Fourteen days before the primary election, Maryland voters face consequential choices at every level of government — a governor seeking a second term, a wide-open county executive race, an indicted state senator, a state's attorney running essentially unopposed, and dozens of legislative races shaping the future of Baltimore City and Baltimore County. Here is what you need to know. Maryland goes to the polls on June 23, and the stakes extend well beyond any single race. Acros

Attar faces eight federal charges, including extortion and conspiracy, in an alleged scheme to blackmail a political consultant. The primary is June 23. The governor, the mayor, and the state's attorney have all aligned against her. She is still in the race — and still has supporters. In a political environment that has grown accustomed to improbable storylines, few have been as striking as the one playing out in Baltimore's 41st Legislative District. Dalya Attar, a 35-year-o

A year after 12 franchises declined to acknowledge June 1, the number has dropped to nine — but the league's flagship social media accounts, with a combined 68 million followers, once again opened Pride Month in silence. The gap between the NFL's stated values and its public posture has never been more visible. On the first day of Pride Month, the National Football League's main social media accounts — with more than 36 million followers on X and roughly 32 million on Instagr

For the second time in less than a year, a worker employed by the city's flagship anti-violence initiative has been charged with a violent felony. Critics ask why Mayor Brandon Scott continues to defend a program that refuses to be held accountable. BALTIMORE — On a Sunday evening in the Park Heights neighborhood of North Baltimore, officers on patrol heard gunshots. What they found when they arrived was familiar: a man bleeding in the street, a suspect fleeing on foot — and,

A sweeping enforcement campaign targets storefronts accused of selling unlicensed cannabis, illegal vapes, and tobacco to minors — raising questions about public health, neighborhood safety, and the uneven landscape of Maryland's legal marijuana market. BALTIMORE — On a recent June afternoon, undercover sheriff's deputies walked into a smoke shop on the 4700 block of Gwynn Oak Avenue and purchased what investigators suspected was cannabis. It was an unremarkable transaction —

On April 20, 2026, the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners unanimously appointed Dr. Jermaine Dawson as the next chief executive of Baltimore City Public Schools, placing a veteran academic administrator at the helm of a system long defined by both resilience and persistent struggle. Dr. Dawson, currently the Deputy Superintendent of Academic Services in the School District of Philadelphia, will officially assume the role on July 1, succeeding Sonja Santelises, whose

In Baltimore, a growing conflict between the city’s chief watchdog and its top elected official is raising deeper questions about transparency, oversight, and the limits of accountability inside government. At the center of the dispute is an investigation by the Baltimore Office of Inspector General into alleged fraudulent audits tied to the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement—a key agency in the city’s strategy to reduce violence. The findings—and the reacti

On December 2, 2025, Ivan Bates — the elected State’s Attorney for Baltimore City — sent a seven-page letter to Brandon Scott. This letter struck a sharp blow to one of the central pillars of the city’s post-2020 crime-reduction strategy. Bates announced that his office would “no longer directly coordinate with MONSE.” This effectively decoupled prosecutors from the city’s flagship violence-intervention machinery. The crux of Bates’s argument? MONSE and its affiliated program

A Push Rooted in Pain and Promise Maryland’s current minimum wage — $15 an hour statewide — was considered ambitious when first passed. But inflation, rent spikes, and the soaring cost of essentials have rapidly eroded its purchasing power, especially in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Groups like One Fair Wage , the national advocacy organization leading the push, argue that $25 is no longer radical — it’s realistic. “You can’t survive on $15 anymore,” the group’s founder

Pras Michel: From Hip-Hop Fame to a 14-Year Prison Term — and a Question That Lingers WASHINGTON — On Thursday afternoon, the former hip-hop star and founding member of The Fugees, Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, now 52, was handed a 14-year federal prison sentence. The landmark judgment followed his 2023 conviction on 10 counts—including conspiracy and acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government—in a sprawling political-finance and influence scheme. But while the courtr