Politics

U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) roamed the stage of an auditorium at a senior citizen retirement complex in Gaithersburg, giving little indication that he has any plans to become a retiree himself. During an hour-long town hall at Asbury Methodist Village the other day, the 79-year-old lawmaker spoke fluidly about gun safety, abortion rights, border security, climate change, and foreign policy challenges in Central America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Haiti.

Maryland Democrats had an ambitious agenda at the start of the first session of a Gov. Wes Moore’s brand-new term. Here’s a look at which of the hundreds of bills filed made it to Moore’s desk at the end of the 90-day legislative session — and what wasn’t ready for prime time. As the national political climate toward abortion access continued to sour, Maryland pushed in the opposite direction during the 2023 session, passing four bills to protect patients and abortion care providers and expand access to reproductive health care and contraception.

Six applicants for an open delegate seat representing District 39 in the Maryland General Assembly made their case for why they should head to Annapolis during a public forum hosted by the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) Wednesday. The candidates–including a current member of the central committee–answered questions submitted by members of their district. There are three delegate seats in the district representing parts of Germantown and Montgomery Village.

A state delegate from Baltimore is accused of misdemeanor assault stemming from something that happened at a public event in November, court records show. An attendee of the event, Vann Millhouse, wrote in an application for charges dated March 7 that Del. Caylin Young twice put his hands on Millhouse and “physically removed” them from a public event held at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum.

The county executive’s $4.9 billion budget proposes salary increases for county government staff, free college for households making less than $150,000, and raises for new teachers. “The budget I am introducing today builds on our new standards of excellence — and continues our commitment to strengthen education, investing in our infrastructure and recognizing the efforts of the incredible people who make a better Baltimore County possible,” Johnny Olszewski Jr. said to a room full of county leaders and residents in Towson on Thursday.

The mayor, who is entering his third year in office, launched the campaign with a participatory tour of DPW sites across the city. In Frankford, he donned a reflective vest and drove a milling machine alongside Councilwoman Danielle McCray down Cedella Avenue. In Coldstream Homestead Montebello, he joined Councilwoman Odette Ramos and city graffiti crews in rolling paint across several blighted Harford Road properties.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott spoke on Thursday about his decision to enforce a youth curfew heading into the summer months. During an event to kick off a spring cleanup effort citywide, Scott was asked why he would enforce the curfew. This comes after he made a comment earlier in the week that the curfew won’t stop the kind of violence seen at the Inner Harbor Sunday when two teenagers were injured by gunfire.