Maryland had several big winners for last night’s Mega Millions lottery drawing. A $1 million ticket was sold at Pine Liquors (9231 Oxon Hill Road) in Prince George’s County and a $40,000 Mega Millions Megaplier ticket was sold at Giant (8100 Loch Raven Boulevard) in Towson.  Last night’s winning numbers were 3, 5, 6, 44 and 61. The Mega Ball number was 25 and the optional Megaplier number was X4. This Friday’s drawing now has an estimated jackpot of $910 million, with a $464.2 cash option.  Additional details below:

“The last Mega Millions® jackpot offered in July will be a massive one, as the estimated prize for the next drawing on Friday, July 28, is a whopping $910 million ($464.2 million cash). The jackpot is on the verge of $1 billion, a level it has surpassed four times in the past, most recently last January. The big prize rolls after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night – the white balls 3, 5, 6, 44 and 61, plus the gold Mega Ball 25. Friday’s drawing will be the 29th in this current  roll, which began after the jackpot was last won in New York on April 18.


The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is now accepting applications for the 2023 black bear hunt lottery. Successful applicants will receive a permit valid for the 6-day hunting season open October 23-28 in Allegany, Frederick, Garrett, and Washington counties.

The annual bear hunt, now in its 20th year, is an important management tool used to slow the increase of Maryland’s black bear population and limit expansion of Maryland bears into the eastern suburbs and cities. The department will once again issue 950 hunting permits this year.


Earlier this month we let you know that Montgomery County’s very own Katie Ledecky finished the 1500m with a time of 15:29.64 and now now owns all of the top 15 times ever recorded in the event. Now, Ledecky has become the first person to win five world titles in two different events and she has tied Michael Phelps for the most individual world golds in swimming with 15.

Ledecky won the 1500m freestyle by a whopping 17.04 seconds at the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, on Tuesday. According to NBC Sports, “It was Ledecky’s best time since lowering her world record to 15:20.48 in 2018, a welcome sight after moving from Stanford to the University of Florida after the Tokyo Olympics.


Per the State of Maryland: Governor Wes Moore today announced $4 million in grants to six jurisdictions for repairs that will enable nearly 300 homes to proceed with comprehensive energy efficiency retrofits. The funds will be deployed through a new pilot program that integrates the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s energy efficiency programs and rehabilitation programs, providing the repairs necessary to proceed with upgrades for homes deferred for health and safety reasons.

“Through this pilot program, we’re opening the door for more Maryland homes to meet their energy efficiency goals,” said Gov. Wes Moore. “Encouraging these energy improvements at the residential level—and ensuring that they can be made efficiently—is an important step in addressing our climate challenges.”


With Americans having increased their collective credit card debt by a record $179.4 billion last year, and the grand total at over $1.1 trillion, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the States with the Highest & Lowest Credit Card Debts, with Maryland coming in ranked 18th highest among all states.

WalletHub drew upon data from TransUnion, the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Census Bureau and WalletHub’s proprietary credit card payoff calculator to determine the cost and time required to repay the median credit card balance in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Below, you can find a handful of highlights from the report. Credit Card Debt in Maryland (1st Rank = Least Sustainable):


Maryland’s Community Parks & Playgrounds Program invests in the future of Maryland’s established communities by developing and revitalizing parks and playgrounds statewide. Another $2.5 million in Community Parks & Playgrounds grant funds is also available for 20 projects statewide to rehabilitate, expand, or improve existing parks; create new parks; or purchase and install playground equipment. To date, more than $87 million in grant funding has been approved for more than 852 park and playground projects.

The following Community Parks and Playgrounds projects received funding in the FY24 budget:


Per the Maryland Attorney General’s Office: Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and a bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General from 31 states and the District of Columbia to enhance competition and protect consumers in food and agricultural markets, including in grocery, meat, and poultry processing. The new partnership will assist the coalition of Attorneys General in tackling anticompetitive market structures in agriculture and related industries that are raising prices and limiting choices for consumers and producers.


With student scores in math and reading having dropped significantly across the country last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2023’s States with the Best & Worst School Systems, with Maryland coming in 8th as a state (this report does not reflect individual county rank, but rather the state as a whole). Neighboring Virginia was ranked 5th (where Maryland was ranked in 2022).

In order to determine the best school systems in America, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 key measures of quality and safety. The data set ranges from pupil-teacher ratio and dropout rate to median standardized-test scores. Quality & Safety of Schools in Maryland (1=Best; 25=Avg.):


Raising Cane’s started its expansion into the D.C. metropolitan region when its first area restaurant opened last December in Sterling, VA (45545 Dulles Eastern Plaza). The first Maryland location opened in Towson in January 2023 and both stores featured lines out the door for months on several days of the week. A Waldorf Location opened in May and a Westminster location opened last week to make three for the state.

We previously reported that Raising Cane’s aims to open 14 stores in the next year, stretching from suburban Baltimore to the Richmond area, and now the chain has announced 15+ locations for Maryland alone. Currently, only three of the 15+ have been announced with a Gambrills location, at 1070 Maryland Route 3 North, opening in September. A Columbia restaurant, at 9071 Snowden River Parkway (Howard County) is coming this fall, and a Forestville restaurant, at 3270 Donnell Drive (Prince George’s County) is also set to open this fall. None of the other Maryland locations have been announced yet, and we are awaiting word on if Montgomery County will be included in the openings.


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