Politics

Baltimore’s bid is in, and now the waiting begins. The region, led by a consortium of business and technology leaders, is competing a federal designation as a national tech hub that comes with hundreds of millions in funding. A group of area businesses, colleges and universities, workforce development experts and state and local government officials officially unveiled plans Thursday at Morgan State University to develop such a hub.

The federal judge overseeing the Baltimore Police Department’s consent decree urged the agency’s leadership to push harder for progress on several fronts, including producing long-awaited reports about officers’ pedestrian stops and the resulting searches. The comments came in the first quarterly review of the department’s progress with its consent decree since the abrupt departure of former Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, who continues to be credited with ushering the agency through the process at a quicker and more efficient clip, and more than 6 1/2 years after BPD first entered court supervision.

The Montgomery County Council whiffed this week on a chance to pressure the school board into a truly independent investigation of the sexual harassment allegations against longtime principal Joel Beidleman, several council members told MoCo360. Five councilmembers reported feeling blindsided and rushed by a letter circulated Monday by Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) calling for a higher-level investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Beidleman and the school district’s handling of those claims.

At a town hall-style meeting on Thursday evening, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and his pick for the city’s top police post, Richard Worley, fielded questions scrutinizing the latter’s time with the department, probing how the candidate can reform the agency from the inside. Speakers at the community engagement meeting prodded at the 25 years Worley has worked for the Baltimore Police Department, a period when several of the agency’s internal scandals and unconstitutional policing practices came to light.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D- Maryland) was the keynote speaker during the Council for Innovation Promotion roundtable at the University of Maryland. Hosted at the IDEA Factory, the conference was to promote intellectual property (IP) rights, such as copyrights and patents. President and CEO of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation David Iannucci and David Kappos, former director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office and co-chair of the C4IP, were also speakers at the conference.

State contracts coming to the Board of Public Works with inadequate participation from historically disadvantaged business owners will face additional scrutiny from at least one board member. Treasurer Dereck Davis (D) vowed to provide additional review after the board was asked to approve a $17 million tobacco cessation services contract.

Following the Supreme Court’s summer ruling against 40 million federal student loan borrowers who would have qualified for debt relief, the Biden administration crafted a year-long delay in repayments. The policy, known as an on-ramp, is set to begin next month. Additionally, hours after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Department of Education unveiled a new repayment plan for those with federal student loans, known as Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE.

The Frederick County government is considering establishing a new commission on rustic roads to replace the existing Roads Board. The commission would handle issues related to historic and scenic roadways that showcase the county’s agricultural history and rural character. Two bills were proposed by Council President Brad Young on behalf of County Executive Jessica Fitzwater during a workshop Tuesday evening.

In the end, a cellphone gave Roy McGrath away. The former top aide to Gov. Larry Hogan had eluded federal authorities for three weeks and traveled hundreds of miles. Federal agents were searching for his white Cadillac Escalade across the Southeast. Their break came on the afternoon of Monday, April 3. FBI agents in Baltimore detected a signal from a cellphone that belonged to McGrath in a Costco parking lot outside Knoxville, Tennessee.