Mike Gimbel, a longtime advocate for drug treatment and former heroin addict himself, says the real solution is being ignored: long-term access to treatment.

“The demand for drug treatment beds is enormous,” Gimbel said. “This is where Baltimore and the state of Maryland have fallen on their face.”

Gimbel, who has been in recovery for nearly 53 years, said the current strategies being used by city and state leaders are falling short. He’s calling them out publicly for what he calls a failure in the fight against addiction.

“What you’re seeing on the city and state level, it’s not acceptable,” Gimbel said. “It’s embarrassing, actually.”

Gimbel is a familiar face to many from his time on FOX45 News’ Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel. He says open-air drug markets in Baltimore are thriving because there’s little incentive for users to change.

“Giving clean needles and Narcan and test strips does not change behavior,” he said. “If you don’t change the behavior of the addict, you may bring them back from an overdose death, but eventually, they’re going to come back.”

He argues that lasting recovery depends heavily on changing a person’s environment — including where they live and who they’re surrounded by.

Drug courts, which can provide court-ordered treatment in place of jail time, are a step in the right direction, he said. But they also face an obstacle.

“The concept of drug court has always been very successful,” Gimbel said. “The problem with drug court is there’s not enough places to send people.”

Without treatment, Gimbel said, many drug users face the same outcome of death.

According to a recent report from The Baltimore Sun, nearly 90% of Maryland’s deaths classified as “undetermined” in 2023 were drug-related. A Johns Hopkins medical director said that an estimated two-thirds of those deaths were accidental overdoses.

Baltimore City had the highest number in the state, with 442 undetermined deaths in 2023.

Spotlight on Maryland reviewed similar data from cities facing parallel struggles. In St. Louis, Missouri, there were 12 undetermined deaths reported in 2023 — only two of which involved drugs, according to the medical examiner’s office. In Oakland, California, there were just four undetermined deaths last year.

Baltimore recently received $400 million in opioid settlement funds from pharmaceutical companies. Gimbel said some of that money should be used to expand treatment options.

Spotlight on Maryland is a collaborative project by FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C., and The Baltimore Sun. Have a tip or story idea? Contact Tessa Bentulan at tbentulan@sbgtv.com.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has claimed there’s no evidence that his accelerated green energy agenda is increasing electricity bills for residents, despite concerns from PJM Interconnection that a shrinking energy supply is colliding with rapid economic growth.

Spotlight on Maryland asked PJM on Thursday whether Maryland’s energy generation shortfall specifically increased demand on regional energy costs, which drove up its capacity auction prices to a record high earlier in the week.

“Existing supply has been leaving the system due primarily to state and federal decarbonization policies and some economics,” PJM spokesman Jeffrey Shields said in an email. “In any market, when demand is up and supply is down, there will be an increase in pricing.”

“PJM has been warning of this eventuality for several years now, specifically as it relates to the impact of these supply/demand fundamentals on our ability to reliably operate the power grid,” Shields added.

On Tuesday, PJM announced its capacity auction price for 2026 had jumped to $329.17 per megawatt (MW) — a 22% increase from the previous year and more than 1038% higher than the $28.92 per MW clearing price in 2023, when Moore took office. Some customers’ electricity bills will increase 1.5% to 5%, PJM said.

What’s a capacity auction?

PJM conducts annual auctions to ensure utilities can secure enough electricity when demand spikes, such as during heat waves or severe storms. The price determined in these auctions affects the cost of electricity for customers across 13 states and Washington, D.C.

As traditional power plants retire faster than replacements come online, PJM says the system is becoming more fragile — and expensive.

“Generators are retiring in Maryland due to a mixture of economic and policy justifications and without replacement generation in place,” PJM warned in a two-page brief after last year’s first record-breaking capacity auction. Maryland, which already imports the majority of its energy, has lost 6,000 MW of electricity since 2018, while adding only 1,600 MW, the brief said.

Moore’s green energy push

At an unrelated event in Baltimore on July 17, Spotlight on Maryland asked Moore if his green energy agenda is disrupting the state’s energy market and costing Marylanders, as they are experiencing a tough state economy.

“Not at all,” said Moore, a Democrat. “There is no data that can actually reinforce that being able to say we believe in solar, and wind, and nuclear, and all the different, all-of-the above energy assets, that in any way, is actually hurting ratepayers. In fact, it’s actually helping.”

“The best thing you can do is provide more options for ratepayers. If you provide more options, it’s simple supply and demand, it brings prices down. So what we are interested in is making sure the ratepayers are supported and we can do that while also protecting the environment,” Moore added.

But PJM contends that current green energy initiatives aren’t keeping up with the demand — and new supply is lagging. Shields noted that while PJM has approved 46,000 MW of new generation, much of it remains unbuilt due to global supply chain issues, state and federal permitting delays, and financing challenges.

Offshore wind faces setback

Moore has made offshore wind a cornerstone of his clean energy plan. He signed three green energy bills in April 2023, including the Maryland Promotion Offshore Wind Energy Resource Act, or the POWER Act. During the bill signings, the governor announced his accelerated net-zero emissions target for Maryland, aiming to reach 100% carbon-free energy generation by 2035 — a full decade ahead of the state’s statutory requirement.

The governor said that offshore wind would be crucial for the state to replace fossil fuel plants with clean, renewable energy.

“The POWER Act will nearly quadruple our offshore wind goals so we can build off the great work of our partners at Tradepoint Atlantic, our partners at Orsted, and our partners at US Wind to make Maryland the offshore capital of the United States,” Moore said in April 2023.

Spotlight on Maryland reported in early July that the sites previously scheduled to open in summer 2025 remain mostly unchanged since the governor broke ground at the facilities.

When Spotlight on Maryland asked Moore how offshore wind will increase the supply that he says his administration is seeking to accomplish in his all-of-the-above generation approach, he said:

“Well, when you’re talking about all-of-the-above energy options, that includes solar, that includes wind, that includes nuclear, that includes all of the various options that we have on board to make sure we are increasing supply,” Moore said. “If you are having increased demand, as we are seeing in the state of Maryland, you have to increase supply.”

“If you do not increase supply, then you will end up having jacked up prices, and that means all the ratepayers get hosed, so what we are trying to do is just provide every single option possible and make it available to people at a scalable way that both brings prices down and bring inventory up,” Moore added.

Moore’s response comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demanded two weeks ago that Maryland regulators fix its offshore wind permits, which it said were issued incorrectly. The EPA added that failure to reissue permits in compliance with its terms could void Maryland’s offshore wind approval.

New York utility regulators revoked their permits for a multibillion-dollar offshore wind project last week, citing a shift in federal energy priorities and the need to protect the state’s electricity ratepayers.

“What we’ve seen over the last several months from the federal government hasn’t been a simple change in policy, but a wholesale departure from long-established norms,” said Rory Christian, New York Public Service Commission chairman. “In time, the winds of national policy will shift. When they do, we will be ready. But in the meantime, we have to focus our attention on building the clean energy infrastructure we need.”

PJM’s warning

The grid operator outlined three key points for Maryland policymakers to focus on in its publication to reduce record-high energy costs, warning them not to shut down energy sources until replacements are in place.

“Avoid efforts meant to push generation off the system until an adequate quantity of replacement generation is online and operating,” PJM said.

Shields reiterated the warning about green energy solutions being pursued across the region in his email response Thursday to Spotlight on Maryland.

Meanwhile, Del. Chris Tomlinson, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, said he is not confident Maryland is on the right path to protect ratepayers, instead remaining overly focused on green energy solutions as the rest of the nation shifts.

“I don’t think any of the bills that we passed are going to make a dent in what we are seeing on our [electricity] bills month after month,” Tomlinson said. “I don’t ever like to think there is no hope, so I don’t want to say that, but unfortunately, I think it is going to have to get worse until Democratic leadership finally wakes up and says we are going to have to make major changes.”

Follow Gary Collins with Spotlight on Maryland on X and Instagram. Do you have news tips on this story or others? Send news tips to gmcollins@sbgtv.com. Spotlight on Maryland is a collaboration between FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C., and The Baltimore Sun.

The mass overdose raised a few questions for Spotlight on Maryland: What needs to be done to help someone struggling with addiction enter recovery? And is arresting them the answer?

For one man, the justice system played a pivotal role in his recovery.

Once homeless and addicted to cocaine and fentanyl, Darren Dugan said he hit a breaking point in 2020.

“Honestly, it was by the grace of God I had been told about a program,” Dugan said. “I was done. It wasn’t for me; it was for my kids.”

That moment of clarity came after time spent behind bars. For the first time, Dugan said he found extended recovery.

“I did have a stipulation for probation that I needed to stay sober,” he said. “I was told, ‘You’re in a program now. You stay in that program, and you stick in that program because if you walk away from it, you’ll be violated.’ ”

Dugan shares a message with others battling addiction.

“What needs to be understood is that drug court is not a punishment,” he said. “Probation is not a punishment. Being remanded to the custody of a treatment center is not a punishment. These are all alternatives to incarceration.”

This kind of court-ordered intervention, while not always the first choice, can be the turning point for some people in active addiction.

Jeremy Eldridge, a defense attorney and partner at Zealous Advocates in Baltimore, said he believes the criminal justice system acts as a last resort to connect people with treatment services.

“It’s not the idea of incarceration that’s beneficial — or even prosecution ending in conviction,” Eldridge said. “It’s the idea of forcing that individual into the court systems that they can benefit from services. If they’re compliant with such services, their charges could be dismissed at a later time.”

Spotlight on Maryland asked the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office whether the 27 individuals who overdosed in Penn North on July 10 should be arrested to get them into recovery.

In response, the office said a citation docket may be better suited. These dockets are typically issued for quality-of-life offenses and can bring a person before a judge — not necessarily to jail, but to be connected with services.

“Essentially, to bring people into court to offer treatment,” Eldridge said. “Not to place people in jail. Not to saddle them with convictions, but to offer wraparound services — including mental health and drug treatment.”

Despite the overdose cluster, the open-air drug market in Penn North remained active in the days that followed. Spotlight on Maryland witnessed multiple people openly buying drugs and using them in the same area.

Dugan said court intervention can be necessary, especially for those who feel stuck.

“I do think in some instances, that’s where a lot of people find some solidarity in themselves,” he said. “The choices are to either lean into the help — or unfortunately, lean into eventual death.”

Dugan said recovery is possible and worth fighting for.

“There is so much opportunity out here to do something different, to make more for yourself,” he said. “I know what it’s like to feel like you’re not going to get there, or that’s not what you deserve, or it’s not possible — but it is.”

The State’s Attorney’s Office, defense attorney Jeremy Eldridge and recovery advocate Darren Dugan all agree: Getting someone struggling with addiction in front of a judge could help connect them with treatment.

Spotlight on Maryland is a collaborative project by FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C., and The Baltimore Sun. Have a tip or story idea? Contact Tessa Bentulan at tbentulan@sbgtv.com. 

BCYF is guaranteed annual funding through the Baltimore charter to support grassroots organizations that provide programs for kids. However, a series of Spotlight on Maryland investigations on BCYF’s handling of tax money sparked concerns from some local leaders and transparency experts in recent months. This included reports about how BCYF paid for several out-of-state trips for its adult staff and partners, with specific expenses for activities such as yoga. Another report detailed how BCYF awarded a nearly $1 million grant to an organization that folded months later.

Tiffany Releford of Ice Miller LLP wrote a letter this month on behalf of BCYF to Sinclair about what she described as “unrelenting media coverage” from Spotlight on Maryland, which they claimed “included inaccurate or misleading information.”

“This targeted coverage has not only caused significant reputational and financial harm to BCYF and its various grantees but has also materially impeded BCYF’s ability to carry out its critical mission of serving children in Baltimore,” Releford wrote. “[T]he repeated and slanted reporting-often lacking full context and omitting key facts-has fostered public mistrust and emboldened harassment of both BCYF and some of the grantees it serves. This harassment has escalated to such an extent that grantees have faced threats, and as a result, it has caused significant operational challenges.”

An attorney for Sinclair sent a response noting that BCYF’s legal counsel “identified no statement that is inaccurate or otherwise misleading” in Spotlight on Maryland reports.

“In making these arguments, however, you offer no examples of erroneous information, indications of bias, or specifics on how our accurate reporting has caused financial or reputational harm to BCYF,” Sinclair’s attorney wrote in a responding letter. “Absent concrete details concerning the allegedly false statements or impact on your client, we are left speculating as to what specific issue your client takes with our reporting. The generalized assertions in your letter do not justify the extraordinary action you demand.”

David Williams, the president of the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, said the letter from BCYF’s legal counsel shows the organization lacks focus on its intended mission.

“They need to spend resources not on lawyers but on being transparent and providing information to the public,” he told Spotlight on Maryland.

The letter from BCYF’s legal counsel includes a complaint about the number of public information requests filed by Spotlight on Maryland. BCYF is required by law to comply with these requests because it is funded almost entirely by taxpayer dollars.

“BCYF has had to devote substantial resources to addressing the misinformation in these relentless reports, as well as responding to an overwhelming and excessive number of Public Information Act (PIA) requests by Baltimore Sun and WBFF staff, and particularly reporter Patrick Hauf,” Releford wrote. “When calculated, these resources total over 230 hours. This is not only draining taxpayer-funded resources but is also diverting BCYF’s focus away from its core mission of supporting the youth-development ecosystem of Baltimore.”

Williams described the complaint from BCYF as a “copout.”

“The Maryland Public Information Act is practically the only way to get information out of these entities,” he told Spotlight on Maryland. “For a nonprofit to send a letter and to say that they are spending too much time to respond to these — it’s a copout.”

Several Spotlight on Maryland investigations in recent months were made possible through public information requests that resulted in documentation of BCYF’s spending.

Documents showed BCYF spent roughly $130,000 on a trip this year to New Orleans for its staff, board of directors and select grant partners. Another public information request revealed BCYF paid for a trip last year for its staff and partners to Alabama, which included a $3,600 expense for three yoga sessions and one “short breathing exercise.” The organization spent roughly another $55,000 to attend a racial equity conference in Missouri last year, according to additional obtained documents.

BCYF President Alysia Lee did not respond to repeated requests from Spotlight on Maryland for an interview.

BCYF emphasized in previous statements that its trips to New Orleans and Alabama intended to boost “capacity building” efforts for Baltimore youth organizations.

Spotlight on Maryland obtained documents in a public information request that revealed BCYF awarded a $900,000 grant to a nonprofit that folded roughly six months later. BCYF said only $33,750 of the funds were spent, with the remaining funds returned.

Several Baltimore area leaders criticized BCYF in the wake of the Spotlight on Maryland reports.

Former Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young, who led efforts to establish BCYF nearly a decade ago, took issue with the organization’s trip to Alabama.

“Right now, [BCYF] is not anything that I envisioned,” Young told Spotlight on Maryland in December. “That fund was created so that community-based organizations could get funding for the programs they had for the youth. Not a junket for grownups.”

The newly passed Baltimore City budget sends about $16 million in taxpayer money to BCYF, which then sends roughly $7 million of those funds to the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development — a development that was contested but ultimately passed by city council.

“This idea that the city government, particularly the mayor’s office, could then come whenever there’s a shortfall and utilize the funds, I think felt deeply inappropriate to several members of this council,” Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen said in June.

Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway said he voted against the budget because of the shifted money from BCYF to Mayor Brandon Scott’s office. Conway said he will continue to push for answers from BCYF regarding its spending and hopes to see the organization welcome questions from the news media moving forward.

“Attempts to thwart investigations of the media are counterproductive,” he told Spotlight on Maryland. “When the Youth Fund is sending money wherever, including the mayor’s office, and not being accountable or transparent about that spending — it really, really has me worried.”

Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by FOX45 News, The Baltimore Sun and WJLA in Washington, D.C. Have a news tip? Contact Patrick Hauf at pjhauf@sbgtv.com.

Three Baltimore Police Department officers confirmed the drug is under investigation as a possible factor in the mass overdose Thursday at the intersection of Pennsylvania and North avenues. The officers who spoke with Spotlight on Maryland requested anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media on official matters. They added that the drug has been seen on the streets of Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

Neighbors in the immediate area of Baltimore’s multiple open-air drug markets also said they heard New Jack City is taking the streets by storm.

“Man, they are going crazy trying to find that stuff,” said Andres, a Carrollton Ridge resident who asked to be identified only by his first name for safety reasons.

Sharing its name with the 1991 fictional film that depicts a drug lord’s rise during the crack cocaine epidemic in New York City, a BPD drug officer told Spotlight on Maryland on Monday afternoon that New Jack City’s main components are fentanyl, heroin, or both, depending on the dealer.

“Unfortunately, it either has freon or antifreeze added to it,” the BPD officer said.

Spotlight on Maryland asked BPD by email on Monday morning whether New Jack City is the suspected drug responsible for the mass overdose that hospitalized at least 27 people on Thursday. The police department was also asked what components might be used to make Baltimore’s edition of New Jack City.

BPD did not acknowledge or respond to the email request for details.

In just 10 minutes on Monday afternoon, Spotlight on Maryland observed at least two dozen apparent drug transactions at the corner of South Monroe Street and Wilkens Avenue, in the West Baltimore neighborhood of Carrollton Ridge, where Andres lives.

A woman was seen in the northbound lane of Wilkens Avenue, folded over while standing in the roadway. With a police car at the intersection of the incident, Spotlight on Maryland notified BPD’s Western District of the circumstances.

Meanwhile, just over two miles north, Spotlight on Maryland visited the intersection of Pennsylvania and North Avenues, where another busy city drug market was operating on Monday. The open-air market became the focus on Thursday for the large city fire and police response after reports of a mass overdose event.

The same intersection gained international attention in April 2015 during the civil unrest following Freddie Gray’s death, when several structures and cars were set on fire. Although the CVS store has been rebuilt after being burned during the riots, other nearby buildings remain charred.

Darren Dugan, a former intravenous drug user who once lived homeless near Penn-North, returned to the area Monday to reflect on his past and to try to help others. He said the intersection reminds him of the drug addiction struggles he faced before court intervention in 2020.

“For this corner, for me, it’s definitely a spot where I found a lot of pain in active addiction,” Dugan said. “I was an IV user, I was homeless a few blocks away from here, sleeping in a warehouse five years ago.”

“Now, I see it [as] kind of an opportunity to give back and maybe help some people who are making the choices that I made and make different ones,” Dugan added.

Minutes later, Spotlight on Maryland walked with Dugan to a nearby warehouse, where he said many drug users from Penn-North lived, including himself, during the height of his addiction. He then ran into a woman he used to do drugs with on the streets.

With tears in both of their eyes, Dugan wrote down the address and phone number for a nearby addiction recovery center. He also made a phone call to help arrange a ride for the woman out of the drug market’s intersection.

Dugan recalled dark times in his life, struggling in the same way as the woman he had just helped.

“I remember coming out here and literally walking right past police, probably a hundred feet in front of them, wondering if it is okay copping [buying drugs] and then walking back,” Dugan said. “There are places that people can come … all day long.”

Pointing to the mass overdose event last week, Dugan said he is disgusted by the lack of action of city and state governments, saying too little has been done to crack down on the illegal sale of drugs that have been widespread in the neighborhood for decades.

“One thing that always clashes with me is the fact that there are always people standing out, in these couple of blocks,” Dugan said. “It doesn’t take an officer, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who has what, it’s literally being announced.”

“The fact that people feel confident, in this city, to walk out and announce what it is that they have, loudly, that’s obscene,” Dugan added.

Dugan said government officials must do everything within their power to stay ahead of drugs like New Jack City because of the public health problems they present.

“Unfortunately, the fentanyl that is going out is laced with Xylazine,” Dugan said. “The more they lean on Xylazine, the harder it is for people to be resuscitated with Narcan. It’s not an opioid, but it still suppresses your nervous system, so when people use it … the only thing that helps is someone who is able to apply rescue breathing.”

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Xylazine is approved only for veterinary use as a sedative or muscle relaxant, including for horses.

Spotlight on Maryland asked Robin Wherley, the assistant state’s attorney for Baltimore City, and State’s Attorney Ivan Bates whether the city has an open-air drug market problem and if new drugs hitting the street are problematic for her office. Wherley recently became the lead prosecutor for drug court in the city’s circuit court division.

“We certainly have a drug problem in Baltimore City, but that’s everywhere. That’s not just here,” Wherley said. “We do have open-air drug markets. Anyone who lives or drives through the city can see that. I would say yes.”

Wherley told Spotlight on Maryland the mass overdose incident remains under investigation and she believes city officials will soon know all of the contents involved in the drugs consumers used.

“I think people need to understand that any drug can kill you,” Wherley said. “Depending on the formula, depending on what it is cut with, depending on what may be nearby. You might think you’re buying heroin, [but] you may end up with something completely different.”

For Dugan, he said it was only after a period of incarceration and forced sobriety that he realized he had to stop using, otherwise he would likely end up dead.

“It was only after that I realized that I had the potential within me to do something different,” Dugan said. “The choices are to either lean into the help or lean into, unfortunately, eventual death.”

Have a news tip? Contact Gary Collins at gmcollins@sbgtv.com.

The state is investing millions of dollars in efforts to filter out these harmful substances — a tall order, especially after a recent national study found elevated PFAS levels in the Monocacy River in Frederick County.

PFAS, which are resistant to water, oil and heat, are found in everyday products such as nonstick cookware, makeup and food packaging. They pose significant health risks, including links to cancer, and are notoriously difficult to remove from the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency has set a drinking water limit for PFAS at just four parts per trillion. In Hampstead in Carroll County, state testing in 2020 revealed PFAS levels exceeding 70 parts per trillion. That triggered an immediate response from town officials.

“We got a phone call in November of 2020 basically saying we need to shut two of your wells off,” said Kevin Hann, superintendent of Hampstead’s Public Works Department.

Hann, along with Town Supervisor Jim Roark, spearheaded a nearly $31 million plan to modernize the town’s water system. The initiative includes building three new treatment plants and upgrading an existing facility. New carbon tanks at these plants will filter PFAS out of the town’s water supply.

“We are so far ahead of anyone else in the PFAS mitigation effort,” Roark said. Construction is scheduled to begin next month.

Funding for the project includes nearly $19.9 million in federal dollars, $7.7 million from the state, and $3.3 million from the town of Hampstead.

Roark emphasized the importance of transparency, noting monthly updates at town council meetings and a public town hall scheduled for the end of July.

“We have nothing to hide,” he said.

Hampstead is not alone. The state of Maryland has allocated $130 million in this fiscal year’s budget to support similar water treatment efforts across the state; the funds are not limited to only reducing PFAS levels. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is responsible for distributing those funds.

“What’s clear with PFAS is that we need a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach,” said Zachary Schafer of MDE. “We have to stop it at its source and provide the resources communities need to address the pollution.”

For residents like Brittany Palmer of Carroll County, the effort brings cautious optimism. After learning about PFAS a year ago, she became deeply concerned about its impact on her family — especially her young daughter.

“You don’t realize how many things have forever chemicals in them,” Palmer said. “It’s really scary… It sounds like it’s going to be a great thing — help us have cleaner water and a better future.”

Spotlight on Maryland will continue to monitor PFAS levels in Hampstead.

Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by FOX45 News, The Baltimore Sun and WJLA in Washington, D.C. Have a news tip? Contact Tessa Bentulan at tbentulan@sbgtv.com.

The newly passed Baltimore City fiscal year 2026 budget sends $16 million to the BCYF, which operates as a nonprofit despite being almost exclusively funded by taxpayer dollars. BCYF then sends about $7 million of those funds to the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED). A city official testified last month that $2 million of the BCYF funds given to MOED will go to the Summer Funding Collaborative (SFC) program.

BCYF is guaranteed funding each year through the Baltimore City charter to boost grassroots organizations that provide programs for kids.

SFC provides a joint grantmaking process for philanthropy groups to support a variety of youth services in Baltimore City. The program is administered by Baltimore’s Promise, a nonprofit whose board members include Mayor Scott and BCYF President Alysia Lee.

Brian Mittendorf, a professor at Ohio State University who specializes in nonprofit finances, says Mayor Scott and Lee owe the public an explanation about their partnership.

“If you’re acting as a board member for a particular nonprofit, you have to act in the best interest of the goals of that nonprofit,” he told Spotlight on Maryland. “And if you’re also serving in other roles and there’s a web of connections, it becomes a blurred boundary as to whose goals you’re enacting.”

Mayor Scott and Lee did not respond to the following questions:

• Why does the mayor’s office need money from BCYF for SFC?
• Is it a conflict of interest to send money to the program when it’s administered by an organization whose board you sit on?

Mittendorf said there could be a potential justification for why Baltimore City taxpayer money moves between different entities but emphasized that the money flow likely leads to waste.

“Every time another organization touches money, there are administrative costs associated with operations,” he told Spotlight on Maryland. “Once it gets to that final destination, again unintentionally perhaps, a lot of resources have been peeled away.”

Julia Baez, the CEO of Baltimore’s Promise, emphasized that her organization is the “administrative backbone” of SFC but does not directly handle the program’s money, which she said goes directly to youth programs. She said “it is not a conflict of interest” for Mayor Scott and Lee to serve on her board.

“It is standard and expected for mayors and public sector leaders to serve on the boards of these types of organizations, particularly when aligning public and private sectors to improve outcomes citywide,” she told Spotlight on Maryland.

Baez said her organization fundraises on its own to cover the administrative costs of overseeing SFC.

BCYF announced a $112,500 grant in April sent to Baltimore’s Promise — money it said, “sustains the collaborative infrastructure of the Summer Funding Collaborative.” BCYF gave another $100,000 grant to Baltimore’s Promise as a part of its President’s Fund, which “offers flexibility to address pressing issues at the discretion of the President [Lee].”

Baltimore’s Promise is fiscally sponsored by the Fund for Educational Excellence , a relationship that transparency experts said obscures key information about how taxpayer money is spent by nonprofits, as previously reported by Spotlight on Maryland. The fiscal sponsorship allows FFEE to aggregate the finances of all its partners, meaning its nonprofit tax form does not provide specific information about how Baltimore’s Promise spends its money.

Mittendorf said the way taxpayer dollars move from BCYF is not only a concern of waste but a lack of transparency too.

“Even if it’s not intentional, we lose sight of the money trail,” he told Spotlight on Maryland. “It’s very hard for the public to see where the money is going because it’s going through this web of entities.”

FFEE’s latest nonprofit tax form in fiscal year 2024 reveals its highest compensated employees, with Baez listed at a salary of $220,554. Lee’s total compensation listed on BCYF’s latest nonprofit tax form for fiscal year 2024 adds up to more than $200,000.

BCYF sent millions of taxpayer dollars to SFC in recent years, according to its grant announcement webpages. This included nearly $2 million to SFC in 2024. The 2023 announcement webpage lists SFC grantees without specific totals. The 2022 announcement lists $2 million sent to SFC.

Mittendorf said he is unsure why BCYF would need to send its 2025 money for SFC through Mayor Scott’s office.

“I would put it in the mystery category,” he told Spotlight on Maryland. “The organization up front would need to be able to explain why it’s going through this web.”

The $7 million sent from BCYF to the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development sparked criticism from several prominent leaders during the budget process in June, as previously reported by Spotlight on Maryland. This included City Council President Zeke Cohen, City Councilman Mark Conway and the former co-chair of BCYF’s task force, John Brothers.

City officials said at budget hearings last month that the mayor’s office approached BCYF’s board with the idea of taking money from the nonprofit, which the board voted on and approved. Spotlight on Maryland previously reported on how four of the eight listed BCYF board members are directly tied to Mayor Scott through former or current jobs.

Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by FOX45 News, The Baltimore Sun and WJLA in Washington, D.C. Have a news tip? Contact Patrick Hauf at pjhauf@sbgtv.com.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a policy notice for its Teen Pregnancy Prevention program this month that stated the agency will defund projects that promote materials or activities outside of the program’s intended goal of reducing teen pregnancies. The notice acknowledged that HHS previously approved funding for materials that were not medically accurate, not age appropriate and unrelated to teen pregnancies.

HHS Press Secretary Emily Hilliard said the notice is a part of the Trump administration’s “decisive action to end the ideological overreach that has infiltrated federally funded sex education programs for years.”

“The updated guidance for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program ensures that taxpayer dollars no longer support content that undermines parental rights, promotes radical gender ideology, or exposes children to sexually explicit material under the banner of public health,” she told Spotlight on Maryland. “This is a clear victory for American families, and a message to those who have used federal programs to advance radical social agendas: that era is over.”

Spotlight on Maryland previously reported on two TPP programs in Maryland that promoted materials that appear to violate the HHS notice. True You Maryland advised participating educators in 2023 on how to teach children about different gender identities while using gender-neutral language like “people with vaginas.” U Choose in Baltimore City referred minors to clinics that provide hormone blockers and cross-gender hormones for people who identify as transgender.

The HHS notice for TPP stated that grantees must adjust their programs to a series of executive orders from President Trump this year that end all federal support and promotion of “the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another,” as well as ending federal funding for schools that promote the “idea that there is a vast spectrum of genders that are disconnected from one’s sex.”

True You is run by the Maryland Department of Health, which has received about $7 million from HHS for the program since 2020. A spokesman for MDH told Spotlight on Maryland it is reviewing the HHS notice to TPP grantees and is in the process of adjusting its materials in response to Trump’s executive orders.

Spotlight on Maryland previously reported on how True You targeted rural counties in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore with a plan to implement the Positive Prevention Plus curriculum, which includes lessons for elementary school students on different gender identities. Participating teachers were told to use a “Gender Unicorn” in the classroom to help students understand different gender identities, expressions and attractions.

“Some women might have a penis and testicles,” Vanessa Geffrard, vice president of education and outreach at Planned Parenthood Maryland, told teachers in a 2023 True You training obtained by Spotlight on Maryland. “Rather than being like ‘this is women’s anatomy,’ or ‘this is men’s anatomy,’ we want to stick to ‘people with vaginas, people with uteruses.’ We want to identify the body part.”

Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, praised the Trump administration for ensuring Maryland schools provide age-appropriate content.

“I’m very excited to see that Maryland government systems are being told ‘no more gender ideology or gender identity discussions when you’re talking to kids about safe sex,’” she told Spotlight on Maryland. “My goodness, how did we even get here in the first place?”

U Choose is run through the Baltimore City Health Department, which received more than $15 million through TPP to run the program since 2015. BCHD did not respond to questions about whether it plans to adjust U Choose in response to the HHS notice on TPP.

A U Choose memo suggested teachers refrain from informing parents that their child is transgender.

“Part of making youth who are transgender and/or gender nonconforming comfortable and safe is protecting their privacy,” the 2018 document stated. “A student who is ‘out’ to you may not be ‘out’ to other students, faculty, or even their parents. Be sure you ask the student if they are willing to share who knows that they are ‘out’ and protect their privacy.”

The HHS notice also directs grantees ensure they adjust policies to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling in Mahmoud. The court determined that Montgomery County Public Schools violated parents’ right to free exercise of religion by not allowing them to opt their children out of books on LGBT subjects.

The Maryland State Department of Education requires school districts to provide lessons on different gender identities starting in kindergarten, which could lead to a loss of federal funding under the Trump administration, as previously reported by Spotlight on Maryland.

Justice said the Trump administration must ensure federal grantees do not interfere in the relationship between parents and their children.

“Kids are taught to trust their teachers — they are the authority in the classroom. So, for a five-year-old to hear that ‘maybe mom and dad were wrong,’ and ‘just because you have a vagina doesn’t mean you’re actually a girl’ — what a horrible thing to tell a child, and how destabilizing it is to the relationship between the parent and the child, which is the most sacred, important relationship,” she told Spotlight on Maryland.

Spotlight on Maryland is a joint venture by FOX45 News, The Baltimore Sun and WJLA in Washington, D.C. Have a news tip? Contact Patrick Hauf at pjhauf@sbgtv.com.

Rep. Andy Harris said early Tuesday morning during an interview with Spotlight on Maryland that he is alarmed by what he described as costly delays in offshore wind generation for the state. Harris, the state’s only Republican in Congress, also reiterated calls for President Donald Trump’s administration to reopen the federal bidding process for such energy projects.

“The bottom line is that these permits were rushed through the Biden administration without due diligence with regard to its effect on commercial fishing, the whales, national defense, the viewscape,” Harris said. “There were numerous things that got bypassed in the permitting process.”

Pointing to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s announcement in April 2023 to transition the state to 100% green energy by 2035, Harris said that without new power sources capable of generating enough electricity for Marylanders, the state could face a serious situation.

“They should reopen the permitting process, and I am convinced that if they do reopen that permitting process, those permits will never be granted,” Harris added.

US Wind Inc., the only offshore wind developer with an active energy project off of Ocean City, announced in a December 2021 news release on its website that its first phase of the wind project would come online this year.

“Anticipated to start generating clean energy in 2025, MarWin is expected to support more than 1,300 Maryland jobs and power about 80,000 homes,” the US Wind news release said. “US Wind controls an approximately 80,000-acre federal lease area off the coast of Maryland.”

A key part of the Maryland Public Service Commission’s approval of US Wind’s application for its offshore energy projects involves the Italy-based company building essential parts of the nearly 1,000-foot-tall wind turbines in Maryland. The developer launched a partner company, Sparrows Point Steel, promising to create more than 550 high-paying union jobs for steelworkers at the Patapsco River shipping site.

Three months after Moore took office, he praised the project and reaffirmed his commitment to green energy by signing three related bills near the US Wind turbine construction site aimed at advancing offshore wind generation projects. One of the bills was the Maryland Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resource, or the Maryland POWER Act.

“The future isn’t just cleaner and greener, it is more prosperous. It is a future with work that is empowering. It is a future with wages that are sustainable,” Moore said in April 2023. “The POWER Act will nearly quadruple our offshore wind goals so we can build off the great work of our partners at Tradepoint Atlantic, our partners at Ørsted, and our partners at US Wind to make Maryland the offshore capital of the United States.”

Ørsted, a Danish wind developer, canceled its two approved Maryland offshore wind projects in January 2024, citing “challenging economic circumstances.”

US Wind has continued to secure rebid awards from the PSC, including taking on renewable energy credits previously held by Ørsted in January 2025. The company’s CEO said its first phase of wind turbines would be operational by 2025, including at the Sparrows Point Steel site.

Will Maryland become a ‘green energy’ economic hub?

After being denied access to the riverfront site by Tradepoint Atlantic’s security checkpoint on Sunday, Spotlight on Maryland reviewed Google Earth satellite images showing minimal activity at US Wind’s turbine construction site. Spotlight on Maryland also flew a drone over public waters near the site, showing limited modifications consistent with the Google Earth images.

Spotlight on Maryland pressed Moore, US Wind and a representative from the United Steelworkers Union about why the site had missed its targeted activation date.

Moore, after an unrelated news conference on Monday about housing, did not clearly answer questions regarding why a key job site he said that he “envisioned a 21st century economy driven by Maryland wind power” did not appear active.

“Well, you know, we continue to work with all of our partners to ensure that, as we say, that our state, that we go from no-and-slow to fast-and-now,” Moore said. “We believe in making sure that we are coming up with a strong energy future for the people of the state, and we will work with all of our partners to make sure we can deliver that as quickly as possible.”

Spotlight on Maryland again asked when the site is expected to come online after not receiving a direct answer.

“Again, we are working with all of our partners to make sure we are delivering all of these projects as quickly as possible,” Moore said. “I think that people are seeing, just like this announcement today around housing, that this is an administration that moves fast, that this is an administration that moves together with all of our partners, and we plan to do the things that we honor.”

Project status unclear

Meanwhile, Jim Strong, United Steelworkers Union’s offshore wind sector assistant, was asked by Spotlight on Maryland on Tuesday afternoon by phone if any steelworker jobs have started at the US Wind construction site at Tradepoint Atlantic.

“Not yet,” Strong said.

The union representative emphasized during the phone call that he believes the US Wind site will fulfill its promise of creating the 550 steelworker positions committed once it reaches full operating capacity. Strong added that he is aware engineers have visited the proposed location for “mapping” and planning purposes.

Nancy Sopko, vice president of external affairs at US Wind, acknowledged by email on Tuesday that the company’s Tradepoint Atlantic fabrication construction site is a work in progress.

“We are on track to create hundreds of jobs in a new steel fabrication facility in Baltimore County,” Sopko said. “We expect construction activity for the new facility to begin next year.”

Despite receiving a $47 million federal grant to develop Tradepoint Atlantic, the US Wind representative said no federal grant funds have been used for the site’s development due to ongoing negotiations.

“Earlier this year, the state approved our plans to greatly increase the size of our offshore wind project, making it the largest new power project in the region, by far,” Sopko said. “We are on track to start construction at Sparrows Point next year to support his new, larger project.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration did not respond to Spotlight on Maryland’s questions about the status of the federal grant. Baltimore County’s spokesperson acknowledged similar questions about the grant’s status but did not provide an answer regarding its status or expenditure.

Harris, who represents the Ocean City coastal community where US Wind plans to erect its wind farm off the beach, told Spotlight on Maryland early Tuesday morning he was not pleased with the discovery.

“I’m not surprised,” Harris said. “It’s not an American company, it’s an Italian company that cleverly put ‘US’ in their American subsidiary’s name.”

“I don’t think they care about the United States. All they care about is those tax credits, they care about the subsidies that will flow to offshore wind and making profits from those subsidies,” Harris added.

Harris said he questions why Moore has pressed forward on offshore wind while the national interest in the energy generation source has stalled in recent years.

“People’s energy bills are sky high, and offshore wind is one of the most expensive ways to generate electricity,” Harris said. “This is just a fool’s errand. It was started for totally political purposes. It’s a foolish waste of money.”

Follow Gary Collins with Spotlight on Maryland on X and Instagram. Do you have news tips on this story or others? Send news tips to gmcollins@sbgtv.com.

State Sen. Mary Beth Carozza, R-Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties, told Spotlight on Maryland while walking through Convention Center Boardwalk Park along the Isle of Wight Bay on Wednesday that she has never seen widespread unity in opposition to any project among area elected officials and beach leaders since joining the Maryland General Assembly in 2015.

“So many people and families just don’t want to see these turbines,” Carozza said. “They don’t make sense, they know they’re expensive, they know they’re being paid for by the taxpayers’ dollars, and they want to protect our way of life.”

Officially known as the Town of Ocean City, the Maryland coastal resort community extends 9 miles from its northern border with Delaware to its southern inlet. U.S. Census data from 2022 shows the narrow strip of land between the Atlantic and the Isle of Wight Bay swells to become Maryland’s second most populated municipality during summer months, slightly behind Baltimore City.

Carozza took Spotlight on Maryland on a tour through Ocean City’s busy streets on Wednesday as the town filled with beachgoers and families preparing for a dual fireworks display off the ocean. Along Coastal Highway, the main road through the beach community, yard signs, billboards and hotel electric displays reading “Say NO to Offshore Wind” were common.

How Maryland offshore wind became a priority

The state assembly passed the Climate Solutions Now Act (CSNA) of 2022, along with the Renewable Portfolio Standard, as a mandate to cut state greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2031 and achieve a net-zero emissions state by 2045.

Then-Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, neither vetoed nor signed the CNSA. State Democrats hold an overwhelming veto-proof majority in the Maryland State House and frequently overrode Hogan’s vetoes. According to the state’s constitution, a bill presented to the governor while the state assembly is in session becomes law after six days if the chief executive does not return objections.

In 2023, months after Maryland Gov. Wes Moore became the state’s 63rd governor, the political newcomer announced he was accelerating the state’s already ambitious green energy goals passed by the state assembly before he took office.

Moore announced outside TradePoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point in April 2023 that he would move up the state’s net-zero emissions targets by ten years, requiring Maryland to reach 100% clean energy by 2035.

“This is a very clear statement to our entire state, that we are moving fast, that we are going to be bold, and we are going to have 6.2 million people that are going to be participants in that boldness,” Moore said.

TradePoint Atlantic is a logistics hub development on over 3,000 acres of the former Bethlehem Steel plant site, which closed in 2003. Bethlehem Steel, once the world’s largest steel producer, was referenced during Moore’s visit in April 2023, when he signed the Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources Act.

Moore said during the bill’s signing that he “envisioned a 21st century economy driven by Maryland wind power,” which would include the construction of wind turbines at the site.

The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) approved four bid applications in 2017 to develop wind energy farms along the Atlantic Ocean shelf outside Ocean City.

The Skipjack Wind 1 and Wind 2 project agreements with Maryland regulators to sell energy to the state, applied by Danish developer Orsted, were canceled by the company in January 2024. According to a statement on Orsted’s website, offshore renewable energy credits were “no longer sustainable under current market conditions,” a stipulation imposed by the PSC.

Initially scheduled to operate by 2024, U.S. Wind’s MarWin project aims to install 114 wind turbines about ten miles off Ocean City’s coast. The Italian-owned company said in its rebid application, which was once again awarded in January 2024 by the PSC, that it intends to build its wind turbines at the Bethlehem Steel site.

Spotlight on Maryland requested interviews with U.S. Wind on Wednesday and Thursday and sent the following questions to the green energy developer:

• As an Italian-based company, do you feel you have the best interests of Marylanders in mind?
• Will the proposed wind turbines be visible from Ocean City’s shoreline? If so, why?
• How would you describe your relationship with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and his administration?
• Are there concerns that this project could be halted if the U.S. government cancels the lease or federal subsidies?
• What compensation is being provided to Ocean City’s commercial industry workers and residents for the anticipated impact?

Dori Henry, with Blended Public Affairs, a prominent Maryland-based public relations, crisis communications and strategic advising firm, said that representatives with U.S. Wind were unavailable for interviews during the requested period. Answers to questions submitted by Spotlight on Maryland to U.S. Wind were not returned.

Blended Public Affairs was founded and is led by Alexandra Hughes, who served as chief of staff for 13 years to former Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel County, before his passing in 2019.

Hughes coordinated multiple media availabilities for Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) last year during the company’s initial public meetings about the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project. The Piedmont Project is a 90-mile high-voltage power line project proposed to run through Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick Counties.

Ocean City leaders and the community unite against offshore wind

Sonny Gwin, a commercial fisherman in Ocean City for nearly fifty years, told Spotlight on Maryland with tears in his eyes aboard his fishing boat on Wednesday that he fears U.S. Wind’s offshore energy project may tear apart his family legacy.

“I’m getting to the very end of my rope, I’m 68,” Gwin said. “My son is starting in this business. I think that’s what worries me the most.”

“Him, being in this business, trying to make a living doing this, when they’re working so hard to stop him from doing it,” Gwin added.

The lobster and sea bass fisherman said he always knew he wanted to make a living on the water after falling in love with the ocean when he was a teenage surfer.

Gwin said that colleagues working off Virginia’s shoreline, where wind energy projects are being built, have been unable to gather similar amounts of seafood because of dredging near the wind farm leasing area. He said that local, state, and federal leaders have offered their support in his fight against the wind turbine project, except for Maryland’s chief executive.

“Who we don’t have is the governor. He is full, head-on, on doing it, and there seems like there is so much opposition,” Gwin said. “We want to make sure they do not go out there and mess up the environment.”

Spotlight on Maryland requested an interview with Moore on Thursday morning through his spokesperson. Within three minutes, Carter Elliott, the governor’s spokesperson, declined Spotlight on Maryland’s interview request via email but arranged a conversation with another Maryland state government leader.

Adam Ortiz, the deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, told Spotlight on Maryland that the state fully intends to move forward with offshore wind despite opposition from individuals like Gwin and Ocean City leaders.

“There is no question that we have rising energy demand,” Ortiz said. “We have AI, we have data centers, and a growing population, so we have to meet that demand. The question is how thoughtfully do we do it.”

Although Hogan had not previously signed the CSNA, Ortiz said that his agency is implementing similar policies set by the former Republican administration in a “thoughtful and sustainable way.”

“We have been in close contact with local leaders and officials, and have attended many public meetings, and we are happy to address any concerns going forward, along with our sister agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources,” Ortiz said.

Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said he believed that Moore’s administration is not paying attention to local concerns, which he also shares, regarding the wind turbine project’s effects on tourism, fishing, the environment, and the region’s economy.

“I believe it is to check off a box politically, and that’s unfortunate,” Meehan said. “This is not a good project for the future. There are other things that should be considered.”

“Those conversations should be happening now before, at some point in time, God-forbid, we’re looking at a wind turbine graveyard off the coast as this country and this state move on to other more reliable forms of renewable energy,” Meehan added.

Ortiz said the Moore administration has been responsive to local leaders despite what Ocean City mayors and others say.

“We have always been in conversation,” Ortiz said. “In Maryland, we don’t always agree on everything, but people are heard and to the extent that we can, we try to accommodate everybody in a thoughtful way.”

Meanwhile, Ocean City vacationer Stephanie Corcoran told Spotlight on Maryland on the boardwalk Wednesday that she might reconsider her beloved trips to Maryland’s beaches.

“I feel [offshore wind] would ruin the travel industry because people don’t want to look at that when they’re sitting on the beach, enjoying the sun, riding the waves,” Corcoran said. “Nobody wants to see that out there.”

Spotlight on Maryland is a collaboration between FOX45 News, WJLA in Washington, D.C., and The Baltimore Sun. Do you have news tips on this story or others? Send news tips to gmcollins@sbgtv.com.