MCB Real Estate has launched another project in fast-growing Charles County with a $115 million mixed-use development in Waldorf to be anchored by an expansion of Weis Markets into the area. Officials of the prolific Baltimore developer also planning a redo of Harborplace said they are bullish on the once-rural Southern Maryland county seen as an affordable alternative to the pricy cost of living in Washington, D.C., 30 miles away. At a groundbreaking for The Shops at Fairway Village held Thursday morning, MCB officials said the project, with its 186 apartment units, will help add more housing to the area.

Kentucky Derby champion Mystik Dan will rest and recover over the next week before his owners and trainer Kenny McPeek make a “last-minute decision” about whether to point him toward the May 18 Preakness Stakes, expected to feature a field dominated by fresher horses. As the new champ posed for photos outside his barn at Churchill Downs on Sunday morning, co-owner Lance Gasaway said he would only want his horse to run in the $2 million Preakness if he has a strong chance to win…

The United States Constitution was ordained by “We the People” on Sept. 17, 1787.  Emerging from the signing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, delegate and statesman Dr. Benjamin Franklin was accosted by intellectual socialite Elizabeth Willing. She inquired with animation, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin retorted, “A republic — if you can keep it.” Keeping it is hard work. Narcissistic sociopaths gravitate to politics. With rare exceptions to be counted on one hand with fingers left over, politicians are preoccupied with acquiring and retaining power for the sake of power.

There is a maxim that most politicians have learned by the time they are elected to Maryland’s General Assembly: “Never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel.” In other words, don’t publicly disagree with your local newspaper’s publisher. Another maxim publishers intuitively understand when lobbying to preserve their government subsidies: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” The stick in this case is controlling information about local politicians and their opponents. The speak softly refers to exercising this power below the public radar.

The Baltimore Sun, in partnership with WBFF FOX45 and the University of Baltimore’s Schaefer Center for Public Policy, will host a U.S. Senate Democratic primary forum April 19. U.S. Rep. David Trone and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks are confirmed to participate in the forum, which will be held at WBFF studios. Panelists for the forum are Sun national politics reporter Jeff Barker, WBFF political reporter Mikenzie Frost and Dean Roger Hartley of the University of Baltimore’s College of Public Affairs.

Since the cataclysmic Key Bridge collapse last week, former Gov. Larry Hogan has issued the requisite expressions of sympathy and support. He has said he is lobbying Republican lawmakers to back federal funding for a new bridge. He’s met with the head of the longshoreman’s association. Yet he’s been relatively quiet — and many local leaders say Hogan’s tense history with Baltimore makes his words ring hollow, especially as he campaigns for an open U.S. Senate seat.

BALTIMORE — If you’re a regular at Kitsch, Jackie Mearman probably knows your name. She’ll greet Johns Hopkins University students crossing the street for a pick-me-up at the cafe and neighbors dropping in for a pastry. And on Monday, as a woman loudly chatted up another customer by the front door, Mearman whispered to a reporter, “I know she’s going to talk forever.”