The Federal Reserve gave home shoppers what they hoped for this week: a big rate cut and a signal of more cuts to come. Even so, aspiring homebuyers and homeowners eager to refinance should temper their expectations of a big drop in mortgage rates from here. While the Fed doesn’t set mortgage rates, its policy pivot does clear a path for mortgage rates to go lower. But in this case, the Fed’s action was widely anticipated, so rates moved lower well before the cut was even announced.

Cash-strapped Boeing is facing mounting costs from an ongoing machinist strike as workers push for higher pay. A failure to get a deal done could be even more expensive. In the shadow of a factory outside Seattle where Boeing makes its best-selling planes, picketing Boeing machinists told CNBC they have saved up money and have taken or are considering taking side jobs in landscaping, furniture moving or warehouse work to make ends meet if the strike is goes on much longer.

The Federal Reserve announced a 0.5% rate cut, the first reduction since 2020. Mortgage rates could drop as a result for prospective sellers, buyers, and refinancers. Marco Smith, from the Maryland and Delaware group of eXp Realty, said this cut will cause a rippling effect in the housing market. “We will see the interest rates follow that pattern because there have been a lot of buyers on the sideline and any movement of rates, in a positive direction is going to bring people off the sideline.”

The Frederick County Board of Education has accepted two bids from local farms to serve fresh produce throughout Frederick County Public Schools. The board on Sept. 11 accepted bids from Moon Valley Farm near Woodsboro and Catoctin Mountain Orchard near Thurmont. The bids are priced per purchasing unit, which varies among fruits and vegetables.

Yvonne Briley-Wilson was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore Friday to serve as acting correctional ombudsman leading the new Office of Correctional Ombudsman, according to a news release. Briley-Wilson, an attorney and executive director, will be nominated during the next state legislative session, which begins in January 2025, for Senate confirmation.

County Executive Mohler and Damian O’Doherty dive into *Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid.* They explore the influence of Carville protégés Bradley Beychock, Susan McCue, and Lis Smith, and recount the history-making meeting held at Aspen’s iconic Hotel Jerome. Mohler also delves into the Hogan-Alsobrooks U.S. Senate race.

Another Baltimore County post office is slated to close. The Glen Arm Post Office in northeast Baltimore County will suspend service at the close of business on Oct. 4 due to the lease expiring the next day, the U.S. Postal Service told 11 News in a statement. On Oct. 5, retail and post office box service will transfer to the Baldwin Post Office located 3.2 miles away at 13516 Long Green Pike.

A historic marker was put up in Montgomery County, Maryland, to tell the story of a Black neighborhood that was shut down before it was ever built. In 1906, four men bought dozens of acres of land off Wisconsin Avenue. It was going to be an upscale Black neighborhood called Belmont, rivaling Chevy Chase. The planned Belmont neighborhood would have stretched from Wisconsin Avenue at the Friendship Heights Metro Station to Oliver Street.

 

 

Kamala Harris blasted Donald Trump as a threat to women’s freedoms and their very lives, warning in a speech in the battleground state of Georgia on Friday that Republicans would continue to choke off access to abortion if he returns to the White House. The Democratic vice president’s visit came days after ProPublica reported that two women in the state died after they did not get proper medical treatment for complications from taking abortion pills to end their pregnancies.

On a recent Thursday night, the patrons at Verde spilled out the door of the popular Canton restaurant and onto the sidewalk. The neighborhood pizza joint was packed: families huddled around pizzas, friends and lovers dishing over wine, and … members of Councilman Zeke Cohen’s staff having a dinner meeting? Verde’s owners gave $1,000 this year to Cohen’s campaign for City Council president, one of many bars and eateries stitched into Baltimore’s political fabric.