Politics

Latecomers found themselves stuck in the hallway or sitting on the floor Thursday night as constituents packed Poolesville Town Hall for the Maryland 6th Congressional District Republican Candidates Forum. The event was the first of this election cycle attended by candidates Dan Cox, the 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee, and Neil Parrott, a former state delegate who ran unsuccessfully for the 6th District seat in 2020 and 2022.

In 2018, Larry Hogan followed a seldom-traveled route to become the first Republican in 70 years to be reelected Maryland governor. He prevailed by presenting a low-key brand of moderation to win critically needed, crossover Democratic votes in one of the nation’s bluest states. Now, Hogan seems poised to adopt a similar approach in his recently announced U.S. Senate campaign, decrying partisan labels and distancing himself from the state Republican Party. But though he is navigating a similar path, the surrounding landscape looks different.

At the Casa Rubén Foundation’s mobile clinic, a six-year-old patient came in with a condition Dr. Ligia Peralta said was completely preventable with proper access to care. The child had a cold, a stuffy nose and a cough that wouldn’t let up. By the time his parents brought the child in to see Peralta, he had developed an infection of the sinuses and accompanying complications: an abscess and a bone infection.

A recent poll of Maryland voters suggests broad support for proposed medical aid-in-dying legislation, a widely-debated bill that would a qualifying terminally ill patients to prompt their own death through the help of a physician. Compassion and Choices, a nonprofit advocacy group pushing for aid-in-dying legislation across the U.S., commissioned Annapolis-based Gonzales Research & Media to survey Maryland voters on the issue.

Even as lawmakers scramble during fiscally tight times to maximize funding for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, legislative analysts are recommending temporarily withholding $150,000 from the Moore administration’s funding recommendation. A Maryland Senate subcommittee held a budget hearing Friday to review updates on the state’s education reform plan. A House subcommittee will follow suit on Monday.

Gov. Wes Moore and the top prosecutors for Baltimore City and Prince George’s County will take part Monday evening in a panel discussion of juvenile justice issues in Maryland in a live program on WBFF-TV in Baltimore. Armstrong Williams, co-owner of The Baltimore Sun and commentator, will moderate the show at 7 p.m.

A plan to limit police use of facial recognition technology is likely on track to pass in this year’s session of the Maryland General Assembly, capping a multiyear effort with a compromise that’s drawn support from both law enforcement and public defenders. “The world’s going to end,” Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger joked during a hearing Tuesday in which he supported the legislation.

Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller is a dog person — so it should be no surprise that she and her family have just welcomed a new puppy into their lives. Poe, an about 4-month-old Australian shepherd, came from Whiteford in Harford County about two weeks ago. She was the last of the litter, Miller said. In the Miller household, Poe joins Hachiko, another Australian shepherd who is about 2 years old, Miller said.