The Intersection Mag LLC

09/02/2025

From Maryland Matters:

Earlier this year, Six Flags America in Prince George’s County, Maryland, announced it was closing for good, and the company vowed that it would market the 500-acre site for redevelopment in the future.

Usually, when that happens, the future takes a long time to arrive, according to officials who have lived through similar shifts elsewhere.

In 2007, an amusement park in the town of Aurora, Ohio, shut down; and in 2016, a nearby lakefront water park considered to be in the boundaries of an adjacent town closed as well. The mayor of Aurora told WTOP that what’s being built in its place is something she deems a success, but it’s taken a long time to get to that point.

When Six Flags America said it would close its Largo site for good, the company vowed it would market the 500-acre site for future redevelopment. But veterans of amusement park closures elsewhere warn the future can take a long time to arrive.

09/02/2025

From The 51st:

We are a group of 93 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners of Washington, D.C. — hyperlocal, nonpartisan and unpaid elected officials representing every neighborhood in our nation’s capital. We know our communities because we live here. We lead community meetings, review liquor licenses and zoning applications, advocate for neighborhood improvements, and help residents navigate local services.

Today, we write not as Democrats or Republicans, but as elected representatives whose authority comes from the thousands of people we serve. Together, we oppose President Donald Trump’s unprecedented federal takeover of our Metropolitan Police Department and deployment of 800 National Guard troops. This takeover is a direct attack on the freedom and independence every community deserves.

President Trump claims he is working to improve public safety. In reality, it’s nothing more than a power grab.

09/02/2025

From The 19th:

Because of systematic racism and inequities in the labor market, any cracks in the strength of the overall economy always show up for Black workers first, said Jessica Fulton, a senior fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank focused on Black Americans.

“Black workers, and particularly Black women, show up as a canary in the coal mine, giving a picture of what may happen to everyone else later,” Fulton said.

Over the past several months, Black women’s unemployment rate has jumped from 5.1 percent in March to 6.1 percent in April, 6.2 percent in May and 5.8 percent in June. The unemployment rate among White women and Asian women stayed largely flat around 3 percent from March to June, and among Latinas, it hovered near 5 percent in that time period. The rate for every racial subgroup of men stayed flat during that time, except Black men, who last month saw a significant increase — 6.9 percent from 5.2 percent in May.

New data released Thursday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics marked the third straight month of high unemployment rates for Black women.

08/25/2025

WASHINGTON — “ National Guard troops deployed to Washington this month to support President Donald Trump's effort to mitigate crime will begin carrying firearms Sunday evening, according to a Defense Department official with knowledge of the planning.

The majority of the guard members will carry M17 pistols, their service-issued weapons, the official said, while a small number of the troops will be armed with their service M4 rifles. The troops are authorized to use their weapons for self-protection.”

A majority of the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. as part of President Trump's crime crackdown will now carry M17 pistols.

08/22/2025

Instead of writing a newsletter, our founder and reporter, Delonte Harrod decided to share some insights.

The city's geography and demographics should impact the way we talk about Trump's surgical infiltration of D.C.

08/15/2025

From The Baltimore Sun:

Maryland politicians collected more than $10.2 million in campaign donations from businesses that won billions of dollars in government contracts or paid lobbyists to influence them since the 2022 election, according to disclosures reviewed by The Baltimore Sun.

Gov. Wes Moore and leaders in the Maryland General Assembly were the top beneficiaries of the corporate largesse. Major donors included Exelon and Constellation, the Maryland Association of Realtors, Comcast and Amazon.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/maryland-politicians-took-10m-from-businesses-seeking-state-contracts-lobbying-influence/ar-AA1KvoxC?ocid=BingNewsSerp&fbclid=IwY2xjawMMWuZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHgLmKMX0mKIJFZ88hjzOn_2tY3bIWUJzaRcNBqTJfkMf-Er3DGVown2uKNYu_aem_vhWBWKvJBbSOSQl_oIDEaA

Maryland politicians collected more than $10.2 million in campaign donations from businesses that won billions of dollars in government contracts or paid lobbyists to influence them since the 2022 election, according to disclosures reviewed by The Baltimore Sun. Gov. Wes Moore and leaders in the Mar...

08/15/2025

From Context Newsletter:

Speaking about Washington, D.C., homicide rates, Trump said it’s "41 per 100,000. No.1 that we can find anywhere in the world."

Trump stretched an outdated homicide rate into an inaccurate blanket statement.

Trump appeared to be referring to a chart that showed the district’s 2023 homicide rate, which was 39.4 per 100,000 people. In 2024, the homicide rate dropped to 27.3 per 100,000 people. The city’s Metropolitan Police Department has reported that homicide rates continue to decrease in 2025.

A list of 2023 homicide rates in cities around the world has Washington, D.C., listed below 49 other cities, three of them capital cities.

We rate Trump’s statement False.

We have some new followers: William, Frances, Harold, and Bhagat.

08/14/2025

From The Washington Informer:

A plane flew above Maryland’s State Capitol on Aug. 4 with a trailing banner reading “Mess With Texas,” sending a clear reference to redistricting efforts demanded by President Donald Trump, and a call to action for Maryland legislators to step in.

Maryland has eight congressional districts, represented by seven Democrats and one Republican.

Some Maryland Democrats, including Del. Julian Ivey (D- District 47), have considered re-drawing the state’s congressional maps.

“Everything has to be on the table. Even if it takes amending our state constitution, we can’t keep playing nice with these MAGA Republicans,” Ivey told The Informer.

Maryland responds to Republican efforts to redistrict, considering legislation to expand redistricting options and counter gerrymandering.

08/14/2025

From Maryland Matters:

With the 2025-26 school year starting next week in some counties, Maryland’s two top education leaders had a message for local school officials: Follow state law.

The calm, but stern warning came Wednesday during a back-to-school news conference in Baltimore with State Superintendent Carey Wright and state Board of Education President Joshua Michael. Neither named specific school districts, but when reporters asked about administrative and policy changes related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Calvert and Somerset counties, they did not hesitate to answer.

“In Maryland we have a state public education system. Local school board leaders who lead local school systems are actually state officials,” Michael said. “They have authority within the state system that Dr. Wright leads to really bring that local context into schools and ensure that the management day to day and the policy set for local school system are done well.

https://marylandmatters.org/2025/08/14/state-education-leaders-to-local-education-officials-follow-state-law/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMK88FleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHlqZ2rnNN7swSQbfnCW-7Iu2kSIKdEKHCkgqZ8cKGlZSOwXpVkutOZaS2I3P_aem_2LkZDgkSEHeabqrW_TuzqQ

With the 2025-26 school year starting next week in some counties, Maryland’s two top education leaders had a message for local school officials: Follow state law.

08/14/2025

From The Batlimore Banner (Calvert County is in throes of MAGA-Conservative Take Over :

Students of color make up about a third of the Southern Maryland county’s public school student body. The system’s antiracism policy, instituted in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, made those students feel safe, people at the meeting said.

The all-white school board’s removal of it — arguing it is redundant of other policies — is the latest in what some see as a drumbeat of right-wing actions taken in recent years by conservatives who join Maryland’s nonpartisan school boards. More than 200 people gathered for a rally ahead of the Aug. 7 meeting in Calvert County.

From banning certain books to removing Pride flags and throttling discussions of diversity, equity and inclusion, some Maryland school boards are seen as mimicking actions by President Donald Trump’s administration.

The all-white, six-member Calvert County school board’s policy removal is the latest in what some see as right wing actions by conservatives who join Maryland’s nonpartisan school boards.

08/13/2025

Authorities have "preliminarily determined" that human remains found in a retention pond in Manatee County belonged to 18-year-old Giovanni Pelletier.

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