Politics

After taking heat for declining to send any of Baltimore’s windfall in federal pandemic aid to the city’s strapped fire department, Mayor Brandon Scott on Wednesday announced that he was setting $10 million aside for the agency. The funding, which comes out of Baltimore’s $641 million pool of American Rescue Plan Act funding, will go towards a variety of facility improvements, roof repairs and emergency-aid equipment, Scott and his Fire Chief James Wallace said at a news conference.

According to former Baltimore mayor and current mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon, the 2024 election cycle is her last hurrah. “This is it. I made it very clear,” said Dixon, 70, who, once again, is campaigning for the Democratic nomination to serve as Baltimore’s mayor. “Three times is the charm — or three strikes, I’m out.”

In a recent letter to Maryland’s higher education secretary, state legislators walked back their approval of a right of first refusal for certain academic programs beginning July 1, writing that a “misunderstanding” led to its passage last month. Under a bill that Gov. Wes Moore is expected to sign into law in the coming weeks, the University of Maryland, College Park, and the state’s four historically Black institutions — the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Bowie State University, Coppin State University and Morgan State University — will have a right of first refusal for new graduate programs focused on emerging workforce needs.

Former Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby wants President Joe Biden to intervene ahead of her federal sentencing on perjury and mortgage fraud charges. In an interview Wednesday night on “The ReidOut,” Joy Reid’s MSNBC weeknight show, Mosby said she has done “absolutely nothing wrong, nothing illegal, nothing criminal” — and said she thinks it would be appropriate for Biden to pardon her.

Thiru Vignarajah has dropped out of the Baltimore mayor’s race and endorsed former Mayor Sheila Dixon, a move that could dramatically reshape the May 14 Democratic primary. The attorney announced his decision at a Wednesday afternoon news conference in Fells Point. He has consistently placed third in polls measuring support for candidates.

Ten of the 22 Democratic candidates running in Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District met Tuesday to discuss race, economic opportunity and the environmental crises facing Maryland’s most vulnerable populations. The seat represents several communities along Anne Arundel County’s eastern border with the Chesapeake Bay that are susceptible to rising sea levels, including Annapolis, Cape Saint Claire and Riviera Beach.

In the contested Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate, candidate Angela Alsobrooks picked up support from the only other woman to hold the job in Maryland: Barbara A. Mikulski. Mikulski surprised a crowd gathered at an Alsobrooks fundraiser at Guilford Hall Brewery in Baltimore Tuesday night with her brief speech praising the candidate. Though the retired senator did not use the word “endorsement,” her remarks had all the hallmarks of one.