In the contest to become Maryland’s next U.S. senator, Democrat Angela Alsobrooks and Republican Larry Hogan are in a dead heat heading into the fall campaign season, according to a new poll. Alsobrooks and Hogan are tied at exactly 46%, with only 7% undecided among those who responded to a poll commissioned by the AARP that was released Tuesday.

An inflation-fueled sales slump hit the toy industry in the first half of 2024, but one company is gaining market share brick by brick. On Wednesday, Lego said revenue during the first six months of the year jumped 13%, reaching 31 billion Danish krone, or about $4.65 billion. Niels Christiansen, CEO of the privately held Danish toymaker, told CNBC that the company is seeing strength across its portfolio, especially with Lego Icons and Lego Creator, and through its partnership with Epic Games’ Fortnite.

Parents would be able to let their children advance to the fourth grade, even if they failed to meet reading standards that would otherwise lead to them being held back, under a proposed revision to the state’s controversial literacy program. The change, reviewed Tuesday by the state Board of Education, comes as parents and advocates have filed nearly 1,000 comments in response to the literacy plan unveiled last month, and its proposal to retain third graders who are not reading at level.

Special counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment Tuesday against Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election that keeps the same criminal charges but narrows the allegations against him following a Supreme Court opinion that conferred broad immunity on former presidents. The new indictment removes a section of the indictment that had accused Trump of trying to use the law enforcement powers of the Justice Department to overturn his election loss, an area of conduct for which the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 opinion last month, said that Trump was absolutely immune from prosecution.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is investigating a housing discrimination complaint against Baltimore County government leaders after an Owings Mills business owner alleged being obstructed from a development opportunity based on her race and gender. Angela D. Coleman, the leader of an organization called Sisterhood Agenda Inc., filed the complaint with HUD in April and received notification in May that it had been accepted by the federal government for investigation, according to documents reviewed by The Baltimore Banner.

Some state retirees and outside observers are flagging warning signs about Maryland’s $67 billion pension fund, including $800 million in yearly management fees and alarms raised by a bond rating agency about risky investments. They’re questioning an investment strategy that leans on private equity, real estate and hedge funds — so-called alternative investments that are supposed to juice returns — but have instead led to subpar performance compared to other states.

There’s a new name for the former FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, after the Washington Commanders struck a naming rights deal with Northwest Federal Credit Union. The field will now be called Northwest Stadium. The Commanders and the credit union announced “a new, multi-year, exclusive naming-rights agreement” on Tuesday.

Since 2017, train cars from as far away as Alberta, Canada, have carried propane and butane to Underwood Energy’s rail yard in Sparrows Point. There, the company transfers the gas onto tractor trailers bound for customers throughout the region, who use it to cook, heat or resell. Owner Sean Underwood told The Baltimore Sun that more than 70% of the trucks used to head south from his facility, a route that took them over the Francis Scott Key Bridge, until March 26, when the massive cargo ship Dali toppled the span.

She’s taken on some of Baltimore’s top political officials, and now she’s ready to take on a second term. This week, Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming made official a request that none of her predecessors could: She asked her independent board to keep her on the job when her term expires this year. “I will not hesitate to tell the truth and to fight,” Cumming told The Baltimore Sun in an exclusive interview. “I think the people actually respect that.”

Gaithersburg’s Adventist HealthCare and Howard University Tuesday announced that Roger A. Mitchell Jr., MD will serve as the next president of Howard University Hospital, as part of the management service agreement between the two organizations as they continue discussions for long-term partnership. Mitchell will begin his leadership of the hospital after Howard University Hospital President Anita Jenkins steps away from the position on Sept. 13.