Police describe the suspects only as two Black males of unknown age. If you have any information that could assist detectives in closing this case, call police at (301) 279-8000.
There goes another one. Evonik Corporation will close its Maryland factory in Havre de Grace, and relocate its production of silica to South Carolina. The closure will eliminate 34 jobs, according to a filing the chemical firm submitted to the state on Wednesday. While the company explains its strategic move with buzzphrases like "economies of scale," there are several obvious reasons why the grass appears much greener in the Palmetto State if you are running a business enterprise.
Industrial electricity rates in South Carolina are 22% less than in Maryland. This is largely due to the forced closure of eight power plants by Maryland elected officials, who have also mandated the purchase of ever-increasing amounts of "clean power," such as solar or wind. In addition, the state has socked energy utility customers with an EmPOWER Maryland fee, that funds a Marxist program that subsidizes the purchase of energy efficient equipment by lower income customers. The end result is that Maryland now imports the majority of its electricity from out-of-state, naturally at greater cost than it had been provided from those shuttered in-state plants. Not to mention that Maryland ratepayers are now receiving record-high monthly power bills.
Maryland's corporate tax rate is 8.25%. South Carolina's is 5%. Doh!
Last year, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and the Democratic-controlled legislature established a 3% tech tax. By comparison, IT consulting, custom coding, and systems design are not taxed in South Carolina.
Finally, Maryland’s average annual pay for chemical engineers is approximately $121,012 to $140,708. In Charleston, the average is roughly $93,975 to $128,000, according to Indeed.com.
Heckuva job, Brownie!
"I heard a noise, it's that close to me," Maryland Governor candidate Ed Hale recalled of the collapse of the Key Bridge in Baltimore two years ago today. The Republican businessman and Charm City resident's home was within earshot of the catastrophe that unfolded on March 26, 2024. Two years later, progress on the construction of a replacement bridge has stalled as the cost of the project ballooned fivefold under the administration of Governor Wes Moore (D). Running afoul of federal funding guidelines, and Moore's relentless personal attacks on President Donald Trump, have led to the possibility that former president Joe Biden's vow to pick up 100% of the tab is now in serious jeopardy. Hale scheduled a press conference within sight of the bridge yesterday to excoriate Moore for the lack of progress, 24 hours ahead of the predictable Moore media blitz.
"It's a bridge that I've used pretty much all of my life," Hale told reporters Wednesday. "I'm from around here. This is my house right here," he added, gesturing toward his home. The neighborhood around the former bridge connection "is hurting, because it takes forever to go from here to over there," Hale said.
Hale argued the floundering rebuild is "emblematic of a governor that's really not paying attention to this whatsoever. He'll smile and say that he is, but he's not. And what you see is anger on both sides of the bridge, all around [Anne Arundel and Baltimore] County and just, the citizens here are extremely upset and don't like the idea that we're not getting this done. There's no end in sight for this thing to be done."
"We are a ship without a rudder," Hale charged of Moore's leadership of the state, saying the current governor's attention is largely consumed by his quest for the presidency in 2029. He announced that in lieu of a workable solution from the Moore administration, "I have a plan."
"I'm going to have the bureaucrats involved, the engineers, and the construction companies involved in this whole process, and see what they can do," Hale said. "And if they don't have a reasonable explanation, they're not going to last long in my administration." He suggested the state turn to Maryland-based firms that do similar work around the world to rebuild the bridge, saying he knows they are qualified because he has hired many of them for his own projects. "I've talked to a bunch of people, and they're standing by, ready to do it."
Hale cited the outflow of residents and wealth from Maryland to other states in recent years. Voters are "now telling me, 'If you don't win, we're moving,'" Hale recounted. A recent poll found that over 60% of Maryland residents are either in the process of leaving the state, or are considering a move. "We can't continue to have this happen," Hale said.
"We don't have economic development. We don't have job creation. We are the worst in the nation for job creation," Hale explained, noting that as a private sector businessman, he has created tens of thousands of jobs. By "every metric you can think of, we're failing," Hale said. "I don't intend to fail. I intend to make things better. Help is on the way."
Police have not released any description of the intruder(s) as of this writing. They did not specify how anyone involved managed to avoid being caught on surveillance cameras at the station. If you have any information about this incident call police at (301) 279-8000.
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| Affected portion of Piney Branch Road shown in red |
The latest forecast from the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center portends trouble for the Washington, D.C. suburbs and central Maryland tomorrow, Monday, March 16, 2026. Many meteorologists are saying the NWS prediction is showing the highest chance of a tornado or derecho event they've seen in many years. The NWS predicts there is a 15-29% chance of a tornado in Montgomery and Frederick Counties Monday. The "moderate" designation means "widespread severe storms are likely," with severe weather most likely between 3:00 PM and 9:00 PM.
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| Dan Weber of Boilermakers Local 45 (left) with Republican candidate for Maryland Governor Ed Hale |
Baltimore businessman Ed Hale, a candidate for Maryland Governor, has been endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and the Boilermakers Local 45 Zone #193 unions. "Your efforts to support unions in our fight for good jobs and a just economy help our members and the millions of workers who depend on a strong labor movement," IBB Director of Government Affairs Cecile Conroy wrote in a letter informing Hale of the coveted labor endorsement. "As always, we thank you for your friendship and support of working families."
"Maryland was built by WORKERS — not politicians," the Republican candidate said in announcing the endorsements yesterday. "I’m very grateful for their endorsement. These skilled tradesmen build the ships, power plants, and infrastructure that keep our economy running. As Governor, I’ll always stand with the men and women who build things."
Hale began his career at Bethlehem Steel in Dundalk, where he joined the Ironworkers Union. After moving to another job at the Port of Baltimore, he founded Hale Intermodal Trucking Company, and Port East Transfer. The latter company became the largest employer at the port, and laid the groundwork for the Hale Companies, a trade and logistics firm that incorporated barge and additional truck companies under its umbrella. The Hale Companies also built 343 buildings.
Hale's massive success in business gave him the ability to win a proxy battle for control of the Bank of Baltimore. His $1.4 million investment led to his appointment as CEO of the bank. Hale parlayed his banking experience into the founding of his own financial institution, 1st Mariner Bank. By 2011, his new bank sported 24 branches, and $1.2 billion in assets. He then purchased the Baltimore Blast soccer team, and has invested millions in revitalization projects in Baltimore, including Canton Crossing, which boasts the only Target in the City of Baltimore and a Wonder food hall. The 20-acre development replaced a brownfield left behind by an ExxonMobil oil refinery, and has won multiple awards.
Incumbent Governor Wes Moore (D) by contrast, has so far fallen flat in economic development and job creation in his first term, despite having been touted as a Wall Street-connected business genius by the local and national press. A budget surplus he inherited from his GOP predecessor Larry Hogan quickly vanished and became a structural deficit under Moore's leadership. Amid gathering fiscal storm clouds, Moore refused to abandon the massive cash-burning Blueprint for Maryland school funding initiative. As a result, the state lost its coveted AAA bond rating.
Moore hiked taxes and fees, and introduced new ones, including a massive tech tax that has failed to raise the revenue expected because many companies left the state rather than pay it. His vow to quickly rebuild the Key Bridge, destroyed by an out-of-control ship, has spiraled into a fiasco of inaction and skyrocketing cost overruns. Moore has spent the majority of his first term attempting to raise his national profile for a presidential run by attacking Donald Trump, which severely backfired when Trump yanked away the planned Maryland FBI headquarters, the federal blank "100%" Key Bridge construction check promised to Moore by Joe Biden, and the state's National Guard air wing in retaliation.
The inertia, malaise, and affordability woes hammering Marylanders have created an opening for a successful businessman like Hale to make a compelling case to voters. Those voters are also receiving the highest monthly energy bills in the nation, a result of Moore's acquiescence to the Democrat-controlled forced closure of 8 power plants in the state, mandates of clean power purchases, and a massive EmPOWER surcharge added to electric and gas bills. Moore had recently approved an increase in that surcharge so large that utility companies sent written notice to customers to inform them that the charge was coming from the state, not the utilities. Hale has said he would reopen the shuttered plants and expand nuclear energy capacity in the state.
Montgomery County's Marxist County Council has beaten Zohran Mamdani at his own game. Before the New York City mayor could even acquire a site for his first government-run grocery store, his fellow travelers on the Montgomery County Council are poised to launch a government-run grocery wholesale business. It's a two-part scheme.
Part 1 involves the County awarding one lucky bidder $550,000 in taxpayer funds to build, stock and operate a wholesale grocery warehouse. The government-funded wholesale operation would sell to "schools, senior centers, hospitals, food banks and correctional facilities," according to a press release from Councilmember Andrew Friedson.
Part 2? Friedson is taking a victory lap in proclaiming Montgomery County will be the first jurisdiction in the region to join the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Local Food Procurement Challenge. Activating the Montgomery County Anger Translator, we can convert that word salad program name into the English language: The County will mandate the purchase of local farm produce by its "departments and agencies" with "public dollars" on the basis of geography, rather than stretching tight "local dollars" (a.k.a. taxpayer funds) by purchasing the cheapest products from anywhere.
The move continues two longstanding Council trends: socialism, and jacking up the cost of government by continually reducing the number of suppliers of a product or service. These include numerous laws mandating the preference or outright mandate that all bidders or sellers must be minority-owned, woman-owned, or veteran-owned. Likewise, some of the laws have excluded bidders or service providers who do not meet a particular ideological or politically-correct profile determined by the Council.
It doesn't take a Harvard economist to tell you that when you reduce the number of bidders, the cost of the winning bid automatically increases. It's called market economics, and it's only one small reason the County budget has doubled in just the last decade. Equally obvious is that the more public dollars funneled into the grocery business by the County, state, and federal government, the more local grocery prices increase. Heckuva job, Brownie!
