Synagogue Sues Montgomery County Over Firearms Ban, Says Ordinance Started as “Housekeeping”
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Silver Spring Jewish Center and its rabbi, Menashe Shapiro, filed a federal lawsuit...
politics
Two Bills. One Week. Opposite Visions of Who Draws Maryland’s Maps
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Senate Bill 2100 asks Maryland voters to strip constitutional limits off how the General...
DeMarinis Walks Back Bettor Threat, Refers Prediction Markets for Investigation Anyway
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Staff Maryland's top election official spent four weeks moving from "under review" to an...
Green Party Nominee Calls for Four-Way Debates as Moore, Cox Stay Quiet
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews With the general election field now set, Green Party gubernatorial nominee Andy Ellis is...
The Amendment Written to Undo a Judge’s Ruling
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews When the Maryland General Assembly convenes at noon Monday for a three-day special session,...
The GOP Says This Bill Proves Hypocrisy. The Bill Itself Tells a Messier Story.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews The Maryland Republican Party posted the text of House Bill 2101 on July 30 with a direct...
Here’s What Senate Bill 2100 Actually Does — And Why It’s Drafted Like a Legal Shield
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland's special session doesn't convene until Aug. 3, but the bill text and hearing...
Robin Ficker Won the GOP Primary With $401 Left in the Bank. Now What?
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Robin Ficker is the Republican nominee for Maryland's 6th Congressional District this fall....
The $9 Million Everyone’s Talking About: What Maryland’s Dream Act Actually Costs — and Doesn’t
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Since the Justice Department filed suit against Maryland on July 17 over its Dream Act, one...
Two Regulators, One Gas Company: DC and Maryland Both Weigh Washington Gas Pipe Spending This Week
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Washington Gas is facing scrutiny from utility regulators in two jurisdictions this week,...
Anne Arundel Schools Face Federal Investigation Over Policy That Let Staff Withhold a Student’s Gender Transition From Her Parents
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Anne Arundel County Public Schools is now the subject of a federal investigation that could...
Republicans Won’t Boycott the Special Session. They’ll Just Talk About Everything Else.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey wants one thing clear before the Aug. 3-5 special...
Maryland Democrats Answer DHS With a Lawsuit — While a Small Town Sits on a Records Request Nine Months Overdue
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews When Republican Del. Ryan Nawrocki told Fox45 two weeks ago that Maryland "will not comply"...
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...
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...
Who Authorized This? A Private Nonprofit Is Now Appointing Attorneys in Maryland Custody Cases
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A Seattle-based nonprofit with no Maryland legislative authorization, no independent...
Gun Rights Coalition Asks Maryland’s Top Court to Hear Reciprocity Case — But the Argument They’re Pushing Was Never Actually Ruled On
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A coalition of Second Amendment groups is urging the Supreme Court of Maryland to take up...
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...
What Maryland Actually Gets — and Gives Up — By Saying No to Data Centers
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews National coverage of the data center backlash tends to run one of two ways: either data...
Seven Stops, Five States, Three Weeks: Where Wes Moore Has Been While Maryland Waits on Affordability
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ANNAPOLIS — On the same day House and Senate Republicans stood in Annapolis calling a...
One Signature, No Judge: How Maryland Lets a Single Accusation Freeze a Custody Case
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A commissioner — not a judge — can issue a protective order in Maryland based on one...
The Memo That Locked Everyone Else Out Just Let Bouchat In
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews — Part of The Bouchat Paradox series Christopher Eric Bouchat has spent three sessions...
Republicans Say They Warned Leadership — Then Got Shut Out Anyway
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews ANNAPOLIS — Maryland's presiding officers have moved to limit what can even be introduced...
Wes Moore Told Randi Weingarten He Was “Humbled” to Follow Her. His Own Biography Argues Against Her.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Gov. Wes Moore closed out the American Federation of Teachers' national convention in...
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...
Maryland Named Twice by DHS — State Signals It Won’t Comply, as Federal Funding and Legal Threats Escalate
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland is one of 18 states named in a declassified federal intelligence review alleging...
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...
Maryland’s Corrections System Is Collapsing — And It Didn’t Happen by Accident
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews You don't need to repeal a law to kill it. You just need to make sure no one can enforce...
What Governor Moore’s $13.3 Billion Announcement Left Out
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Gov. Wes Moore announced this week that the results of PJM's latest capacity auction "saved...
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...
The Bipartisan Rider Nobody’s Enforcing: USDA Presses Ahead On Beltsville Closure While Congress Says Stop
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland's largest federal research complex is closing, and Congress told the U.S....
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...
Every Drive Is Now a Record. Maryland Hasn’t Reckoned With What That Means.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Lee Schmidt and Crystal Arrington aren't criminals. Neither has ever been named a suspect...
Maryland’s Roads Rank Among the Worst in the Country. Here’s What the Data Says Is Actually Wrong With Them.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Maryland doesn't have the single worst roads in America. But three separate national...
Maryland’s Road Money Is Locked Up By Law — And Nobody’s Fixing It
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews State budget data shows 75.1 percent of Maryland commuters drive alone or carpool. Only 5...
Hungry, but Not Thirsty: Wes Moore’s Full-Term Pledge Has a Schedule Problem
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews This morning, the Governor of Maryland was in Johns Island, South Carolina — a 9 a.m....
Paying Twice: The Federal Deal Costing Maryland Ratepayers Hundreds Of Millions For Two Anne Arundel Power Plants
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Every Baltimore Gas and Electric customer — 1.2 million households and businesses across...
Maryland’s Gaming Regulators Let the Casino Lobby Write Their Homework. Would We Say the Same If It Were Oil and Gas?
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews Here's a test worth running on any story about industry influence in government: swap the...
A Citizen Child Unlocks Food Benefits for an Undocumented Household — And That’s the Law, Not a Loophole
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews A reply to MDBayNews' coverage of Maryland's record 630,000-student SUN Bucks enrollment...
Texas Lost Its Dream Act in Court. Maryland’s Voters Already Defended Its Own.
By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews In a 2-1 ruling handed down July 9, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held...