Local government

A hearing to examine Baltimore’s opioid overdose crisis was abruptly canceled Wednesday morning as a dispute between Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council member who’d called the meeting boiled over and became public.

Questions abound about how the money will be used to combat overdoses.

Red Maple Place, a proposed 56-unit housing development in historic East Towson, will not be subject to new design standards.

If voters decide the city of Baltimore should give new parents $1,000 of unconditional cash, this is how the program could be funded and implemented.

The proposal to slash Baltimore’s property tax rate nearly in half has stoked fears of cratering finances in City Hall. Organizers behind the initiative said Tuesday that they disagreed with the decision and plan to challenge it in court.

In what they are calling a “historic” event, the Annapolis Police Department, as well as the ACLU of Maryland, is being recognized by the Caucus of African American Leaders.

Annapolis is developing a plan to make it easier to get into the water. But swimming? It’s not on anyone’s priority list.

The Baltimore County Council this week cleared the way for a fall referendum on expanding the council by two members. But not everyone is pleased, as some wanted to add four members to bring more diversity while others objected to the process of drawing new district maps.

Howard County could, for the first time, establish an office of the inspector general to focus on complaints of fraud and illegal activities.

Baltimore County Council members voted unanimously Monday night to increase impact fees on developers in hopes of collecting more revenue that can be used for schools and roads.

When Baltimoreans hit the polls in November, they’ll have the chance to vote on whether City Hall should give a one-time payment of $1,000 to parents upon the birth or adoption of a child.

The Edmondson Community Organization filed the case on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore.

The Baltimore County Council's historic vote means voters will get to determine this fall whether to expand the 7-member council by two members so that its membership looks more like the increasingly diverse county.

The Baltimore County Council on Monday could decide whether to ask voters to consider a ballot measure to expand from seven to nine members. Some say the council, which is now composed of seven men and only one person of color, is not representative of the increasingly diverse county.

Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s use of the phrase “Black jobs” caught the attention and ire of many Black Americans, including Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott.

In court documents filed on April 15 but not previously available in Baltimore Circuit Court, Patriot Steel Fabrication Inc., a firm based in Church Creek, Dorchester County, asserts that Chasen Cos. owes the business more than $915,000.

City officials and their lawyers claim global beverage giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, along with six other companies, used deceptive business practices and created a public nuisance, while causing harm to people’s health and the environment, according to a lawsuit filed late last week.

Brandon Chasen’s development company is dialing back its national expansion plans and slowing its pace in Baltimore, too.

The proposal follows action by Maryland leaders last year to raise the floor pay for most other workers, and comes on the heels of a contentious fight over the minimum wage for tipped workers down the road in Washington, D.C.

I joined more than 150 people Sunday as part of the inaugural Harbor Splash organized by the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore.