A federal judge brought a major win for Maryland and other states fighting to protect their communities from climate-fueled disasters.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns temporarily blocked the Trump administration from reallocating more than $4 billion in FEMA disaster mitigation funding, halting an illegal attempt to dismantle the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. This funding is vital for flood prevention, infrastructure upgrades, and community resilience projects across the country,  including right here in Maryland.

People in the DC suburbs  -- northern Prince George's, specifically -- are breathing a sigh of relief because a pretty unnecessary but locally disruptive sorta-rail pilot project has had its federal funds pulled. It would have meant a VERY expensive 15-minute ride from DC to Baltimore at a construction price ticket of $20 billion; in the sweet buy and buy a one-hour trip DC-NYC for a sum (and a ticket price) one can only imagine. Gov. Moore was a "magnetic levitation" fan, having seen such a wonder in everyday use in Japan, where they know how to do this stuff. Perhaps some improvements to the existing Amtrak right-of-way to NYC and Boston would allow Amtrak's trains to go as fast as they are actually able to. That would be a start.

Also in Maryland: superhot weather, superthunderstorms and flooding (and don't swim in that water); the state's plan to hire laid-off federal workers is crosswise with a state hiring freeze and buyout offers; the race to build solar renewable power while extremely dirty backup generator plants have to be turned on in the hottest of high-demand weather. 

Maryland, like many states, avoiding losing population because of immigration, but the fastest-growing states are in a battle to redistrict House seats to improve their chances in 2026. It is more exciting than baseball (some consider that a low bar).

And speaking of Congress, they have gone home exasperated, having been blocked from mass-appointing Trump Chumps to the federal bench. GOP warriors aim to change the Senate rules to make those appointments debate-free; that sword cuts two ways, election to election, so stay tuned. 

It's News You Can Use, as always. 

TrumpWorld has more and more ways of poking at our sore spots in pursuit of retribution for his imagined insults and injustices: refusal to provide disaster aid to flooded Western MD communities; grasping attacks from public and private right-wing minions on states' lists of registered voters; hyper-aggressive ICE tactics right here in Maryland; two years and out for the housing-threatened; cuts in workplace safety and wage theft enforcement. Whew And EPA is working on a plan to pretend carbon dioxide has no effect on our climate (ask flood victims in Westernport). Plus, as you will see, everyday people in working families pushing back. The beat goes on, and so does the weekly News You Can Use...

Big news for Marylanders: The state has officially launched an upgraded website that simplifies the application process for government benefits, including food, cash, healthcare, and energy assistance. The new platform, Maryland Benefits (benefits.maryland.gov), allows people to apply for multiple programs all in one place, with one application.

Maryland is having to defend its permit for offshore wind development, having kinda let it slide for some years thanks to the good businesspersons of O.C. Now Trump's puppet feds are after them, along with anyone else nationwide who is trying to shift from fossil-fuel dependency. Not a good look. Another bad look: Trump's puppet House committees crashed housing availability to the tune of 400,000 fewer available Section 8 vouchers for low-income renters, making homelessness much more common and throwing big burdens on the states and cities -- that's becoming a clear trend for the Trump forces. 

And Trump wants to see the NFL Commanders change their name back to that racist original or he's promised to intervene in D.C.'s elaborate stadium deal. Maybe Gov. Moore will get to keep the team in Maryland after all. We can imagine how many people will be happy about that.

It's all News You Can Use, palatable or not. 

President Trump’s attacks on higher education aren’t isolated. They’re part of a calculated campaign to dismantle institutions that question authority, uplift marginalized voices, and produce critical thinking. From canceling grants at the University of Maryland to targeting Towson and gutting jobs at Johns Hopkins, Trump’s assault is now hitting home for us here in Maryland.

More than $12 million in research funding was recently slashed at UMD because it was deemed “too DEI-focused” by Trump’s administration. Grants from the NIH, Department of Education, NSF, and even the Department of Defense—gone. At Towson University, Trump’s Department of Education is investigating so-called “racial discrimination” simply because the school works with The PhD Project. This group helps Black and Brown students earn doctoral degrees. At Johns Hopkins, over 2,000 employees have been laid off after Trump pulled USAID funding, gutting health initiatives that span Baltimore and 44 countries.

In a powerful and precent-setting moment, Governor Wes Moore has taken a groundbreaking step in the fight for environmental equity by signing Maryland’s first-ever Environmental Justice (EJ) Executive Order (EO). At a time when federal protections are being dismantled, Maryland is charting its own course—one that centers equity, accountability, and community partnership at the heart of state government operations.

Announced at a special event alongside key leaders and advocates, the Executive Order affirms that environmental justice is not just an ideal—it is a state-wide priority embedded in how Maryland governs, protects, and uplifts its people.

This EO is “a directive for action and a blueprint for equity,” said Governor Moore. He went on to state that this reflects Maryland’s unwavering commitment to environmental justice, regardless of what is happening in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere. Every single agency in Maryland will be part of this work, because it is core to what we do and who we are.