Cash-strapped Maryland revives plan for trains to Virginia and Delaware
Under a proposal released last week by the Maryland Transit Administration, trains would run north to Wilmington and south to Alexandria, connecting MARC with regional rail systems in Pennsylvania and Virginia. They would reach further west to Cumberland. And they would travel more frequently between D.C. and Baltimore and Frederick, including on the weekend.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Baltimore accepts judge's reduced $152.3 million award in opioid lawsuit
BALTIMORE — Baltimore has accepted a $152.3 million award in an opioid lawsuit against drugmakers McKesson and Cencora, boosting the city's total awards from pharmaceutical companies to $579.8 million. The city accepted the award Thursday afternoon, after being given a deadline of Aug. 22 by Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill. In his June ruling, Fletcher-Hill said the jury's $266 million award from a trial in November was 'excessive.' The city was told to accept the judge's new, reduced offer or opt to go to trial again. The final award amount was $152.3 million. The city originally sued McKesson and Cencora for $5 billion. 'From the beginning, this case has always been about securing justice for Baltimoreans who have been disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis,' Mayor Brandon Scott said in a statement Thursday. 'Today's decision is an affirmation of these companies' liability, and the fulfillment of a promise kept to our residents.' According to court documents, Fletcher-Hill did not see evidence that pharmaceutical companies McKesson and Cencora were as responsible for the opioid epidemic in Baltimore as the city claimed. Baltimore sued McKesson and Cencora for their contribution to the city's opioid epidemic, accusing the companies of distributing 320 million oxycodone pills to the city from 2006 to 2019. The two companies accounted for 60% of the prescription opioid market in Baltimore. Fletcher-Hill said that while the two pharmaceutical companies were responsible for a portion of the epidemic, the city did not present strong enough evidence to prove they were responsible for the last 15 years. The jury found the companies guilty and awarded Baltimore $266 million. Fletcher-Hill offered Baltimore $100 million, in addition to a previous offer of $52 million. 'By the City's evidence, all of defendants' unreasonable conduct was based on a failure to recognize and act on problematic conduct at a pharmacy,' Fletcher-Hill said. 'Every single pill sold unreasonably by a defendant was also sold unreasonably by a pharmacy. It is fair to say that every one of those pharmacies was at least as culpable as defendants.' Although he disagreed with the ruling, Scott said the outcome is still beneficial for Baltimore's opioid prevention plan. The city has an Opioid Restitution Fund with $400 million, all of which is being put toward opioid overdose prevention plans, resources and programs. Scott said the win is for those affected by drug use in the city. 'While this amount is lower than the jury awarded us, this award still dwarfs the original amount the City would have received, had we not brought this separate litigation on behalf of our city,' he said. 'This is also the only successful jury verdict and only successful judgment against either of these companies.' Solve the daily Crossword
CBS News
3 hours ago
- CBS News
Baltimore City accepts $152 million jury award in litigation against opioid distributors
Baltimore City has accepted a $152 million jury award in its litigation against two pharmaceutical companies -- McKesson and AmerisourceBergen -- for their role in the city's opioid crisis. City leaders were initially told by a judge that the original settlement awarded by a jury was too high and the city would either have to accept a reduced settlement or go back to trial. According to our media partners, The Baltimore Banner, a jury of city residents issued a massive $266 million verdict against the drug distributors, following a seven-week trial in 2024. However, the judge ruled in June 2025 that Baltimore City could accept a reduced settlement of $52 million, plus an additional abatement of $100 million, which would amend the impacts of the opioid crisis. "From the beginning, this case has always been about securing justice for Baltimoreans who have been disproportionately impacted by the opioid crisis," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "Today's decision is an affirmation of these companies' liability, and the fulfillment of a promise kept to our residents. " Mayor Scott continued, "While this amount is lower than the jury awarded us, this award still dwarfs the original amount the City would have received, had we not brought this separate litigation on behalf of our city." This award, combined with the other settlements, brings the total amount the city has won from pharmaceutical companies to nearly $580 million. The city accused the drug distributors of contributing to the opioid crisis by failing to monitor and stop suspiciously large orders of opioid painkillers to Baltimore pharmacies. The Banner also reports that federal drug dispensing data shows the two companies supplied about 60% of the half a billion opioids that flooded Baltimore and Baltimore County between 2006 and 2019. A June 2024 report published by the Baltimore Banner and the New York Times found that the death toll from opioid deaths among residents reached more than 6,000 over the past six years – more than double that of any other large U.S. city. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott recently unveiled the city's preliminary overdose response strategic plan. The plan is part of an executive order detailing how the city will spend $242.5 million in settlement funds won in a lawsuit against multiple pharmaceutical companies. In August 2024, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott outlined an executive order that specified how the funds would be used. According to the mayor, the goals of the city's preliminary plan include addressing inequities in the overdose crisis, dismantling silos and improving connections within care systems, reducing the stigma surrounding care, and improving the quality and accessibility of substance use services across the city. The executive order established the Baltimore City Opioid Restitution Fund. It also created two new positions to oversee the use of the settlement money and required that the city publish an overdose reduction strategy. The fund will be managed in an account separate from the general fund so that the money is not misappropriated. "Generations of Baltimoreans have lost loved ones to substance use as a direct result of the opioids that Big Pharma pushed on our neighborhoods," Mayor Scott said in a statement. "While no amount of money can ever undo that harm, this award will help us expand our recovery programs, prevent future overdose deaths, and finally break the cycle of substance abuse in Baltimore." Baltimore City recently held a series of public discussions to get community feedback on the overdose reduction plan. Baltimore residents shared stories of how the opioid crisis and overdoses impacted them. "I lost my mother in 2016 to a fentanyl overdose, and I suffered from substance use until I got clean," Baltimore resident Donald Young said. "We need to see more efforts like this at the prevention and not wait until there's a mass overdose." On July 10, 27 people were hospitalized after overdosing in Baltimore's Penn North neighborhood Community groups handed out Narcan and other resources to those who were impacted. WJZ got a tour of the Tuerk House in West Baltimore, where some of the survivors of the mass overdose went for treatment. The survivors were referred to the Tuerk House by local hospitals in the immediate aftermath of the mass overdose. Their rooms are quiet and clinical, yet full of support, with 24-hour nursing staff and access to individual counseling. "One is downstairs and one is right here in this room," said Dr. Pierre Thomas. "We have a 50-year-old male patient who came here from the hospital. He's getting his detox. He has a full shower, we have providers, and peer support."
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Former Delaware Gov. Mike Castle dead at 86
Former Delaware Gov. Mike Castle, a Republican moderate who championed creating the popular 50 State Quarters Program of commemorative coins while he served in Congress, has died. He was 86. The Delaware Republican Party announced that Castle died Thursday in Greenville but shared no other details. Advertisement Ex-Delaware Gov. Mike Castle has died at the age of 86. AP Castle was among Delaware's most successful politicians, never losing a race until his stunning upset in a 2010 primary for the U.S. Senate seat that Democrat Joe Biden held before becoming vice president. During his 18 years in Congress, Castle became a leader of centrist Republicans, earning a reputation as a fiscal conservative and social moderate not afraid to challenge the party line on issues ranging from government spending to environmental protection and abortion. Advertisement As Delaware's lone representative in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2011, he supported a pay-as-you-go policy for both spending and tax cuts. Castle played roles in improving child nutrition programs and establishing the No Child Left Behind education reform program. His signature issue in Congress was the commemorative quarters program that featured coins honoring each state, starting with Delaware. He died Thursday in Greenville, Delaware, according to The Delaware Republican Party. AP Advertisement He was dubbed by the coin grading service Numismatic Guaranty Company as 'The Coinage Congressman.' The quarters boosted federal revenues as they were taken out of circulation. He also helped establish a similar program honoring U.S. presidents with dollar coins, beginning in 2007, and an 'America the Beautiful' quarter program honoring national parks, monuments and nature areas starting in 2010. 'The Honorable Michael Castle embodied the best of public service — moderation, integrity, and a steadfast commitment to all Delawareans,' Delaware GOP Chairman Gene Truono said in a statement Thursday. Advertisement Castle had been a state lawmaker and lieutenant governor before becoming governor in 1985. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer ordered flags flown at half-staff for the next week in Castle's honor. 'During his time as governor, Mike Castle visited every single school in our state, including mine, where he spoke to my high school class with the same warmth, humility, and commitment to public service that defined his career,' said Meyer, a Democrat.
