A presidential campaign that has careened through a felony trial, an incumbent president being pushed off the ticket and multiple assassination attempts comes down to a final push across a handful of states on the eve of Election Day. Kamala Harris will spend all of Monday in Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes offer the largest prize among the states expected to determine the Electoral College outcome.

It seems we have been discussing Baltimore’s Red Line project for quite some time, and in fact, we have. The Red Line was initially proposed in 2001, when Parris Glendening was the governor. Fast forward to 2024, and the current governor is moving forward with the Red Line. Another debate over the Red Line has been what mode of transit is used: tunnel or light-rail. Bus rapid transit has also been discussed at various points in time.

Last month, CVS Health CEO Karen Lynch stepped down amid the drugstore chain’s disappointing earnings while financially struggling Walgreens announced it’s closing about 1,200 stores. Philadelphia-based Rite Aid recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy closing hundreds of stores and wiping away billions in debt.

In my two and a half years as a columnist at the Baltimore Banner, I have written increasingly about the intersection of race and gender, from parenting to politics. But recently, you may have noticed that my topics have been less controversial and more congenial. I’ve interviewed the “Golden Bachelorette,” considered learning to can tomatoes and written about bad Halloween candy.

Based on 58 multi-hour interviews and more than 7,000 documents, the independent bipartisan panel President Joe Biden assigned to analyze the Secret Service after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump this summer issued a grim warning: Without fundamental reforms to the agency, what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13 “can and will happen again.” These changes, even more than the specific events of the rally, ought to be the focus going forward.

Howard County voters will have the opportunity to vote on ballot Question A this year. Question A summarizes a charter amendment approved by all five members of the County Council in July. Approving Question A would allow the County Council to create an independent Office of the Inspector General. Passage of Question A would enable the appointment of a citizen board by both the executive and legislative branches of the local government, ensure that the Office of the Inspector General is funded and authorize the office to access independent legal advice.

More than 70 restaurants and bars have debuted in Greater Baltimore so far this year. Industry veterans and newcomers joined the mix of food and drink offerings around the area despite higher costs, staffing problems and some saying customers aren’t going out to eat as much as they used to. At least 76 restaurants, bars, dessert shops and other drink-focused spots have opened this year.

Three former mayors support a plan to raze the city’s Inner Harbor pavilions in favor of an ambitious redevelopment. One former mayor hates it. In a post on social media Saturday, Martin O’Malley called it “a terrible developer grab of public waterfront parkland.” O’Malley’s post came two days after a press release from Baltimore for a New Harborplace, a group that has been rallying support for MCB Real Estate’s vision of a new Harborplace.

Aberdeen Proving Ground Fire and Emergency Services fought uncontrolled fires Sunday as a strong smell of smoke and smoggy conditions set in across the Route 40 corridor. The proving ground’s fire and emergency services posted on Facebook at 3:30 p.m. that the National Guard was assisting them in fighting “range fires” — fires burning uncontrolled on a range of land. At least dozens of county residents posted images on social media of the smoky conditions along the Bush River and in numerous neighborhoods stretching from Aberdeen to Edgewood. A putrid, smoky smell also filled the air Sunday.

 

 

While the winners of many political races will likely be called on Election Night, according to elections officials it may take several more days before we know the results of Maryland’s tightest races — especially with a few hundred thousand mail-in ballots left to count. This election cycle saw a strong turnout for early in-person voting, and people voting by mail have requested more than 880,000 ballots.