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CLARKSVILLE, Md. — Big improvements to Maryland Route 32 will cover more than 20 miles from Clarksville to Eldersburg. Gov. Larry Hogan and Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman announced Thursday that a stretch of Route 32 will get a much-needed expansion. After nearly a decade of pleading with state officials, the traffic and safety nightmare on Route 32 is finally being addressed. Hogan is committing $152 million to widening the highway and making safety improvements. "Governor, there are citizens who have died on this roadway. There are friends of all of us who have died or have been hurt, and...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Friday that California’s strict gun-control laws failed to prevent the San Bernardino mass shooting, and that lawmakers need to seek “better answers.” “This issue goes beyond gun control,” Mr. Hogan told the Baltimore Sun outside a local diner. “California has the toughest laws in the country. We probably have the second toughest. It hasn’t stopped us. We have more than 315 murders here in Baltimore City, we had a tragedy in California,” Mr. Hogan said. “We’ve got to come up with better answers.”

HANCOCK — The Sideling Hill Welcome Center is now more than just the most scenic set of fair-weather restrooms in Western Maryland after Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford and a host of elected officials on Friday reopened the facility, which has been closed for the last six years. Perched on the east side of Sideling Hill near Hancock, where a massive cut in the mountain rock allows Interstate 68 to pass through, the center was closed in 2009, in a move by former Gov. Martin O'Malley that did not sit well with many area residents. "It was done for political...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday that medical scans show no sign of the cancer he was diagnosed with five months ago, indicating that 18 weeks of intensive chemotherapy have put the disease into remission. Doctors will continue to monitor Hogan (R) regularly for signs of a recurrence. But at this point, the test results are the best possible news for the first-term governor, whose battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma made him a vocal and visible advocate for cancer patients and resulted in him juggling state responsibilities with treatments that left him weaker and immuno-compromised. "Incredibly, as of today, I am...

Over the past week, I have been reading and writing (hoping, whining, praying) about the necessary yet proper growing pains redefining the House Republican caucus in Washington D.C. With two milquetoast leaders on their way out (Boehner and McCarthy), and with the search for better leaders still ongoing, why not take some time to appreciate real conservative leadership, and what it can accomplish in one of the bluest states in the union? Once a long-shot candidate, Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland remains sadly an unsung hero for the conservative cause, fighting hard against cancer and illiberal interests which have...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has slashed tolls on the state’s highways, canceled Baltimore’s long-planned Red Line light-rail project and, last week, dramatically announced the closure of the city’s deeply troubled Men’s Detention Center. Hogan, Maryland’s first Republican governor in nearly a decade, did not need the backing of the Democratic-controlled state legislature for any of those decisions. He announced them on his own, deriding inaction by past administrations and acknowledging that he had made little effort to seek Democratic legislative leaders’ input before he acted. The governor’s in-your-face approach contrasts with the pledges of bipartisanship he made after his election...

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Following through on his campaign pledge to provide funding for highways and state-owned local roads, Governor Larry Hogan today announced $1.97 billion for highways and bridges from Western Maryland to the Eastern Shore. The priority projects, which will get underway by 2018, include $1.35 billion in new projects going to construction and $625 million in preserved projects. The $1.35 billion in new projects includes $845 million for major projects and $500 million to fix bridges and improve roads. “Today, I’m delivering on my promise to provide nearly $2 billion in funding to our highways and bridges across...

Dashing Baltimore's hopes for an east-west light rail line, Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday that he will not build the $2.9 billion Red Line. "The current proposal makes no sense whatsoever," the governor told a State House news conference. But Hogan, making his first appearance since announcing Monday he has cancer, gave mass transit advocates a limited victory by giving the green light to construction of a slimmed-down version of the Purple Line light rail project in the Washington suburbs. During his campaign last year, Hogan had said the state could not afford either project. After he took office, however,...

Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday the state will move forward with the Purple Line. The Republican governor made his decision after months of speculation about whether he’ll kill the $2.45 billion light-rail project. Hogan said the state will fund the project with $168 million, “a fraction” of the cost of what could have been up to a $700 million state investment. The governor said he will ask Montgomery County and Prince George's County to increase the size of their investments. “The Purple Line is a long-term investment and will be an important economic driver for Maryland,” Hogan said. “It will...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced Monday he has advanced cancer and is starting aggressive chemotherapy. The 59-year-old governor, who took office in January, said that while the disease is in a "very advanced" stage, he has a "very strong chance of success" of survival and even "beating" it. He intends to continue serving as governor while undergoing treatment. "It's a tough time to go through and I'm going to miss a few meetings, but I'll have full capacity to make decisions," Hogan said. "I'll still be working most of the time." Hogan said he has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma...

This ruling only concerns the first case involving the Meitivs. While they had pursued the appeal on the January ruling, police took their children into custody again last month for walking to the park on their own, holding them for more than five hours. The action raised eyebrows even among those who disapprove of the Meitiv’s parenting style, with many demanding to know how the police and CPS could argue that their actions were less harmful than allowing two children to walk alone to a nearby park. They still have not issued a conclusion on that incident, but it’s practically...

Education advocates on Monday called on Gov. Larry Hogan and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to increase funding for the city's schools, arguing the recent rioting in Baltimore shows the money is desperately needed. Without the funds, city schools will be forced to cut teachers, critical programs and student services, the advocates said. "Baltimore is not getting sufficient education funding to provide for all of our children's needs," said Bebe Verdery, education reform director at the ACLU of Maryland. The coalition includes the city's parent-teacher association and the city's charter schools organization, among other groups.

hatever one might have thought about the Maryland Transportation Authority's decision to raise tolls four years ago, no one can say the two-phase proposal wasn't scrutinized from all angles or that the public wasn't given sufficient opportunity to ask questions or make comment. The same can't be said for the agency's decision to roll them back — in some cases below what they were before the last price increase. That secrecy and abrupt decision-making should give Marylanders pause about what's going on at the agency that owns and manages some of the state's most important — and costly — transportation...

<p>Starting July 1, motorists will pay less to drive on Maryland toll bridges and roadways.</p> <p>Gov. Larry Hogan (R) made the surprise announcement Thursday during a hastily called news conference at the foot of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, where he proudly announced that the toll would drop $2. The reductions, he said, mark the first time in 50 years that the state’s tolls have been rolled back.</p>

GOVERNOR HOGAN ROLLS BACK TOLLS STATEWIDE -- Saving Marylanders $54 Million A Year $2.50 Bay Bridge Toll Returns For Maryland E-ZPass Users; $4 For Drivers Paying Cash Plan Eliminates Monthly Account Fee And Doubles Discounts For Maryland E-ZPass Holders Governor Larry Hogan today delivered on his promise to roll back Maryland's high toll rates and put money back in the pockets of hard-working Maryland families and businesses. From the Bay and Hatem bridges to the Harbor Crossings, the Intercounty Connector (ICC), and the new I-95 Express Toll Lanes (ETL), Governor Hogan's toll rollback, which takes effect July 1, 2015, will...

Governor Larry Hogan is closely monitoring the situation in Baltimore City and has been in contact with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake office to provide the city with whatever resources are required. The Maryland State Police have been dispatched in a supporting role on the ground, as well as other resources and equipment from various state agencies. “Today’s looting and acts of violence in Baltimore will not be tolerated. In response, I have put the Maryland National Guard on alert so they can be in position to deploy rapidly as needed. I strongly condemn the actions of the offenders who are engaged...

ROCKVILLE, Md. — With a new governor viewed as road-friendly in Annapolis, one Montgomery County lawmaker hopes toll lanes on Interstate 270 are a possibility. County Councilmember Roger Berliner supports converting the two High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on I-270 into reversible toll lanes. “We backed a plan six years ago with two reversible lanes. People in carpools or transit vehicles ride free; everyone else would have to pay a toll,” says Berliner. The concept would be similar to the new 95 Express Lanes in Virginia between Stafford County and Alexandria. Similar to Virginia, any project in Maryland would likely require...

More than two dozen states have joined the Texas lawsuit opposing President Obama’s executive amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, but more eye-opening is the list of Republican governors whose names still do not appear on the suit. The seven Republicans who have thus far elected not to join the suit aimed at reining in Obama are Chris Christie of New Jersey, Terry Branstad of Iowa, Larry Hogan of Maryland, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Matthew Mead of Wyoming, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Bruce Rauner of Illinois. Five of those seven states – Maryland, Iowa, New Mexico, Massachusetts and...

The General Assembly's policy analysts warned lawmakers Friday that Gov. Larry Hogan's suggested decreases in tolls could have a harmful effect on the maintenance and operations of the Maryland Transportation Authority's highways, bridges and tunnels. The Department of Legislative Services told a Senate budget subcommittee that too large a toll reduction could throw off the debt service ratios that allow the authority to maintain a stellar bond rating. The analysts also noted that the authority's revenue forecasts don't take into account the acknowledged need to replace a Southern Maryland bridge at a cost of $1 billion or more. In addition,...

At his inauguration as Maryland’s 62nd governor, Republican Larry Hogan promised to usher in an era of bipartisanship and cooperation in a state capital dominated by Democrats, even as he outlined an unabashedly conservative pro-business agenda. “We must get the state government off our backs and out of our pockets so that we can grow the private sector, put people back to work and turn our economy around,” Mr. Hogan said in a speech delivered on the steps of the State House. As he began his speech amid a flurry of snowfall that dusted the crowd, Mr. Hogan with a...