A midweek trip to Texas to talk policy will include a fundraiser for Gov. Wes Moore (D). Moore traveled to Austin, Texas, Thursday. He will attend the Texas Tribune Festival on Friday and sit for an interview with NPR as part of the program. The governor will talk to Michel Martin about his first two years in office and the final two months of the presidential election cycle. (You can watch that interview here.)

In a world where stress can dominate daily life, a small business focused only on playing games can take on an important role, giving people a chance to escape and relax. “The idea was to create a space where not only they could buy games that they play, but also play the games in the store so that they could build a community,” said Richard Hubley, owner of the store Play More Games in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Barbara Nicklas, the former chair of the city of Frederick’s Planning Commission, was confirmed on Tuesday to a vacant seat on the Fredrick County Planning Commission. The vacant seat was previously held by Robert White, whose term was set to expire on June 30, 2027. Joel Rensberger, the chair of the Frederick County Planning Commission, said in an interview on Aug. 21 that White’s departure was announced in May.

Atlas Restaurant Group is expanding its presence in Annapolis once again. The Baltimore group has signed a lease at 142 Dock St. in downtown Annapolis, the group announced Thursday afternoon. The space will add to its growing list of Annapolis spots, which includes Choptank and two restaurants joining the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel.

Six state senators and 12 delegates representing Baltimore County have written Maryland’s power grid operator to demand more transparency about its plan for a 70-mile power transmission line that would slice through Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties. The bipartisan group of legislators is also asking PJM Interconnection, which manages the power grid for Maryland and several other states, why it cannot use existing lines and infrastructure for the $424 million project, instead of building new lines that will cut through farmland, wineries, and homes.

After two days of meetings of North America’s largest longshoremen’s union amid an impasse with port ownership on a new contract, concerns of a strike are growing amongst those in the business and logistics community. A strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association, which moves the trade at the ports along the East Coast, Gulf Coast and Puerto Rico, would impact 43% of all U.S. imports and billions of dollars in trade monthly.

Catholic Charities of Baltimore will be opening up a center that will provide resources to those impacted by the Key Bridge collapse. In the five months since the collapse, so much has changed for so many people. For Bethany Cunningham, it means more traffic. “It took my commute from 13 minutes to now 45-50,” Cunningham said.

 

The board charged with implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future agreed Wednesday to give a special education work group until May 30 to finish its work, well beyond the Dec. 1 target for the group to prepare recommendations for lawmakers. The Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) agreed that the special education group needs the extra time “given the complexities” of the issues it is grappling with, and it voted to amend the overall education reform plan to reflect that.

Vice President Kamala Harris raised well more than double what former President Donald Trump took in from donors in August, her campaign announced Friday, saying it raised $361 million from nearly 3 million donors in her first full month as a candidate. Trump’s team had announced Wednesday he brought in $130 million over the same period.

DaLawn Parrish recalled receiving a call during a football practice from John Kelley, the head coach of Quince Orchard High School in Montgomery County, Maryland. As they spoke, Kelley questioned Parrish, the coach for Dr. Henry Wise Jr. High School, on the late times for his practices. After explaining the late bell schedule and giving the players 20 minutes to change before practice, Parrish was surprised to hear his coaching rival was away from his players.