Politics

State officials approved Worcester County’s plan to buy land from the Berlin Lions Club to add to the Northern Worcester Athletic Complex. The Maryland Board of Public Works (BPW) last week approved a recommendation from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to commit $1,268,400 in Program Open Space (POS) funding for the acquisition of 12 acres from the Berlin Lions Club.

Today Governor Wes Moore announced that Maryland will join the Biden-Harris Administrations National Building Performance Standards Coalition. Moore, along with National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, made the announcement during a visit to the Requity Foundation’s Carver House project in West Baltimore. The Requity Foundation is a Baltimore-based nonprofit that provides vocational education and workforce development through learning initiatives focused on building community wealth and fighting climate change.

One year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending nearly five decades of constitutionally protected abortion rights, the landscape of abortion access in the D.C. region remains precarious, with patients and providers alike bracing for an uncertain future. As East Coast states like Florida, West Virginia, and North Carolina passed legislation restricting – or altogether banning – access to abortion care, lawmakers in Maryland have acted in opposition, expanding who can provide abortions.

Baltimore’s outgoing Police Commissioner Michael Harrison is no longer acting as commissioner but you wouldn’t know it from looking at his paychecks. Records requested by The Baltimore Sun show Harrison has continued to receive his regular biweekly paycheck from the city through the month of June despite stepping back from his duties on June 8.

A proposed crossing over the Anacostia River that will connect Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens and D.C. neighborhoods east of the river to the National Arboretum is getting a $6.5 million federal grant, officials announced Wednesday. Among other projects, Prince George’s County is securing $4.5 million to advance work on 4.5 miles of trails that would link Capitol Heights to Largo along the Central Avenue corridor and connect to four stations on Metro’s Blue Line.

The city of Baltimore sued ExxonMobil and other petroleum companies in 2018, seeking compensation for environmental degradation attributable to climate change. That lawsuit is grinding its way through the judicial system. Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore was one of the first big higher education institutions in the U.S. to renounce coal power. The university offers a master’s degree in climate studies, and has taken many steps to reduce its carbon footprint. The university’s top donor, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is an international climate activist.

Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor was named president-elect of the Maryland Municipal League (MML) for its 2023-2024 term at the organization’s annual conference in Ocean City. The MML board includes 32 members from municipalities across the state, who seek to amplify the voices of Maryland’s 157 incorporated cities, towns, and 2 special tax districts. 2 million Marylanders call these municipalities home.

The Baltimore Board of Estimates on Wednesday approved $21 million in grants to fund the violence interruption program, Safe Streets. The program operates in 10 neighborhoods around the city. Lifebridge Health’s Center for Hope, which operates in four centers, received $12 million, and the remaining funds will go to Associated Catholic Charities, which operates eight centers in Baltimore.