FDA readying ban on flavored e-cigarettes amidst health scare

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has announced plans to ban flavored electronic cigarettes, the culmination of a nationwide crackdown on vaping following a spike in respiratory illnesses connected to e-cigarette use.  Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said banning…

Maryland’s Hoyer contradicts Judiciary’s Nadler, then reverses course

WASHINGTON – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Mechanicsville, reflected the Democrats’ muddled message on presidential impeachment in a press conference Wednesday, first saying the House is not currently conducting an inquiry, and later walking that back in a statement released…

House pushes four bills to improve maternal health

WASHINGTON – House Democrats are pushing four bills to improve maternal health in an attempt to counter the country’s rising maternal mortality and morbidity rates. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the maternal mortality rate in the…

Federal funds aimed at boosting Chesapeake Bay oyster population

WASHINGTON – Efforts to increase Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population – a key indicator of the bay’s health – have received $800,000 in federal funding.   “This money will allow us and our partners – including the Maryland Department of Natural Resources…

Raskin decries administration as Cummings launches new probe into Pence, emoluments

WASHINGTON – The House Oversight and Judiciary Committees have opened investigations into Vice President Mike Pence’s stay at a Trump golf resort during his trip to Ireland this week, the latest inquiry into the administration as Democrats continue to weigh…

Maryland eyes Dorian for coastal flooding, rip current risks

Maryland lifeguards and emergency managers kept a close eye on possible threats from coastal flooding and rip currents as Hurricane Dorian meandered up the mid-Atlantic coast Friday afternoon and began a projected arc out to sea.

Maryland communities and D.C. receive youth homelessness grants

CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Maryland — Baltimore, Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia are among 23 communities receiving a total of $75 million in federal funds to combat youth homelessness. The $75 million was awarded as part of the Department…

Van Hollen blasts McConnell over Senate inaction on gun bill

WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, lambasted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday for inaction on gun control legislation, saying it would be “grossly irresponsible” for the Kentucky Republican to not bring up legislation for a Senate vote. “It’s…

Code Red: Baltimore’s Climate Divide

This collaboration with NPR and Wide Angle Youth Media vividly illustrated the price humans pay as the planet gets hotter. With an abundance of concrete and little shade, urban heat islands like one in Baltimore are getting hotter faster and staying hotter longer. And the people who live there are often sicker, poorer and less able to protect themselves.The investigation, using heat and humidity sensors the students built, found that rising temperatures in such neighborhoods will mean more trips to the hospital for heart, kidney and lung ailments. Drugs to treat mental illness and diabetes won’t work as well. And pregnant women will give birth to more children with more medical problems. Solutions exist. But growing more trees to undo decades of discriminatory redlining, and rebuilding streets and sidewalks to reflect the heat are expensive — and take time.

In urban heat islands, climate crisis hits harder

In Baltimore, the burden of rising temperatures isn’t shared.