Maryland
Voters Can't Add 4 Seats To Baltimore County Council, 2-Seat Expansion Remains Possible
![Voters Can't Add 4 Seats To Baltimore County Council, 2-Seat Expansion Remains Possible Voters Can't Add 4 Seats To Baltimore County Council, 2-Seat Expansion Remains Possible](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/24287450/20240731/034453/styles/patch_image/public/042024-ped-parkville-md-baltimore-county-seal-baumgart-2___31114219904.jpg)
BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — The push to add four seats to the Baltimore County Council failed, multiple reports said Tuesday. A November referendum will still decide if the Council should grow by two seats.
The Council has had seven members since 1956, but the county population has more than doubled to 845,000 people.
Supporters say additional council members would allow for better representation of each voter. Proponents also think this will diversify the all-male Council with only one Black member.
Opponents worry about the additional salary costs and allege that four more Council seats would favor Democrats, who currently have a 4-3 advantage.
“Make no mistake – the effort to add four seats to the County Council has been spearheaded by partisan activists with the goal of wiping out two-party government in Baltimore County,” David Marks (R-Upper Falls) said on Facebook on July 24. “The same state legislators backing this effort today supported extreme gerrymandering in Annapolis. Government works best with balance and competition between both parties – not the monopoly pushed by partisan activists.”
The County Council on July 1 reached a bipartisan agreement to send the two-seat expansion to a referendum this fall. Republican council members agreed that the proposed new district maps were fair. The same ballot question will also ask voters if council members should be paid a full-time salary, rather than their current part-time pay.
Marks said the two-seat expansion “gives both political parties a fighting chance across Baltimore County.”
WYPR said the four-seat expansion effort, orchestrated by Vote4More, was trying to gather 10,000 signatures by the Monday deadline to put it on the General Election ballot. It would’ve competed against the two-seat expansion referendum, but the four-member addition measure ran into complications.
The Baltimore Sun reported that the Board of Elections discarded nearly 3,000 signatures during the review required under state law.
Election officials said those signatures lacked the signers’ middle initial or middle name, WYPR reported.
Vote4More submitted 1,400 supplemental signatures, but The Sun reported that they didn’t meet the state requirements.
“What hurts me is that getting them so excited, I can’t deliver it,” Vote4More Chair Linda Dorsey-Walker said, according to WYPR.
Dorsey-Walker plans to appeal the rejection of her petition.
Referendum Will Settle Baltimore County Council Expansion Debate
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Maryland
Maryland bracing for more extreme heat
![Maryland bracing for more extreme heat Maryland bracing for more extreme heat](https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/31/8f38ba11-d605-46be-9e2b-ae98ff7af692/thumbnail/1200x630/57329e3e8414d1794ba0d581e8241dbe/wx.jpg?v=8f1da8ceea4c14a7119ef5d6a2829966)
BALTIMORE — Heat and humidity will take a step up so brace for real feel temperatures nearing the triple digits this afternoon.
Highs today will be in the low to mid 90s but the humidity will make it feel about five degrees warmer. Morning temperatures are in the 70s under mostly cloudy skies. The gray will fade to sunshine as the morning goes on.
Your First Alert Weather Team has flagged Thursday and Friday as potential Alert Days due to extreme heat. Highs will be in the upper 90s but the humidity will make it feel closer to 105°.
In addition to the hot and sticky feel, we’re facing daily chances for afternoon showers and storms. Today’s look pretty isolated but they pick up in coverage from here with more widespread thunderstorms Friday and Saturday.
There will be a few storms to dodge on Sunday but it should be more spotty.
Maryland
Here comes the intense heat and humidity in Maryland
![Here comes the intense heat and humidity in Maryland Here comes the intense heat and humidity in Maryland](https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2024/07/31/8a0144ff-9366-4790-af4b-c0ed206607e7/thumbnail/1200x630/423fc9a7684c53011cc6d37abb2b5d0d/a51666f357368dbbe68f23629774f6f3.jpg?v=8f1da8ceea4c14a7119ef5d6a2829966)
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Maryland
Maryland family's dog severely burned, neighborhood child suspected
![Maryland family's dog severely burned, neighborhood child suspected Maryland family's dog severely burned, neighborhood child suspected](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5dc.com/www.fox5dc.com/content/uploads/2024/07/1280/720/videoframe_17132.png?ve=1&tl=1)
FORT WASHINGTON, Md. – The Prince George’s County Fire Marshal is investigating a disturbing case of animal cruelty involving a family dog that was severely burned with a lighter.
The family believes a neighborhood child is responsible for the injuries.
Latricia Jones, the dog’s owner, spoke with FOX 5 about the condition of her 3-and-a-half-year-old pit bull terrier named Bear.
![](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5dc.com/www.fox5dc.com/content/uploads/2024/07/932/524/vlcsnap-2024-07-30-16h31m36s532.png?ve=1&tl=1)
“He’s stable right now. He’s on antibiotics and pain meds, so I think the pain medication is kind of sedating him a little,” Jones said. “He is resting. Sometimes he cries.”
The incident has left the community in shock.
“We’re devastated. My entire family is devastated. The community is devastated. I have neighbors that have known the dog since he was 6 weeks old… they’ve come over and when they see him they’re crying,” Jones added.
Jones and her family suspect a 9-year-old neighborhood boy is responsible for Bear’s injuries.
![](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox5dc.com/www.fox5dc.com/content/uploads/2024/07/932/524/vlcsnap-2024-07-30-16h31m27s956.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Their doorbell camera captured images of the boy entering and leaving their backyard.
Jones believes the boy used a torch lighter to burn holes in Bear’s back.
“Without actual footage showing him burning the dog it’s like they’re like, ‘well he didn’t do it,’ but he said he also didn’t go to the backyard. I have him on camera three times going into the backyard when no one else was around,” Jones said.
Veterinarians have informed Jones that Bear needs delicate surgery to remove his dead skin, which could cost around $10,000.
Disclaimer: The photos below may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Dr. Marianne Bailey, a veterinarian from Annapolis, explained, “It’s reasonable that they were quoted a large amount because these wounds can be very difficult to manage. If this is a large dog with a large burn wound along its back, you’re probably looking at weeks if not months for this to heal. There could be complications along the way, and then he’s going to have a crazy scar down his back… and he may never have hair that regrows there ever again.”
Jones hopes the boy who allegedly caused Bear’s injuries receives professional help.
“I know he can’t go to jail. I don’t want to see him go to jail,” Jones said. “He’s 9 years old, but I want to see if maybe he gets some type of professional intervention, you know. I want his parents to be accountable and that they acknowledge that he’s done this. The police said it’s a minor, and there’s not a lot they can really do in a juvenile case like this.”
Prince George’s County Police and the Fire Marshal’s Office have confirmed they are investigating the case.
As of now, no charges have been filed, and the investigation is ongoing.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help raise money to treat Bear’s wounds.
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