Local government

With severe COVID cases dropping, Maryland health officials have decided to close the State Center testing, vaccination and treatment site in downtown Baltimore.

Sponsors and supporters of the bill say it would help people who were incarcerated and later released reintegrate into society and make Maryland jury pools more representative.

The recommendation for no oversight or advisory panel sits precisely opposite changes that Olszewski sought to impose on the county’s first inspector general office in July 2021 that would have created an oversight panel appointed by himself and the council chair.

The agency has confirmed the water is now safe to drink.

The debate over a maintenance contract for Baltimore’s conduit exposed fault lines in city politics with the 2024 city elections approaching.

The group, convened by the community organization BUILD, called on Gov. Wes Moore to create a state-authorized special-purpose entity by 2024 dedicated to this work. They’re seeking $2.5 billion in public funding to tackle the problem.

McCollum is charged with multiple counts of felony theft scheme, embezzlement and perjury, the Office of the State Prosecutor announced Thursday.

After Baltimore County Police fatally shot Joseph Robert Henry Thompson 11 times, AG investigators said police “dragged” Thompson’s body by his ankle from his apartment into a hallway and did not render medical aid.

The vote culminated a dramatic series of events at Wednesday’s Board of Estimates meeting, in which the protest by Council President Nick Mosby and Comptroller Bill Henry, both critics of the deal, tried but failed to delay the decision.

The Department of Transportation is considering an annual charge of $10 per square foot

DPW said it is collecting water samples and expects test results by “Friday evening, if not sooner.”

Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill struck down the finding that Mosby took money from controlled donors, calling the evidence presented by the board’s legal team extremely weak

$6 million is sitting unclaimed in city coffers, a Baltimore Banner review shows.

Maryland’s members of Congress are touting potential sites in Landover and Greenbelt.

David Emory Linthicum had long showed signs of disorder, bitterness about his circumstances and a predilection for illicit activities, according to public records, accounts from those who knew him and his social media profiles.

The emails, obtained in a batch of records requested by The Banner, shed more light on the lead-up to the chaotic chain of events in January that resulted in BOPA Director Donna Drew Sawyer’s resignation and a last-minute dash to hold a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

A Baltimore City Council committee created to examine Mayor Brandon Scott’s new conduit deal with Baltimore Gas and Electric slammed the proposal at their first fiery hearing Thursday night, where City Council President Nick Mosby questioned the administration’s rush to proceed with the agreement.

Baltimore State's Attorney changes plans on advice of counsel from the Maryland State Ethics Commission

The finance department has called the city’s menu of tax credits “highly inequitable” and singled out the historic preservation incentive as especially in need of reforms.

Under the terms, Baltimore would stop directly charging BGE access fees in exchange for paying for $134 million in system improvements during a four-year period between 2023 and 2027. The company would also pay an annual occupancy fee of $1.5 million.