Maryland General Assembly streamlines rooftop solar permitting, shortening wait times and bringing down costs The provision of the Utility Relief Act will help more Marylanders adopt solar, reducing pollution and demand on the grid, and saving an average of $2,300 in annual electricity costs.

Maryland recognizing the need to simplify solar installation (as discussed in recent @volts.wtf episode): environmentamerica.org/maryland/med...

Of note, the former school district won't reinstate the child, nor expunge the infraction from her record.

Maryland, New Mexico Become Latest Blue States to Ban Local Contracts with ICE - Bolts Governors Lujan Grisham and Moore signed laws barring local sheriffs and police from partnering with ICE’s 287(g) program, joining a string of eight states with similar prohibitions.

You may have heard of ICE's 287(g) program; ICE contracts with local or state agencies & empowers them to act like immigration agents.

You may also live in a state governed by Dems, and wondering if your state has done anything about this.

Have they? Here's our map: boltsmag.org/maryland-new...

An excellent, in-depth piece about why overdoses have decreased. Supports reporting from a recent @tradeoffs.org episode.

What “councilmanic courtesy” is and how it hurts Baltimore County | Baltimore Brew Baltimore County isn’t the region’s economic engine anymore. One reason why is the grip held over local zoning decisions by individual members of the county council. [OP-ED]

More about this issue in the Brew: www.baltimorebrew.com/2025/04/15/w...

Amazon also has thousands of workers on SNAP / Medicaid.

Half of renters in the biggest Maryland counties spend over 30% of their income on rent.

Lobbying firms took in a record $5 billion in 2025 - OpenSecrets News Lobbying activity surpassed $5 billion for the first time in 2025, as corporations, interest groups and other organizations increased their…

"Lobbying firms took in a record $5 billion in 2025"

Emma Sullivan and Hien An Ngo, for @opensecrets.org

Just a few of the proposed voting limitations in the MEGA Act:

Homicides at the lowest level since at least the 1800s (as noted by @quattronecenter.org and @jeffasher.bsky.social)

The Sozosei Lab for Decriminalizing Mental Illness released a fantastic framework along with an annotated bibliography grouped by three key questions: www.sozoseifoundation.org/sites/g/file...

Supreme Court Increasingly Favors the Rich, Economists Say

A new Yale–Columbia study confirms what many have feared: the Supreme Court is increasingly ruling for the wealthy, with GOP-appointed justices siding with the richer party 70% of the time this decade, up from ~45% in the 1950s.

We are a rogue state, run by a dictator, and the international community should treat us as such including all appropriate economic and diplomatic sanctions

More evidence that people struggling with unmet needs are overrepresented in jails and prisons.

Relatedly, the chronic stress of poverty also contributes to poor (reproductive) health outcomes.

Excellent use of open-source data, but note this is an undercount of people taken (across agencies) with no prior convictions.

Step 1: Fire the experts funding American science.

Step 2: Change review process. (You are here)

Step 3: Hire partisans to fund ideologues.

Step 4: Bemoan the lack progress, gut remaining science funding.

And yet are paid less than $3/day for full-time work (per @prisonpolicy.org www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2017/04...)

"Permission to Pollute" Act - Factsheet The U.S. House of Representatives is advancing dangerous legislation: the “PERMIT Act” (H.R. 3898), a package of over 15 anti-clean water bills. This legislation would gut the Clean Water Act and make...

@cleanwatermd.bsky.social summary: cleanwater.org/publications...

More evidence that legacy admissions are unfair and help maintain the status quo.

Council An official website of the State of Maryland.

Baltimore is attempting to do something similar with the removal of vacants: dhcd.maryland.gov/Reinvest-Bal...

(Ghost of Christmas Future) Yes. Safe and affordable housing causally reduces violence.

"Smishing" is a real thing, meant to be a portmanteau of SMS-phishing. It's been around a while, but it is niche.

It seems unlikely that the continued wealth growth of the top 0.1% has led to less tax avoidance...

"One factor behind the decrease, [chief prosecutor] Manion believes, is the partnership between police departments and nonprofits focused on curbing gun violence."

Trump housing funding cuts expected to increase Maryland homelessness The Trump administration announced that it would cut $46 million from Maryland’s federal funding allocation that places individuals in secure housing.

25% increase in Maryland homelessness, per @baltfishbowl.bsky.social: baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/trum...

Cheesecake Factory at Harborplace to close after decades in business The closure of the Inner Harbor Cheesecake Factory on Jan. 24, 2026 will result in the loss of 115 jobs.

I thought the @redlinemaryland.bsky.social would move Baltimore into another top 10, but @nerd4cities.bsky.social will never visit now... www.thebanner.com/culture/food...

Elon Musk’s Foundation Grows to $14 Billion, but Gives Little to Outsiders The philanthropy has become one of America’s biggest, but most of its giving went to charities closely tied to the world’s richest man.

Elon Musk’s charitable foundation grew larger than ever in 2024. But, for the fourth year in a row, the huge charity failed to give away the minimum amount required by law — and the donations it did make went largely to charities closely tied to Musk himself, who is the world's richest man.

The last sentence is key, "MONSE’s director Stefanie Mavronis repeatedly attempted to meet with Bates and his staff in July and August without success." Seems like an item for the new CJCC?

Taxpayers subsidizing some of the most valuable companies in history.