State government

Black people in Maryland would still be more likely to face prosecution under the state's current marijuana reform legislation, defense attorneys J. Wyndal Gordon and Warren A. Brown say.

Even running from law enforcement, Roy McGrath sought to get the last word on his criminal case.

Authorities described the encounter as an “agent-involved shooting,” and it was not immediately clear if FBI agents shot McGrath, or he shot himself.

When the General Assembly wraps up Monday and lawmakers head home, they’ll talk about their accomplishments and failures. Headline-grabbing big bills will feature in that conversation. But so will less splashy matters, like rewriting a 32-year-old law on trees.

Gov. Wes Moore tapped the decorated military leader and current assistant adjutant general to lead the state’s military reserve forces.

The ex-chief of staff for former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan had been the focus of a three-week manhunt after failing to show up for his federal fraud trial.

Paul Monteiro, who was national director of AmeriCorps VISTA, will be the first person to lead the new Department of Service and Civic Innovation that Gov. Wes Moore established on his first full day in office in January. Moore hopes Monteiro will be confirmed by the Maryland Senate before the end of the General Assembly session next Monday.

Sharon Murphy, who retired as director of the veterans home in 2021, will serve as interim director while the department looks to hire someone new.

Maryland is still on track to set up a marketplace for recreational cannabis sales beginning July 1, but House and Senate lawmakers have differences to work out.

A boisterous crowd gathered at the State House to celebrate significant progress this year — a new law will expand coverage for gender-affirming care for people with Medicaid insurance — but they noted that much more work is ahead in making the state safe and inclusive for trans Marylanders.

On Thursday, delegates and senators wouldn’t meet face-to-face to hash out differences on education spending. By Friday, they’d reached a deal.

As a condition of the 43-4 confirmation vote in the Maryland Senate, lawmakers will withhold a small portion of the budget for Butler’s office until he submits reports on his progress toward reform.

The Child Victims Act will lift all age limits and time limits for filing lawsuits against institutions such as churches and schools for enabling child sexual abuse. And it undoes a tricky legal maneuver called a “statute of repose” that some believe was snuck into a prior bill, which had the effect of actually insulating institutions from older legal claims.

Maryland has a long history with rye whiskey.

Maryland lawmakers have hit an impasse in their budget negotiations over $2 million for a private school tuition program, the first sign of friction this year in the State House, which is entirely Democratic-run for the first time in eight years.

Since November, three states have affirmed abortion protections in their constitutions, including California, Vermont and Michigan.

The FBI and U.S. Marshals have been searching for McGrath for 17 days since he skipped out on his federal fraud trial in Baltimore.

Michael Browning, the former longtime manager of Gunpowder Falls State Park, is charged with raping two former park employees.

Correctional officers have alleged that the state only paid them for the hours they were scheduled to work, not the hours they actually worked. The U.S. Department of Labor has been investigating the claims.

Linda Lamone, who has led the Maryland State Board of Elections since 1997, told the five-member election board during a meeting Wednesday she plans to retire this upcoming summer.