The project is complex, with many moving parts, vast in scope, and costly. I’m referring to the proposal to alleviate traffic congestion in the Washington suburbs by replacing the aging American Legion bridge spanning the Potomac River and adding toll lanes on sections of the Capital Beltway and a major highway corridor through Montgomery County. The Interstate 495/Interstate 270toll lanes project is the signature highway expansion proposed back in 2017 by Gov. Larry Hogan and his former transportation secretary, Pete Rahm. These roadways are to be designed, built and operated by a private contractor over a 50-year period, with a contract valued upwards of $5 billion. Under a public-private partnership or P3 project, the contractor would retain most of the toll revenues and construct the new facilities on its own account.

The Montgomery County, Maryland, Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the Comprehensive Building Decarbonization bill, which will ban fossil fuels, such as gas heating, from almost all newly constructed buildings by 2026. There are exceptions. The ban will not apply to hospitals or other facilities that need emergency backup systems, such as generators, or buildings that need commercial cooking facilities. It does guarantee that almost all new buildings will be equipped with electric hot water systems and heat pumps. The legislation faced opposition from several trade associations and business groups and had the support of two dozen citizens groups representing Montgomery County.

Maryland Gov Larry Hogan, turning his sights more intensely on his political future with less than two months left in office, will host a pair of major fundraisers Wednesday night as he considers running for president in 2024. The two-term Republican has campaigned around the country and become a regular presence on television this year as he’s pitched his brand of centrist GOP politics and criticized former President Donald Trump, who kicked off his campaign this month. While Hogan has repeatedly said he won’t make a decision until after he leaves office Jan. 18, his political fundraising entities have raised “well over $1 million” already, said David Weinman, the executive director of one of those organizations, An America United.

In recent weeks, we have begun to see the truth behind the oft-told adage: “Elections have consequences.” Following this year’s gubernatorial election, a new measure, HC Bill 10-23, now challenges our basic conceptions of democratic rule. The chairs of the Howard County delegation, Sen. Clarence Lam and Del. Courtney Watson, proposed this legislation less than a week after the Nov. 8 general election. Their bill will fundamentally change our county’s all-elected school board model to include two appointed members and three elected by gerrymandered state Senate districts. Few measures have managed to unite Democratic, unaffiliated, and Republican voters. Leaders from all political leanings have voiced their opprobrium to this proposed legislation and to what they deem as a power grab by local politicians to pack what is to date, a locally elected body.

Until recently, when he set out on his own as an international consultant, Mike McClure had worked for many years as the general curator at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Many will remember him for two big reasons — Dolly and Samson. McClure was the zoo’s elephant manager. Whenever African elephants Dolly and, later, Samson, needed care and feeding, McClure was there. Given his 27-year tenure at the zoo, I thought McClure deserved an exit interview. He was in Nepal, leading an elephant care workshop, by the time I caught wind of his departure from the zoo staff, so he answered questions by email. I asked about Dolly because she had been a star of the zoo for years, starting in the early 1980s.

Annapolis residents in search of live music have a new venue to visit with the opening of Vibe, a 10,000-square-foot nightclub in the bustling Annapolis Town Center shopping complex. The standalone club opened quietly on Nov. 23 after its owner, Fivestar Restaurant Development & Consulting, secured a liquor license from Anne Arundel County the day before. The club can fit 500 people standing and 250 seated. The property features two bars and a menu that offers “finger foods” and “shareables” like ahi tuna bites and tacos. In terms of size, Vibe comes in between two of Anne Arundel County’s popular music venues. The county is home to Rams Head on Stage, a 300-seat capacity music club in the city’s historic downtown, and the Hall at Live Resort, a 4,000-seat venue at the Live Casino & Hotel in Hanover.

The Federal Trade Commission and a handful of states announced settlements Monday with Google and iHeartMedia related to misleading radio advertisements about a Google cellphone. The settlements stem from complaints alleging Google paid to have radio personalities endorse and talk about their personal experiences using the Pixel 4, one of the company’s cellphones, according to California Attorney General Rob Bonta. At the time, the phone wasn’t available and many of the radio DJs had not used it, Bonta said. The ads ran more than 23,000 times across 10 media markets, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, Bonta’s office said.

A veteran local marketing executive has jumped from The Sun to the rival Baltimore Banner to help the nonprofit news startup grow its advertising sales and events next year. Sharon Nevins started as the Banner’s chief revenue officer last week and will help expand its advertising and marketing staff beginning in January. She recently left her post as vice president for advertising at The Sun and is the latest in a stream of Sun journalists and editors to migrate to the online startup Banner, which launched five months ago as a nonprofit news source covering the city. Nevins said Monday that her advertising and marketing team at the Banner will focus on boosting online ad sales as well as plan and hold Banner-sponsored events in Greater Baltimore next year.

“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Elon Musk tweeted after he posted the results of an unscientific poll showing respondents favored allowing former president Donald Trump to return to Twitter. The Latin phrase, roughly translating to “the voice of the people is the voice of God,” might be a poetic expression of democratic sentiment. But it does not reflect what Mr. Musk is doing with one of the world’s most influential social media platforms. So far, Mr. Musk has governed Twitter according to his whims. The chief executive’s polls supposedly express the will of the users — but many of those who engage regularly with his account are his die-hard supporters, aware of his preferences and eager to see them enacted. This was true in the case of Mr. Trump, who so far has chosen not to return to using Twitter despite his account’s reinstatement.