MORE FAMILIES USE RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION IN SCHOOL VAX REQUIREMENT: “No Shots. No School. No Exceptions.” That’s what’s parents are greeted with on the Prince George’s County Public Schools webpage on required vaccinations for the upcoming school year. But that’s not entirely true. In Maryland, there are opt-outs, including religious exemptions. And more Maryland families have been choosing that route for the last four school years. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

• Maryland has historically had higher-than-average vaccination rates, and the General Assembly also passed legislation earlier this year to ensure that people would have no disruption in insurance coverage. But officials are still worried, holding clinics, advertising vaccines’ benefits and urging students and their families to get not just required immunizations but extra ones for flu and Covid. Meredith Cohn/The Baltimore Banner.

COST DOUBLES FOR W MD FLOODS; MOORE APPEALS TRUMP DENIAL OF AID: The cost of damage to two Western Maryland counties from a flash flood in May has more than doubled, easily justifying the need for federal emergency aid, state officials said Tuesday. The new estimates were detailed in a letter from Gov. Wes Moore to President Donald Trump, who has denied federal FEMA aid to Maryland. The estimate of damage to Allegany and Garrett counties now stands at $33.7 million. Bryan Sears/Maryland Matters.

• Storms in May rapidly dumped 5 inches of rain on the region and triggered the worst flooding in Western Maryland in three decades. Pamela Wood/The Baltimore Banner.

MARYLAND BUDGET ADDED A SURCHARGE TO CAPITAL GAINS TAX: This summer, Missouri became America’s first state to eliminate capital gains taxes while keeping its state income tax. Maryland, under Gov. Wes Moore, is moving in a completely different direction. In Maryland and most other states, capital gains taxes are collected by the federal and state governments based on a percentage of income earned from investments. But with Moore signing Maryland’s fiscal 2026 budget into law, the state now has a uniform 2% surcharge, with a few exceptions. Carson Swick/The Baltimore Sun.

COMMENTARY: FEWER BLOOD DONORS, ARTIFICIAL SUBSTITUTES SLOW IN COMING: The Red Cross really wants my blood. They email me and phone me repeatedly until I make an appointment. They really want my blood because it is O negative. I am a part of the 7% of the population that is a “universal donor.” Unfortunately, there are fewer donors of all types and the march toward artificial substitutes is slow. Len Lazarick/Maryland Reporter.

VOODOO SEX SPELLS: FEDS PROBE $900,000 FRAUD OF EX-MD PTA PREZ: AND Federal officials are investigating a former Maryland PTA president for allegedly embezzling over $900,000 to live a lavish coast-to-coast lifestyle that included luxury trips, gambling benders and Voodoo sex spells — including a curse to break up the marriage of her alleged lover. Glynis Kazanjian/The Baltimore Sun.

JUDGE HEARING TRUMP CHALLENGE A DEFENDER OF JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE: The U.S. district court judge hearing the Trump administration’s rare challenge to the authority of federal judges in Maryland has long emphasized judicial independence, calling it “fundamental to our rule of law.” Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.

***Join Maryland Reporter’s Len Lazarick at Howard Community College for a four-week noncredit seminar on China Today 2025 beginning Sept. 4 and a three-week seminar on Vietnam: 50 years after the War beginning Oct. 2. For more info, see the catalog. He will again be teaching East Asian Civilization for credit for the fall semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:30. Tuition is waived (but not fees) at HCC and most Maryland public colleges and universities for residents over 60.***

COMMENTARY: SHOULD RECKLESS PARENTING BE A CRIME? With juvenile offenders responsible for more and more repeat and violent crimes, victims are demanding that negligent parents be held accountable. The idea of holding parents responsible or somewhat responsible for the illegal behaviors of their children is a time-honored or time-dishonored and controversial phenomenon. Laws holding parents accountable were and are widely varied in severity and implementation, with vagueness and inconsistency being the hallmarks. Ellen Sauerbrey and Richard Vatz/The Baltimore Sun.

STATE COMMERCE CHIEF TOURS FREDERICK PROJECTS: Maryland Commerce Secretary Harry Coker got a tour of several high-profile projects around downtown Frederick on Monday. Before seeing several sites in downtown Frederick, Coker met with local public and economic development officials at the Visit Frederick offices to hear the issues they’re concerned about. Ryan Marshall/The Frederick News Post.

GREATER BALTIMORE CHAMBER EXPANDS REACH AFTER BA CO CHAMBER CLOSES: The Greater Baltimore Chamber of Commerce is expanding its reach to all of Baltimore County’s business community following the sudden closure of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce earlier this month. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.

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