When a group called PEACE began circulating petitions to impose term limits on City Hall, the idea didn’t seem too far-fetched. Other elected officials, even Mayor Brandon Scott, had previously expressed support for term limits. David Smith, the billionaire Baltimore County media mogul who finances PEACE, would later say the 2022 effort was “a test,” an opportunity to see how easy it is to change city government.

Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski announced his choice for Baltimore County’s next fire chief in 30-year veteran Joseph Dixon. If approved, he would become Baltimore County’s first Black fire chief and would replace Interim Chief Scott Ebbert who served in that role since July. Ebbert will continue with the Baltimore County Fire Department at his previous Assistant Fire Chief position.

The presidential candidates have been in the public eye for decades, but they’ll meet face-to-face for the first time on Tuesday during what could be the only debate before the November election. The matchup is a high-stakes moment for former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, whose clash over microphone rules led Trump to suggest he would skip the debate before agreeing to the rules.

Dozens of Prince George’s County, Maryland, residents dealing with the sights and smells of uncollected trash for a good chunk of the summer unwrapped their frustration at a public meeting Monday night. Angel Nelson, who lives in the Fairwood section of Prince George’s County, said she’s had problems for months: “Our trash day was changed to Thursday, however not once did our trash get picked up Thursday.”

The Maryland Supreme Court on Tuesday is set to hear oral argument about the constitutionality of a state law eliminating the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits and making it easier for them to sue institutions that enabled their victimization. The justices are set to consider the issue at 10 a.m. in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in Annapolis. The state’s highest court will issue a decision at a later date.

One of North America’s biggest trash companies has accused Baltimore County of cutting it out of the bidding process and granting its rival a pricey contract to transport trash. The Baltimore County Council approved a $1.2 billion contract in April for Republic Services to haul commercial garbage from the county’s three trash facilities and dispose of it in landfills in Little Plymouth and Richmond, Virginia. The contract began July 1 and can run for up to 20 years, according to fiscal notes.

I wondered where all the Trump signs and flags around Annapolis had gone this summer. Now I know. Route 50 between the Bay Bridge and Ocean City is peppered with them. The new ones, “Trump Vance 2024,” are next to the classics, “Trump: Make America Great Again.” They’re in front of businesses and homes, stabbed into the edge of soybean fields and hanging from at least one very tall crane.

Today, the strip of River Road that was the subject of a recent ruling by the Maryland Supreme Court is known to most visitors for its cheap gas, fast food and hulking apartment complexes. But tucked between an 18-story condominium building and an auto repair shop is a tiny white church with a long history. When the Macedonia Baptist Church opened more than a century ago in Bethesda, its presence there was far from incongruous.

Maryland will be the first state to receive funding under the federal Small Business Opportunity Program, a $10 million grant the state and federal officials said will help grow underserved small businesses in the Maryland region. The $10 million grant to the state is part of $75 million set aside for small businesses as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Gov Wes Moore (D) said Monday that the program could have far reaching benefits.

In a family-owned Salvadorian restaurant in Wheaton earlier this summer, the Democratic faithful in Montgomery County watched mostly in silence and lingered at the bar afterward as President Joe Biden stumbled through a debate that would seal his fate as the leader of his party. Just over two months later in the same local haunt, the mood had shifted into celebration, the margaritas and Coronas flowing during a rematch that was anything but quiet for a new Democratic nominee at the top of the ticket.