Same-sex couples could already get married in Maryland before the U.S. Supreme Court extended the right nationwide nine years ago, but the numbers have risen sharply since the ruling was handed down in Obergefell v. Hodges. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there were about 4,400 same-sex married couples in Maryland in 2012, the year before the state made it legal.
The Prince George’s County Council has approved an expedited schedule for the special elections to replace former Council Member Jamel “Mel” Franklin, who was charged last week with multiple counts in what authorities said was a campaign theft scheme. Under the schedule approved in a special meeting of the council Tuesday, would-be candidates will have until July 5 to file a certificate of candidacy with the Board of Elections to run in the special primary election that was set for Aug. 6.
President Joe Biden is pardoning US veterans who were convicted by the military over a 60-year period under a military law that banned gay sex, three US officials told CNN. In a statement on Wednesday, Biden said he was “righting an historic wrong” by pardoning service members “who were convicted simply for being themselves.”
Americans are paying too much for prescription drugs. It is a common, longstanding complaint. And the culprits seem obvious: Drug companies. Insurers. A dysfunctional federal government. But there is another collection of powerful forces that often escape attention, because they operate in the bowels of the health care system and cloak themselves in such opacity and complexity that many people don’t even realize they exist.
Frederick police officers have a new agreement with the city that includes a pay increase over the next three years, and creates a new rank for veteran officers. The city’s aldermen on Thursday approved new collective bargaining agreements for both commissioned and non-commissioned officers between the city and Francis Scott Key Lodge 91 of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents members of the Frederick Police Department.
Annapolis City Council members are raising concerns about environmental risks associated with land being considered for affordable housing on the site of the old Department of Public Works building on Spa Road. At the beginning of May, the council sought to incorporate the Public Works property into a 722-home mixed-income neighborhood envisioned in a federally approved plan to redevelop two Eastport communities.
Anti-trans comments from Easton Town Council members over the past several weeks have unified residents to combat discrimination. At a Town Council meeting in late May, Council President Frank Gunsallus said that the town shouldn’t use taxpayer dollars to purchase new Pride flags, which he said are representative of a “socialist ideology.”
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy declared gun violence a public health crisis Tuesday and called on the nation to address it with the same vigor used to reduce deaths and injuries from tobacco and motor vehicle crashes. The surgeon general’s advisory marked the first time the nation’s leading voice on public health — the same office that in the 1960s highlighted the lethal consequences of cigarette smoking — had issued an urgent pronouncement on deaths related to firearms.
Vice President Kamala Harris (D) stood in Ritchie Coliseum at the University of Maryland, College Park underneath a blue banner that said “Trust WOMEN” in large white text. Just underneath, in significantly smaller text, was a disclaimer: “Paid for by Biden for President.” At the Monday campaign event doubling as an abortion rights rally, supporters held hundreds of “Biden-Harris” or “reproductive freedom” signs.
Maryland’s Senate race is one of a handful of federal races poised to decide which political party wins control over Congress. That means there’s plenty of polling, as the candidates and other interested parties search for indications of which way voters will go. Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan and Democrat and Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks are vying for the open seat, along with Libertarian Party candidate Mike Scott and independent candidate Emmanuel O. Osuchukwu.
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