MARYLAND REPUBLICANS PUSH CRIME BILLS: Sparked by concerns over an increase in violent crime, Maryland Republican lawmakers on Thursday rallied behind a package of gun crime bills days after Democratic Gov. Wes Moore announced massive public safety spending, including nearly $200 million on local law enforcement initiatives. Several dozen GOP legislators implored Democrats to help them strip juvenile justice reforms the General Assembly passed last year and to impose stronger penalties on those who commit crimes with guns or those who steal them. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner

• SB 744, the Violent Firearms Offender Act, would remove the “drug dealer loophole” whereby drug dealers — or those posing as them — receive a lighter sentence than others convicted of the same offense. The bill reclassifies drug dealing as a violent crime, and therefore makes using a firearm in conjunction with drug dealing subject to a felony, rather than a misdemeanor. Christine Zhu/ Capital News Service/ Maryland Reporter

CHILD PORN CHARGES FOR COLLEGE PARK MAYOR: Prince George’s County Police arrested the longtime mayor of College Park on Thursday, a day after searching his house and finding several cellphones and computers that they say contained child pornography. Patrick Wojahn, 47, who was charged with 56 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography, resigned Wednesday night. Lilly Price/The Baltimore Sun

MINIMUM WAGE DEBATE FOCUSES ON ANNUAL INCREASES: For the third...

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