Politics

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman issued a statement Thursday criticizing a mass text sent to parents that he said contained “disinformation about the status of masks” in public schools. The county executive said the text message was sent Tuesday evening to a “number of families” throughout the county. “The message contained intentionally inaccurate and misleading information designed to confuse parents and students,” he said.

Baltimore’s top public defender, Natasha Dartigue, will leave to become the Maryland public defender in July, the agency’s board of trustees announced Thursday. Dartigue, who is serving in her Baltimore role in an interim capacity, is replacing retiring Public Defender Paul B. DeWolfe and will serve a six-year term. The board selected Dartigue, a first-generation American, after a job search that started earlier this year.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen is recovering after suffering a minor stroke over the weekend. In a statement, Van Hollen extended his gratitude to those who reached out to wish him well after the episode, which was described as a “small stroke.” “I’m on the mend and on track for a full recovery, and following my doctors’ orders, I’ll begin to ease back into my schedule,” the senator’s statement said in part.

One of the 10 Democratic candidates for governor of Maryland wants to offer job training and even college scholarships to Baltimore’s “squeegee kids.” Rushern Baker is proposing giving the youth who clean windshields on city streets jobs at state government centers and construction projects. In a news conference, Baker also proposed to offer one-year scholarships to state universities or community colleges, as well as offer job training to these workers.

Baltimore has almost 15,000 vacant homes, and many believe the disinvestment contributes to the city’s soaring violence.  One homeowner, Darryl Brown, told WJZ he regrets ever buying a rowhouse as an investment property in the troubled Carrollton Ridge neighborhood in Southwest Baltimore.  He said his purchase at auction last year turned into a nightmare with multiple unsuccessful legal battles to evict squatters.

Top state, local and university officials gathered on the University of Maryland Baltimore County campus on Wednesday to celebrate the recent transfer of state-run Spring Grove Hospital Center grounds to the university. “One, two, three, money!” University of Maryland Baltimore County President Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski III, Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) and others exclaimed as they took a picture holding a framed aerial photograph of the university and hospital campuses. Last week, the Board of Public Works voted 2-1 to lease Spring Grove Hospital Center to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for $1. The lease will last up to 10 years, with an ability to extend it for another 10.

As a Republican state lawmaker in a conservative district a decade ago, Kelly Schulz sponsored and voted for bills that would have restricted women’s access to abortions in Maryland. But as a candidate for governor in a blue state as a landmark legal decision giving women that right appears poised to be struck down, she’s vowing a different approach. “The laws that are in place right now, I will do nothing in my office to be able to change that,” Schulz said Tuesday when asked about her record in the House of Delegates and what she would do if she’s elected and the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.