Live-Wire Testing Begins on the Purple Line. MTA’s Own Filing Says Nothing Changed — While Disclosing That It Did.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Crews began live-wire testing on the Purple Line this week, running light-rail vehicles...
Accountability & Oversight
The Count Behind the Count: Maryland’s Homelessness Numbers Are Getting Worse, Not Better
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews On a single night in January 2025, 7,120 Marylanders had no home. That's 1,051 more people...
Montgomery County Bought Half a Ferry. It Won’t Say What Happens If the Other Half Never Comes.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Montgomery County officials stood in Poolesville on Friday to announce what they're calling...
The Data Center Fight Isn’t Just Frederick’s Anymore — Here’s Where Maryland’s Counties Stand
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Frederick County's data center fight — a 2,600-acre zoning overlay, a referendum drive...
A Council Answering to 5 Percent Just Ended a 34-Year Relationship With Israel
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Montgomery County has quietly ended its funding relationship with the Maryland Israel...
A Government Chosen By 5 Percent Is Taxing The Other 95
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Montgomery County's property tax bills have been landing in mailboxes for two weeks, and...
A County of a Million, Decided by 52,738 Votes
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Montgomery County — home to more than one million residents, the largest county budget in...
Maryland Built a Legal Wall Against ICE Surveillance Data. Is Anyone Checking If It Holds?
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Nobody in Maryland has smashed a Flock Safety camera. Nobody has cut one down with vice...
Maryland’s Economy Isn’t Growing. The Numbers Say Something Sharper.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland officials have spent much of the past year touting job growth numbers as evidence...
Annapolis Doesn’t Pay to Play. Marylanders Do.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland families are getting squeezed from every direction this summer — a property tax...
Maryland’s Highest Court Kills the Frederick Data Center Referendum — 21,029 Signatures, Zero Votes
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Supreme Court of Maryland on Tuesday ended the largest citizen petition drive in...
Convicted of Housing Fraud. Now She Runs Prince George’s Land Records Office.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Clerk of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County is the county's official...
FBI Steps In as Cecil County Sheriff’s Deputies Face Federal Scrutiny Over Recorded Sexual Assault Threat Against County Executive
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The FBI has opened an investigation into four Cecil County Sheriff's Office employees...
Maryland’s Juvenile Crime Wave: What the Numbers Actually Show — and Who’s Responsible
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The incident at the Navy Yard Chipotle in Washington, D.C. — a mob of teenagers...
MCPS Curriculum Tied to SPLC Standards as Federal Fraud Charges Loom Over Organization
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews At a Montgomery County Board of Education work session last week, Moms for Liberty chapter...
Maryland Spent $1.2 Billion on Baltimore’s Stadiums. What Are the Teams Spending on Baltimore’s Kids?
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Correction: An earlier version of this article understated the Baltimore Ravens' education...
Montgomery County Executive Candidate Falls for Fake Campaign Finance Screenshot
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A candidate running for Montgomery County Executive publicly accused a political opponent...
Bureaucracy Over Kids: Baltimore Adds Admin Jobs While One District Gets No Rec Centers
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Councilman Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer grew up in Baltimore's 5th District, a block off Park...
Maryland’s Cyber Problem Is Bigger Than One Offline Database
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland's official property records database has been offline for ten days following a...
They Came for the Watchdog
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming made a mistake last weekend. She shared...
Hangar Deal: Construction Firm with Airpark Lease Has Donated $11,000 to the Luedtkes While Expansion Bypassed Council Review
W.M. Rickman Construction holds a 'Through the Fence' agreement at KGAI. State campaign finance records show six straight...
Two Airports, Two Standards: Why Accountability Exists in Baltimore County—But Not Montgomery
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews In Maryland, aircraft noise is not a new problem. For years, communities living near...
Fraud, Data Breach, and Missing Records: Inside Baltimore’s $700K Youth Program Failure
By MDBayNews Staff Baltimore City launched the SideStep program with a familiar promise: steer young, first-time offenders...
The Airpark Influence Network: Donations, Oversight, and the Questions Facing Montgomery County
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews GAITHERSBURG, Md. — What began as a local dispute over aircraft noise and safety at the...
Montgomery County Schools Caught Moving the Goalposts Again
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Montgomery County Public Schools appears to have found its latest justification for closing...
$35 Million for Annapolis? Federal “Resilience” Spending Raises Questions About Priorities
By MDBayNews Staff ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s congressional delegation is celebrating the release of more than $35...
Montgomery County’s FY26 Budget: No Tax Hike — But Higher Bills Anyway
By MDBayNews Staff Montgomery County leaders are touting their Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget as a model of fiscal...
8% Proficient in Math — But Plenty of Time for Political Walkouts at Gaithersburg Middle
By MDBayNews Staff Images and reporting first highlighted by Libs of TikTok have ignited controversy inside Montgomery...
Allegany County Repeals Speed Camera Law — Should the Rest of Maryland Follow?
By MDBayNews Staff In a move that is already turning heads across the state, officials in Allegany County have voted to...
Maryland’s Infrastructure Failure Turns the C&O Canal Into a Sewer Bypass
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews On January 19, 2026, a 72-inch sewer main known as the Potomac Interceptor collapsed near...
Sewage, Spin, and the Bay: How the Potomac Interceptor Spill Could Set Back Chesapeake Restoration
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews On January 19, 2026, the collapse of the Potomac Interceptor pipe sent an estimated...
Maryland Bans 287(g) — But Sheriffs Aren’t Backing Down. Now Comes the Legal War.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland is about to test the limits of federalism — and taxpayers may be the ones...
Walkouts, ICE and Academic Reality: Should Students Face Consequences?
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Dozens of students at Arundel High School — along with students in parts of Baltimore...
Virginia Warns. Maryland Shrugs.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews When it comes to the Potomac River sewage spill, one thing is crystal clear: Virginia spoke...
Izzy Patoka Wants to Ban ICE in Baltimore County — But Who Handles Enforcement Then?
By MDBayNews Staff When the news broke that the U.S. General Services Administration leased office space in Hunt Valley for...
Maryland’s “Safest Cities” List Raises Bigger Questions About Crime Transparency
By MDBayNews Staff A new ranking highlighted by Patch — “These Are MD’s 10 Safest Cities, New Ranking Says” — is...
Montgomery County Floats “Targeted” Property Tax Hike — After Years of Budget Growth
By MDBayNews Staff Montgomery County leaders are now openly acknowledging what many residents have suspected for months:...
Montgomery County PTAs Drift Into Immigration Activism as ICE Training Sparks Debate
By MDBayNews Staff ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A recent virtual training session promoted by multiple Montgomery County...
Baltimore’s ICE Holding Rooms: What Changed in 2025 — And Why Maryland Democrats Are Fighting New Facilities
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews For nearly a decade, the George H. Fallon Federal Office Building at 31 Hopkins Plaza has...
Maryland’s Unrecorded Virtual Meetings Problem
When Maryland local governments moved meetings online during the pandemic, officials promised accessibility and...