Politics

As the Howard County Board of Education faces difficult budget choices and searches for a new superintendent, campaigns are underway for the five district seats up for election this year. Eleven candidates filed for the five open seats ahead of the Feb. 9 filing deadline. For the May primary, residents will vote for a school board candidate in each of their respective County Council districts. The two-at-large members, who are elected countywide, are not up for reelection until 2026.

At the heart of the latest infighting in the Harford County government, between its executive and a council member, is seven acres of undeveloped, partially wooded land in Bel Air that is a football toss from Interstate 95. The land is what remains of the Cassilly family farm, property that family members have owned since the 1800s. County Executive Bob Cassilly’s great-grandparents were the original tenders of the land.

The House of Delegates on Wednesday voted for law enforcement officers to refer first-time offenders of car theft or gun possession between the ages of 10 and 12 to diversionary programs as part of broader reforms to the state’s juvenile justice system. Diversionary programs, which many but not all jurisdictions have, are intended to help children change their behavior and avoid the juvenile system, House Judiciary Committee Chair Luke Clippinger, a Baltimore City Democrat spearheading juvenile justice changes in his chamber, said Wednesday.

An hour into hearing mostly glowing comments about his plan to invest in Maryland’s most impoverished neighborhoods, Gov. Wes Moore was posed a question Wednesday that brought to the forefront a topic he and other Democrats have largely avoided in this year’s session of the Maryland General Assembly. How does he justify the new spending — even at only $15 million per year — when the state is facing billions of dollars in shortfalls in the coming years and is not actively considering ways to raise new money?

Maryland’s House of Delegates advanced legislation revising consequences for children charged with crimes, as near-identical bills intending to curb youth crime and improve public safety are moving through legislative chambers this week. Democratic leaders said they must change a law they passed two years ago to hold some of the youngest offenders accountable and connect them with treatment services.

Facing a glut of aging shopping centers and a shrinking supply of developable land, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. proposed a bill last month that would have eased roadblocks to redevelopment. Criticism was swift, prompting Olszewski to withdraw it in lieu of a council-backed alternative. But unlike previous attempts to spur housing production, the county will receive a boost from the state amid a looming federal deadline to produce 1,000 affordable units, a lofty goal Olszewski believes can be partly met via redevelopment.

As part of his goal to eradicate child poverty in Maryland, Gov. Wes Moore’s latest tactic is to funnel millions of dollars into low-income communities. But he may have a problem: a budget deficit. Moore’s ENOUGH Act — it stands for “Engaging Neighborhoods, Organizations, Unions, Governments and Households” — got generally glowing reviews from a committee of lawmakers who heard the governor’s pitch on Wednesday.

A key piece of Mayor Brandon Scott’s approach to stemming the city’s high rate of violent crimes has been investing in resources for returning citizens who were formerly incarcerated in local jails or state prisons. But the city’s flagship program to accomplish that work has gotten off to a slow start. Since a “soft launch” in the spring of last year, the “Returning Citizens Behind the Wall” program, which connects formerly incarcerated people with jobs doing manual labor for the city’s recreation and parks department at $15 an hour, has helped only 103 participants, according to an update from the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement provided to the City Council’s public safety committee on Wednesday.