Per the State or Maryland: On this Memorial Day, the Moore-Miller administration honored those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The Governor, Lt. Governor Aruna Miller and First Lady Dawn Moore attended events across Maryland with veterans, Gold-Star and military families.
In the afternoon, the governor attended the Baltimore Orioles game with Maryland Gold Star families.
Starting July 1, law enforcement officers in Maryland can no longer use the odor of marijuana as the only reason to stop and search a vehicle.
Bill HB1071, which was recently passed and will become law on July 1st (Gov. Wes Moore is letting it become law, but will not be signing it) prohibits specified types of cannabis-related evidence to be used as the sole basis to establish reasonable suspicion or probable cause for the possession of contraband or other criminal activity and specifies that certain types of cannabis-related evidence may be factors in the totality of the circumstances leading to investigation, arrest, or a search in relation to a person driving, operating, or controlling a motor vehicle or vessel while impaired by drugs. Evidence discovered or obtained in violation of the bill, including evidence discovered or obtained by consent, is not admissible in a trial, hearing, or other proceeding.
Niche recently released its 2023 list of the ‘Best Places to Live in Maryland’ and 18 of the top 25 are right here in Montgomery County. Niche.com is an American company headquartered in Pittsburgh that runs a ranking and review site. The company is an online resource providing information on K–12 schools, colleges, cities, neighborhoods, and companies across the United States. The ‘Best Places to Live’ ranking provides a comprehensive assessment of the overall livability of an area. This grade takes into account several key factors of a location, including the quality of local schools, crime rates, housing trends, employment statistics, and access to amenities in an attempt to measure the overall quality of an area. Montgomery County is home to all five places in the top 5 and 17 of the top 25. 706 places are listed overall. Below you’ll see places in Montgomery County that have made Niche’s top 25:
25. Cabin John
MedStar Health, which is headquartered in nearby Columbia and has multiple urgent care facilities in Montgomery Countyas well as a hospital in Olney, has been named one of America’s Greatest Workplaces for Diversity and Greatest Workplaces for Women 2023 by Newsweek and Plant-A Insights Group. The recognition is part of a larger effort to identify the nation’s best workplaces for not only promoting diversity and empowering women, but also supporting veterans, job starters, LGBTQ associates, and more.
To determine the Greatest Workplaces, Newsweek and Plant-A conducted a large-scale study of U.S. employers based on hundreds of thousands of company reviews, associate interviews, as well as publicly available information. Newsweek says that interviewed associates gave MedStar Health particularly high scores for encouraging diversity in the workplace, respecting female associates, and respecting LGBTQ associates. MedStar Health represents one of the only healthcare organizations in the Maryland and Washington, D.C., region to be awarded the highest possible five-star rating for diversity. MedStar Health received a rating of four stars out of five for its emphasis on supporting women.
Per the Office of Maryland Attorney General, Anthony G. Brown: Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown today announced that fifteen people have been indicted in three different prison contraband conspiracies in connection to inmates at Roxbury Correctional Institution (RCI) in Hagerstown, Maryland. The investigation unveiled a sophisticated criminal network that employed drones, a correctional officer, and a hospital, allowing the distribution of dangerous drugs, including fentanyl, and a wide array of contraband such as cell phones, tools, and other illicit items. This is the second major announcement of multiple indictments in prison contraband smuggling schemes in just the past six weeks.
“Our Intelligence and Investigative team did a great job collecting information to build a strong case that we could present to our partners in the Attorney General’s office for prosecution,” said Carolyn J. Scruggs, Secretary of the MD Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. “Anytime contraband is introduced into one of our facilities, it places our staff and the incarcerated in danger. We will not tolerate contraband because it can lead to violence.”
The Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Office of the Attorney General is delaying the release of the identities of the deceased driver and involved officers in the fatal crash that occurred on May 20 in Montgomery County along I-270 near Route 28.
The Independent Investigations Division (IID) of the Office of the Attorney General is investigating a fatal crash that occurred following a police pursuit in Montgomery County early Saturday morning.
Per the Maryland State Police: Maryland State Police will bolster enforcement efforts over the Memorial Day weekend to prevent dangerous driving behaviors and save lives as more motorists are expected to travel this holiday. State troopers from 23 barracks, including members of the State Police Impaired Driving Reduction Effort Team, known as the SPIDRE team, will be focusing enforcement efforts on impaired driving, aggressive driving, speeding, distracted driving and other violations that contribute to highway tragedies, especially during the holiday weekend. Additional troopers will be working overtime assignments funded by highway safety grants from the Maryland Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office.
Maryland averaged 152 fatalities and 2,003 injuries due to impaired driving crashes annually between 2017 and 2021, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office. Many of these deaths and injuries were preventable.
Online sports betting is prevalent and easier to access, now that it is legal in Maryland. Consumers should not forget that they are gambling with real money and that they can suffer devastating financial losses if their gambling becomes problematic. For assistance with problem gambling, Marylanders can visit the Maryland Alliance for Responsible Gambling at https://www.mdgamblinghelp.org/ or call 1-800-Gambler.
Attorney General Brown Sues Avid Telecom Over Illegal Robocalls; Service Provider Allegedly Transmitted Calls in Schemes Ranging from Social Security to Auto Warranty Scams
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced today that, along with 48 other Attorneys General’s Offices, his Consumer Protection Division has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, alleging that Michael D. Lansky, LLC, which does business under the name Avid Telecom, and the company’s owner, Michael Lansky, and Vice President, Stacey S. Reeves, initiated and facilitated billions of illegal robocalls in violation of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule, the Maryland Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws.
LiDestri Foods is recalling 24-ounce jars of Wegman’s Italian Classics Diavolo pasta sauce, because it may contain undeclared fish (anchovy). People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to anchovy run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume these products. The Diavolo pasta sauce was sold at Wegman’s grocery stores in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia between April 3, 2023 and May 16, 2023.
The product can be identified as a mason jar with red pasta sauce, called Diavolo. The only expiration date affected is March 31, 2025, with the code F0589:
Per the State of Maryland (5.19.23): In letters addressed to Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, Governor Wes Moore this afternoon vetoed the following pieces of legislation from the 2023 Maryland General Assembly:
“House Bill 169, which was passed by the General Assembly and signed by me, accomplishes the same purpose. Therefore, it is not necessary for me to sign Senate Bill 144.”