MARYLAND STANDS BY PERMIT FOR OFFSHORE WIND FARM, DESPITE EPA: The Maryland Department of the Environment is defending the permit it issued to a wind farm proposed off the coast of Ocean City, after a challenge from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Thursday letter from Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain also said the state would not be reissuing the permit, as the EPA requested, because the state had not made a mistake that needed correcting. Christine Condon/Maryland Matters.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MOORE’s SUPPORT OF REPARATIONS BILL? Privately, Gov. Wes Moore had encouraged the work of a group of legislators working on a bill to begin addressing slavery reparations, Del. Aletheia McCaskill said. But then members heard whispers that Moore had something else in mind. Pamela Wood and Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.

STATE POLICE PROBE DEATH OF 30-YEAR-OLD INMATE: Maryland State Police have launched an investigation into the death of a 30-year-old man incarcerated at North Branch Correctional Institution in Allegany County. Elias Alvarado was pronounced dead by first responders Friday. Another inmate, who has not been charged and whom police did not name, is a suspect in connection with his death. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.

HOW A DARING AUDIT SPARKED RECKONING OVER POLICE CUSTODY DEATHS: This spring, an independent audit reached a stunning conclusion: Dozens of deaths in police custody reviewed by Maryland’s medical examiner should have been ruled homicides but weren’t. For its principal author, Towson U. psychology professor Jeff Kukucka, the audit was years in the making. He had spent his career toiling to shine new light on how the criminal justice system suffers from bias, including racial bias, that can affect the integrity of its work. Justin Fenton and Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.

COMMENTARY: STATE WASTES MONEY ON ELECTRIC SCHOOL BUSES: Despite the warnings from previous failed experiments — and a damning Montgomery County Inspector General report — Maryland continues to throw millions at electric school buses that work better in press releases than on actual roads. Mark Uncapher/Maryland Reporter.

MOORE URGES GRID OPERATORS TO CHOOSE LEADERSHIP WISELY: Gov. Wes Moore and a bipartisan coalition of other state executives urged the operator of Maryland’s electrical grid to select tenured leadership and to make policy changes to mitigate skyrocketing utility prices. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.

TRUMP TO RELEASE FUNDS FOR BEFORE-, AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS: President Donald Trump’s administration confirmed Friday that it’s releasing funds that support before- and after-school programs as well as summer programs, a portion of the $6.8 billion in withheld funds for K-12 schools that were supposed to be sent out two weeks ago. Advocates say the release would mean that as many as 25,000 Maryland schoolchildren will not lose access to after-school programming this fall. Shauneen Miranda/Maryland Matters.

VICE ADM. DAVIDS’ SHORT NAVAL ACADEMY TENURE: Leading the U.S. Naval Academy was never smooth sailing for Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, the first female superintendent in the Annapolis military college’s 180-year history. After being nominated in 2023 by then-President Joe Biden, Davids had to wait six months to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, her nomination held up with more than 250 others by a defiant Alabama senator angry over abortion laws. Ellie Wolfe and Alex Mann/The Baltimore Banner.

COLUMN: WHY WASN’T DAVIDS JETTISONED EARLIER? The Trump administration has strong views on who should serve and who should lead. The first woman to command the Coast Guard was fired on Day 1, and the second Black man to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was out a month later. The surprise isn’t that Vice Adm. Yvette Davids of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis met the same fate but that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his top aides didn’t make it happen sooner. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.

15 YEARS AFTER HE WAS FREED, MAN DECLARED INNOCENT OF CHARGES: Though he had been a free man for almost 15 years, Tyrone Jones felt that he lived under a cloud of suspicion. Baltimore prosecutors agreed that he deserved a new trial and later dropped the murder conspiracy case against him. But no one had ever officially declared him innocent. Until this year. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.

CHAIR OF MD YOUNG REPUBLICANS UNDER FIRE OVER HER RE-ELECTION: The chairman of the Maryland Young Republicans is under fire over alleged validity issues regarding her May re-election. A group of Maryland Young Republicans who serve on several state Republican central committees has sent a letter to Young Republican National Federation Chairman Hayden Padgett alleging that the convention at which Jackie Sackstein was re-elected was not valid. Brian Griffiths/The Duckpin.

ISLAMIC GROUP’s LAWSUIT AGAINST MO CO SCHOOLS CAN PROCEED: An Islamic civil rights advocacy group’s lawsuit against Montgomery County Public Schools over the suspension and investigation of three teachers who shared pro-Palestinian views on social media and in an email signature can proceed, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Ashlyn Campbell/Bethesda Today.

BETO O’ROURKE PUSHES B’MORE DEMS TO MOBILIZE: Ahead of the 2026 midterms, Texas politician and former Democratic congressman Beto O’Rourke made an appearance in Baltimore Sunday to push Democrats to mobilize and “build a democracy that we deserve.” Chevall Pryce/The Baltimore Sun.

FEAR, PREJUCIDE BLOCK SOME DRUG TREATMENT OPTIONS: The recent mass overdose in West Baltimore underscored the need to expand drug treatment and harm reduction services, addiction specialists say. But efforts to build out services addressing the opioid crisis often face resistance that some say is rooted in prejudice. In recent years, tensions with neighborhood groups over the development of new treatment facilities and harm reduction services have divided residents, leading to prolonged legal battles. Dan Belson and Brendan Nordstrom/The Baltimore Sun.

SEVEN TREATED FOR OD SYMPTOMS A WEEK AFTER 27 HOSPITALIZED: Seven people were treated for overdose symptoms in the Penn North neighborhood of West Baltimore on Friday, just one week after 27 people in the same area were hospitalized due to a bad batch of drugs. Scott Maucione/WYPR-FM.

• Drug samples collected in West Baltimore’s Penn North neighborhood after dozens of people overdosed there in a span of hours included a new addition to the city’s illicit drug supply. Tests found a sedative called N-methylclonazepam, which was mixed with fentanyl. Paul Kiefer/The Washington Post.

GAITHERSBURG FBI AGENT FOUND GUILTY OF SEX OFFENSES: Suspended FBI agent Eduardo Valdivia of Gaithersburg was convicted Friday of six counts of second-degree rape and two counts of fourth-degree sex offense following a 12-day jury trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office said Friday night. Julie Rasicot and Elia Griffin/Bethesday Today.

• Enticed by the offer of a free tattoo, the 18-year-old arrived at a tiny studio run by “Lalo Brown” hidden inside a strip mall in suburban Maryland. Later, a 20-year-old and a 21-year-old were drawn into Brown’s operation by tattoos and promises of modeling photo shoots. What none of the women knew was that Lalo Brown was really FBI agent Eduardo Valdivia. Dan Morse/The Washington Post.

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