Politics

The group that backed a successful petition drive to get term limits approved by Baltimore voters last fall said Tuesday it’s likely to make a second push to get recall elections on the ballot next year.
Officials with People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement, a political action committee funded almost entirely by Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. Chairman David Smith, said they are holding a series of town hall meetings in Baltimore City Council districts to gather input on potential ballot questions.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller threw more than $4 million worth of inaugural celebrations in January that were financed in large part by donations from corporations and wealthy power brokers. The Moore Miller Inaugural Committee accepted nearly $4.6 million in ticket sales and donations, and spent about $4.3 million, mostly on a party for several thousand supporters in downtown Baltimore.

When he was studying at Morgan State, Maryland Rep. Kweisi Mfume joined Black students around the country during the civil rights movement in the push to see their own history taught in the classroom. Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, civil rights leaders were faced with the question: “Where do we go from here?” he recalled.

A bill that would expand the offshore wind energy industry in Maryland has been co-sponsored by more than half the members of a key House committee — including 13 of the panel’s 17 Democrats — and by the powerful chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Energy and the Environment. It aligns with the environmental and economic development priorities of the state’s new governor. It’s been endorsed by a robust coalition of business leaders, organized labor, environmental groups and others.

Josh Siems died from an overdose on his 31st birthday in October, after years of battling an opioid addiction. Although his family said he exhibited all of the signs of a fentanyl overdose and even had the deadly drug on him, Siems, who grew up in Baltimore, wasn’t tested for it

Security guards across Maryland might soon have to meet higher standards and qualifications to work in that particular field. There’s a bill proposed in the House of Delegates that would require all people who provide security services, even bouncers at bars and nightclubs, to be certified and licensed by the state. It would set minimum training standards for all potential security guards in terms of de-escalation tactics through state police. Applicants would have to undergo training every three years.

The Cannabis Reform Act of 2023 is expected to hit the floor of the Maryland House of Delegates on Tuesday accompanied by amendments, as the bill to prop up an adult-use recreational marijuana market progresses through the General Assembly. With more edits still possible, lawmakers pushed the bill out of the House Economic Matters Committee last week, voting 16-5 along party lines. Three delegates were excused from voting.