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At issue for the powerful Board of Public works was whether to approve outsourcing up to $128 million in nursing, long-term acute care and brain injury services State officials on Wednesday delayed voting on multimillion dollar contracts to privatize care at Western Maryland Hospital Center, a chronic-care facility in Hagerstown, citing the need for more information amid mounting opposition from unions and lawmakers. At issue for the powerful three-member Board of Public works was whether to approve outsourcing up to $128 million in skilled nursing, long-term acute care and brain injury services before a vendor was selected, an accelerated timeline that critics of the contracts say term-limited Gov. Larry Hogan wants locked in before he leaves office.

An investigation into Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson’s conduct has expanded to include the actions of Vice Chair Partap Verma and the abrupt firing of Planning Department director Gwen Wright, County Council President Gabe Albornoz said Tuesday. A confidential complaint sent to the council on Monday and obtained by The Washington Post levied new accusations against Verma, who already had been publicly reprimanded alongside Casey and fellow board member Carol Rubin, deepening concerns about the planning agency’s governance and rattling employees as a council vote looms on a pivotal long-term growth plan.

Over the next year, the Chesapeake Bay Program will reevaluate its cleanup plan for the nation’s largest estuary — and its 2025 deadline — following a decision Tuesday by the group’s executive council. “We’ve all acknowledged that 2025 is fleeting in terms of achieving our goal,” said Michael S. Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the council’s chairperson. “And so, what we tasked our staff to do is to take a look at: What can we achieve between now and 2025? And what do we need to do to get back on track?” That review is due before next year’s executive council meeting, Regan said.