Politics

Once more, with less feeling. Baltimore’s mayor-controlled spending board on Wednesday again considered the $139 million deal with Baltimore Gas & Electric pushed by Mayor Brandon Scott for maintenance to the city’s underground network for infrastructure. This time all five members of the board were in the room. But — unlike the rancorous first vote nearly two months ago — there was no discussion, and no vote was taken.

With less than a week left in Maryland’s legislative session, most elements of Maryland’s plan to create a legal market for cannabis have been decided. Bills on track to pass establish details like licenses to be allotted, the types of operators allowed and provisions to create an equitable market for a likely billion-dollar industry.

The longest serving chair of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland will step down next week to become a partner in an Annapolis lobbying and government relations firm. Del. Darryl Barnes (D-Prince George’s) plans to leave his duties as a legislator April 15 and, on the same day, become a partner in Evans, Barnes & Associates.

Baltimore’s spending board on Wednesday approved a contract between the city’s public safety office and Roca Maryland, shoring up a key partnership that will help the city expand a promising policing anti-gun-violence strategy. The contract approval by the Board of Estimates clears a significant hurdle for the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, which outlined its plans for a citywide expansion of the flagship Group Violence Reduction Strategy at a year-end press conference in December.

Frederick County’s top law enforcement officer has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Baltimore with conspiracy and making false statements to acquire machine guns on behalf of a county shooting range, The Machine Gun Nest. Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Jenkins (R) faces five counts, along with Robert Justin Krop, a 36-year-old Frederick man who is the owner and co-founder of The Machine Gun Nest, an indoor shooting range just outside the Frederick city limits.

The timing was purely coincidental. But just a few hours before former President Trump surrendered to New York law enforcement authorities Tuesday to answer a state indictment, the Maryland House of Delegates bestowed one of its most prestigious awards on former state Attorney General Brian Frosh (D), who frequently sued the former president and his administration over policies and personal business practices.

Montgomery County leaders on Monday asked the state for funds to create a residential substance use treatment center for youths, amid a fatal overdose crisis. The Montgomery County Council and County Executive Marc Elrich sent a joint letter to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore requesting an unspecified amount of state funding be used to launch the new facility. Maryland has no medical facilities that specialize in youth overdose stabilization, according to the letter.