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Maryland
7 men represent one of Maryland’s most diverse counties. Could that change?
Since 1956, a County Council of seven — most of them white and most of them men — has represented Baltimore County. That could change after a vote Monday to put the question of whether the council should expand on the ballot.
Though the council members have discussed changes to the body since the 1970s, they’ve never gotten this close to asking the voters to codify changes in the law. The question has become increasingly important, as the population has quadrupled to nearly 850,000 in the last 70 years. People of color make up half the population. The county is 30% Black with a fast-growing immigrant population from Arabic and Hispanic countries.
Today’s County Council includes seven men, six of whom are white. Many civil rights groups and progressive activists have complained the councilmen do not represent the diversifying county and its myriad interests, including affordable housing and accessible transit.
The council needs five votes to put the measure on the ballot in 2024. If the voters approve the measure, the council would expand by two members in 2026. The council would have to redraw political maps to determine where to put the additional districts, and it would have to alter the number of appointments to the planning board and board of appeals so the new council members also have representation there.
The effort would cost approximately $1.4 million in increased annual operating costs and $12.2 million in (one-time) capital improvement costs.
Council Chairman Izzy Patoka, who has been championing the cause of expansion since a workgroup recommended it in March, said he is confident that he has the five votes.
But of the councilmen polled this past week, only Mike Ertel, a Towson Democrat, said he is supporting it. Republicans Todd Crandell, Wade Kach, and David Marks said they are undecided, as did Democrats Pat Young and Julian Jones.
One provision that may make the legislation more popular with Patoka’s colleagues is a change to make the councilman’s job a full-time position. Currently, each councilman makes $69,000 a year, with the exception of the chair, who makes $77,000. Some have other jobs, even though many have said that the position is really a full-time one.
It’s not clear how much the salary would bump up with a switch to full-time. In Montgomery County, council members have been full-time since voters approved a 2006 ballot. There, the members make $156,284 per year and the council president makes $171,912.46 annually.
The workgroup that recommended expanding the council by two people also recommended making the members full-time.
The group, called the Baltimore County Structure Review Workgroup, included 11 members and met nine times in 2023 and 2024, including holding a public hearing last January. While some wanted to expand by four, the work group’s consensus was to increase by two members.
Those who are undecided offered different reasons for their concerns, ranging from motives of advocates to philosophical reasons about democracy and government.
“In general, I am not in favor of expanding government, which this would do, but I also want to learn from my colleagues who are in support of the bill,” said Crandell, who represents the Dundalk area.
Young, who represents the Catonsville area, said the advocates who have contacted him and come before the council want four new members, not two, and he’s not certain two would allay their concerns.
Marks, who represents the Perry Hall area, said he’s been put off by a process that Democratic activists have driven, and said he would be more in favor of the expansion if those clamoring for it represented a broader cross-section of the county, including more Republican-leaning areas. Kach said he was “not happy” with the proposed council districts or the lack of public input in drafting a new map.
And Jones, the only Black member of the council, said he’s not sure the expansion will accomplish the goal of increasing diversity.
“No one cares more about diversity than I do,” he said. “But democracy is messy, and no one can say the people we have were not duly elected, and that citizens have choices.”
Several of the current members have had an opponent who was a person of color or a woman; they just didn’t happen to win. Caitlin Klimm-Kellner ran against Mike Ertel in District 6. She told the work group studying the expansion that she struggled because the district included 127,000 people. She hailed from the Rosedale side; Ertel, a longtime community organizer, was much more well-known in Towson.
“I think that if it was a smaller representation, a more localized district, that would not have been as much of a problem,” Klimm-Kellner told the group.
The council held public hearings on the proposed referendum on June 11 and June 25.
The voting meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the County Council chambers at 400 Washington Ave., Suite 205.
The state said the five recently traveled together to “a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak.”
Maryland health officials confirmed five more measles cases, all in Carroll County.
“These individuals recently traveled together to a location in the U.S. experiencing an active measles outbreak,” the state Department of Health said in a release.
The agency said others may have been exposed on the afternoon of July 13 in the emergency department waiting room at Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster.
Another measles case recently prompted warnings from health officials in Maryland, Virginia and the District. On June 17, a Maryland resident traveled through Dulles International Airport and visited a D.C. urgent care clinic.
Measles is highly contagious. It can spread through the air through coughs, breathing, and sneezes. Early symptoms can include fevers of over 101 degrees, coughs, runny noses, watery eyes and face or body rashes.
It can take up to 21 days after exposure for the first symptoms to appear, and those who are not fully vaccinated or otherwise immune to measles are especially vulnerable.
The five new measles cases in Maryland bring the state’s year-to-date total to nine. The state health department confirmed three cases in 2025, and one in each of the previous two years.
“All Marylanders should review potential exposure times, watch for symptoms, and confirm they are up to date on their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccinations,” the health department said.
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Baltimore may be under an extreme heat alert, but residents can dream about autumn, as tickets are now on sale for the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show returning to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in October.
This three-day celebration of home and garden takes place from Friday, Oct. 16 through Sunday, Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Expect hundreds of exhibitors, local makers, home improvement experts, family-friendly experiences and celebrity guests. The show offers everyone the chance to explore the very latest in home improvement, landscaping, outdoor living and decor, the chance to take part in hands-on experiences, and do some holiday shopping all under one roof.
This year’s show will have more than 300 exhibitors, including more than 100 crafters from around Maryland in the Makers Market. There will be unique exhibits, stage presentations and a special appearance by Chase Morrill, Ashley Morrill-Eldridge and Ryan Eldridge from Magnolia Network’s hit series “Maine Cabin Masters.” The three will have two Main Stage appearances, one on Friday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. and the second on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 12 p.m.
“As temperatures start to drop and the holiday season comes into view, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show is a place to gather ideas, meet local experts and get inspired before the busy season begins,” said Dave Paul, show manager, in a statement. “Whether attendees are planning a home project, looking for outdoor living ideas or getting a head start on holiday shopping, the show brings together resources and experiences for every kind of homeowner, maker and DIY enthusiast.”
In addition to the Makers Market and stars of “Maine Cabin Masters”, the Maryland Fall Home & Garden + Craft Show will have a petting zoo, a Kids Market where attendees can shop from local children, and much more.
Tickets are available online and at the door. Prices are as follows:
Online:
- Adults: $8
- Senior Citizens (60+): $6
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- 4-Pack Online: $30 for four tickets, valid for one admission each and one day only
At the door:
- Adults: $10
- Senior Citizens (60+): $8
- Children (ages 6-12): $4
- Friday & Saturday: $4 after 4 p.m. at the door only
Special Offers:
- Active and retired military personnel, veterans, firefighters and police officers receive free admission all weekend, along with one guest, with valid ID at the box office.
- Attendees who show a CharmPass app, Light RailLink ticket or eligible transit pass at the box office receive free admission any day of the show. One admission is available per pass.
The Maryland State Fairgrounds is located at 2200 York Road in Lutherville-Timonium.
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Maryland
Maryland police arrest alleged bank robber wielding stolen cat: ‘Tried to use her as an accessory’
Law enforcement agencies are accustomed to dealing with cat burglars – but now a Maryland police department is saying it grappled with a cat-wielding bank robber.
The Prince George’s county police department said its officers arrested a man suspected of stealing a cat and then taking the animal with him to a PNC bank branch in the local community of Beltsville to rob the establishment on Monday morning.
“The cat was returned” after the suspect was arrested, the police department said in a statement to the Guardian on Tuesday. The agency said no injuries were reported, and it declined to name the suspect or release additional details, saying the case – bound for a spot in the annals of bizarre reported US crimes – remained under investigation.
Nonetheless, a social media post from rescue shelter Beltsville Community Cats provided more information.
A Beltsville Community Cats Facebook page post on Monday identified the cat at the center of the alleged botched caper as Magnolia, a three-and-a-half-month-old tuxedo kitten. The shelter recounted how the suspect first snatched Magnolia from her “adoption habitat” at Beltsville’s Pet Supplies Plus store, took her across the parking lot to a PNC branch, and “tried to use her as an accessory in [an] attempted robbery”.
“He asked the bank manager to hold the kitten while he wrote a note, then handed the note to a teller demanding all the cash,” the post continued. “Thankfully, the robbery was unsuccessful, the suspect was arrested, and Magnolia was found safe and sound in the bank manager’s office, where the two had bonded over their shared ordeal.”
Pet Supplies Plus store employees told the NBC affiliate in nearby Washington DC that Magnolia’s cat napper had come in daily for about two weeks and focused on the kitten each time.
Finally, on Monday, he managed to use a key to open a cat adoption area and whisked Magnolia away, store employees said to the outlet, WRC.
Store manager Aaron Kurkowski told WRC that Magnolia’s thief “came in and saw none of my team was nearby the front – and he just went right to her and ran right on out”.
According to WRC, Stephanie Stullich of Beltsville Community Cats then received a call from a pet store employee who alerted her to Magnolia’s plight.
That prompted Stullich to run over to the store, where she said to WRC that she “immediately saw all of these police cars and … thought, ‘Wow, that’s a heck of a response for a stolen cat’.”
“But then I realized they all were going down to the bank,” Stullich recalled to WRC. “They came back out a few minutes later and said, ‘Yes, there is a cat inside the bank.’”
Two days before her catnapping, Magnolia was the subject of a Beltsville Community Cats Facebook post inviting people to see her at Pet Supplies Plus and consider adopting her.
Magnolia as of Monday was still waiting to be adopted, Beltsville Community Cats said in its post detailing the bank robbery.
The non-profit organization offered members of the public the opportunity to apply to adopt Magnolia by emailing rescue@beltsvillecats.net.
Beltsville Community Cats’ post also joked that Magnolia’s “brief ‘life of crime’ is behind her” – except for undoubtedly “stealing” hearts, treats, toys and cuddles wherever her forever home may be.
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