“It felt very chaotic, but also in a weird way, I was just like ‘at least I know what’s going to happen now’, and that there was some certainty, finally,” said Henry.

Henry was among more than 8,000 employees who were notified that they would lose their jobs as part of a surge in layoffs across Maryland in the first half of 2025 driven by rolling federal workforce cuts. The cuts are a part of President Donald Trump’s plan to downsize the federal workforce and decrease government spending.

During that period, the number of workers affected by mass layoffs reported by the Maryland Department of Labor increased about 60% compared to the first six months of 2024. An exact comparison isn’t possible year over year, because the data that the state publishes online has changed since last year.

Maryland has lost about 12,700 federal jobs since the beginning of the second Trump administration, according to a spokesperson for the state labor department, which are not fully reflected by WARN notices.

The employer with the most employees affected by mass layoff notices during the first half of this year, according to the state records, was the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the National Institutes of Health. The DHHS layoffs occurred in Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore counties, along with Baltimore City.  Reports show that 2,755 DHHS employees were a part of a reduction in force issued on March 31.

But Maryland’s job losses go far beyond federal workers. Several organizations that typically receive federal dollars, such as the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, have issued layoff notices this year, in addition to plant closures from companies, that were not likely caused by the federal government.

Even without the layoffs from federal government agencies, layoffs reported to the state still impacted nearly 500 additional employees in 2025 than in the first six months of 2024.

The full scope of federal cuts and other reductions can’t be determined solely through the layoff notice data, which excludes contractors and employees whose layoffs didn’t need to be reported to the state, such as if the workplace is temporary like a construction site or if employees were a part of more targeted layoffs.

Two Maryland employment lawyers told The Baltimore Sun that their offices were getting more calls than normal.

“Our phones are ringing off the hook for federal government employees and for federal contract employees,” Michael Amster, an employment lawyer in Silver Spring, said. “These are attorneys that really care about what they do and care about their clients and their employees. So while we are very busy, it’s not something that we’re necessarily happy about.”

Andrew Dansiker, an employment attorney in Cokeysville, said consultations with university, hospital, government contractor and nonprofit clients have at least doubled to half a dozen per week.

In June, Maryland experienced the largest one-month drop in federal government jobs in 30 years with 3,500 jobs lost, according to the state Department of Labor. The state’s workforce decreased by 8,500 in June alone, the department said. Private sector jobs have increased by 5,200 jobs across the state in the first six months of the year, the department said.

“Job losses among federal government workers, federal contractors, and others have made this a challenging time for many Marylanders,” Maryland Labor Secretary Portia Wu said in a statement to The Sun. “Although Maryland continues to have a net positive gain in private sector jobs for 2025, we know that federal government layoffs can have cascading impacts on the private sector and our larger economy.”

With thousands of federal workers in Maryland and in surrounding jurisdictions looking for work, multiple laid off federal workers told The Sun that there aren’t enough jobs open in their fields.

“I’m out here with a big pool of people, all fighting for the same jobs,” said Karen White, who was a probationary employee of the Department of Health and Human Services after years working as a contractor for the department.

White has spent the last few months applying to jobs, taking certification courses and attending protests for federal workers.

Anna Culbertson, who was a probationary employee after starting in December, wanted to work for the National Institutes of Health for job security and, as a person with a rare disease, for the mission of her institute, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Culbertson, along with her former colleagues, has turned to advocating for federal workers impacted by job cuts. She is a part of a group called 27 uNIHted, which she hopes will promote ventures started by former National Institutes of Health workers and help advocate for their work to continue, with the institute or elsewhere.

“It felt very important to me to stay connected … [to] keep everybody together to support one another and help get their stories out and really talk about what we were doing, why it’s important,” Culbertson said.

Multiple fired National Institutes of Health employees, Culbertson said, have started small businesses as they wait for the job market to improve. Some have also put more time into their previous side-jobs, like Henry’s cookie business.

Henry spent months searching for jobs after her termination, but having gotten a late start over a month after the probationary employees entered the job market, she decided to dive into her cookie business, Gingersnap Jess Cookies, that she has worked on since 2024.

“I definitely didn’t plan on leaving my career to do this,” Henry said. “I really, really loved it, and I loved my team that I worked with, but here I am, so we’ll see.”

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com. 

In 2024, there were 27 heat-related deaths across the state, according to reports from the state Department of Health. By late July last year, 11 people had died.

During Maryland’s heat season, which the department defines as May through September, there have already been 1,008 EMS calls and 1,129 emergency department or urgent care visits related to heat-related illness in 2025.

Despite two more months of heat season, Maryland is close to meeting last year’s total number of emergency department or urgent care visits due to heat, which was 1,206 in 2024.

“Heat illness is certainly an under-recognized, under-appreciated threat, and it can have real consequences,” said David Gatz, the associate medical director of the Adult Emergency Department at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

What is heat illness?

Children, seniors and people with chronic illnesses are most susceptible to heat illness, Gatz said, but anyone can be at risk if put in high-heat environments.

The lowest level of heat illness is heat exhaustion, which occurs when water and salt are depleted, typically from being outside and sweating. This can make people feel that they’re going to pass out, their heart is beating faster or they feel nauseous, according to Cheyenne Falat, the assistant medical director of the Adult Emergency Department at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

At this stage, Falat said, getting hydrated, moving away from the heat and cooling the body can usually be enough to prevent serious illness.

Moderate heat illness can include heat rash, swelling — typically in the legs — and heat cramps and brief fainting, Falat said.

The most severe level of heat illness is heat stroke, which impacts the neurological system. Falat said looking out for any changes like slurred speech, difficulties with fine motor skills, and being unsteady could be signs to head to see a medical professional as soon as possible.

“The earlier you can recognize it and intervene, the more you can prevent it from transitioning to that next stage,” Falat said.

Recognizing when heat illness is severe enough to warrant a trip to the hospital is challenging, however, Gatz said, but the most important step is listening to your body. To prevent heat illness, Falat and Gatz recommend attempting not to over-exert, applying sunscreen, hydrating and limiting time exposed to extreme temperatures.

Heat in the workplace

Heat illness and heat-related deaths in Maryland have become top-of-mind for employers due to a new law requiring workplaces with high heat indexes to educate their employees on heat illness as well as provide water and frequent breaks.

The 2024 death of Baltimore City Department of Public Works trash collector Ronald Silver also ignited conversations in the region about monitoring the health of people working during high heat indexes.

The Maryland Department of Labor has not received any notifications of heat-related deaths at workplaces this year, a spokesperson for the department told The Sun. Maryland Occupational Safety and Health, part of the state labor department, has received reports of heat-related concerns that are being investigated, the spokesperson said, but did not specify the number of complaints.

AFSCME Maryland Council 3 — a union representing state, municipal and county employees in Maryland, of which Silver was a member — has also not heard any reports of heat-related deaths at workplaces in the state. Still, leaders do have concerns over a lack of heat safety plans from some of their employers, according to a union spokesperson. The plans are required under the heat safety standards, which became law in September 2024.

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.

City leaders still don’t know what’s causing the fires, nor the cost and scope of repairs.

The committee sought answers to the growing number of underground fires downtown, incidents often blamed on a hard-to-replace, city-owned clay conduit system built in the 19th century that houses electric lines and other cables.

A report due this fall by Stevensville-based RTI Consulting, which is investigating two recent fires, could offer insights on potential causes and ways for the city to respond, said Mark Conway, chair of the council’s public safety and government operations committee.

“What we want to do is understand what’s going on and then fix the conditions that lead to that problem,” Conway said after Tuesday’s hearing. “My expectation is that that’s going to mean some investment in our conduit in a different way, under a new way.

“Ultimately,” he said, “We want to be able to figure out what interventions we need to take in order to prevent fires in the future.”

The city’s conduit system covers a network of about 700 miles of utility line. Outside that system, steam pipes and water mains wend their way underground.

The latest fire occurred on the corner of East Baltimore Street and Guilford Avenue, where first responders found smoke pouring from manhole covers, leading to road closures and bus line detours downtown. Fire officials are still investigating the cause of that and other recent fires.

Last year, city officials called for an investigation after three fires occurred on North Charles Street.

Conway, who scheduled the hearing in response to June’s fire and as a follow up to a November hearing, said there have been 34 fires in the last 10 years. Data presented during the hearing showed a significant spike of 10 fires in 2018 and another 10 last year, with about two fires in each of the other years.

“It tells me that something is going on in those given years,” he said. “I’d also be very curious to see … if there are conditions within those years that make them more prone to fire.”

Rebecca McAfee, a 40-year-old city resident told council members her boyfriend is a city firefighter, and she’s “already nervous about him doing his job.”

“Something needs to be done,” McAfee said. “There should be a resolution as quickly as possible, because this is a crisis, and God forbid, one Baltimorean is killed the next time this happens.

“We can’t sit around pointing fingers at each other after we come together,” she said.

Others attending the hearing included representatives from Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., Vicinity Energy, Comcast, city agencies and the Baltimore City Fire Department.

During a press conference prior to the hearing, Tom Rafferty, BGE’s director of regional electric operations, emphasized that the city bears ultimate responsibility for the condition of the system it owns and maintains, including making capital improvements.

BGE, one of several tenants of the underground cable system, reached a controversial agreement with the city in 2023 that requires the utility to spend $120 million on capital improvements through 2029 and pay Baltimore an “occupancy fee” of $1.5 million annually.

But that agreement covers only a fraction of the city’s full network, many sections of which are believed to be in disrepair, BGE said.

Since the first year of the conduit agreement, BGE has installed 250,000 feet of new and upgraded conduit, just a portion of the 12 million feet of conduit containing BGE’s electric lines, BGE spokesperson Nick Alexopulos said in an email to The Baltimore Sun. The utility has rebuilt 12 manholes and installed 17 manholes, out of 12,000 total in the city.

Company officials on Tuesday stressed that they have no authority to manage or investigate the system. They said none of the preventative and maintenance work showed problems with BGE’s equipment or facilities before the recent manhole fires, and no fires broke out in areas where BGE has made upgrades.

“The conduit system itself has been degraded, and with this particular event, there’s a lot of heat coming out of the ground that appears to be from the steam area,” Rafferty said. “That could be steam from a leak or it could be steam from water or sewer hitting the steam pipe, but it looks like the extreme temperatures could have caused some damage.”

Besides BGE, he said, every entity with underground utilities, even those outside the conduit, must commit to properly inspecting and maintaining their equipment.

“The more that the infrastructure is being upgraded, and the more people are excavating in the city, they just have to be good stewards … and protect the other utilities they’re working around,” Rafferty said.

Each of last year’s fires involved smoke and flames emitting from manholes, with a blaze in September causing an alleged explosion that scattered fragments of a manhole cover along North Charles Street. The conflagration caused significant damage to local businesses along North Charles Street, including a beloved bookstore, and injured a firefighter.

An explosion also occurred after an underground fire in the same stretch of North Charles Street in January 2024, but no one was injured. Both fires caused power outages.

And last June, an underground “high-voltage” electric fire in the same area of North Charles Street prompted a nearby building to evacuate. All of last year’s fires damaged the city’s conduit system.

“We don’t know the causes behind the fires,” Conway said in an interview. “We don’t know how big the scope of improvements is that we’ll need to make to the conduit.  And I think that’s the big question mark for us. We don’t know yet what we’re gonna do. We don’t know yet how much it’s gonna cost, nor the scope.”

Have a news tip? Contact Lorraine Mirabella at lmirabella@baltsun.com, (410) 332-6672 and Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com

“The U.S. overstretches the concept of national security and deprives the right of institutions and citizens of particular countries to purchase farmland,” the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said in an email to The Baltimore Sun, calling the bill discriminatory and urging the U.S. to rethink its international strategy.

Alsobrooks, a Democrat, co-introduced the bipartisan bill last week alongside two Republican Senators and one Democrat. She called the bill “common sense legislation that will make us safer and stronger.”

Data shows the adversarial foreign investors identified in the bill — China, North Korea, Russia and Iran — own less than 1% of U.S. farm, timber and ranching lands, per the Department of Agriculture.

Several agricultural policy experts The Baltimore Sun interviewed said the scope of the threat is hard to determine because of difficulties collecting data on foreign investments.

One food and national security expert says fears of food supply issues are overblown.

“The perception of the threat doesn’t match the reality of the threat,” said Caitlin Welsh, the director of the Global Food and Water Security Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, on food-supply concerns.

However, Welsh did say that there is an argument that some agricultural land purchases by foreign investors could be a potential national security concern, such as those near military facilities.

The bill Alsobrooks introduced would codify the agriculture secretary’s role in reviewing farmland transactions made by investors from other countries to determine whether they pose threats to American security.

Purchases from China, North Korea, Russia and Iran are subject to “special review,” according to an email statement from Alsobrooks.

The House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill in June. The Senate’s version is not yet scheduled for a vote.

Adding the agriculture secretary to certain conversations on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. was a part of a Trump administration July plan created to monitor investors in other countries purchasing farmland, arguing that certain investments could put national and food security at risk. The secretary was added to the committee ]on July 8 via a memorandum of understanding; this bill would make that appointment permanent.

The administration has pushed for prioritizing American businesses and limiting outside influence in the United States.

“This is typically discriminatory and violates the principle of market economy and international trade rules, and will eventually hurt the U.S.’s own interests,” China’s embassy spokesperson said. “We urge the U.S. to immediately stop politicizing trade and investment issues.”

Alsobrooks did not respond by publicaton to a follow-up request for comment on the embassy’s remarks.

Military assets and espionage threats

Maryland is home to several “sensitive sites,” Alsobrooks said in her earlier statement to The Sun, namely Camp David, federal agencies and Fort Meade.

“It is absolutely critical these sites are safe from foreign adversaries,” she said.

Foreign investors are required to self-report agricultural land transactions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture under a 1978 law called the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act.

Danny Munch, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, described Alsobrooks’ bill as an effort to “streamline oversight” of foreign purchases of agricultural land between the Department of Agriculture, which collects data under the 1978 law, and the committee that reviews foreign investments.

“There is concern within some of the agricultural community that some of the … bad actors that could exist would not be reported,” Munch said.

Still, he said, some farmers like being able to sell their land “when and to who they want.”

A plan for a Chinese firm to purchase land for a corn milling plant 12 miles away from an U.S. Air Force base in 2023 led to nationwide attention to investors from foreign adversarial nations purchasing land near military sites.

From 2016 to 2021, foreign purchases of U.S. agricultural land has increased by 40%, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Investors from Canada, The Netherlands, Italy and The United Kingdom owned the most U.S. agricultural land of any foreign country. Investors outside of the United States owned about 3.5% of agricultural land in December 2023, according to the Department of Agriculture. Investors from adversarial nations owned less than 1% of this foreign-held land.

“Foreign adversary” nations own a small percentage of agricultural land, with investors from North Korea owning no acres and from Russia owning 11 acres as of December 2023. Investors from China owned 277,336 acres of agricultural land, according to a Department of Agriculture report.

Vincent Smith, professor emeritus at Montana State University and the director of the Agricultural Policy Program at the American Enterprise Institute, noted that the annual rate of return on investments in agricultural land runs at roughly 6%.

“It has to do with worries about spying, intellectual property theft, and so on,” Smith said. Whether Chinese institutions should be able to access properties adjacent to military bases and American security assets is a point of “legitimate debate,” he said.

Smith said the potential risks from foreign countries acquiring this agricultural land include using the land for espionage as well as stealing intellectual property by monitoring farming techniques.

Iran-based investors owned 3,030 acres of U.S. agricultural land as of December 2023, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Majid Sadeghpour is the political director of the Organization of Iranian American Communities, a nonprofit that advocates for human rights and democracy in Iran and strongly opposes Iran’s current government. Sadeghpour’s group, which opposes “an appeasement policy toward Iran,” according to their website, was in favor of the bill, and its restriction on Iranian companies.

“We welcome U.S. government vigilance and measures which ensure individuals/ organizations associated with the regime and its [Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps] do not financially benefit from investments in the United States,” he said in an email to The Sun.

Food supply concerns

Alsobrooks also alleges that these countries pose a threat to the U.S. food supply chain.

In her statement to The Sun, Alsobrooks said that an insecure food supply chain represents a significant threat to the nation, adding that the bill would support Maryland’s agricultural communities while protecting the country’s food security.

The Maryland Grain Producers Association backed the bill for just this reason, its executive director said.

Lindsay Thompson, the association’s executive director, said the group is concerned that if unchecked, purchases of farmland by corporations headquartered in these countries could undermine the U.S. food supply by taking land from U.S. farmers, as well as stealing crop production techniques. She added that it could lead to financial hardships, cutting the food supply short.

“The secretary of USDA uniquely understands the entire agricultural system and the vulnerabilities that our farmers and agricultural companies could be subject to in these types of transactions,” Thompson said.

Welsh, however, said there is no significant evidence that the small percentage of foreign-held agricultural land could impact the nation’s food supply. She said, however, she believes foreign purchases of agricultural land should be monitored on the federal level.

“I think that pulls on a lot of emotions, but … I don’t think that there is a strong basis of evidence for the claim that China’s ownership of U.S. farmland threatens U.S. food security,” Welsh said.

Have a news tip? Contact Gabriella Fine at gfine@baltsun.com or Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.

Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, recently attempted to add language to an appropriations bill to stop funding set aside for a new bureau to go anywhere other than the selected Greenbelt site. This came after the Trump administration announced on July 1 that the FBI would move to the current Ronald Reagan Building and requested Congress use the funds allocated for the move.

The committee passed the amendment on July 10 with all committee Democrats and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski voting to support the Greenbelt location. But shortly after its passage, the other committee Republicans switched their votes to block the entire appropriations bill from passing out of committee.

Murkowski, who voted against the amendment on Thursday, following a meeting with FBI Director Kash Patel, said she did so because she did not want to derail the appropriations bill or lock the FBI into the Greenbelt location.

“Not only is this reversal bad for the men and women of the FBI — who deserve a safe and secure headquarters — it also represents everything the American people have come to distrust about our political process,” Van Hollen said in a Thursday statement. “How should Americans have faith in our legislating when a bipartisan amendment is what derails a bill – and the only solution to get it back on track is a partisan vote?”

Congress approved a bill in 2022 that required the General Services Administration administrator to select one of three sites for a FBI headquarters, two Maryland locations and a Virginia location. Greenbelt was announced as the selected site in Nov. 2023.

Maryland “won” the competition for the FBI headquarters location after a nearly-decade long bid for the headquarters, which many local politicians say could bring billions of dollars in economic growth to the region.

The first Trump administration scrapped plans in 2017 for a new FBI headquarters, which had started in the Obama administration. The Biden administration restarted the search efforts for a new location.

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Montgomery County said Thursday that Maryland’s pursuit of the FBI headquarters “is not over” but called the latest developments “unfortunate.”

“We thought a fair process had taken place,” Raskin told The Sun.

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com. 

The cameras will be placed on Interstate 83 to “expand and solidify” the reductions in car crashes in the area, Veronica McBeth, director of the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, said in a Thursday news release.

“Our commitment to public safety is paramount, and these cameras serve as a constant reminder for drivers to obey posted speed limits, ultimately making the expressway safer for everyone,” McBeth said.

Warning and digital speed sentry signs are posted along the expressway to alert drivers of the cameras, the release says.

The cameras, which will go live Aug. 4, will be at the West 41st Street Bridge in both the north and southbound directions near the Plant 83 sign — the same location the cameras were used earlier this year. Two other cameras currently look northbound on the expressway at Smith Avenue and southbound at West North Avenue.

Drivers caught speeding will face a $40 fine. Revenues will be primarily used to pay for the operating cost of the camera system, and extra funds could be used for improving the expressway, the release says.

In the past three years, speed cameras on the expressway have resulted in more than $18.5 million in fines.

The cameras were authorized by the Maryland General Assembly this year, allowing for up to four speed cameras on the expressway with one camera allowed to be operational in each direction at a time.

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.

As a result, she suggested a public application process for nonprofit funding coming from the state general assembly and the governor’s operating budget.

“I do want to ensure that there’s proper oversight of these funds and perhaps even a public application process, so that all nonprofits in the state have an opportunity, and that nonprofits who do receive these dollars are set up to succeed, that we are being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Lierman said.

Lierman added that she looks forward to discussing this topic with John Gontrum, the executive secretary of the board, presenting officers, and fellow board members.

The number of new operating budget grants to nonprofit organizations has increased over the last few years. The comptroller said her staff found that in fiscal year 2025 and so far in 2026, the board has approved 16 of these grants. There have been more new grants for nonprofits approved by the board in the state in the last three budgets than in years immediately prior. For fiscal year 2023, there were two new nonprofit operating grants approved by the board and outlined in the the budget that could be confirmed through a search of the Board of Public Works agendas.

The Board of Public Works — which consists of Lierman, Gov. Wes Moore, and Treasury Secretary Dereck Davis — approved funding for two private nonprofits Wednesday as required by the state’s operating budget. The board also made other financial approvals, including funding for a new hotel and conference center in Frederick and local government flood mitigation.

Of the approved funds, $150,000 will go to Parks & People Inc., which aims to help Baltimore by improving green spaces and education, and $50,000 will be sent to the Association of Community Services of Howard County to support “capacity building for nonprofit organizations”.

While nonprofit funding is not new to the board’s duties under the operating budget, with the Maryland Zoo and the Historic Annapolis Foundation being among private nonprofits that have been funded for multiple years, Lierman expressed concern with the number of new grants given to nonprofits in recent years through the budget process.

The two grants approved Wednesday are not the only private nonprofit grants the board is delegated to approve under the state budget, the board approved a series of annual grants to major nonprofits on July 2. In the same meeting, the board also approved new grants to The Friends of Herring Run Parks, Leader Breeders and others.

Private nonprofits who receive state funding must submit a report at the end of the fiscal year detailing how the state funds were used.

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com. 

“If you can grab a really good tomato or a very bland tomato for the same price, which one would you take?” Zahradka said.

Nationwide, tomato prices are expected to rise this week as the United States imposes a 17.09% import tax on tomatoes from Mexico, which Maryland farmers expect will bring some demand for locally-grown tomatoes.

The anti-dumping duty was announced on Monday, as the U.S. Department of Commerce said the country withdrew from a 2019 agreement with Mexico regarding fresh tomato sales. The Tomato Suspension Agreement, originally signed in 1996, provided some stability to the tomato market. A version of this decades-long agreement expired during President Donald Trump’s first term and was renewed in 2019, requiring tomatoes from Mexico to go under U.S. inspection and adhere to minimum prices for tomatoes.

However, the Trump administration now says that importers in Mexico are selling tomatoes at an unfair rate, also known as dumping, leading to the administration’s withdrawal.

The Trump administration is also threating 30% tariffs on all goods from Mexico and other countries, which could start in August.

Even as farmers hope for more local purchases, food industry groups told The Baltimore Sun that the tariffs will be most felt by grocery store shoppers and restaurants, as many won’t be able to easily switch from their typical suppliers.

Tomatoes are a labor-heavy business, said Jim MacDonald, University of Maryland professor of agriculture and resource economist. Labor accounts for around 30 to 40% of the cost to produce tomatoes, MacDonald said, so the lower labor costs in Mexico make tomatoes from the country less expensive.

Karl Shlagel, a Waldorf farmer who sells to some grocery stores, said he is hopeful that as tomato prices rise, more buyers will choose to purchase from local farms.

“God willing, it will finally give us a competitive advantage,” Shlagel said.

However, he does not think this will impact the price of tomatoes or his profits long-term. Many grocery stores, Shlagel said, want truckloads of tomatoes and other produce, which most small farmers can’t compete with, regardless of whether the tariffs remain.

Farmers are also dealing with other Trump tariffs, making some of their own supplies more expensive. While Zahradka bought his fertilizer supply early this year, he expects to pay $100 more per ton when he next purchases his yearly supply.

About 70% of tomatoes sold in the United States are imported from Mexico, according to the Florida Tomato Exchange, a national advocacy group representing American tomato growers.

Some industry experts believe that because grocery stores won’t be able to quickly switch to local farmers, customers are going to see the biggest impact of tariffs — not farmers.

To cash in on the higher costs faced by importers from Mexico, MacDonald said farmers would have to invest in very large greenhouses.

“It wouldn’t make sense to invest unless you were sure the tariffs were going to remain in place,” MacDonald said. “That’s a major uncertainty around current tariff policy.”

Trump has periodically pushed back a massive tariff plan for many countries since his “Liberation Day” announcement in April. Currently, tariffs on exports from many countries are expected to go into effect in August.

“Mexico remains one of our greatest allies, but for far too long, our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices that undercut pricing on produce like tomatoes. That ends today,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a Monday news release.

Mexico sends about 93% of its tomato exports to the United States, according to a June report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In a statement, the National Restaurant Association told The Sun that American restaurants rely on a steady flow of imported produce, including tomatoes, that cannot be grown at the same level in the United States. The statement added that the association is pushing the Trump administration to “pursue policies that will secure fair trade agreements while ensuring the supply chain.”

The longstanding agreements on tomato imports have provided stability for growers and consumers, said Cailey Locklair, president of the Maryland Retailers Association, which represents the Maryland Food Industry Council. The duty may also impact American jobs transporting tomatoes, she said.

“Cost increases will occur. Businesses, consumers are concerned,” Locklair said. “In grocery, a lot of pricing is out of our control, but this will impact that for consumers.”

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com. 

Security officer Laura Dixon, 59, has patrolled the Ashburton Water Filtration Plant for 25 years, but she noticed a change when Abacus took over the city security contracting about a decade ago.

Dixon walks with a cane because of a knee problem. She hasn’t been able to get treatment for a few years because she can’t afford her company’s health insurance, and isn’t covered by any plan. Aside from paying out of pocket for cleaning supplies, which her employer didn’t provide, Dixon has also been held at gunpoint while manning her security post.

“They don’t care about us,” Dixon said.

The company has received more than $45 million from the city since 2017 and employs about 150 security officers, according to a release from SEIU 32BJ, a local union for service workers working with the non-union officers.

If Abacus does not agree to meet with employees to negotiate or give them some other sign that progress is being made within the next week, SEIU 32BJ executive vice president Jaime Contreras said a strike would be “imminent.” A majority of the security officers voted to strike “if necessary” at meetings on July 5 and 12, according to a union spokesperson.

Employees are calling on the city to find a new contractor or for Abacus to fix long-standing issues. Some employees are also looking to unionize under SEIU 32BJ to secure these benefits.

One major complaint is that the company-offered health insurance is too expensive for the average employee. The union said it has not found one officer who can afford the plan. Many officers are on Medicaid, but with federal cuts to the program, Contreras is concerned about them losing their insurance.

Abacus said in a statement that the company “offers affordable health insurance, as defined by the ACA, Dental, Vision, and Short-Term Disability insurance.”

An analysis of the health insurance program by SEIU 32BJ found that workers would pay twice as much to visit a hospital and 20% more for preventative care than they would under a union plan. The policy, which the union called “junk insurance,” would require a $150 co-pay for a maximum of one urgent care visit.

“It’s not health insurance, that’s trash,” Contreras said.

Laverna Stackhouse, 58, has patrolled a city building on Holliday Street for about seven years. She went to the hospital in May for high blood pressure, and she’s still paying off $2,000 in medical bills because she can’t afford health insurance.

She has started taking her pills every other day, instead of every day as directed because Stackhouse doesn’t know when she’ll be able to see a doctor to get a refill or how she will afford a visit.

The strike authorization, Stackhouse said, will hopefully show the company that they’re serious about needing better health insurance. Other employees the union reached out to haven’t been able to take medicine to treat diabetes and other conditions.

Workers got a raise in July from just over $15 an hour to $18.50, Contreras and officers said, but added that it was long overdue and was only done as a result of workers speaking out.

Employees and union officials have reached out to Abacus to attempt to negotiate a new contract, but haven’t heard back.

“This company is just not a responsible contractor and they don’t want to deal with the union,” Contreras said.

Abacus pushed back in the statement: “We have always advocated for and highly prioritized employee welfare and have done so in a direct relationship with our employees and intend to continue to do so.”

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.

“When a commitment is made, that has impacts,” said Greenbelt Mayor Emmett Jordan. “The back-and-forth just creates this uncertainty.”

Federal, state and county officials are pushing for any path forward for the bureau to land in Greenbelt after the Trump administration changed course.

A parcel of land, 50 feet from the Greenbelt Metro Station, was announced as the new site for the FBI headquarters in November 2023 after years of studies and competition from other regional bidders. Being next to the Beltway, a MARC train and a Washington, D.C., metro stop made the location accessible for commuters and federal workers who live in Prince George’s County.

As a result, Greenbelt and other neighboring jurisdictions prepared for a massive influx of federal workers expected to work, shop and possibly move to the area.

But on July 1, the General Services Administration announced that the FBI, currently housed in the aging J. Edgar Hoover Building in downtown Washington, D.C., would instead be moved blocks away to the existing Ronald Reagan Building. The building currently houses other federal agencies and event spaces.

The Trump administration said this was an effort to save taxpayer money, as the Greenbelt campus was expected to cost the government billions.

‘Wasted time, wasted resources’

Greenbelt city budgets that date back to at least fiscal year 2017 highlighted efforts to attract the FBI headquarters and how it could “transform” the area. Budgets also mentioned the possibility of mixed-use developments adjacent to the eventual bureau, allowing employees to live and shop nearby.

The headquarters was projected to bring 7,500 employees to the Greenbelt area and billions in revenue to the region.

One development plan approved by the county’s planning board, Jordan said, would have built a mixed-use development with a hotel and retail spaces next to the possible headquarters, but approval lapsed during the lengthy process nearly a decade ago.

Other nearby improvement proposals were put on hold to meet the needs of the would-be FBI location, Jordan said. This included a redesign of the Beltway Plaza Mall and another corporate plaza renovation.  A plan to make a bike path connecting one Greenbelt neighborhood to the metro would also change should the bureau come to the once-promised area.

“Projects have been on hold, on again, off again,” Jordan said. “It’s just wasted time, wasted resources.”

The back-and-forth also impacted other neighboring cities, like Berwyn Heights and northern College Park, whose mayors say could benefit from federal workers shopping or living in the community.

Berwyn Heights recently commissioned an economic study from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to help understand how the small town can develop, especially along Greenbelt Road.

Berwyn Heights Mayor Tiffany Papanikolas said this and the town’s ongoing move of their police station to this major road was done to prepare for the FBI Headquarters.

When the FBI headquarters was awarded to Greenbelt, Papanikolas saw the county and other local jurisdictions begin to plan new developments and some retail spaces start long-planned renovations.

Now, she hopes the site will return to help businesses and fill existing homes in her town.

“There have been a lot of ideas, but not a lot has been done,” Papanikolas said. “When a town or region stagnates, it’s just as bad as going backwards.”

Bordering the Greenbelt metro station is a suburban area of College Park, which Mayor Fazlul Kabir said could see a real estate boom if the FBI plan comes to fruition.

For a city budget that relies on real estate taxes, this could help the city improve its services, he said.

The influx of FBI employees year-round could also help College Park businesses that face revenue drops during summer and winter breaks at The University of Maryland. Kabir also sees an opening for the FBI to collaborate with the university’s research facilities.

There is a growing sense of frustration among officials that the recent switch has undermined the work done to secure the 2023 approval. This includes a perception that the federal government has historically not placed major federal facilities in Prince George’s County, particularly when compared to those in Virginia.

The area has also been hit by cuts to the federal workforce.

Maryland politicians use leverage

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, added a provision to an appropriations bill that would reserve $1.4 billion for a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt. But it stalled the appropriations bill from moving out of the full committee when all Republicans flipped their vote against the bill, upset at the inclusion of the provision.

Van Hollen argued that using funds intended for the Greenbelt location to support the newly announced Ronald Reagan Building location sets a precedent of presidential overreach.

Republicans on the committee, including Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, argued that this is not unusual and has happened to other federal projects.

Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy, a Democrat, said the county can “wait out” the president and that the county is also considering legal options to keep the Greenbelt plan.

After the Obama administration initiated the process to build a new FBI headquarters, the first Trump administration canceled the effort in 2017, before the Biden administration restarted the site search.

“His tenure will end, but the FBI and the opportunities will still be there,” Braveboy told The Sun. “It was a fair process and one that resulted, obviously, in the Greenbelt coming out the victor. So we’re going to always fight what’s fair.”

The Greenbelt campus was set to start construction in 2029 after Trump’s current term ends.

The possible cancelation of the Greenbelt headquarters comes two months after announcements that the county would lose the Washington Commanders and a Six Flags location.

Maryland budgeted $200 million for the Greenbelt FBI headquarters from the fiscal years 2024 and 2025 budgets, and it has seven years to disburse the money for this project. Funds would return to the state if the Board of Public Works votes to cancel.

Democratic members of the Maryland congressional delegation have promised to fight changes to the FBI headquarters plans.

“We’ll fight this just like we did last time,” said Rep. Glenn Ivey, who represents the district.

Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.