Politics

Baltimore County leaders explain what they’re doing to reduce crime and keep young people out of trouble. Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski and police Chief Robert McCullough on Wednesday joined the T.J. Smith Show. One of the main topics of discussion was violence among youth in the county. “We’re putting all hands on deck,” Olszewski said. “It’s been foot patrols, it’s been additional lights, additional cameras, it’s been license plate readers, we’ve hired private security, we’ve partnered with the sheriff’s office. We are making sure that folks not only are safe but feel safe.”

Domestic partners registering with the state will now be given the same rights as married spouses in probate matters, allowing one partner to inherit the other’s assets when they die while avoiding costly inheritance taxes, including in instances where no will exists, according to new legislation. Seven percent of adults nationwide live as unmarried partners, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a statistic that has nearly tripled in recent decades.

Dozens of teachers union members disrupted a County Council session on Tuesday afternoon to demand Montgomery County Public Schools’ proposed $3.15 billion operating budget be fully funded. The council was poised to read a proclamation recognizing Teacher Appreciation Day but instead recessed when educators refused to give up the microphone. Members of the council’s Education & Culture Committee invited a few speakers to share remarks before reading the proclamation.

Carroll County residents both praised and criticized the proposed budget for fiscal 2024 Tuesday night during the final public hearing on the spending plan at Carroll Community College’s Scott Center in Westminster. Commissioners have proposed a $546.7 million operating budget for fiscal 2024, adding $25 million in spending to the package that budget staff had recommended in early March.

Frederick County officials have released a bold plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from county operations and prepare county infrastructure and employees in the face of climate change. It includes a pathway to cut the county’s emissions by 60% of its 2010 levels by 2030 and recommendations to ready county roads, bridges and buildings for intensifying precipitation and heat events influenced by climate change.

Education officials are warning local school systems their plans for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reforms might face delays after coordination efforts broke down this week between state authorities. The Accountability & Implementation Board, the Blueprint’s main oversight authority, delivered a memo to superintendents and other coordinators Monday stating the state department of education had backed out of an agreement to jointly review school system’s implementation plans alongside the AIB. Board chair Isiah Leggett, who authored the memo, said systems must now address two separate sets of feedback on their plans — from the education department followed by the AIB — potentially delaying approval by four to six weeks.

Angela Alsobrooks, a two-term county executive and former top prosecutor in Prince George’s County, is entering the Democratic primary field in the race to replace U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin next year. Alsobrooks, 52, is the fourth Democrat to announce a campaign in the week since Cardin said he would not run for a fourth term in 2024, joining U.S. Rep. David Trone and Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando as the highest-profile candidates to quickly jump in.

The U.S. government could default as soon as next month if Congress and the Biden administration can’t reach a debt limit agreement before then, according to a new analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center. The updated guidance, which puts the default window between early June and early August, adds pressure to President Joe Biden and the four congressional leaders for an agreement ahead of a meeting later Tuesday.