Politics

As the fog lifted from the Middletown Valley on a stunningly beautiful day on Sept. 8, the Frederick County Farm Bureau, in partnership with the Frederick and Catoctin Soil Conservation Districts, hosted the third annual Soil Smart Farm Tour for federal, state and local government officials. Attendees enjoyed a bus tour of four agricultural operations in western and southern Frederick County, to learn about each farm operation, explore the unique challenges each farm faces, and view their natural resources conservation practices.

The Baltimore County Council will vote Monday on legislation that, if passed, would curb residential construction near White Marsh Mall and halt hundreds of housing units from being built. Due to concerns about overcrowding of schools and roads, Baltimore County Councilman David Marks proposed a bill last month to remove regulations allowing certain kinds of residential construction in the manufacturing light zone.

A federal appeals court has tentatively scheduled oral arguments in a case over an Anne Arundel County law requiring gun sellers to distribute pamphlets on safe gun storage and suicide prevention at the time of sale. Between Dec. 5 and 8, arguments are set to take place in Richmond, Virginia, in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, according to a court order released Wednesday. Attorneys have until Wednesday to file motions that would affect the scheduling, the order states.

As the United Auto Workers strike against the Big Three automakers entered a second day, the parties returned to the bargaining table Saturday. The UAW said it had “reasonably productive conversations with Ford today.” The union is also meeting with General Motors on Saturday. Stellantis said it will meet with the UAW Monday.

The Housing Authority of Baltimore City is disputing allegations that it owes millions of dollars in overdue water bills to the city as “wildly inaccurate,” arguing that the actual total is far lower. Baltimore’s inspector general published a report Tuesday stating that the city’s internal figures show the housing authority was behind on water bill payments to the tune of $7.8 million. But the report also pointed to several problems with the Department of Public Works’ billing system, which could be contributing to confusion about the housing authority’s total charges for its roughly 7,000 properties.

Using one of Maryland’s toll bridges and tunnels could become more expensive. The state has not seen an increase in tolls in more than a decade. Joseph Sagal, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, said that era, which included two toll reductions, may be at an end within the next four years. “We started looking at the last time tolls were raised, that was nearly a decade ago,” Sagal said at a meeting of the Transportation Revenue and Infrastructure Needs Commission in Annapolis.

The Worcester County Commissioners are seeking answers to a variety of financial questions now that they have a detailed school system budget to review. The commissioners last week sent a letter to the Worcester County Board of Education asking for clarification on a number of items in the school system’s budget. Commissioner Chip Bertino, president of the board, said the county simply needed to gain a more accurate understanding of the Worcester County Public Schools (WCPS) budget and policies.

Maryland’s Work Zone Safety Task Force met Thursday to discuss potential improvements to safety at road construction sites. Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller established the task force after the crash in March that killed six construction workers on the Baltimore Beltway. Since that crash on March 22, there have been 325 construction zone accidents. The total so far this year is 804.