Politics

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman. Dawn Luedtke (D-District 7), whose district includes Farquhar, and Council President Evan Glass (D-At Large) requested in a letter that Montgomery County Public Schools “halt the work of Jackson Lewis,” a Baltimore-based law firm that was hired to investigate claims made by several Farquhar and school system employees.

Dozens gathered in front of Baltimore City Hall on Monday to call on Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council to consider changes to Baltimore’s Complete Streets roadway policy, saying the emphasis on bike lanes and traffic-calming devices is having unintended consequences on their neighborhoods. Two groups, The Friends of Gwynns Falls Parkway and Eutaw Street Neighbors, organized the rally and held up signs that referred to the policy as “Incomplete Streets.”

Nearly 30 members of Congress, including the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the lead manager in the first Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, are backing their colleague Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) in the 2024 Democratic primary for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat. Trone’s campaign announced Monday that Reps. Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Ill.) and Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) are among 27 colleagues from across the country endorsing Trone to succeed retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

The Baltimore City Council is considering a ban on outside gas regulators tonight. City Councilman Eric Costello’s bill would ban the regulators outside of single-family homes, or those with five or fewer residential units. The regulators, alternative indoor regulators have been the sources of protest, lawsuits and a Public Service Commission Review.

A room full of women who lead some of Maryland’s districts, counties and local agencies gathered for a luncheon at the Maryland Association of Counties in Ocean City on Friday to talk about the role and influence women can have in government and administrative positions. The “Women of MACo” luncheon was filled with dozens of women in leadership positions, who cheered remarks from the state’s first Black speaker of the House of Delegates, Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County).

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents almost 43,000 employees of the Social Security Administration across the country, announced Thursday it has endorsed President Biden’s nomination of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley to be the next SSA commissioner. The AFGE SSA General Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to endorse O’Malley’s nomination.

President Biden is not shy about his feelings toward living in the White House. “It’s a little like a gilded cage,” he said early in his presidency, adding, “I find myself extremely self-conscious.” But, about 62 miles north, the president has become deeply fond of the other presidential residence. Here at Camp David, the rustic presidential retreat nestled in Catoctin Mountain Park, Biden loves the quiet and the vast outdoors that he can explore unencumbered by the hulking entourage that usually follows him around, according to aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president’s personal time.