Blair, trailing by 42 votes, will request recount in Montgomery County executive race
Businessman David Blair will request a recount in the race for Montgomery County executive, after another round of ballot counting on Saturday showed him down 42 votes to incumbent Marc Elrich. There are 34 ballots remaining to be reported, county elections officials said Saturday night. The razor-thin margin in the race means the recount of more than 110,000 ballots would be done at no cost to either candidate. “Given the extremely close margin, we will be requesting a full recount and are hopeful that the outcome will be in our favor,” Blair said in a statement.
Opinion: If Congress imposes price controls on drugs, patients will suffer
President Joe Biden has declared that he wants to “end cancer as we know it,” a goal I wholeheartedly support. Unfortunately, Congress is on the verge of passing a version of the president’s signature legislative proposal — now known as the Inflation Reduction Act — that would make it harder to fight this disease. Lawmakers have made a provision to lower prescription-drugs prices a centerpiece of the bill. That is a laudable goal, but their method — having the federal government “negotiate” prices with pharmaceutical companies — will backfire, leading to less of the medical innovation we need to finally defeat cancer.
Md. Republicans call for unity as Cox, Peroutka bids inflame rift
Former Republican governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is supporting Del. Dan Cox — a candidate endorsed by former president Donald Trump and labeled a “QAnon whack job” by outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan (R) — in Cox’s bid to become Maryland’s next governor. Ehrlich will serve as an emissary for Cox (R-Frederick) and other GOP candidates, including Michael Peroutka, who has past ties with an extremist group and has argued in support of conspiracy theories about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Maryland Republican Party announced.
Maryland pushes for more monkeypox vaccine from federal authorities
Maryland officials said Tuesday that they continue to press federal sources for limited doses of the monkeypox vaccine and keep close tabs on the rising cases in the state, but with just over 2% of the country’s total infections, Gov. Larry Hogan has not followed other states in declaring it a health emergency. Maryland has 129 cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, below the infections recorded in three states that have declared emergencies that give leaders extra powers to protect residents.
Job openings eased in June, reflecting early signs of slowdown
The hot labor market could be starting to soften, as U.S. employers posted 10.7 million job openings in June, tapering off a bit from previous months. But the number of people who quit their jobs was still elevated, at 2.8 percent, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The June data follows several months of record-high job openings and quit rates, which marked the high point of the hot labor market, as employers scrambled to find workers amid shortages across many sectors. June’s figures continue to reflect a strong labor market.
Four Baltimore City school board candidates advance to November election
Baltimore City residents have picked four candidates in the race for Board of School Commissioners to advance to the Nov. 8 general election. The final picks were finalized after weeks of ballot counting since the July 19 election. Eight candidates ran for two open positions on what will be a 12-member city school board, all of which are at-large positions created after state legislation that requires a hybrid board of elected and appointed members.
Deal-Zimmerman: Many in Baltimore want squeegee kids out of sight, out of mind
I panhandled on a street corner when I was a teenager. No squeegee. Just a bucket with a hastily scribbled sign asking for cash. I wasn’t alone — there was a group of teens, scattered among four medians at a busy intersection. We went from car to car, window to window, seeking money to fund our public school’s debate team trips. Most weekends, we did pretty well. I don’t remember any threats, any arguments or, frankly, any concern for 16-year-olds dancing and dashing through traffic on a busy Saturday morning. Did we have a permit? A license? Nope. Most of the time we didn’t even have adult supervision.
Opinion: What $50 billion in taxpayer aid for airlines did not fix
Prosperity is perplexing for the airline industry. And vexing for passengers. This summer, Americans have invaded airports like it was the evacuation of Saigon. Cancellations are getting an extra boost from climate change, and our frustrations are mounting. You might think this misery is tied to the industry’s return to normal levels of indifferent service. But we aren’t sustaining pre-pandemic flight levels. Domestic airlines are on track to be 150 million “enplanements” behind 2019 this year, according to one estimate. That’s a lot of people going nowhere.
Opinion: Baltimore County voters have expressed an interest in criminal justice reform: Will their state’s attorney?
In Baltimore County, conventional wisdom has long been that voters wanted a tough-as-nails state’s attorney to, if possible, stand astride the city-county boundary like a Colossus and warn criminals that they aren’t welcome in the suburbs — and that murderers would be put to death. For several decades, this was the role filled by Sandra A. O’Connor, who earned a reputation for seeking the death penalty more often than her counterparts in any jurisdiction in Maryland. It continued to be the philosophy exhibited by her successor Scott D. Shellenberger, who started his career as a law clerk for Ms. O’Connor and took over the state’s attorney role in 2006.
Del. Chanel Branch loses her seat in the House as Baltimore City and County primary races settle
Baltimore City Del. Chanel Branch, daughter of retiring House Majority Whip Talmadge Branch, will not return to Annapolis to represent District 45 in January. According to results certified Tuesday by the Baltimore City Board of Elections, Branch, who represents Hamilton, Gardenville, Armistead Gardens and other neighborhoods, lost by an extremely narrow margin. Winners Caylin Young, the deputy director for the Baltimore City Office of Equity and Civil Rights, and Branch’s fellow incumbent, Stephanie Smith, bested her by 116 and 187 votes, respectively.
