As the eccentric vibe for this election amplifies, the effects seem to reach from the very top of the ticket to the most local of issues and offices. Early voting begins this Thursday (!) through Oct. 31. Meanwhile the everyday concerns of Marylanders continue: the state's African immigrant community is being heard from commensurate with its growth; concerns about juvenile crime are throwing a critical light on the juvenile justice system and its leader; and extending pre-K services to all the state's 3- and 4-year-olds is raising difficulties that catch the attention of Assembly members before the January session begins. All that plus events in The Other 49 (states) offering good and bad examples, and national/federal issues around the election, housing policy and more. It's News You Can Use. And don't miss the several opinion pieces on the stakes in our Senate race we published today.

HERE IN MARYLAND

Democratic Party Targets ‘Extreme Candidates’ In Local School Board Races

The Maryland Democratic Party will spend “tens of thousands of dollars” targeting at least 18 school board candidates that it says are looking to bring a “hateful” and “right-wing agenda” to schools.

It is a first for the party, which has never before involved itself in the nonpartisan races for local board of education seats. But party leaders said the move is needed to fight the “extremist” agendas espoused by candidates in 11 counties, eight of which it’s putting resources into – Anne Arundel, Calvert, Carroll, Frederick, Howard, Montgomery, St. Mary’s and Talbot. It is also warning voters against eight other candidates in Allegany, Cecil and Washington counties.

“I think this is something new for Maryland. We haven’t had extremist school board candidates like this in the past,” Charlene Dukes, first vice chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, said Wednesday. States Newsroom

Growing African Immigrant Population Seeks Political Voice: A growing number of African immigrants in Maryland are making their voices heard in Maryland politics. According to the Institute for Immigration Research, African immigrants represent 17% of the state’s immigrant population. Often overlooked, this community of about 900,000 people has begun organizing and demanding more political representation. WYPR-FM. via Maryland Reporter

State To Stop EV Charging Station Program As It Re-Evaluates It: Maryland officials are pumping the brakes on a program under which utilities such as Baltimore Gas and Electric installed electric vehicle charging stations. The program enabled four Maryland power companies to use ratepayer funds to install chargers at government buildings across the state. But the Maryland Public Service Commission has ordered the utilities to stop installing new chargers, citing concerns about low usage and maintenance issues. Baltimore Sun via Maryland Reporter

DJS Secretary Says Moore Supports Him: While calls for Gov. Wes Moore to immediately remove Department of Juvenile Services Secretary Vincent Schiraldi mount, Schiraldi said on Friday, “Gov. Moore has been extremely supportive. He's gotten us additional funds this year -- $17 million to make community safer by expanding programs -- and I want those community members who are calling for my resignation to feel safe." WBAL-TV News.

>>Schiraldi vowed to “stay on this job” while responding to members of the General Assembly and Baltimore residents who have called for his removal. Baltimore Sun.

via Maryland Reporter

Lawmakers To Work on Pre-K Expansion Section Of Blueprint: Conceived as part of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s “mixed delivery” system for pre-K expansion is designed to offer seats through both public and private providers. The Blueprint aims to make pre-K available to every 3- and 4-year-old in the state. For Downtown Baltimore Child Care and other private providers across the state, participating in the pre-K grant program is a challenge. And lawmakers are urging changes in the next legislative session. Baltimore Sun. via Maryland Reporter

Parity In MD’s Dem, GOP Poll Workers Hard to Achieve ANNAPOLIS – As local election boards work around the clock to recruit and train workers before early voting starts next week, some Maryland counties are facing pressure to hire more Republican election judges.

Elections officials across the state told Capital News Service they are still working through the challenge of hiring an equal number of Republican and Democratic election judges, who administer the vote and then count ballots. By Maryland law, local boards of elections must make every effort to staff polling places with an equal number of judges who are registered Democrats and Republicans. That’s what local election officials tell CNS they are working on now. UMD Capital News Service

Carroll Officials Continue To Fight For Local Control Of Piedmont Reliability Project: Opposition to the controversial Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, coupled with the state’s ability to overturn Carroll County’s ban on the construction of solar farms on agricultural land, have created a frustrating scenario for the county. Carroll County Times. 

Daca Recipients Eligible For State Health Coverage: Starting in November, the more than 7,000 people living in Maryland under DACA status will be able to buy insurance plans from the state’s insurance marketplace. DACA recipients operate in legal limbo. They are people who were brought to the United States as children and have received a high school degree or served in the military. While they are allowed to stay in the U.S.  legally, they aren’t technically citizens. WYPR-FM.

THE OTHER 49

Gas-powered Lawn Equipment Is Latest Red-Blue Divide

The next front in the culture wars is becoming lawn equipment, as blue states pass restrictions on gas-powered mowers, leaf blowers and other tools while red states preempt local governments from passing their own bans. Opponents of new restrictions say the battery power just isn’t there yet, while supporters say battery-powered devices make less noise and are better for the environment. 

California, Colorado and Vermont have approved restrictions on gas-powered tools, and new measures are pending in Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Washington, all states where Democratic lawmakers are trying to hasten the shift from gas devices to battery-powered equipment. Georgia and Texas passed preemption legislation. It’s another sign of our polarized electorate — and the fact that we’ll seize on anything to amplify those divides, rather than our commonalities. Read more at Pluribus News.

A three-judge panel ruled Thursday that the limited emergency health care exceptions outlined in Tennessee’s near-total abortion law are so vague that doctors have a legitimate fear of prosecution or professional discipline for performing medically necessary abortions, Tennessee Lookout reports.

The Chancery Court panel temporarily blocked the state’s medical board from disciplining doctors for providing emergency abortions but declined to block criminal prosecution of physicians, saying it lacked the authority to do so.

The ruling also outlined four specific pregnancy-related conditions that qualify as “medical necessity” exceptions to the state’s abortion ban, noting the “confusion and lack of consensus within the Tennessee medical community on the circumstances requiring necessary health- and life-saving abortion care.”

The ruling represents a rare victory for reproductive-rights advocates in Tennessee, which has one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation, with no exception for rape, incest or severe fetal anomalies. States Newsroom

EDUCATION: A federal judge hears arguments today [Oct. 21] in a lawsuit seeking to block Louisiana from requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms beginning in 2025. Republican lawmakers approved the bill earlier this year. (Associated Press) via Pluribus 

Biblical Oklahoma: A group of parents, students, teachers and faith leaders have asked the state Supreme Court to block a mandate that public schools teach from the Bible and keep a copy in classrooms. States Newsroom

 POWER (by the Numbers): 6 gigawatts: The amount of solar power that New York State can generate using panels installed under a 2019 climate law. That’s enough power to light more than a million homes. New York hit its six gigawatt goal a year early, officials said. (State of Politics) via Pluribus

NATIONAL AND THE FEDS

The Horror Movies Continue…

Right-Wing Lawsuits Aimed at Contesting Trump Loss, Depressing Turnout

Key rightwing legal groups with ties to Donald Trump and his allies have banked millions of dollars from conservative foundations and filed multiple lawsuits challenging voting rules in swing states that are already sowing distrust of election processes and pushing dangerous conspiracy theories, election watchdogs warn.

They also warn that the groups appear to be laying the groundwork for a concerted challenge to the result of November’s presidential election if Trump is defeated by Kamala Harris.

Lawsuits filed by the groups, which overlap with some Republican party litigation, focus in part on conspiratorial charges of non-citizen voting, which is exceedingly rare, and bloated voter rolls, and presage more lawsuits by Trump if his presidential run fails, in an echo of his 2020 election-denialist claims, say watchdogs.

“It seems clear that the lawsuits these rightwing groups are bringing attacking the integrity of the voting rolls, methods of voting and how the ballots are counted are an attempt to make it harder for people to vote, disenfranchise and intimidate legitimate voters, and create confusion,” said Larry Noble, a former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission.

Noble added: “At the same time, they also appear to be laying the groundwork to challenge the results of the election after November 5, if Trump loses.”

[In critical Arizona], Chuck Coughlin, a veteran Arizona Republican consultant, who became an independent in 2017, said that ‘the [Arizona-specific] lawsuit is driven by falsehoods about non-citizen voting and is part and parcel of the Trump narrative to depress voter turnout through negative campaigning and suppress younger voter participation in the cycle’ .” The Guardian (UK)

A Trump Win Could Unleash Dangerous AI

Donald Trump's opposition to “woke” safety standards for artificial intelligence would likely mean the dismantling of regulations that protect Americans from misinformation, discrimination, and worse.

If Donald Trump wins the US presidential election in November, the guardrails could come off of artificial intelligence development, even as the dangers of defective AI models grow increasingly serious.

Trump’s election to a second term would dramatically reshape—and possibly cripple—efforts to protect Americans from the many dangers of poorly designed artificial intelligence, including misinformation, discrimination, and the poisoning of algorithms used in technology like autonomous vehicles.

The federal government has begun overseeing and advising AI companies under an executive order that President Joe Biden issued in October 2023. But Trump has vowed to repeal that order, with the Republican Party platform saying it “hinders AI innovation” and “imposes Radical Leftwing ideas” on AI development. WIRED

Housing: A Critical Issue Creating Uncertainty

The need for shelter – homeownership or renting – and its current out-of-reach costs is one of the biggest reasons voters have for feeling uncertain about the future – and therefore, uncertain about their election choices. The respected Urban Institute has a deep dive into the respective housing plans of the two presidential candidates. Clarification is available here [or, like us, you may just wonder why a real-estate mogul would worry about high housing prices…]

And in the contest for champion boondoggle:

All versions of the F-35, the world’s costliest weapons program, have failed to meet minimum combat readiness rates for six straight years, according to the General Accounting Office, the watchdog agency for Congress. Bloomberg