Congress returns to Washington on Monday with limited time to prevent a government shutdown and November’s elections already clouding conversations over federal financing. Funding for the federal government expires Sept. 30, when the 2024 fiscal year ends. Without new legislation, the government would shut down while millions of voters, including in some battleground states, are already able to cast their votes.

Frederick’s Board of Alderman imposed new conditions on Thursday that could derail an affordable housing project at Wormans Mill. Bruce Dean, a lawyer representing the developer, said in an interview on Friday that the conditions “could very well destroy the economic viability of the project.” The Wormans Mill apartment project calls for 315 multifamily units and 5,000 square feet of commercial space near Md. 26 and U.S. 15.

A few dozen Howard County residents protested Friday afternoon outside the headquarters of W.R. Grace & Co. in Columbia in response to the chemical company looking to build a pilot plastics recycling plant close to their homes. They worry about the air quality and byproducts of recycling plastic, known as forever chemicals, finding their way into the water supply.

Anne Arundel County residents have been blown away by noisy leaf blowers, prompting the County Council to introduce a bill to leave combustion engine-powered blowers behind. The bill will be withdrawn Tuesday, however, due to pushback from small businesses. The bill was introduced in July by District 6 County Council member Lisa Rodvien.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are veering sharply in how they gear up for Tuesday’s presidential debate, setting up a showdown that reflects not just two separate visions for the country but two politicians who approach big moments very differently. The vice president is cloistered in a historic hotel in downtown Pittsburgh where she can focus on honing crisp two-minute answers, per the debate’s rules.

In April, two parents went to Yorkwood Elementary School principal Tonya Combs-Redd bearing some bad news. Rent hikes were expected at Dutch Village, an apartment complex where many students lived. Several families, they said, couldn’t afford to stay in the Northeast Baltimore neighborhood and would have to leave the school.

A US Wind project for turbines off the Ocean City coast received a key federal approval Thursday and is reportedly on path to secure its remaining federal permits by the year’s end. Ocean City officials have said that the town would sue the federal government if it approved the project, and in early August they reportedly hired a law firm and planned to join several other plaintiffs, according to a report from the OC Today-Dispatch.

Baltimore will receive a $6 million reimbursement from the federal government that was feared lost after the city failed to draw down the funds in a timely manner, city officials said this week. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funds will reimburse the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services, or MOHS, for expenses related to its Continuum of Care program, which among other things helps to pay for housing for homeless residents.

Today in America, an individual taxpayer is estimated to spend 13 hours and $270 in out-of-pocket costs to do one of the few things our government requires most adults to do: file an annual tax return. Paying taxes and filing returns are an important part of being a responsible citizen — but the burden we place on Americans just to fulfill this basic duty is excessive.

Friday’s monthly jobs report will likely mark a pivotal moment for the economy and the Federal Reserve. If it shows that hiring was weak in August and that the unemployment rate rose — similar to the unexpectedly soft figures for July — it would heighten worries that the job market is stumbling. The Fed might then seek to deliver a stimulus with a larger-than-usual interest rate cut of a half-percentage point when it meets later this month.