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Pamela Wood

Pamela

Pamela Wood covers Maryland politics and government, focusing on how powerful people make decisions that affect daily life for people living and working in and around Baltimore. She previously reported for The Baltimore Sun, The Capital and other Maryland newspapers on topics as varied as politics, local government, the environment, healthcare and breaking news. Though not a Maryland native, she's spent most of her life here, graduating from Howard High School and earning a degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park. She now calls Anne Arundel County home.

The latest from Pamela Wood

Susan McCutchen of Bladensburg, who has been fighting maglev for eight years, speaks at a community meeting at the Greenbelt library on Saturday, April 19, 2025. Next to her, from left, are Dels. Anne Healey and Ashanti Martinez and Prince George's County Councilman Eric Olson.
Moore’s maglev support angers Marylanders in path of high-speed train: ‘Can’t stop fighting’
About 100 people packed a stuffy library meeting room in Greenbelt to vent frustration about the Democratic governor's enthusiasm for a maglev train between Washington and Baltimore.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks during a press conference in Annapolis in February.
How the relationship between Gov. Wes Moore and lawmakers was tested in year 3
Gov. Wes Moore had smooth sailing his first two years in Annapolis. This year has been different.
Jeanie Ferretti with the Speaker’s Office celebrates in the House Chamber after midnight on Sine Die.
Who is happy — and who is not — after this year’s General Assembly session?
Here’s The Baltimore Banner’s attempt to sort out who might be thrilled, and who might be disappointed, as they leave the State House.
Senate President Bill Ferguson prepares for a press conference in the Senate chamber at the Maryland State House during the final day of the 2025 Maryland General Assembly session on Monday.
General Assembly settles on reforms to education ‘blueprint’ as session ends
Maryland’s state lawmakers began wrapping up their work for the year on Monday, tying up loose ends on the state budget, education reforms and energy policy.
As state lawmakers deal with the next state budget, they know that more work may be left to come if Congress cuts federal funding for the Medicaid health insurance program to pay for federal tax cuts.
The $1B problem that everyone in Annapolis is worried about
The state spends a total of $16 billion on Medicaid, with $9 billion from federal sources — but cuts could be coming.
National Treasure, ridden by jockey John Velazquez, wins the 2023 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course. The state is soon to take over and renovate the historic track, and is changing course in how the project will be managed.
Maryland abruptly eliminates authority that had overseen Pimlico transition
A provision tucked into the state budget bills during final negotiations zaps the authority.
A person becomes emotional during a press conference addressing sexual abuse in Maryland juvenile detention centers, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maryland lawmakers slash payouts for child sex abuse survivors despite lawyers’ warnings
The Maryland General Assembly passed revisions to the Child Victims Act Saturday, just two years after the law lifted the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse claims and opened the courthouse doors to thousands of survivors.
Maryland state senators and delegates will soon vote on the final version of the state budget for the 12-month period that begins July 1. It includes multiple tax and fee increases.
Lawmakers reach final budget deal with billions in cuts and $1.6B in taxes
Maryland lawmakers are on their way to closing a massive state budget gap — the largest since the Great Recession — by raising a slew of taxes and fees and cutting government spending.
Del. Charlotte Crutchfield, left, congratulates Del. Aletheia McCaskill after the House of Delegates approved a bill creating a state commission to study reparations for slavery. McCaskill, a Baltimore County Democrat, is one of the lead sponsors of the legislation, which won final approval after an intense debate on Wednesday.
Maryland lawmakers approve commission to study slavery reparations
Republicans are using Gov. Wes Moore’s attendance at a PAC fundraiser to spark a conversation about changing state law.
Republicans target Gov. Moore’s fundraiser attendance with new bills
Republican lawmakers proposed new campaign fundraising restrictions Wednesday, targeting Gov. Wes Moore on the same day he planned to attend an event for his federal political action committee.
Lee Blinder, founding executive director of Trans Maryland, speaks to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore during a ceremony for the International Day for Transgender Visibility. Blinder called out the governor for not backing up his words with action.
At transgender visibility celebration, Gov. Moore called out for lack of action
“We know who you, Governor Moore, can be for us. And I am begging you to do it,” Lee Blinder told Moore.
Transmission lines travel north from Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center, Constellation’s nuclear power plant in Lusby, Maryland.
Maryland lawmakers are planning $200 million in energy bill rebates
Maryland lawmakers are working on a plan to give rebates to electric utility customers to blunt the impact of rising bills. But how much might you see? Lawmakers can’t say just yet.
Gov. Wes Moore brushed aside Republican concerns that tax hikes are bad for business.
Moore defends budget balanced with new taxes as ‘deeply responsible’
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is defending the state budget that’s moving forward with tax increases as “deeply responsible,” and brushing off Republican concerns.
The House of Delegates approved a state spending plan Wednesday that includes $1.6 billion in additional taxes and fees.
After intense debate, Maryland House approves budget with additional tax hikes
A Maryland state government budget that creates a new tax and raises others is closer to reality, following approval in the House of Delegates on Wednesday. The state Senate will act next.
Students rally outside the Maryland State House in Annapolis last week to urge lawmakers not to approve cuts to the Blueprint for Maryland's Future. The House of Delegates, and now the state Senate, have made changes to the plan that will need to be sorted out in the final weeks of the General Assembly session.
Maryland Senate seeks middle ground on changes to Blueprint education plan
The Maryland Senate is charting a middle ground between a revamp sought by the governor and minimal tweaks sought by the House of Delegates.
House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, center, speaks at a press conference about the state budget in Annapolis on Thursday.
Top Democrats reach deal on budget with more cuts, $1.6B in new taxes and revenue
After weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiations among top Democrats, an agreement on a new state budget appears imminent.
Gov. Wes Moore said Monday he couldn’t support two tax ideas proposed to close the state’s $3 billion budget hole.
Moore nixes idea of ‘broad’ business, drink taxes in budget talks
Administration officials said that the business services tax as introduced — a 2.5% tax on services that business entities sell to one another — is off the table.
Exterior of the Maryland State House.
Maryland lawmakers clash in emotional debate over bill for prison sentence reviews
In a long and emotional session Saturday, the Maryland House of Delegates advanced a bill giving more incarcerated people a chance to petition for shorter sentences.
The FBI is currently headquartered in Washington, D.C., at the J. Edgar Hoover Building. President Donald Trump says he’ll block a plan to move the FBI to Maryland.
Lawmakers vow to stop Trump’s attempt to halt FBI HQ move to ‘liberal state’ of Maryland
President Donald Trump said Friday that he’ll block the planned move of the FBI headquarters from the nation’s capital to Prince George’s County.
Mary D. Kane, president and CEO of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, speaks against a proposed business-to-business tax at a news conference across the street from the Maryland State House in Annapolis.
As momentum builds in Annapolis for new B2B tax, businesses fight back
Business leaders said the 2.5% tax on services that businesses sell one another would be “damaging,” with “devastating impacts.”
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