Because the news is so fast-moving this morning, what with maybe-VI day and all, we have sidestepped any coverage of the MMA bouts on the White House grounds in hopes that folks will forget everything about them except maybe  the rain delays. Maryland's tribulations are consumer inflation, first of all, and second the time it will take (under the best of circumstances) to get the wretched oil moving through our new favorite Google-map location, the Strait of Hormuz. There's  reason overall to be optimistic about the way renewable energy is catching up with the Petro Power, but the speed with which inflation erupted when the tankers got stuck reminds us we still have far to go.

Some timely election-finance gossip from POLITICO also reminds us that Maryland is hardly immune from a ruckus about who's giving what to whom, and the state is still wrestling, county by county and locale by locale, with how to handle data centers, which offer a quick hit to local employment and successfully separate construction unions' interests from those of their fellow workers in other trades. It's News You Can Use. Read on...

HERE IN MARYLAND

Montgomery Moratorium On Data Centers: Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich signed an executive order Friday that will “pause the acceptance and processing of permit applications for new data centers” for six months. Maryland Matters

Millions Pour Into Congressional Races: More than $25.5 million has flooded in to congressional campaigns in the state in the last two months, almost all of as loans from a handful of well-heeled candidates to their own campaigns. Maryland Matters

Union Rallies Against Campus Layoffs: More than 100 AFSCME members rallied at the University of Maryland Board of Regents meeting Friday, urging the board to rescind layoffs made recently as campuses struggle with tighter budgets. Maryland Matters

Summaries from Maryland Reporter:

Residents Fear Frederick Will Become State's Data Center Alley: Frederick has more planned hyperscale data centers than any other county in Maryland, according to an industry-created dataset. These facilities will come online in as early as three years, according to some estimates, prompting local concerns that the area will soon resemble “data center alley” in nearby Loudon County, Va. Capital News Service/MarylandReporter.

Elrich Pauses New Data Centers In Montgomery For Six Months: For the next six months, Montgomery County’s permitting department will be barred from accepting, processing or considering permit applications for new data centers under an executive order signed by County Executive Marc Elrich on Friday. “It’s not a ban on data centers. It’s not a statement that data centers should never be built in Montgomery County, and it’s not a judgment about any specific proposal,” Elrich said. Bethesda Today.

New Trump Medicaid Requirements to Have Large Impact: Starting in January 2027, new Medicaid requirements will go into effect as part of President Donald Trump’s so-called Big Beautiful Bill. Part of the requirements is that adults must work 80 hours a month to qualify for Medicaid. The government recently put out new rules on who will be exempt from those requirements, which could have large impacts on people living in Maryland and the coverage they can receive. WYPR-FM.

As Inflation Surges, Marylanders Pay The Price: Inflation surged last month to the highest rate in more than three years, driving up the costs of everything from food to gas for Maryland families, experts said, and putting aid groups on edge. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5% in May, bringing inflation for the year to 4.2%, the highest level since April 2023, driven in large part by the spike in fuel prices, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Maryland Matters.

Whole State in Drought Watch: The Maryland Department of the Environment has placed all of Maryland under either a drought watch or warning, and the recent rainfall isn’t helping that much. This is Maryland’s fourth year of a drought cycle, and up until May, average monthly rainfall has consistently been one inch short of the state’s usual four-inch standard. WYPR-FM. (6/12)

Not News,  but highly curated gossip from POLITICO Playbook this a.m. – “A trio of Democrats running for retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer’s seat in Maryland are putting him, Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks on notice over the more than $7.8 million that super PACs linked to AIPAC and the crypto industry are spending to boost Hoyer-backed state Del. Adrian Boafo in next week’s primary, POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky scoops. The candidates — Rushern Baker, Quincy Bareebe and Harry Dunn — are pressuring Boafo’s big-name backers to “publicly … call on Adrian Boafo to reject” the outside cash. Boafo previously said “big money has no place in politics.”

THE REGION AND THE OTHER 49

Data Centers Next Door: The Virginia House of Delegates has released a budget proposal that does not include environmental standards for data centers. Instead, the budget would create a commission of stakeholders and lawmakers to study the impacts and benefits of data centers in Virginia. (Virginia Mercury) via Pluribus

More Next Door: Virginia’s first woman governor finds herself navigating one of the rockiest starts to a Democratic administration in years, with budget negotiations intensifying weeks before a shutdown deadline, frustration simmering inside her own party over a wave of vetoes and lawmakers openly questioning her governing style. News from the States

Justice Department Sues Virginia Over Mask Ban, Limits to Federal Agents The federal government argues that the state has no authority to regulate the actions of federal law enforcement. WaPo

Food for Kids Next Door: West Virginia: The state education department is working with local partners this summer to provide statewide feeding sites for those 18 years old and younger, working to put together nutritious meals while navigating surging food costs. States News

 ABORTION: A coalition of 14 Republican attorneys general have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to classify and regulate the abortion medication mifepristone as a water contaminant. In a letter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the attorneys general cite a 1996 FDA statement on the harmful environmental effects of mifepristone. (Washington State Standard) via Pluribus

PLURIBUS BY THE NUMBERS:

10%: The increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Connecticut between 2024 and 2025, according to the annual Point-In-Time count conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The number of unsheltered people rose by 45%. (CT News Junkie)

Up to 14: The number of Native Americans who could win seats in the Montana legislature this year, setting a new record for the size of the state’s American Indian Caucus. The caucus had 12 members in 2025, already a record high. (Montana Free Press)

GLOBAL, NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

The debate continues: Defining public ownership and its benefits: Bernie Sanders wants public ownership of half of big AI companies. Jacobin wants public ownership of the New York Knicks.

Punchbowl on the Iran “peace deal” – “what Trump and top administration officials really have is a 60-day extension of the current ceasefire while they negotiate over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Trump suggested he might agree to a 15- or 20-year suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment program in return for sanctions relief, per the NYT. He also threatened renewed U.S. attacks on Iran unless a permanent accord is reached. There are some differences between what U.S. and Iranian officials say is in the agreement. Senior American officials strongly denied reports of a $12 billion U.S. payment to Iran as part of the deal.” So, maybe over, maybe not – The Guardian’s Nesrine Malik opines that in any case, “the fear, killing  and upheaval were all normalized.” And the always-skeptical Economist headlines “War is over (maybe)-- A deal is only the beginning of the end of the US-Iran war, and they could start fighting again in the hope of getting a better one” … and they caution that Iran has lost a generational fear of war that stemmed from the ruinous conflict with Iraq in  the 1980s, when Iran lost a generation in human-wave attacks against a far better-armed opponent. “Having endured six weeks of war against two superior foes, Iran’s current rulers are more confident. They believe that Mr Trump has no desire to resume an unpopular war. Periodic attacks on American forces in the Gulf now seem to Iran like a useful source of leverage rather than an unacceptable risk.”

Judge Overturns DOE’s Cancellation of $82.1M in Clean Energy Grants

The plaintiffs argued the 11 projects – located in New York, Oregon, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Colorado – were targeted because those states voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris. The research grants, which Energy Secretary Chris Wright labeled “Green New Scam,” included projects reclaiming critical minerals from fuel cells and batteries, and creating cost-competitive hydrogen without sourcing it from natural gas. Utility Dive