Gov. Larry Hogan's apparently crowd-pleasing decree to start schools after Labor Day is part of a parlay of moves to build a base for his reelection bid at the cost of the state's social cohesiveness

Our take on Larry Hogan is the genial "I'm not Trump" face floating over an uber-Ehrlich refugee administration where every agency is busy rolling back progressive law and regulation. In a guest post by permission from our friends at MarylandReporter.org, veteran political analyst Barry Rascovar argues that Hogan's a lot more Trump-like than not, if you watch his words instead of his smile.

"...the next time we criticize the police for their actions let's not feel the need to hug them first and call them heroes, let's just talk about the policies that need to change and the culture that needs to change with it."

Don't get too relaxed... after Labor Day (and even before) there are important PM events in Prince George's, Montgomery and Howard counties -- plus musical opportunities to support our neighbors struggling after the Long Branch apartment explosion.

Our weekend roundup of interesting reads, including a report from the Maryland Association of Counties' annual get-together, black women's pay gap, health care policy choices and more...

Heading for Labor Day, life is quiet for many of us but quite hard for some of our neighbors.

The Progressive Maryland Weekend Reader -- (Actually because of a cyber-hiccup appearing at the beginning of the week, this week) Here’s a collection of interesting reads for progressives from inside and outside Maryland.

Gov. Larry Hogan is doing some twists and turns on withholding money that the Legislature insisted he spend on the state's public education system, while rewarding private schools with taxpayer funds. His claim that he won't play politics with the budget is ringing pretty hollow these days.

How to help victims cope with disasters in Silver Spring, where an apartment blew up with deadly results, and in the slow recovery from flooding in Ellicott City -- plus the slow, stealthy disaster of tipped workers in Montgomery County with a separate minimum wage of $4 an hour. Plus summaries and links for our recent blog posts.

Introducing a weekend reading list, as if you needed another one: good reads, mostly about Maryland, in our PM Weekend Reader.