Politics

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates named Zeke Cohen as his pick for City Council president on Wednesday, calling him “the one person in this race who can hit the ground running.” Cohen, a councilman who currently represents Southeast Baltimore, faces incumbent City Council President Nick Mosby and former City Councilwoman Shannon Sneed in the Democratic primary. Bates’ endorsement marks the first time he’s publicly weighed in on the 2024 primary, which will be held May 14.

What’s this? Donald Trump AND Joe Biden endorsing a piece of legislation in Annapolis? Thanks to a clever and illicit use of Artificial Intelligence, that’s exactly what appears to be taking place this week. In a short video submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday, the 45th and 46th presidents of the United States appear to be backing a bill by Del. Anne Kaiser (D-Montgomery), which would establish regulations for the use of AI and other digital sources in campaign ads and other materials.

The Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to decide whether Donald Trump may claim immunity in special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case, adding another explosive appeal from the former president to its docket and further delaying his federal trial. The court expedited the case and will hear arguments the week of April 22. The move puts the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination on track for another high-stakes date with the high court, which earlier this month heard arguments in a separate case questioning whether Trump disqualified himself from running for a second term under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection ban.”

Maryland will pay for private pretrial electronic monitoring of poor defendants through at least the end of the year, state lawmakers said Wednesday, confirming plans to salvage the program after it abruptly ran out of federal funds this month. The initiative — launched in the pandemic and open to qualifying defendants deemed not a flight risk or threat to the community — will reopen within a week, Maryland state Sen. William C. Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery) said in an interview.

Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery) appears to resemble a teenager when he sits among his colleagues on the House of Delegates floor. He turned 27 years old on Jan. 4, making him the youngest  member currently serving in the General Assembly. But Vogel is guided by his lived experiences, which came into play last week when he spoke in support of House Bill 558, a measure to create a health education framework in the state. Some of the topics the bill addresses include family life and human sexuality, gender identity and sexual orientation, and mental and emotional health.

Candidates vying for the Baltimore mayoral seat laid out their plans to tackle environmental issues that face the city. On Wednesday evening, a dozen of the nearly 20 candidates sat in a semi-circle on a stage inside Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church on Reisterstown Road to answer questions derived from environmental advocacy organizations. “They’re here to serve the community and when you’re able to listen to the questions and concerns of those who actually live in the community then you understand what the issues are,” Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church Associate Minister, Tracy Davis-Hunt said.

A top Democrat in the House is proposing nearly $90 million in taxes on alcohol and cigarettes as part of an effort to address billions of dollars in projected budget gaps. Democratic leaders in the House and Senate do not agree on how to tackle the revenue shortfall issue this session. Del. Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee and others would like to prime the pump now so tax dollars are flowing when the budget gap widens.

A bill in the General Assembly may completely change how future generations of students get into Maryland’s public universities. If passed by the legislature, Senate Bill 5 would have Maryland adopt a guaranteed admissions policy similar to states like Texas, where the top 10% of graduates in each high school gain automatic admission to public universities. State Sen. Malcolm Augustine introduced the bill to ensure that higher education remains diverse after affirmative action was declared unconstitutional last year.

The father of a man who was missing in Maryland for six days last October urged lawmakers to pass a bill to create the same kind of large scale alerts that take place when children are kidnapped for when older adults go missing. Jimmy Hall told a Senate committee in Annapolis on Tuesday it is urgent that the Purple Alert be created. “It would be insensitive for this bill not to get passed,” Hall said through sobs. “The Purple Alert can be the voice for future families — the voice that Rashawn didn’t have.”