Local government

A weekly roundup of political news in Maryland.

Canceled events, emergency messages and mask-clad pedestrians harked back on Thursday to the frenzy of uncertainty in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

As marijuana laws are reformed in Maryland, measures are needed to help repair the disproportionate damage the application of those laws did to Black communities and to Black men, Banner columnist E.R. Shipp says.

Starting July 1, outdoor dining “parklets” — restaurant seating areas in public right-of-way spaces — will have new safety rules and a fee system that will charge restaurants in affluent areas more per square foot.

Tenants at a HUD-backed property are stuck in limbo as federal and city officials deal with the fallout of a consequential housing provider.

While Mayor Brandon Scott has faced criticism from advocates and researchers about the effectiveness of the controversial youth curfew, he has pushed ahead with an approach that emphasizes social services while aiming to minimize teen interactions with police.

The Banner reviewed nearly 1,000 responses to a city housing department survey that sought feedback about Baltimore’s online permitting system.

The city’s arts council, fresh off a budget hearing, finds itself in the center of unwanted attention again.

Asking the council to flex its power by moving $1 million is big — but so are many council members’ frustrations with BOPA after a year of negative headlines.

Public works officials said the city is on track to meet Mayor Brandon Scott’s pledge to reinstate weekly recycling pick-up by early 2024.

BOPA unsuccessfully tried to trademark the annual Artscape festival, much to the chagrin of city lawmakers. “The fact that BOPA made this move is just unconscionable, considering that they work for us,” Councilwoman Odette Ramos said.

The council spent most of the three-hour hearing asking City Administrator Faith Leach high-level administration questions reflective of her office’s oversight, from the mayor’s plans for shelters for unhoused Baltimoreans to delays in a planned network of cycling and pedestrian trails.

The status update on spending of Baltimore’s $641 million in COVID-19 recovery aid comes as the city’s spending has chugged along gradually but as looming federal deadlines could prompt the city to reassess parts of its spending plan.

Attorneys say state officials have “illegally and unconstitutionally” housed foster children in hospitals and restrictive institutions beyond medical necessity.

Safe Streets centers will hold events at least once a month through September, hosting cookouts, giveaways and concerts that are free to the public.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s controversial decision to reinstate curfew enforcement on weekends and holidays this summer comes in response to the city’s recent surge in teen gun violence.

The Baltimore County Council signed off on the county executive’s nearly $5 billion budget on Thursday, a spending plan that does not raise property or income taxes but continues to plow money into public schools, parks and public safety.

Baltimore County is committed to making community college tuition free, and that educational opportunity needs to be available nationwide, say Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski Jr. and Community College of Baltimore County President Sandra L. Kurtinitis.

The Howard Hughes Corp. was announced as the project’s developer and awarded a sole-source contract, meaning it was issued without a competitive bidding process, while Heatherwick Studio created the designs.

The first-term mayor has doubled down on plans to enforce a youth curfew despite concerns from criminal justice researchers and advocates that it could criminalize kids.