Politics

Police are investigating threatening symbols scrawled on a lawn sign in Laurel for U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks, according to her campaign. A crosshairs was drawn on the forehead of the image of Alsobrooks on a campaign sign in the 13000 block of Laurel-Bowie Road, according to a photo posted on X by Shomari Stone, an anchor and reporter for FOX5 in Washington. “KKK” was written on the sign in black.

Longtime Prince George’s County Council Member Jamel “Mel” Franklin (D) resigned Friday, according to a statement released that evening. No reason was given for the resignation. County Council Administrator Jennifer A. Jenkins said in the statement that Franklin’s “presence will be greatly missed.” Franklin began his service on the all-Democratic council in 2010. In his first two terms, through 2018, he represented parts of southern Prince George’s known as “South County.”

The Maryland Democratic Party has launched two billboards in Baltimore to highlight former President Donald Trump’s new support of Republican Larry Hogan — the latest sign, just over 24 hours after Trump’s statement, that Democrats think the former president is a liability to Hogan’s chances in Maryland’s U.S. Senate race.

The Anne Arundel County Council adopted a $2.31 billion operating budget Friday for fiscal year 2025 that increases spending, boosts the starting pay of police officers and provides new teaching positions. County Executive Steuart Pittman proposed a $2.31 billion budget May 1, a spending plan with an 8.2% increase from the $2.14 billion budget approved for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

Over the past several decades, the presiding officers in the Maryland General Assembly have either been lawyers, business owners or longtime local government employees. So it seems significant that Senate President Bill Ferguson (D-Baltimore City) has just taken a job as general counsel and senior vice president with a renewable energy company.

Former President Donald Trump is backing Larry Hogan for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat — a potentially polarizing move in the competitive race. Trump’s support was first reported by Fox News on Thursday afternoon, and came after the former president met with Republicans on Capitol Hill. Fox reporter Aishah Hasnie asked the former president if he would support Hogan’s run. Trump responded: “I’m about the party and I’m about the country.

Facing pressure from housing advocates, state policymakers and local developers, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. on Thursday vetoed a contested County Council bill that sought to mitigate overcrowding in some county schools. Olszewski said he wants to work with Baltimore County Public Schools and the council to come up with a better bill.

His latest mayoral bid may be over, but Thiru Vignarajah is not going away quietly. This week, the Baltimore City Board of Elections cleared Vignarajah to begin collecting signatures on a petition for a ballot question that could undermine the current plan to redevelop Harborplace. The question, which was reviewed by the board’s attorney for legal sufficiency, would ask voters to establish under the city’s charter a system of city parks dedicated in perpetuity in hopes of protecting them from “certain private, commercial development.”