Politics

Responding to last night’s meeting about safety in Leakin Park following the assault of a 71-year-old woman, City Councilman Kristerfer Burnett has outlined a number of steps being taken to address the community’s concerns. Baltimore Police have promised increased police presence in the sprawling West Baltimore park where the November 7 incident took place. “The district commander personally committed to increasing their own patrols in the park,” said Burnett, whose 8th District includes the park.

The 11-member Montgomery County Council on Tuesday expressed unanimous support for a zoning change that would allow developers to forgo parking spaces when building new housing near public transportation. Council members on Tuesday said the move is intended to encourage residents to go car-free and reduce the cost of new housing to tackle two of the county’s most pressing concerns: the climate crisis and the affordable housing shortage.

Maryland’s utility regulation commission has denied Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.’s effort to shield from the public an internal memo detailing an agreement it struck with Baltimore earlier this year following a request by utility watchdog the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel. In a ruling issued Monday, the Maryland Public Service Commission said it found no grounds for maintaining a confidential designation for the memo as BGE requested. The commission, which reviewed the document, said the memo included no commercial or financially sensitive information.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott has endorsed Democratic Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin when he retires at the end of his term. Alsobrooks joined Scott, Baltimore’s Democratic mayor who is himself seeking reelection, at the Zeta Center in Baltimore’s Park Heights neighborhood Tuesday to accept the endorsement. Emphasizing their past partnership as local leaders, Scott said Alsobrooks best understands the needs of cities compared with other candidates in the race.

CASA, the Maryland-based immigrant rights group, has taken a lot of criticism over its statements about Israel for which it has now apologized. But that criticism has extended to its simultaneous pursuit of taxpayer-funded contracts and advocacy. I discussed its non-profit structure in a previous post. Today let’s discuss its political spending. CASA’s structure, like that of many other non-profit advocacy groups, is complicated. It operates through three primary entities:

Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan told the council Tuesday that having authority to obtain noncounty records without being required to first request them is essential to her role in upholding county accountability. The Baltimore County Council is taking up two bills requested by County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. One bill would codify the Office of the Inspector General in the county’s charter, and the other would enable Madigan to subpoena noncounty records at any point during her office’s investigations of government fraud, waste and abuse.

Gov. Wes Moore made one appointment to the Anne Arundel Circuit Court and one to the Anne Arundel District Court to replace two retiring judges, his office announced earlier this month. Judge-designee Ginina Alexandra Jackson-Stevenson will fill Glenn L. Klavans’ role on the circuit court while Jennifer Michelle Alexander will replace John P. McKenna Jr. on the district court. “Anne Arundel County has gained two exceptional legal minds who will undoubtedly make meaningful and lasting impacts in the county and in the State of Maryland,” Moore said in a statement.

A Montgomery County law placing limits on firearms oversteps state laws, according to a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge. Judge Ronald B. Rubin, in a decision issued Monday, said he will issue a permanent injunction blocking portions of the local law. “In summary, the comprehensive and intertwined scheme of existing state regulation preempts Montgomery County’s efforts…to place additional legal hurdles on wear and carry permit holders, state licensed firearms dealers and privately made firearms,” Rubin wrote in a 21-page decision.