Politics

The city of Frederick’s Department of Housing and Human Services will serve as a host site for the inaugural class of participants in the state’s Service Year Option and Maryland Corps programs, the state said Thursday. The programs, launched by Gov. Wes Moore in late October, allow people to spend nine months serving Maryland communities in exchange for hourly wages and a $6,000 stipend upon completion. The stipend can be used to cover the costs associated with higher education.

About two weeks ago, WBAL TV got early access to an interactive map that shows hundreds of thousands of homes in Baltimore could have lead drinking water pipes. The dots on the map, published by the Baltimore Service Line Partnership, do not mean all those homes in Baltimore and Baltimore County have lead water pipes. Instead, they indicate that local officials don’t know whether the water pipes are made of lead or another material.

Mayor Levar Stoney filed paperwork this week to run for Virginia governor in 2025, becoming the second Democrat to join the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Stoney has not formally announced for the office but has indicated that he will do so by the end of the year. Kevin Zeithaml, the mayor’s senior adviser, declined to comment Wednesday when asked about the campaign filing, which was made Monday.

A deadline is looming at the end of the year for Maryland to decide whether to keep or replace the troubled, for-profit company that provides medical care in state prisons and the Baltimore City jail complex. For the past five years, a company formerly known as Corizon Health has been responsible for treating more than 15,000 people incarcerated in state prisons and about 2,000 people being held in the city jails and other pretrial facilities in Baltimore.

The Frederick County Council is considering legislation that would allow people who are not registered to vote in Frederick County to serve on certain boards and commissions. Since 2012, an ordinance passed by the Board of County Commissioners — the precursor to the County Council — required that members of all boards and commissions be residents of Frederick County who are registered voters.

Democratic candidates seeking the U.S. Senate seat continued their push for support through a new ad, an endorsement in the city of Baltimore and a gathering with supporters in Florida. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) released his ninth campaign ad Saturday, the same week the congressman received an official endorsement from the National Education Association. The 60-second video entitled “Teachers” features public school educators, who only use their first names, summarized the need for more funding, counselors and other educational resources.

Responding to last night’s meeting about safety in Leakin Park following the assault of a 71-year-old woman, City Councilman Kristerfer Burnett has outlined a number of steps being taken to address the community’s concerns. Baltimore Police have promised increased police presence in the sprawling West Baltimore park where the November 7 incident took place. “The district commander personally committed to increasing their own patrols in the park,” said Burnett, whose 8th District includes the park.

The 11-member Montgomery County Council on Tuesday expressed unanimous support for a zoning change that would allow developers to forgo parking spaces when building new housing near public transportation. Council members on Tuesday said the move is intended to encourage residents to go car-free and reduce the cost of new housing to tackle two of the county’s most pressing concerns: the climate crisis and the affordable housing shortage.