Politics

One of the “most significant laws ever signed to help veterans” has already assisted over 340,000 former service members and their survivors seeking care for illnesses and cancers now presumed to be connected to open burn pits and other toxins, President Joe Biden said in Utah on Thursday as he marked one year since the law took effect.

Montgomery County Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large) will run for the Maryland Sixth Congressional District. Sayles told Maryland Matters in an interview Thursday that she would formally announce her candidacy in a statement later that day. Previously she had said she was exploring a bid. “I’ve received a lot of calls and encouragement to run for the open MD6 seat,” Sayles told MoCo360 last week by email.

Gov. Wes Moore announced 13 attorneys who will make up the newly minted Anne Arundel County Trial Court Judicial Nominating Commission, his office announced Wednesday. The commission stems from an executive order Moore issued in March that created nominating commissions for judges at the trial and appellate levels. The committee is tasked with finding and recommending judges for Moore to appoint when vacancies appear.

Where most people see crumbling concrete, David Ginsburg sees potential. Before it became a parking lot, the area behind the Pikesville Armory in Baltimore County was an athletic field, where Gen. George S. Patton played polo in the 1930s, regularly traveling to Pikesville from the Pentagon. Now, 120 years after being built, the armory is being reactivated for a new tour of duty.

A commission of Baltimore City historic preservationists approved a request by a development team Tuesday to demolish five buildings situated at the corner of Howard and Fayette streets that are central to a decadeslong revival effort downtown. Part of the Five & Dime historic district — a five-block stretch of commercial storefronts that used to serve as the city’s retail and shopping district — the buildings date back to the mid-to-late 19th century and range in height from 3 1/2 to four stories tall.

Baltimore’s Department of Public Works on Wednesday ended its request for residents in the city and surrounding counties to voluntarily limit their water usage, nearly a month after a fire damaged a pumping station in Parkville. The July 13 fire at the Cromwell pumping station heavily damaged equipment inside the station, including two pumps, DPW previously said. Cromwell serves the northeastern portion of the city, along with Towson, Hunt Valley, Cockeysville, Timonium and Sparks, Tim Wolfe, chief of the office of engineering and construction at DPW, told The Banner last month.

About 40 people were on hand Tuesday night at Hagerstown Community College for a “listening session” led by the Maryland Department of the Environment about the state’s climate pathway to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The 2022 Climate Solutions Now Act put forth the twin targets of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 60% from 2006 levels by 2031 and getting to a net-zero trajectory by 2045.