared a historic landmark by the Montgomery County Council in 1994.

 

 

As the County Council continues its deliberations over County Executive Marc Elrich’s proposed operating and capital budgets, county officials said remaining federal assistance should continue to be spent on social services, business assistance and similar areas. That federal assistance is coming in two forms—reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for COVID-19-related expenses such as for personal protective equipment, and money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law by President Joe Biden in March 2021 to provide economic relief due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

By at least one calculation, Maryland is at least 120,000 housing units short for its current population, which makes finding accommodations suitable for seniors even more challenging and costly than it typically is. Given the “graying” of the population — about 22.6% of Marylanders are age 60 or older — this is a potential crisis in the making. One possible solution would be to give homeowners the right to create what is known as “accessory dwelling units” on their land. These can be in-law apartments that are attached to existing homes or small detached dwelling units such as a garage or carriage house.

Lutherville Station LLC released an economic impact study for the proposed Lutherville Station Transit Oriented Development at the current site of the Lutherville light rail station on West Ridgely in Timonium, Maryland. The study, conducted by Richard Clinch, PhD, Executive Director of the Jacob France Institute at the University of Baltimore, notes the significant $325 million impact the project will have on job creation and tax revenue for Baltimore County and the State of Maryland.

As the founder of Safe Silver Spring and president from 2009-2017, I have been very concerned with the recent rise in serious crime in Silver Spring this past two years. Between 2020 and 2022, Montgomery County experienced a significant increase in serious crime countywide, but especially in Downtown Silver Spring. Between 2020 and 2022, violent crime increased countywide by 21% and increased by over 30% in Downtown Silver Spring.

 

Hampton Elementary School parents have asked the Baltimore County Board of Education to relieve their overcrowded classrooms for months. Teachers host class sizes well beyond state-recommended limits. The gymnasium cannot hold all students for assemblies. Lunch now spans three hours to fit each student into the cafeteria. By Baltimore County school system’s count, the Timonium school reached 112% capacity in September. Hampton Elementary parents say the current percentage is even higher. Across the school system, nearly one-third of schools are at or over capacity, according to August data.

 

Latino lawmakers and community leaders rallied Wednesday morning outside the State House to show their support for Gov. Wes Moore’s nominee to the Maryland Stadium Authority board and demand that the Senate confirm her appointment. Members of the Legislative Latino Caucus and other elected officials from across the state joined representatives from CASA Inc., the advocacy organization that provides social services to immigrants, and other leaders to endorse Moore’s nomination of Yolanda Maria Martinez, whose name has been held up by the Senate.