Politics

The lobbying arm of the Catholic church in Maryland is making a partial concession to legislative reforms that would help victims of priest sexual abuse sue the church decades later. The Maryland Catholic Conference, which represents the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., announced Monday it will support legislation to erase the statute of limitations for future victims to sue the church.

Gov. Larry Hogan has declared this Friday will be a state holiday for Maryland state government agencies and offices. “This year, I am declaring Dec. 23 as a holiday so that our hard-working employees can spend more time enjoying the holidays with their loved ones,” the outgoing governor said in a news release. “This is just another way to show our appreciation to our dedicated state workers who have worked tirelessly to serve their fellow Marylanders and help us to truly change Maryland for the better.”

It’s not easy to get several people together in person these days, but it happened Friday in Linthicum Heights, where two of Maryland’s major education oversight bodies held a joint meeting to discuss the state’s $3.8 billion Blueprint plan. Members of the Maryland State Board of Education and Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board came together to align their visions on the comprehensive education reform plan adopted last week. It’s unknown if a similar joint session will happen in the future, but all the participants Friday agreed on one key focus: collaboration. “We’re all in to make this thing work,” said Clarence Crawford, who chairs the state Board of Education.

Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Friday that state government agencies will be closed Dec. 23, the day before Christmas Eve. Hogan said in a statement that he made the decision so that those who work in these agencies “can spend more time enjoying the holidays with their loved ones.” “This is just another way to show our appreciation to our dedicated state workers who have worked tirelessly to serve their fellow Marylanders and help us to truly change Maryland for the better,” Hogan said. He added that the day will be treated like other state holidays. Dec. 23 is a state holiday in Virginia, but a spokeswoman for Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said the city’s government will be open that day.

Baltimore City Council recognized the city’s embattled outgoing State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby on Thursday, approving a resolution at the behest of her husband, Council President Nick Mosby. The pro forma measure, approved by a 10-1 vote, honored the state’s attorney’s eight years of “distinguished service” to Baltimore. The city’s top prosecutor, who is facing federal criminal charges, lost a hotly contested primary election in July. She is due to leave office Jan. 2.

Baltimore County announced new department heads Thursday, a month after County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. handily won reelection and announced the departures of several agency leaders, including Police Chief Melissa Hyatt. Kevin Reed, the current deputy director of the Office of Budget and Finance, will take over as director for Edward Blades, who Olszewski said would step down at the end of the year after 26 years with the department.