Local government

The Banner looked at how similar policies played out in Philadelphia and nearby Prince George’s County.

More than halfway into his first term, Mayor Brandon Scott pitched Baltimoreans a renaissance of expanded city services, including longer recreation center hours and the return of weekly curbside recycling at Monday night’s State of the City address.

Investors, residents and business owners say crime concerns and a lack of vision are hurting the Central Business District in the wake of the pandemic.

The volume of twigs, leaves and weeds collected has dropped since the county required them to be in paper bags. But the move away from plastic bags had other benefits, officials say.

Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s proposed budget would give Baltimore County schools most, but not all, the funds the system requested.

Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater said in a statement that the federal conspiracy charges against Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Jenkins are “serious and disturbing.”

The controversial tool has been on Baltimore’s books for more than 20 years, but has been enforced only sporadically.

Baltimore needs to establish a Land Bank Authority to bring more investment to underserved neighborhoods, says Krystle Okafor, director of policy and planning at SHARE Baltimore.

Policy requires kids under 14 to be home by 9 p.m., and kids between 14 and 16 to be home by 11 p.m. between Memorial Day and the last Sunday of August.

Archbishop William Lori's homily at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen came just four days after the release of the Attorney General's years-long investigation into sexual abuse and cover-up in Maryland churches.

Mayor Brandon Scott should remove Baltimore homeowner properties from the tax sale auction, as he did last year, Allison Harris, director of the Home Preservation Project at the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland, says. Campuses of historically Black colleges in Maryland are among those urgently in need of modernization, Paul Clary, co-founder of MD Energy Advisors, says; the work of the state Attorney General's Office in the Baltimore Archdiocese sex abuse investigation merits praise, a city resident says.

City officials voiced concern about the financial impact of ending tax sales after learning that Baltimore faced a $79 million increase in education spending — an unanticipated cost that Mayor Brandon Scott likened to a ”gut punch.”

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley and DaJuan Gay sparred at a recent council meeting over the alderman’s state of mind, and whether the mayor was out of line.

Maskell is accused of abusing at least 39 people and doing nothing about colleagues who also abused children.

For the first time since the Great Recession, the city will balance its budget by tapping a reserve fund typically used for legal settlements.

A state investigation into the Fleischmann’s Vinegar plant in North Baltimore was prompted by complaints from Blue Water Baltimore, which also filed a lawsuit against the company this week.

This time all five members of the board were in the room. But there was no discussion, and no vote taken.

Baltimore and Maryland school officials need to reverse course and keep Steuart Hill Academic Academy open, a leader of a community activist group says. Cecilia Gonzalez says children and families of the West Baltimore neighborhood surrounding Steuart Hill have been well-served by the elementary school.

“I don’t want to leave anybody behind," said Sharon Colburn, who directs animal services in Baltimore.

The vote comes after a Feb. 14 report sparked protests and calls for the county auditor’s termination over a description of race.