FEMA GRANT CANCELLATIONS TO COST MARYLAND MILLIONS: The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced this month that it is canceling a popular grant program that provides hundreds of millions of dollars each year to states for projects designed to protect local communities from the effects of natural disasters. Maryland officials say the program’s cancellation will cost the state millions slated for projects across the state. Rachel Baye/WYPR-FM.
STATE SEEKS TO IMPROVE PROTECTIONS FOR BAY BRIDGE AFTER NTSB REPORT: The Chesapeake Bay Bridge does not meet a modern risk threshold for vessel collisions, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, but MDTA officials say that the bridge itself is safe and well maintained. This update comes from the Maryland Transportation Authority in response to a report issued by the NTSB last month. Caroline Foreback and Christian Olaniran/WJZ-TV.
- State transportation officials said they are working on strategies to protect the two bridges over the Chesapeake Bay following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.
MOORE EXPECTED TO SIGN BILL TO ALLOW SOME CRIMINAL RECORDS TO BE CLEARED: On Tuesday, Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, is expected to sign a bill he pushed known as the Expungement Reform Act of 2025. The legislation will allow for expungement when someone violates probation in some situations as well as make three new charges eligible for expungement. The measure when enacted will also shield more cases from public view in the Maryland Judiciary Case Search. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.
CHILD WELFARE ADVOCATES SEE HOPE IN LEGISLATION: Maryland foster children placed in hotels or left to linger in hospitals for days or weeks when no other options are available may soon see some relief. Legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly has child welfare advocates cautiously optimistic about efforts to increase options for children housed in hotels, office buildings, hospitals and other temporary settings when home isn’t safe. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.
LEGACY ACT WOULD IMPROVE BAY WATER QUALITY: The Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act, a bill introduced by the Moore-Miller administration in February that seeks to improve the Chesapeake Bay’s water quality, is one step closer to becoming a reality. The bill was sent to Gov. Wes Moore’s desk earlier this month after being passed by Maryland lawmakers. Janay Reece/WJZ-TV.
COLUMN: WHERE ARE THE MORE THAN 200,000 MARYLANDERS WITH GUN CARRY PERMITS?More than 200,540 Maryland residents have a state permit to carry a handgun in public, according to the Maryland State Police. That’s equivalent to 3% of the state population — but it is more than a fourfold increase from just five years ago. The number dwarfs the number of state and local police officers in Maryland — 20,000 — and is larger than the combined populations of the cities of Columbia, Frederick and Annapolis. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.
SUPREMES TO HEAR MO CO CASE ON PARENTAL CONTROL OVER PUBLIC ED: Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court are set for Tuesday in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case arising from Montgomery County with broad implications for a debate that has sowed discord in school systems nationwide: How much say should parents have in their children’s public education? And where should public school administrators draw the line? Nicole Asbury/The Washington Post.
- The court will determine whether Montgomery County elementary school parents are deprived of the right to freely exercise their religion when they’re not allowed to opt their children out of reading books that they say go against their faith. Kristen Griffith/The Baltimore Banner.
- To the scores of religious, legal and educational groups across the country who have filed friend-of-the-court briefs, it’s a case with national implications. “Whatever rule the Court promulgates in this case will apply far beyond the circumstances of this dispute,” says a 30-page brief filed on behalf of the School Superintendents Association, Consortium of State School Boards Associations, Council of the Great City Schools and National School Attorneys Association. That brief does not support either side in the dispute, but asks the justices to tread carefully. William Ford/Maryland Matters.
HOWARD EXEC BALL’s BUDGET PLAN REFLECTS FEDERAL, STATE TROUBLES: Howard County Executive Calvin Ball on Monday proposed a $2.3 billion operating budget for the next fiscal year, recommending $100 million in spending cuts to mitigate “extraordinary fiscal headwinds” at the federal and state level. Ball’s proposal signals economic nervousness in one of the state’s most affluent counties at a time when President Donald Trump has directed officials to shrink the size of the federal workforce and budget. Lillian Reed and Jess Nocera/The Baltimore Banner.
TRUMP TARIFFS IMPACT MARYLAND’s FLORAL INDUSTRY: Spring’s weddings, graduations and Mother’s Day normally keep florists busy — but it’s not business as usual as the Trump administration implements a 10% tariff on flower exporting countries. Bria Overs/The Baltimore Banner.
ABREGO GARCIA’s WIFE MOVED TO SAFE HOUSE: The wife of Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration, has been moved to a safe house by supporters after U.S. officials posted a court document on social media that included the family’s address. María Luisa Paúl/The Washington Post.
ABREGO GARCIA NOW HELD IN LOWER SECURITY PRISON IN EL SALVADOR: Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom the Trump administration said was deported to El Salvador because of an “administrative error,” is now being detained at a lower security facility in Santa Ana, El Salvador, said Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen. Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national who lived in Maryland, was transferred from the notorious CECOT prison to the administration building at Centro Industrial, where he has his own room with a bed and furniture, rather than a prison cell. Tara Lynch/WJZ-TV.
MORE DEMOCRATS TRAVEL TO EL SALVADOR : Four House Democrats have traveled to El Salvador to call attention to the plight of a Maryland man the Trump administration deported to a Salvadoran prison and has refused to help return — even after the Supreme Court ruled that it was the government’s duty to do so. Marcos Aleman and Matt Brown/The Associated Press.
PASADENA POWER PLANT CLOSING SPURS ANOTHER POWER LINE ISSUE: It’s the “other” power line controversy in Baltimore County and it’s fueled by plans to take a coal-fired power plant in Anne Arundel County offline. According to BGE, the Brandon Shores power plant in Pasadena is scheduled to go offline in December of 2028. To make up for that lost power, BGE wants to import more electricity from out of state, and says it needs upgraded power lines to do that. John Lee/WYPR-FM.
