Politics

Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful Angela Alsobrooks will launch her first television ad of the general election Thursday with a message her campaign intends to continue pushing until November: Control of the Senate could come down to her matchup with Republican Larry Hogan. In a state that hasn’t elected a Republican senator since 1980, the race between the two-term Prince George’s County executive and the former two-term governor is the most competitive in decades.

Baltimore’s mayor said Department of Public Works employees will get the resources to safely do their jobs amid a damning new report released Tuesday by the inspector general. Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Cumming said in her report that she found potentially dangerous working conditions in some DPW facilities.

U.S. Sens. Christopher Van Hollen and Benjamin Cardin along with Congressmen Steny H. Hoyer, Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie Raskin, David Trone and Glenn Ivey, all Maryland Democrats, Wednesday announced $10 million in federal funding for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to construct approximately 50 acres of reefs within existing oyster sanctuaries in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman vetoed portions of a comprehensive rezoning plan that would have changed the zoning and land uses for properties on Shot Town Road, a historically Black neighborhood on Broadneck Peninsula, and on Ember Road in Pasadena, his first legislative rejections since taking office in 2018.

Vice President Harris is on a glide path to the 2024 Democratic nomination just two days after President Biden’s decision to end his campaign. Despite some talk about a contested race, Harris faces no high-profile opponents yet and has already amassed the support of more than two-thirds of delegates — well more than the majority she needs. Her nomination could become official via a virtual vote as early as next week.

Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order Tuesday directing state agencies to use “plain language” that provides clear and brief information on any documents or websites from state government aimed at the average reader in Maryland. Moore signed the four-page order – with eight whereas clauses and nine subsections – to make government websites and services easier to read and access in recognition of the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act later this week.

As a key deadline nears, a half dozen Baltimore County Democratic lawmakers have thrown their weight behind a proposal to expand the Baltimore County Council by four seats. If successful, the grassroots effort could place a second charter amendment related to the size of the council on the Nov. 5 ballot. On July 1, the county council passed a bill asking voters to approve expanding the council by two seats in the next election.