Politics

When Ohio transportation officials got the bids back in spring for the next phase of an expansion of Interstate 75 north of Cincinnati, they had a rude awakening. Inflation had driven up the mega-project’s cost by about $100 million above the $171 million state engineers had estimated. Officials decided to redesign the project, break it up into smaller phases and rebid it, putting off construction until the fall of 2023. Ohio transportation officials are getting nearly $2 billion over five years from the $1.2 trillion federal bipartisan infrastructure law. But so far, the money they’ve received “has largely been gobbled up by inflation,” said Matt Bruning, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Transportation. “It didn’t take all of it, but we’re pretty close to a net sum zero because of it.”

Entrepreneurs seeking to innovate in the mid-Atlantic’s aerospace and defense sector now have some extra consolidated support thanks to the State of Maryland and federal government. The U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation granted the Maryland Department of Commerce $641, 573, with part of the funds being used to restart the Defense Commercialization (DefTech) Center. The resurrected program will now be administered by the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), the state-connected investment vehicle for tech companies across the state.

The Maryland Attorney General’s office filed suit Thursday against the St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission — the county’s sewer authority — over continued sewage spills, requesting a financial penalty and a court order requiring sewer system upgrades. “We have charged MetCom with multiple violations of the most fundamental laws that protect public health and the environment,” Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a statement. “Releasing raw sewage could not be more dangerous. We will hold them accountable.”

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan further teased his presidential ambitions Wednesday, throwing himself a fundraising party with supporters at a casino and taking a victory lap on his two terms as a popular Republican governor in a deeply Democratic state. At an event that celebrated his past eight years and contemplated his political future, the governor laid out his case for a White House run before 1,500 people packed into a ballroom at Maryland Live Casino and Hotel, but he stopped short of declaring a candidacy.

The Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities has issued a reprimand to a Baltimore judge for making political contributions and failing to cooperate with disciplinary authorities. District Judge Flynn M. Owens donated $50 in 2021 to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, who ran for governor and lost. Owens then contributed $100 in 2022 to Thiru Vignarajah, a former Maryland deputy attorney general who unsuccessfully ran for Baltimore state’s attorney, according to campaign finance disclosure reports.

A divided council this week agreed to drafting an ordinance that would, if approved, allow for the rental of electric bicycles, or e-bikes, in the resort. For the last couple of months, the Mayor and Council have been wrestling with several issues related to the proliferation of e-bikes. In 2020, the Mayor and Council narrowly passed an ordinance prohibiting all classes of e-bikes on the Boardwalk at all times, including the hours when regular bicycles and other pedal-assisted vehicles are allowed.

Republican County Council member Jessica Haire spent more than $2.2 million over the past two years on her failed bid to defeat incumbent County Executive Steuart Pittman, according to campaign finance documents. Pittman, a Democrat, spent about $1.6 million on the race over the same period, from January 2021 through Nov. 15, the finance reports show. He won reelection by more than 15,000 votes over Haire, a first-term legislator from Edgewater, thanks to a wave of support among mail-in voters. He will be inaugurated for his second four-year term on Dec. 5 at Crownsville Hospital Park.