Politics

The race for Maryland’s U.S. Senate seat is heating up. One day after a Washington Post poll was released, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks’ campaign released a new ad focusing on her work as a former prosecutor. In the ad, Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates endorses Alsobrooks to fill the seat of current U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, who is not seeking re-election.

Life with Sybil DiMaggio was, in a nutshell, energetic. Days would start with music blasting in the house — the construction inspector and her husband, George Durm, bonded over their love for the rock band 311 — and would continue with gardening and canning activities, her husband said. She was “outdoorsy” with her personal and professional life, doing mosquito control and municipal jobs for a while before continuing to her work on the highway.

A 13-year veteran of the Maryland General Assembly is leaving her post in May after just one year in the Maryland Senate. Sen. Ariana B. Kelly (D-Montgomery) announced Wednesday night that she will leave the Senate to become the executive director of the Maryland Commission for Women, beginning on May 6.

Lawmakers are evaluating what expertise is needed to lead the Maryland Board of Nursing, as they consider legislation that would remove a requirement that the executive director have a registered nursing license to qualify for the position. The board oversees nursing professionals across the state and ensures that nurses are complying with state and federal laws within the profession, according to the fiscal note for the bill. They also manage the licensing process for nurses.

Alsobrooks, who has endorsements from heavy-hitters in Maryland’s political establishment, is seen positively by a 3-to-1 margin by registered voters in her county, including Prince George’s resident Ariel Barnes, 30.
Barnes said she likes the accountability Alsobrooks took for the condition of schools, even though the issues predated the county executive’s tenure. And Barnes, who works in finance, said Alsobrooks appears to be more approachable and relatable as a mother and everyday citizen than the high-profile men in the race.

About 20 Baltimore County residents crowded into a conference room at a library branch in Woodlawn to plead for representation that looked more like them. The County Council has had seven members since its founding in 1956. Since then, the county’s population has more than tripled, from 270,273 to 854,535, according to a work group looking at the question of expanding the council.

A program that will sell city-owned vacant homes for $1 was approved Wednesday by the Baltimore Board of Estimates over objections from City Council President Nick Mosby who said the policy “deeply concerned” him. The new pricing structure, which was approved by a vote of 4-1, would sell a small group of city-owned homes listed on the Buy Into Bmore website for rates starting at $1.

House Democrats on Wednesday advanced their plan to raise roughly $1.3 billion through tax and fee increases, batting back opposition from Republicans and moving ahead on policies that Senate Democrats and Gov. Wes Moore have said they won’t support. The House of Delegates is expected to pass its spending and revenue plan on Thursday, paving the way for meetings next week with Senate budget negotiators to iron out differences in approach between the two chambers.