Politics

The Baltimore City Council has scheduled a series of hearings to discuss the city’s response to a Labor Day weekend E. coli outbreak in a portion of the city’s drinking water system. The hearings, which will begin Thursday at 1 p.m. and continue for the following two Thursdays, were called by the council’s Rules and Legislative Oversight Committee at the request of Councilman Eric Costello. Costello said the administration’s “unclear and inconsistent” communication of information with the public led to widespread confusion.

The group of U.S. House Democrats asking the chamber’s leaders not to include environmental permitting changes in a stopgap spending deal this month comprises 77 members, including senior leaders of budget and spending committees and factions across the caucus’ ideological spectrum. The 77 signers on a letter sent late last week and updated Monday make up a third of the House Democratic caucus, which currently stands at 219.

Johns Hopkins University graduate students Danielle Nicklas, left, and Alexis Lowe, right, are behind a recent health care innovations designed to make life easier for women. The inventors of both products took part last spring in a nine-week accelerator program at Hopkins’ FastForward U entrepreneurship hub.

Local residents may challenge in court a Calvert County commission’s zoning decision they allege was unlawfully reached based on the vote of a commissioner with a personal stake in the outcome, their attorney told a skeptical Maryland high court Monday. During oral arguments, many of the Court of Appeals judges appeared ready to accept G. Macy Nelson’s argument that the residents have “taxpayer standing” to challenge Commissioner Kelly D. McConkey’s controversial vote.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools is considering a plan to switch to virtual learning on days with inclement weather. Superintendent Mark Bedell said no one plans to get rid of snow days altogether, but there is still much to be explored with the new learning tool. Last school year was extended through June 24 due to eight inclement weather days. During Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting, Chief Communications Officer Bob Mosier reviewed guidelines set by the Maryland State Department of Education, which dictate how virtual instruction can be used for the current academic year.

Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan’s small staff works from a windowless basement office beneath the historic Towson courthouse, fielding complaints, conducting interviews and writing investigative reports. Since the office launched in 2020, its work has brought scrutiny to various corners of county government — including its highest levels. Now the watchdog agency is set to expand, with increased county funds to double the staff from three to six people. “I’m really excited,” Madigan said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun this summer. “It’s going to be growth. It’s necessary growth.” Her office’s workload has swelled, with the number of annual complaints nearly doubling over the past year, to 155.

Two years after the launch of a major push to improve bus and rail service throughout the state, the Maryland Transit Administration has unveiled a list of potential north-south projects in the Baltimore region. The seven potential alignments released on Thursday were prepared in coordination with Baltimore and Baltimore County. As with the potential east-west projects unveiled over the summer, officials hope the list generates feedback from the public. The state’s top transit official said local input was helpful in crafting alternatives that have the potential to move people between Towson and Baltimore City equitably.

Wes Moore is a very popular guy these days. As the favorite to replace term-limited Gov. Larry Hogan (R), the Democratic nominee for governor is the object of fascination for an array of corporate, civic, philanthropic and political leaders – in Maryland, in the region, and across the country – and they are eager to get to know and curry favor with him. One way to accomplish this goal is to throw a fundraiser for Moore and his running mate, former state Del. Aruna Miller (D-Montgomery). Moore already has been a prolific fundraiser. His campaign finance reports to date have totaled hundreds of pages each and his campaign has attracted thousands of donors, large and small, from Maryland and from out of state.