Politics

Maryland’s U.S. senators announced June 23 they have requested over $1.4 million in federal funding for three local nonprofit organizations. Building African American Minds Inc. in Easton is slated to receive $525,000; Foundation of HOPE Inc. in Easton, $630,000; and Adkins Arboretum in Ridgely, $260,000, pending the requests wending their way from a Senate subcommittee through Congress and eventually to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recent criticism of the FBI amid its investigation into former-President Trump’s handling of sensitive government documents should play a role in which state is picked for the new FBI headquarters building. “From my understanding, I’m the only chief executive of the two states that actually says, ‘I believe in the mission of the FBI and I don’t believe it should be defunded’ — the only one,” Moore told WTOP’s DMV Download podcast.

Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Mohammed Choudhury has asked officially to renew his contract in a letter sent to the state’s Board of Education, according to a Maryland State Department of Education spokesperson. The board will vote on Choudhury’s contract renewal toward the end of the month. Choudhury met his Saturday deadline to formally declare to the board whether he intended to remain in the position.

An ordinance conveying air rights over a portion of a resort alleyway was approved on second reading this week. In a Mayor and Council meeting Monday, officials voted to adopt an ordinance granting air rights over a portion of Washington Lane at 613 Atlantic Avenue. The approval will allow the developer of the Majestic Hotel property to redevelop the site.

Former Del. Dan Cox, the 2022 Republican nominee for governor in Maryland, appears to have filed to run for Congress in the 6th District on Monday. But in a brief interview, Cox, who is contemplating the 6th District race to replace U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th), said it wasn’t him. Someone filed electronic paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Monday, entering Cox into the 6th District race.

A grant of $26,850 from the Governor’s Summer Youth Connections program will provide a first-time employment opportunity for Carroll County teens who experience barriers in finding employment. The money will allow Carroll County Workforce Development to run the Governor’s Summer Youth Connections program for six weeks beginning later this month.

State and city leaders — in what they described as the start of a renaissance of redevelopment in West Baltimore neighborhoods — converged on the campus of Coppin State University on Thursday to celebrate new funding for economic development in the area. Under the new $63.1 billion state budget that goes into effect Saturday, $11.4 million will go to the West North Avenue Development Authority — a panel legislators created in 2021 to focus on revitalization efforts in a targeted zone around West North Avenue that stretches from the Fairmont to Bolton Hill neighborhoods.

Officials in Prince George’s County, Maryland, unveiled plans Thursday to fight crime this summer, focusing on boosting police presence in specific, high-crime areas and community programming to keep kids off the streets. Strictly enforcing a youth curfew — as the county did late last summer after a spike in carjackings and killings — is not part of the first phase of the plan, Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said during a news conference.