State overview: Baltimore County incident prompts school leaders nationwide to demand protection from artificial intelligence; State considers implementing literacy standards for children entering fourth grade; Maryland residents spent $1.1 billion on cannabis products in first year of legalization

AFTER THE BA CO INCIDENT, DIRECTORS ACROSS THE NATION ARE LOOKING FOR PROTECTION FROM AI: A group of middle and high school principals from across the country is calling on the U.S. Department of Education to come up with more ways to protect against artificial intelligence. The National Association of Secondary School Principals pointed to the arrest of a former athletic director who authorities say used AI to impersonate the principal of Pikesville High School and tricked the public into believing the principal was caught on tape making racist and anti-Semitic comments. Kristen Griffith/The Baltimore Banner.

3^rd CLASS STUDENTS MAY BE HOLDEN IF A LITERATURE POLICY IS ADOPTED: A literacy law proposed in Maryland could push third-graders back for a year if they fail to meet certain reading scores on state tests or “do not demonstrate sufficient reading skills to advance to fourth grade.” Maryland would join more than half of states that push back third-graders if the law passes. The Maryland Department of Education is accepting public comments on the plan through July 19. William Ford/Maryland Matters.

MARYLAND RESIDENTS SPENT $1.1 BILLION ON WEED IN THE FIRST YEAR OF LEGALIZATION: Maryland residents have spent about $1.1 billion on cannabis products since legalizing cannabis sales a year ago. Adult recreational users have accounted for the majority of cannabis sales since July 1, 2023, spending more than $700 million through last Monday, while medical users purchased nearly $400 million worth of cannabis, Gov. Wes Moore said. Brad Matthews/The Washington Times.

HIGH COSTS MAKE APARTMENT RENTAL IN MARYLAND A CHALLENGE: Maryland is among the states where it is most difficult for minimum wage earners to earn enough to afford rent on a two-bedroom apartment, suggesting that affordable housing is “out of reach” for many low-income renters. That’s the conclusion of the “Out of Reach” report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a housing research organization, which shows Maryland trailing only seven states and Washington, DC, in the 2024 rankings. Danielle Brown/Maryland Matters.

MARYLAND JOINS CALL TO MAINTAIN GHOST GUN RESTRICTIONS: Maryland has joined 21 states, the District of Columbia and the Northern Mariana Islands in asking the Supreme Court to uphold federal restrictions on “ghost guns,” unregistered and untraceable weapons that can be assembled at home from kits. Employees/Maryland Affairs.

THE WORK OF THE HIGHER ED COMMISSION BEGINS WITH THE STATUTES: Maryland officials are currently drafting charter for the panel, which will review the process the Maryland Higher Education Commission will use when state universities propose new academic programs. The goal is to launch in the fall. One of the first items on the agenda will be determining how many members the panel will have. William Ford/Maryland Matters.

REMAINING RAMPS OF THE KEY BRIDGE TO BE DEMOLISHED: The container ship Dali is gone. So is most of the 50,000 tons of debris that fell into the Patapsco River when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed on March 26. Among the last remnants of the Key Bridge and its demise are the two remaining ramps — which led to the main body of the bridge — still in the water. They, too, will soon be gone as authorities make way for a rebuilt Key Bridge by October 2028. Hayes Gardner/The Baltimore Sun.

MIXED REACTIONS TO MORE EMISSION-FREE HEAT STANDARDS: When Gov. Wes Moore (D-M) signed an executive order last month to advance the state’s pollution-reduction plan, which includes phasing in zero-emissions standards for heating systems, he used words like “bold” and “ambitious.” But reactions to the executive order, which Moore called “one of the most comprehensive climate executive orders by a governor in Maryland history,” ranged from glowing praise to outright disapproval. Elijah Pittman/Maryland Matters.

MURDER SUSPECTED HAD A HISTORY OF BORDER CROSSING AND EXPULSIONS IN THE PAST: The man accused of raping and murdering Rachel Morin in Bel Air crossed the U.S. border three times in early 2023 and was expelled by U.S. Border Patrol each time, but Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez managed to cross a fourth time, becoming part of a large wave of so-called “escapees” entering the country under a border policy tied to the coronavirus pandemic. During his encounters with Border Patrol, agents found no criminal or other derogatory information about him. Brooke Conrad/The Baltimore Sun.

THE EFFECT OF JANUARY 6 TOOK HER FROM POLICE WORK IN THE CAPITOL TO POLITICS: Joined by former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn, who ran for Congress in Maryland, Metropolitan Police Officer Daniel Hodges and former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell tell the audience what they went through on Jan. 6, 2021, and try to lay out the contrast between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It’s an unusual transition for police officers who once protected members of Congress and are used to keeping their political views to themselves. Mary Claire Jalonick/Associated Press.

MOSBY MAY RETAIN HIS LAW LICENSE DURING THE APPEAL PROCESS: The Maryland Supreme Court ruled Friday that former Baltimore District Attorney Marilyn Mosby can continue to practice law while she appeals her convictions for perjury and mortgage fraud. In a two-dissenting ruling, the justices denied a request by the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland to immediately suspend her law license. Baltimore District Judge Yvette M. Bryant will hear the disciplinary case after the appeals process is complete. Dylan Segelbaum/The Baltimore Banner.

Term limits referendum fails to make it onto Missouri ballot The Montgomery County Board of Elections announced Friday that voters currently lack 626 valid signatures to reach the 10,000 minimum required to place a referendum on limiting the county executive to two terms in the fall. Louis Peck/MoCo 360.

MO CO IG reports increase in complaints about the school system: Montgomery County’s inspector general has had to deal with a flood of complaints about Maryland’s largest school system over the past year as the district faces increasing scrutiny over its handling of reports of school conduct. Nicole Asbury/The Washington Post.

VIKINGS rookie from Maryland among three dead in car crash: Three former Prince George’s County high school football players — including one who was just drafted into the NFL — were killed early Saturday morning when a speeding and possibly intoxicated driver rammed their car in Upper Marlboro, Maryland State Police said. Killed were 24-year-old Minnesota Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson and his former teammates Anthony Lytton Jr., 24, and Isaiah Hazel, 23. Tom Jackman and Michael Errigo/The Washington Post.

FORMER DENTON MAYOR JOE LOVELESS JR. DIES: Joseph S. “Joe” Loveless Jr., whose careers spanned education, coaching, business and politics as mayor of Denton, died of vascular dementia at his home in Joppa on June 15. He was 84. Frederick Rasmussen/The Baltimore Sun.

FORMER DEL. AMEDORI IS REMEMBERED FOR CONSERVATIVE REASONS: Carmen Amedori, a former Carroll County delegate, probation officer and journalist who died June 9 at her Westminster home, was remembered by her daughter Nicole Amedori as a “very passionate” rights advocate with a strong personality while she was active in politics and advocated for conservative causes, with a strong focus on criminal justice issues. Dan Belson/The Baltimore Sun.