50% TARIFFS ON BRAZIL TO DRIVE UP COST OF PRODUCTS TO MARYLAND: Brazil, the 10th largest importer for Maryland, gets slapped with a whopping 50% effective tariff starting today, a move that will drive up the price of coffee, beef and fruit. Maryland imports about $1.1 billion each year from the South American country. A majority of those goods are sugar and confectionery products, fruit and tree nuts, certain metals, and agriculture, construction and mining machinery. Bria Overs/The Baltimore Banner.

SNAP CUTS IMPERIL GROCERY STORES, THOUSANDS OF MARYLANDERS: Grocers and food policy researchers are sounding alarms that looming federal food stamp cuts could gut store revenues, trigger layoffs and shutter local independent stores. The changes to the federal food stamp program — officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP — could potentially cause about 3,800 SNAP state retailers to experience a downturn in the next few years and affect hundreds of thousands of Marylanders’ ability to afford groceries. Stella Canino-Quinones/The Baltimore Sun.

COUNTIES NOW ON HOOK TO HELP COMPENSATE WRONGFULLY CONVICTED: For for the first time, a county will have to pay half of the cost of the compensation for a wrongful man it wrongfully convicted. If the Board of Public Works agrees to pay one man $573,412.35, as expected, Wicomico County will be on the hook for $286,706 of that. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

MARYLAND LEADS WITH HIGHEST PERCENT OF BLACK WOMEN LAWMAKERS: A recent report shows Black women have made record gains in state legislatures this year, especially in Maryland. It shows the state has the highest percentage of Black women lawmakers in the nation, accounting for 18.6% of the 188-member General Assembly. Maryland is one of 14 states where the legislature’s share of Black women is higher than its representation of the state’s population at 17.9%. William Ford and Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

ROXBURY PRISON SECURITY FENCE FALLING DOWN: Maryland corrections officials are struggling to reinforce a teetering security fence at a state prison in Hagerstown. More than a year after the 41-year-old security and fencing system at the Roxbury Correctional Institution failed during a March 2024 storm, a windstorm last week nearly blew down a portion of the facility’s fence — again. Ben Conarck/The Baltimore Banner.

DEMs TAKE TO TOWN HALLS IN REPUBLICAN DISTRICTS: In March, Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin drove to Cambridge, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, for a packed town hall at a middle school. Two months later, he held another one in the Long Island, N.Y., community of Patchogue. Town halls may be standard political fare, but these were unorthodox. Not only were they outside of Raskin’s Montgomery County-based district, but they were also held in districts occupied by Republican incumbents. Jeff Barker/The Baltimore Sun.

MOORE-ALIGNED PAC RAISED $267,000 SINCE JANUARY: A federal political action committee associated with Gov. Wes Moore raised about $267,000 in the first six months of the year, including $85,000 during the final two weeks of the legislative session in Annapolis when officials are legally barred from raising money. Moore does not have a formal role with Unity First PAC. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.

BA CO CALLS INCLUSION ON ‘SANCTUARY JURISDICTION’ LIST A MISTAKE: The Justice Department released a sharply reduced list of “sanctuary jurisdictions” Tuesday that identified Baltimore County as the only such jurisdiction in the state — a designation that Baltimore County officials insist is a mistake. “We believe our inclusion on this list was in error,” said County Executive Kathy Klausmeier. Being designated a sanctuary jurisdiction could be more than just a nuisance for the county. Lauren Lifke/Maryland Matters.

BA CO RESIDENTS RELIEVED THAT MADIGAN REMAINS IG: The Baltimore County Council’s decision to reject County Executive Kathy Klausmeier’s pick for inspector general comes as a relief for many county residents who backed Kelly Madigan continuing in that role. From holding rallies to sitting through hours-long council meetings, residents, now reflecting on the past three months, said that their message resonated with their elected officials. Natalie Jones/The Baltimore Sun.

STATE, SOMERSET SCHOOL BOARD IN SHOWDOWN OVER ITS SUPERINTENDENT: A months-long clash between the state and the Somerset County school board may be coming to a showdown. Somerset County’s school board had tried to oust its superintendent, Ava Tasker-Mitchell, but the state reinstated her for 60 days — which ended Tuesday. Somerset County’s school board is demanding that Tasker-Mitchell, vacate her office today. However Maryland Superintendent Carey Wright warned the county board to not take that step. Liz Bowie/The Baltimore Banner.

COLUMN: DRAGGED INTO ORPHANS COURT JUDGES DISPUTE: Two years into the feud between Chief Judge Vicki Gipson and Associate Judge Marc Knapp, the Orphans’ Court of Anne Arundel County remains a target of derision in the legal community. That could change this month, when the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities begins considering complaints against both judges, potentially disciplining or even removing them. Unfortunately, they dragged me into this. Rick Hutzell/The Baltimore Banner.

NEWCOMER TO HEAD BALTIMORE ELECTIONS BOARD: The Armstead Jones era of Baltimore elections has ended. The Baltimore City Board of Elections selected newcomer Clifford Tatum to serve as the city’s new election director. Tatum previously served as short stint as election director in Harris County, Texas, a jurisdiction of more than 5 million people that encircles Houston. Emily Opilo/The Baltimore Banner.

MARINE BECOMES SUPERINTENDENT OF NAVAL ACADEMY: The U.S. Naval Academy has a new superintendent. Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte, a 1991 Naval Academy graduate and the first Marine to lead the military academy in its 179-year history, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by voice vote last week. He is replacing Vice Admiral Yvette Davids, who was the first female superintendent at the academy. Ellie Wolfe/The Baltimore Banner.

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