Politics

The Baltimore County executive told Bryan Nehman and Dan Joseph that the county lost few businesses during the pandemic. John Olszewski Jr. said that with business being brisk, “we are seeing a significant interest in attending the county events, our fairs, our festivals, shopping at our stores, dining at our restaurants.” Olszewski said county grants and federal help meant a big boost to businesses and that the count lost few if any businesses during the height of COVID-19.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is set to announce new details Wednesday in the city’s guaranteed income pilot program. The mayor announced in his State of the City address earlier this month that applications will open May 2 for the program. The program was originally set to launch last Fall. Few details are known about Baltimore’s pilot program, but similar programs in other cities have given a small number of households a guaranteed income of $500-$1,000 a month over 18-24 months.

Baltimore County Council Chairman Julian Jones violated county policy when some of his official emails to constituents included a “donate” button for his political campaign, an investigation by the county inspector general found. A report released Tuesday by Inspector General Kelly Madigan concluded that between April 2021 and January 2022, at least 40 of Jones’ emails to constituents contained a link to a campaign contribution page.

The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee on Tuesday picked one of its own, Aaron Kaufman, to fill a vacancy on the July 19 primary ballot. The committee’s appointment process was undertaken in a rush after current Del. Al Carr (D) chose to withdraw from re-election at the last minute and run instead for County Council. Because of redistricting-related delays in the state’s 2022 primary process, the committee had only four days — over a holiday weekend — to designate a new candidate for the ballot.

Marylanders will likely not see an increase on their state property taxes in the coming year. The Commission on State Debt on Tuesday recommended no increase for the fiscal 2023 tax rate. The panel approved the rate without discussion in a roughly 5-minute meeting. “Don’t get used to (meetings) going this quickly,” state Budget Secretary David Brinkley said to Treasurer Dereck Davis.

Donna F. Edwards, the former congresswoman for Maryland’s 4th District, has pulled in more than $600,000 in donations since announcing her bid in January to regain her old seat — leading the field this quarter in what is expected to be the state’s most competitive Democratic primary. Edwards’s total was more than twice the haul of her nearest competitor, Glenn Ivey, in roughly the same period. But Ivey, former Prince George’s County state’s attorney, finished the first quarter with more cash on hand, setting him up to compete with Edwards in what marks something of a congressional rematch.

A former Maryland mayor who admitted to posting nude photos of his ex-girlfriend on Reddit will not have to spend time behind bars under a plea deal announced Monday by the state prosecutor’s office. Former Cambridge Mayor Andrew Bradshaw pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing revenge porn online and was sentenced to a year and a day for each of the five counts, with all of the incarceration time suspended. He also was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and fined $1,000 for each count.

Regarding his 2023 budget proposal, Harford County’s Executive, Barry Glassman, spoke on the “historic” aspect of the plan with Bryan Nehman and Dan Joseph on Monday morning. The $1.2 billion plan includes nearly $325 million for public education, $187 million in funding for public safety and a 5-cent cut on the property tax rate.