The Banner: Montgomery County News, Maryland Politics, Business, Food, Events

🔵 BlueConic: ___🔗 Query: ___✏️ Composer: ___

Advertise with us

Maryland’s plan to cut emissions is even further behind than thought

The Brandon Shores Power Plant is seen on the Patapsco River on a cold February morning.

A group of four men wearing law enforcement gear and masks walk on a sidewalk toward the camera.

Maryland House, Senate vote to ban local ICE enforcement agreements

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks with reporters at the Capitol.

House passes bill to end the partial government shutdown

Traffic fatalities in Maryland last year were the lowest in more than a decade

4

Data center debate is fueling election-year tensions

11

Maryland law change is making it harder to get compensation for wrongful convictions

18

Montgomery Daily

Montgomery Daily

Start your day with the stories shaping Montgomery County.

Montgomery Email Alerts

Montgomery Email Alerts

Essential breaking news about Montgomery County when it happens.

Must Reads

The Banner’s top stories, features and investigations

Maryland House approves congressional map; expected to stall in Senate

Maryland House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk, a Democrat, presides over a debate on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Annapolis, Md.

Montgomery County schools to reopen on Tuesday — with a delay

Feb 2, 2026

Natasha Tynes and her 8-year-old son Gabriel prepare to go sledding in Rockville. They're looking for creative ways to pass the time, with school still closed.

‘Your frustrations are valid’: Why Montgomery County schools didn’t reopen on Monday

Feb 2, 2026

An ice-covered crosswalk in Rockville shows the road conditions that Montgomery County Public Schools are evaluating before deciding to open campuses

‘They took it all from me’: Maryland residents lost at least $6 million in call center schemes

Updated Feb 2, 2026

Lisa, an 82-year-old Rockville resident, said at a news conference with Montgomery County officials and FBI Baltimore field office agents that she gave her life savings to scammers who impersonated as federal authorities.

Name change for immigrant advocacy group means it will ‘meet the moment,’ new leader says

Updated Feb 2, 2026

CASA incoming executive director George Escobar speaks during a press conference to introduce a new county bill, the Montgomery County Trust Act, that councilmembers say will protect the community against ICE. The press conference was held with the immigrant advocacy group CASA in Rockville, MD.

Turnstile thanks Baltimore after first Grammy win. Here’s how other Marylanders fared.

Updated Feb 2, 2026

Pat McCrory, Daniel Fang and Brendan Yates of Turnstile accept the Best Rock Album award for "NEVER ENOUGH" onstage during the 68th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony at Peacock Theater on February 01, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.

State government

Coverage of Maryland politics, policy and elected leaders | MORE

‘Real Housewives of Potomac’ star Karen Huger gives first interview on jail stint

Feb 2, 2026

Andy Cohen, left, and Karen Huger during the "Reunion" episode of The Real Housewives of Potomac.

Montgomery County Public Schools to remain closed Monday

Updated Feb 1, 2026

Snow piles up on Thayer Avenue, just south of downtown Silver Spring, on Sunday morning.

Mandalay stands out with Burmese cuisine amid Purple Line construction

Feb 1, 2026

Owner Joe Myint takes customer orders over the phone at Mandalay Restaurant in Silver Spring.

Bonnie Cullison announces retirement, creating an opportunity in District 19

Jan 31, 2026

Del. Bonnie Cullison, a Montgomery County Democrat, announced her retirement this week.

They support the national boycott to protest ICE, but say they can’t afford to close shop

Jan 30, 2026

Neighbors Coffee in Rockville is among several small, locally-owned businesses that have supported ICE protests, but explained why they cannot shut down for the day to join Friday’s nationwide economic boycott.

The games, the players and their stories |MORE

Republican Dan Cox files for governor, seeking rematch with Moore

Updated Jan 31, 2026

Dan Cox, gubernatorial candidate for Maryland, speaks at his election night event held at Double Tree by Hilton in Annapolis, MD on November 8, 2022.

Project Salt Box: How citizen sleuths are monitoring ICE in Maryland

Jan 31, 2026

Senate passes government funding deal despite GOP backlash

Jan 31, 2026

The U.S. Capitol is seen on the second day of the government shutdown, in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025.

Over 700 jobs cut as Amazon Fresh stores close in Maryland

Jan 30, 2026

Amazon fresh market sign is seen in Naperville, Ill., Thursday, June 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

School background checks are law, but educators slip through the cracks, audit finds

Jan 30, 2026

empty classroom

Transmission lines travel north from Calvert Cliffs Clean Energy Center, Constellation’s nuclear power plant in Lusby, Maryland.

Hutzell: A little time travel helps explain Maryland’s power dilemma

Maryland lost 10,000 federal jobs in a single month

TV and film veteran faces uncertain future after opportunities dry up in Maryland

Former federal worker reflects on jobs and potential lives lost from USAID shutdown

Employees of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) stand in line to enter the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building on April 02, 2025 in Washington, DC. Layoffs began earlier this week at the Health and Human Service Administration offices after it was announced last week that the Trump Administration plans to cut 10,000 jobs at HHS.

Hutzell: How do you count 2025 layoffs in Maryland? The math is murky.

How Valley View Farms saved Christmas from Trump’s tariffs

Priced out of pro wrestling: Local WWE fans can’t afford John Cena’s last match

The penny is dead, but it’s a coin toss as to whether businesses will feel it

Recent SNAP chaos looms over Thanksgiving, driving some people to food banks

Federal workers could get their back pay as soon as this weekend

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 5: A pedestrian walks along Pennsylvania Avenue near the U.S. Capitol during sunrise on November 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. The record for longest shutdown in the U.S. Government was broken Wednesday as it entered its 36th day.

The federal shutdown is ending, but it’ll leave economic scars in Maryland

Founded in the 1960s and based in Prince George’s County, Melwood Inc. is the nonprofit umbrella organization for three related companies that support people with a wide range of disabilities.

Federal contractor bleeding $110K a month amid shutdown, braces for more

Stephen Colbert pokes fun at Potomac River spill: ‘That’s some deep doo-doo’

Jan 30, 2026

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Thursday’s December 18, 2025 show. Photo: Scott Kowalchyk ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

12-year-old behind swatting call in Montgomery Village that prompted a heavy police response

Jan 30, 2026

Meet the local singers who could win Grammy Awards this weekend

Updated Jan 30, 2026

Rei Ami, left, and Maggie Rose.

School in July? An experiment with a longer school year could come to an end

Jan 30, 2026

Angel Johnson and her daughter love the longer school year at Arcola, crediting it for the fourth-graders academic success. Photo taken at Arcola Elementary in Silver Spring.

A year after DC plane crash, a Maryland widow is still learning how to keep living

Updated Jan 30, 2026

Ashleigh Stovall lost her husband, Mikey, when an Army helicopter crashed into his American Airlines jet a year ago. In her bedroom closet, Mikey’s clothes still hang across from hers, including a T-shirt she planned to wear at a committee hearing on the crash.

For sale: Modern masterpiece in Chevy Chase

Jan 30, 2026

Collapsed pipeline spilled ‘catastrophic’ levels of pollutants into Potomac River, environmental group says

Jan 29, 2026

A section of the 54-mile Potomac Interceptor, which runs along the Clara Barton Parkway near Interstate 49, collapsed earlier this week.

The Interceptor handles up to 60 million gallons of wastewater a day, moving it from parts of Virginia and Maryland to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Washington, D.C.

D.C.’s Fossette Focacceria brings Tuscan-style sandwiches to Bethesda

Jan 30, 2026

January 29, 2026 - AP Pizza Shop in Bethesda. The Italiano is loaded up with Genoa salami, finocchiona, sopressata, mortadella, mozzarella, spicy peppers and finished with oil and vinegar.

Hutzell: Baltimore to El Salvador, one man’s trip through the deportation grinder

A partial screengrab from a video posted to social media purporting to show the inside of a holding room for undocumented immigrants in downtown Baltimore.

Nearly 1 in 4 people killed by Maryland police was in mental health crisis, AG finds

Jan 30, 2026

Baltimore Police on scene of a police-involved shooting on the 2700 block of Mosher Street on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.

Montgomery County Public Schools will be closed Friday

Jan 29, 2026

Children sled down a hill on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, during a snowstorm in Silver Spring, Md. at Pinecrest Park.