Local government

Vignarajah was one of a handful of candidates to participate in Baltimore's new public financing system for small-dollar campaigns this year, but ended his bid for mayor weeks before Election Day and endorsed Sheila Dixon.

Two East Side community activists, Leah Biddinger and Kevin McDonough, work together to identify potential code violations in their community and alert Baltimore County officials.

Joseph Gillespie admitted to taking more than $250,000 in bribes that caused the city to lose out on more than $1 million in tax revenue.

The five fires, which all broke out in the afternoons or evenings in late July, exclusively erupted at elementary/middle school facilities, according to incident reports.

Together, the court’s decisions about the two proposals showcased the limits of Maryland’s ballot initiative process and affirmed the sole power of legislative branches to make specific policy — a hallmark of representative democracies.

Mayor Brandon Scott laid the groundwork for the city to begin spending money, with designs on slowing the death toll in a city where in recent years an average of three people have died from overdoses every day.

Those seeking zoning changes in Baltimore County through a quadrennial process learned the fate of their proposals on Tuesday night. The County Council wrapped up work its Comprehensive Zoning Map Process.

“This is the library they’re going to remember, but a thousand times better," Sonia Alcántara-Antoine, the CEO of the Baltimore County Public Library, said of the renovated Catonsville branch.

Warren M. Branch, a former city inspector who represented East Baltimore on City Council from 2007 to 2016, died last week at age 63.

Mayor Scott's plan to expand benefits for police and firefighters comes as a hole in the pension fund has widened, falling $1.2 billion short of what’s needed to meet the needs of its future retirees.

Housing advocates say the success of Baltimore’s rental license system has been limited by complaint-dependent enforcement, loopholes that enable negligence, and insufficient awareness by both tenants and landlords.

Elly Tierney’s hands won’t stay still. They fly across the small tabletop, mapping out unseen connections. Her immaculate white nails trace links between problems and the people who have frustrated solutions during her two terms on the Annapolis City Council. Time is short. The days are counting down until the Ward 1 alderwoman steps down. She and her husband will drive off to retirement after Labor Day. But before she goes, Tierney has a few parting words.

The Baltimore County Council on Tuesday will adopt a comprehensive zoning map, something it does every four years. But critics say the process is anything but democratic, with individual council members deferring to one another on decisions in their respective districts. Some say this has put too much power in the hands of each council member.

The Department of Public Works is scheduled to discuss working conditions at a City Council oversight hearing Thursday night following the death of a solid waste worker.

Union leaders and former federal officials are sounding the alarm over the law firm hired by Baltimore to investigate safety practices at DPW following the death of Ronald Silver II.

After rounds of negotiations, council members praised the new direction of the pro-renters bill.

PJM Interconnection has planned for the region’s energy transition and renewable energy, says company spokesperson Susan Buehler.

Annapolis native Christian Siriano has the golden touch when it comes to dressing women in the political sphere — whether that be Michelle Obama and Jill Biden or the next potential leader of the free world, Kamala Harris.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture, along with the Anne Arundel County Health Department, will enhance mosquito control services in certain areas due to public health concerns about potential mosquito-borne diseases.

Ayman Nassar said he withdrew from Maryland's hate crime commission after an “online harassment and smear campaign was launched” against him.