Purple Line is a go, but…
Gov. Larry Hogan announced Thursday the state would move forward with the Purple Line light-rail, contingent on $900 million in federal funding and increased contributions from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. [Bethesda Beat]
Read Hogan’s comments from his Thursday press conference, which also included word of highway improvements and the cancellation of Baltimore’s Red Line light-rail in its current form. [Washington Post]
The Post editorial board said Hogan deserves credit for having the “political guts” to back the Purple Line, but only if the counties can figure out a way to take on extra costs to actually build it. [Washington Post]
A Baltimore Sun editorial concluded that Hogan’s decision to siphon off transit money for rural road projects while killing the Red Line amounts to “a ‘War on Baltimore’ in the making.” [Baltimore Sun]
John Fitzgerald, a Purple Line opponent who’s suing the federal government over the project, said his fight against it won’t stop with Thursday’s news. [NBC4]
Josh Starr talks about the ‘volatile job of a big city superintendent’
The former MCPS Superintendent, who was effectively ousted from the post earlier this year, talked to a Dallas TV station about the difficulties of solving deeply entrenched problems in a school system in as short a period of time as some would like. [WFAA8]
Kathleen Matthews gets some help from Washington power players
The former Marriott International executive, wife of MSNBC pundit Chris Matthews and 8th Congressional District candidate had a fundraiser Tuesday hosted by well-connected lobbyist Heather Podesta. [Politico]
Congressional candidates weigh in on Obamacare decision
The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to uphold a key part of the Affordable Care Act brought quick word from Matthews, whose campaign put out a press release praising the decision. [Kathleen Matthews/Scribd]
Candidate Will Jawando, a former Obama administration official, used the opportunity as part of a fundraising plea. [Maryland Scramble]
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