Lawmakers in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/maryland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland</a> are weighing legislation that would encourage government agencies and private <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">employers</a> to adopt a four-day workweek.
Proposals for a four-day week of eight-hour days, during which compensation would not be reduced from former levels, have increased in recent years after a worldwide study found that earnings improved for participating companies. State Sen. Shelly Hettleman (D) and several members of the Maryland General Assembly <a href="https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2023RS/bills/sb/sb0197f.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> the Four–Day Workweek Act for the purpose of “promoting, incentivizing, and supporting” experimentation with the arrangement.
“There’s growing evidence that reducing work hours boosts both happiness and productivity. Let’s try it,” State Del. Vaughn Stewart (D) <a href="https://twitter.com/DelegateStewart/status/1619019079104491526" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> on social media.
The legislation provides state tax credits as high as $750,000 per year for businesses that reduce at least 30 employees from a 40-hour week to a 32-hour week without a “reduction in pay or benefits.” The initiative, which would be managed by the Maryland Department of Labor, may likewise allow government agencies to participate and track their results.
Supporters of four-day workweek frameworks emphasize the arrangement’s benefits for employee wellbeing and work-life balance. Some 45% of workers cite lackluster flexibility when discussing why they left their previous jobs, while roughly 48% mention childcare difficulties, according to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/03/09/majority-of-workers-who-quit-a-job-in-2021-cite-low-pay-no-opportunities-for-advancement-feeling-disrespected/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from Pew Research Center. The aforementioned international <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60b956cbe7bf6f2efd86b04e/t/6387a0e53881be1284cb046e/1669832945858/The+Four+Day+Week-+Assessing+Global+Trials+of+Reduced+Work+Time+with+No+Reduction+in+Pay+%E2%80%93+A+%E2%80%93+30112022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> concluded that revenues increased 8% for companies involved with the experiment.
“Work time reduction has long been promoted as a multiple dividend reform, with the potential to bring social, economic and climate benefits,” researchers said. “Social benefits include less stress and burnout for employees, as well as more time for family, community, and self. Economic benefits depend on the form of work time reduction. Where it is accomplished without loss or even gains in productivity, it is beneficial for companies’ bottom lines.”
Other findings show that managerial headaches from flexible work arrangements are palpable for employers: 85% of business leaders say the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
The most recent World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland, featured a panel <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/four-day-workweek-world-economic-forum-weighs-the-merits-of-the-upper-class-working-less" target="_blank" rel="noopener">event</a> about the possibility of adopting a four-day workweek. Dutch Employment Minister Karien van Gennip acknowledged that the proposal remains “very much a discussion for the upper class” since many occupations would still require traditional arrangements.
“If you look at many of the jobs that are service jobs, they are still in-person service jobs,” the official said. “It’s much more difficult to go toward those flexibility hours and also, if you would go to a four-day work week, if you consider the discussions we also have on minimum wage and on living wage, then you have to be quite serious about what it means for the pay per hour.”
Leading skeptics of calls for increased workplace flexibility include Elon Musk, who has mandated that employees at his companies complete their tasks from the office and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/read-it-elon-musk-tells-twitter-staff-to-work-long-hours-at-high-intensity-or-hit-the-road" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expect</a> to work “long hours at high intensity.” The billionaire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">informed</a> workers at electric automaker Tesla that work-from-home is “no longer” acceptable and commented that those who disagree with the new policy “should pretend to work somewhere else.” He likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/freedom-of-speech-and-freedom-of-reach-elon-musk-tells-twitter-employees-users-should-be-able-to-tweet-pretty-outrageous-things" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Twitter employees that working “on location physically” is far superior to other arrangements.
Calls for less intense work in white-collar occupations come as technology firms <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-white-house-brushed-off-concerns-about-mass-firings-at-microsoft-and-amazon-now-google-is-laying-off-employees-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismiss</a> large swaths of redundant employees to reduce payroll expenses.

Maryland State House

Maryland Lawmakers Suggest Four-Day Workweek Program Where People Work Less And Receive The Same Pay

Maryland Lawmakers Suggest Four-Day Workweek Program

Business

Economy

Elon Musk

Jobs

Maryland

Maryland Refused To Give Back A Virginia Runaway Because Her Parents ‘Misgendered’ Her. Then She Was Sex Trafficked, Mother Says.

Maryland Refused To Give Back A Virginia Teen Because Her Parents 'Misgendered' Her. Then She Was Sex Trafficked, Mother Says

Parental Rights in Education

Sex Crimes

Transgender

U.S.

Virginia

In early March 1976, one of Bradford Bishop’s neighbors in Bethesda, Maryland, called the police because they hadn’t seen him or his family for a while and had grown concerned.
When police arrived at the Bishop home, they found blood on the front porch and entered the house. Inside, they found blood on the floor and walls in the front hall and in the bedrooms, but no sign of any member of the family.
Days earlier, in Columbia, North Carolina, the burned bodies of three children and two adult women were found in a shallow grave along with a gas can, pitchfork, and shovel. On March 9, 1976, Montgomery County Police detectives traveled to North Carolina to use dental records and other information to confirm the bodies belonged to Bishop’s wife, 37-year-old Annette; his mother, 68-year-old Lobelia; and his three children, 14-year-old William, 10-year-old Brent and 5-year-old Geoffrey.
Bishop, however, was nowhere to be found. On March 18, his station wagon was found abandoned at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, just miles from the Appalachian Trail. Bishop has never been found.
Police pieced together the events surrounding the murders and determined that on March 1, 1976, Bishop left his job at the State Department after not receiving a promotion he expected. 
He claimed to be sick but then went to the Montgomery Mall to purchase a gas can and mallet at Sears before filling up the gas can and the family station wagon. He then went to his bank and withdrew almost everything he had in his accounts, about $400. He also stopped at a local hardware store to purchase a shovel and pitchfork.
Bishop then returned home and killed his family, police allege.
&#8220;He went from room to room,&#8221; Montgomery County Sheriff Darren Popkin, who has been searching for Bishop for 20 years, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-us-diplomat-murder-suspect-added-to-fbis-most-wanted/">told</a> CBS News in 2018. &#8220;And one at a time hit them around the head and killed each one of them.&#8221;
Bishop allegedly killed his wife first and then went into his son’s bedrooms and killed them one-by-one as they slept. At this time, Bishop’s mother had returned home from walking the family dog and was then killed. Bishop apparently spared the dog and brought it with him when he drove his family’s bodies six hours to North Carolina where he placed them in a shallow grave and set them on fire.
&#8220;A park ranger saw fire burning and immediately went to see what was going on. What he found was just absolutely grizzly. The discovery of five bodies in a shallow grave that was burning,&#8221; Popkin told CBS.
On the same day Bishop’s car was found in Tennessee, he was indicted by a grand jury for the murders. But Bishop has never been found and would now be 86.
Bishop received an American Studies degree from Yale University and a Master’s Degree in Italian from Middlebury College in Vermont, <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/murders/william-bradford-bishop-jr">the FBI says</a>. Prior to allegedly murdering his family, he worked as a U.S. Foreign Service officer, a diplomat who traveled the world learning multiple languages. He also reportedly worked for the CIA before to the State Department.
Part of Bishop’s duties at the State Department was making passports, and he has been sighted all over the world, though the U.S. Marshals Service only counts three as the most credible.
A Swedish woman who said she had worked with Bishop on a business trip to Ethiopia said she saw him twice in Stockholm, Sweden, in July 1978. A former State Department colleague reported in January 1979 that he saw Bishop in a bathroom in Sorrento, Italy, and asked him, “Hey, you’re Brad Bishop, aren’t you?” The man allegedly responded “oh no” with an American accent and ran away. Finally, in September 1994, a neighbor who had known the Bishop family claimed to have seen the fugitive on a train platform in Basel, Switzerland.
To the outside world, the Bishop family seemed picturesque, leading many over the years to question why a devoted family man would murder his family and go on the run. While it is theorized that he was angry over being passed over for a promotion, it seemed difficult to believe that was the only motive. Neighbors have since told media outlets that the family had financial problems and that Bishop wanted to work overseas while his wife wanted the family to stay in Maryland. He was also known to have taken medication for depression and insomnia.
In 2014 – 38 years after his family was murdered – Bishop was placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list, believing he may have been living in plain sight in the U.S. Four years later, in 2018, Bishop was removed from the list to make room for a different fugitive, but he is still being actively pursued by both the FBI and INTERPOL.
The strangest twist in the story came in September 2021, when a woman named Kathy Gillcrist, who had been adopted as a child, took a DNA test to find her blood relatives and learned that she was actually <a href="https://www.nbcwashington.com/investigations/brad-bishop/fbi-confirms-nc-woman-is-accused-killer-william-bradford-bishops-daughter/2807832/">Bishop’s daughter</a>. While she has no connection to the murders, she was quite surprised to discover that she was the biological daughter of a wanted fugitive.
&#8220;His FBI Most Wanted poster, that was the first indication of who he was,” she told NBC Washington, referring to what came up when she Googled his name after being told he was her father. “I said. &#8216;Wow.&#8217; [He] had the same mouth I have and the same mole on the side of the face.&#8221;

US-GOVERNMENT-JUSTICE-FBI

TRUE CRIME: The Ex-Diplomat Who Allegedly Murdered His Family And Went On The Run

Murder

Readers Pass

True Crime

Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced a ban of the Chinese-owned app TikTok from the state&#8217;s government devices Tuesday.
The TikTok ban was included in an emergency cybersecurity directive aimed at multiple Chinese and Russian apps and products.
“There may be no greater threat to our personal safety and our national security than the cyber vulnerabilities that support our daily lives,” Hogan <a class="Link" href="https://governor.maryland.gov/2022/12/06/governor-hogan-announces-emergency-directive-to-prohibit-use-of-tiktok-china-and-russia-based-products-and-platforms-in-state-government/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. “To further protect our systems, we are issuing this emergency directive against foreign actors and organizations that seek to weaken and divide us.”
“This action represents a critical step in protecting Maryland State systems from the cybersecurity threats caused by foreign organizations,” Maryland&#8217;s Chief Information Security Officer Chip Stewart added.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/readers-pass/read-only-v2?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=dwsite&amp;cid=dwplus&amp;mid=z&amp;xid=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/readers-pass/read-only-v2?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=editorial&amp;utm_source=dwsite&amp;cid=dwplus&amp;mid=z&amp;xid=0" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-47996">TIRED OF THE LEGACY MEDIA’S BIAS CONTROLLING THE NARRATIVE AND OBSCURING THE TRUTH? JOIN US.</a>
The new ban comes after FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned about the national security concerns surrounding TikTok.
&#8220;The Chinese government has shown a willingness to steal Americans’ data on a scale that dwarfs any other,&#8221; Wray <a href="https://time.com/6238540/tiktok-fbi-security-concerns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Friday at the University of Michigan.
Maryland&#8217;s ban adds to a growing number of states that are moving to ban the social media platform.
On Monday, Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-clear-and-present-danger-to-its-users-south-carolina-gov-bans-state-employees-from-using-tiktok-amid-national-security-concerns">issued</a> an executive order banning TikTok from government devices.
“Protecting our State’s critical cyber infrastructure from foreign and domestic threats is key to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of our citizens and businesses,” McMaster wrote in the <a href="https://governor.sc.gov/news/2022-12/gov-henry-mcmaster-blocks-tiktok-state-government-devices">letter</a> to the state’s Department of Administration Executive Director Marcia Adams.
Last month, Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem became the first governor to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/south-dakota-governor-noem-blocks-state-employees-from-downloading-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban</a> TikTok from state devices, including making it a criminal offense to download the app on a state device.
“South Dakota will have no part in the intelligence gathering operations of nations who hate us,” Noem said in a <a href="https://news.sd.gov/newsitem.aspx?id=31872" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “The Chinese Communist Party uses information that it gathers on TikTok to manipulate the American people, and they gather data off the devices that access the platform.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and other Wisconsin lawmakers sent a letter to Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers calling for <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ron-johnson-wisconsin-tony-evers-ban-tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">similar action</a> in their state, asking him to &#8220;ban TikTok from Wisconsin government devices and to lead by example and delete TikTok from your own devices.&#8221;
In Arkansas, state Sen. Gary Stubblefield (R) filed a bill on Monday that would enact a similar TikTok ban on state devices.
At the national level, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) introduced legislation last month to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/republican-lawmakers-to-introduce-legislation-banning-tiktok-in-u-s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ban the app</a> in the U.S. outright.
“TikTok is a major threat to U.S. national security. Yet Biden is encouraging greater engagement with the platform by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/27/tiktok-democrats-influencers-biden/?itid=lk_inline_manual_26" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directly courting</a> TikTok influencers,” they wrote in an opinion piece published in The Washington Post.
TikTok has faced scrutiny about the security risks it poses, both to individual data privacy and to national security. The concerns reach back to the Trump administration when then-President Donald Trump pushed to ban the app from the U.S.

TIkTok

Another Governor Bans TikTok From State Devices

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan Bans TikTok From State Devices

Big Tech

Larry Hogan

TikTok

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/transgender" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transgender</a> psychologist has joined a lawsuit against a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/maryland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland</a> school district over its policy to socially transition students without parental consent.
Dr. Erica E. Anderson, a clinical psychologist of 40 years who identifies as transgender, has been <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/24/trans-kids-therapy-psychologist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outspoken</a> about a concern for the surge in cases of adolescent gender dysphoria. Now, Anderson has joined a legal effort to counter the disturbing trend of school policies designed to conceal a student&#8217;s chosen trans-identity from their parents.
“As an ally and licensed psychologist with over 40 years of experience, I have seen hundreds of children and adolescents for gender-identity-related issues — many of whom transition, with my guidance and support,&#8221; <a href="https://will-law.org/will-amicus-lawsuit-against-montgomery-co-maryland-schools-over-adolescent-gender-identity-policy-usurping-parents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Anderson. &#8220;But a transition is a major event in a youth’s life, and parents must be involved.”
The Wisconsin Institute for Law &amp; Liberty (WILL) filed an <a href="https://will-law.org/will-amicus-lawsuit-against-montgomery-co-maryland-schools-over-adolescent-gender-identity-policy-usurping-parents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amicus brief</a> on Anderson&#8217;s behalf last week that urges the federal court of appeals to reverse a District Court decision that excludes parents from &#8220;significant decisions affecting their children.&#8221;
The August <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/08/20/gender-transition-identity-montgomery-county/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a>, by Judge Paul W. Grimm, dismissed a complaint against the Montgomery County school board by parents who alleged that the district&#8217;s &#8220;gender identity&#8221; guidelines violated their state and constitutional rights. According to the guidelines, teachers are permitted to socially transition students to a &#8220;gender identity&#8221; different from their biological sex at school, without their parents&#8217; consent or knowledge.
The parents, who filed the lawsuit anonymously in 2020 against the Montgomery County Board of Education (MCBE), argued that the guidelines violated their right under the 14th Amendment &#8220;to direct the care, custody, education, and control of their minor children.&#8221;
MCBE issued their &#8220;2020-2021 Guidelines for Student Gender Identity,&#8221; which advised schools in their district to develop a &#8220;gender-support plan&#8221; with students using an intake form that, according to the filing, would be kept confidential if the family was not supportive of their child&#8217;s desire to adopt a new &#8220;gender identity.&#8221;
The plaintiffs argued that the new guidelines interfered with their parental rights “in a pivotal decision” in their children’s lives, which enabled school personnel to allow children “to transition socially to a different gender identity at school” without their consent.
Anderson <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/trans-psychologist-files-brief-md-school-district-hiding-transitions-parents-terrible-idea" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News Digital that families should never be excluded from important decisions regarding their child&#8217;s health. &#8220;It&#8217;s well established that one of the most important factors in helping gender-questioning children is family support,&#8221; said Anderson. &#8220;So to deliberately deprive a child of support at a time potentially when they most need it is, I think, a serious error in judgment.&#8221;
Anderson is the former President of the U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health (USPATH) and former board member for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), but <a href="https://quillette.com/2022/01/06/a-transgender-pioneer-explains-why-she-stepped-down-from-uspath-and-wpath/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resigned</a> in 2021 after no longer being able to support the direction they were headed. The leading transgender health authorities had issued a joint <a href="https://twitter.com/jokestress/status/1447964908088283138?s=20&amp;t=_qDwZ_G15-DuKTeiXf5Qgw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> in 2021 denouncing any form of discussion on medical transition for trans-identifying youth that wasn&#8217;t conducted by “experts and stakeholders.”
Anderson submitted an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/24/trans-kids-therapy-psychologist/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">op-ed</a> that was rejected by The New York Times, but published in The Washington Post, critical of the widely adopted &#8220;gender-affirming&#8221; model of care for adolescents. &#8220;Gender-affirming&#8221; care <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20182162/37381/Ensuring-Comprehensive-Care-and-Support-for" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discourages</a> medical professionals from questioning a minor’s self-reported transgender identity or exploring possible underlying factors that may be causing their dysphoria.
In a Quillette <a href="https://quillette.com/2022/01/06/a-transgender-pioneer-explains-why-she-stepped-down-from-uspath-and-wpath/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a>, Anderson noted reading Abigail Shrier’s book, “<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/books/products/irreversible-damage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters</a>,” and shared the author’s concerns about the explosion of adolescent girls identifying as transgender and seeking to medically transition.
“The main criticism of me is that many in the trans community regard Abigail Shrier as anathema, as a critic of appropriate trans care,” Anderson told Quillette. “I think that’s an inaccurate reading of what she’s written. And I think that it’s a distortion.”
&#8220;In some cases, [transgender people] believe that our job as a community is to protect the children from their parents,&#8221; Anderson told Fox News Digital. &#8220;I think that&#8217;s very misguided. I think our job is to support kids to be supported by their families. Deceiving your parents is not a way to get their support.&#8221;
Schools transitioning children, often without their parents&#8217; knowledge, is becoming increasingly common. Many schools now provide students with individualized &#8220;gender support plans&#8221; that ask the student to indicate if they would like their parents to be kept in the dark. Some schools even provide &#8220;transition closets&#8221; so that students can change into clothes that match their &#8220;gender identity&#8221; at school, and change back before heading home.
But while social transition is often portrayed as a benign way to allow children to express their &#8220;true selves,&#8221; there are good reasons to doubt this narrative. All available <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/camh.12330" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> suggests that this seemingly innocuous act of support is an active psychosocial intervention that can actually make matters worse.
Evidence shows that such a “social transition” may greatly increase the likelihood of a child persisting in the rejection of their bodies, which will also make them more likely to pursue permanent surgical changes in their teenage years.
Psychologist and sexologist Ken Zucker <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/camh.12330" target="_blank" rel="noopener">compared</a> studies of children with gender dysphoria who were socially transitioned to similar studies where gender dysphoric children were not socially transitioned. Zucker found that socially transitioning children appeared to dramatically increase the rate of gender dysphoria persistence and frequently led to drastic medical treatments like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.
The best <a href="http://www.sexologytoday.org/2016/01/do-trans-kids-stay-trans-when-they-grow_99.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> currently indicate that roughly 60–90% of children who identify as transgender, but do not socially or medically transition, will no longer identify as transgender in adulthood.
After conducting a systematic review of evidence, England’s National Health Service has proposed <a href="https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/specialised-commissioning/gender-dysphoria-services/user_uploads/b1937-ii-specialist-service-for-children-and-young-people-with-gender-dysphoria-1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new guidelines</a> for treating trans-identifying youth, and warns that adolescents identifying as transgender may be experiencing a “transient phase” and that doctors should not encourage them to change their names and pronouns. “Social transition,” the NHS said, is not a “neutral act” and could have “significant effects” in terms of “psychological functioning.”

Transgender flag, shadows and silhouettes of people on a road, conceptual picture about anonymous Transgender and Gay Lesbian in the World

Transgender Psychologist Joins Lawsuit Against Maryland School District For Hiding ‘Social Transition’ From Parents

Transgender Psychologist Joins Lawsuit Against Maryland School District For Hiding 'Social Transition' From Parents

Education

Health

Lawsuit

LGBTQ

A federal judge sentenced a naval nuclear engineer and his wife to more than 19 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to charges of hawking nuclear-powered submarine secrets to an undisclosed foreign government in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency.
Department of the Navy nuclear engineer Jonathan Toebbe was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison, and his wife, Diana Toebbe, was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Gina Groh of the Northern District of West Virginia.
Groh sentenced Mrs. Toebbe to a longer sentence after authorities intercepted two letters she gave her husband from jail asking him to lie about her involvement in the plan and flush the letters down the toilet.
&#8220;This is an exceptional story, right out of the movies,&#8221; Groh said, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/crime-maryland-sentencing-government-and-politics-0627f36aa603be1cf2d427bb74e8e734" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a>, during their sentencing on Wednesday, adding the former naval engineer&#8217;s &#8220;actions and greedy, self-serving intentions placed military service members at sea and every citizen of this country in a vulnerable position and at risk of harm from adversaries.&#8221;
Department of Justice authorities echoed the judge, saying the couples conspiracy to sell restricted defense information placed the U.S. military and the nation&#8217;s security at risk.
Toebbe and his wife, of Annapolis, Maryland, were arrested by undercover federal agents in West Virginia last October after a series of &#8220;dead drops&#8221; in a conspiracy that began in April 2020 when the husband allegedly sent a package with military documents and contact information.
The apparent plot, however, fell apart almost immediately when Brazilian intelligence officials notified the Federal Bureau of Investigations of the couple&#8217;s activities. The couple later pleaded guilty in February to espionage charges.
Toebbe, who had been trained in nuclear propulsion and handling classified data, could have allowed foreign military powers to close the gap with the U.S. and would take extraordinary effort and resources to restore, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-tosses-weak-plea-deal-for-couple-who-allegedly-attempted-to-sell-nuclear-powered-submarine-secrets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to a statement</a> submitted by U.S. Navy Vice Adm. William Houston.
Toebbe hid a memory card containing classified information inside a peanut butter sandwich during one of the exchanges. Other drops included memory cards hidden in gum wrappers and Band-Aid boxes.
The judge called Mrs. Toebbe, a private schoolteacher who lost her credentials, &#8220;a felon of the worst kind.&#8221;
&#8220;That is why the 36 months troubles me,&#8221; Groh said, according to The New York Times. &#8220;There are lower-level drug dealers that go to prison for way longer than 36 months.&#8221;
Mrs. Toebbe&#8217;s former students reportedly said the high school teacher had been openly critical of former President Donald Trump while jesting about leaving the United States.
Toebbe, who led the pair in the alleged national security crime, initially agreed to a 12-year sentencing plea deal, while his wife, who only acted as a lookout, agreed to serve three years.
Before authorities sentenced Toebbe, he argued taking on additional duties caused him stress, and he experienced warning signs of having a nervous breakdown.
&#8220;I believed that my family was in dire threat, that democracy itself was under collapse,&#8221; he said, which led him to take &#8220;precipitous action to try to save them from grave harm.&#8221;
Groh forced them to withdraw their deals, adding she would only accept a plea deal for both parties within the sentencing guidelines, which subjects both guilty parties to more than 15 years in prison.
The couple had allegedly asked the so-called foreign spies for assistance in escaping to another country after completing the espionage act.
Government officials have not disclosed which country the couple approached with the intent to sell confidential information.

Married Couple Sentenced Over 19 Years For Espionage-Related Offenses In Plot To Sell Nuclear-Powered Submarine Secrets

Crime

Espionage

Nuclear Weapons

U.S. Navy

Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges against Adnan Syed, who was convicted in 2000 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee.
Syed was previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/adnan-syed-subject-of-hit-serial-podcast-released-from-prison-conviction-overturned">released from prison</a> last month after his conviction was overturned, and Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby was given 30 days to decide whether she would drop the charges against Syed or retry him for Lee’s murder. On Tuesday, her office dropped the charges against Syed.
“This case is over. There are no more appeals necessary,” Mosby said at a news conference, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/adnan-syed-crime-baltimore-8380beee8b6ab15102a5a45f2c59b839">according to the Associated Press</a>.
Mosby said she made her decision after DNA test results of Lee’s clothing and shoes were obtained using modern techniques that weren’t available at the time of Syed’s trial. Investigators were not able to recover usable DNA from Lee’s clothing, but DNA obtained from her shoes contained the DNA of multiple individuals – but not Syed’s.
Mosby also apologized to Lee’s family for the hurt they have felt for Syed’s wrongful conviction, which she maintained was not her administration’s fault. Still, she said, “as a representative of the institution, it is my responsibility to acknowledge and to apologize to the family of Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed.”
She added that her office would “continue to utilize every available resource to prosecute whoever is responsible for the death of Hae Min Lee.”
Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter, praised Mosby’s decision.
“Today’s the day that Adnan Syed and his loved ones have been waiting for 23 long years,” Suter said on a call with reporters, according to the AP. “The results of the DNA testing excluded Adnan and confirm what Adnan and his supporters have always known: that Adnan Syed is innocent. The state of Maryland has dropped the charges. Adnan Syed is free.”
Syed spent 23 years in prison for the 1999 murder of Lee.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn decided to overturn Syed’s murder conviction in September after the popular “Serial” podcast raised doubts about his guilt. Prosecutors had revealed there were other suspects, as well as concerns about the evidence used against him. A yearlong investigation involving prosecutors and Suter, Syed’s attorney, discovered that authorities knew of at least one alternate suspect prior to Syed’s trial but withheld the information from his defense. This, the prosecutors and Suter argued, was known as a Brady violation.
Lee was 18 years old when she was found strangled to death and buried in Leakin Park near Baltimore, Maryland, the Sun reported. Syed, Lee’s ex-boyfriend, who was 17 at the time of her killing, was alleged to have argued with her in a car before strangling her to death. Prosecutors alleged Syed committed the murder because he couldn’t handle Lee breaking up with him.
Syed, however, has always maintained his innocence, and his attorney argued that he may not have spent 23 years in prison if prosecutors hadn’t withheld evidence.
“If that evidence had been disclosed, perhaps Adnan would not have missed his high school graduation, or his pre-med plans, or 23 years of birthdays, holidays, family gatherings, community events and everyday moments of joy,” Suter said.

US-NEWS-SERIAL-SYED-BZ

Charges Dropped Against Adnan Syed, Subject Of Popular ‘Serial’ Podcast

Baltimore

Wrongful Conviction

On January 13, 1999, 18-year-old high school student Hae Min Lee was reported missing by her parents after she didn’t come home one night. A search was started, and four weeks later, Lee’s body was found half-buried in Leakin Park outside of Baltimore, Maryland.
Within weeks of Lee’s body being found, on February 28, 1999, her ex-boyfriend <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/adnan-syed-subject-of-hit-serial-podcast-released-from-prison-conviction-overturned">Adnan Syed</a> was arrested for her murder. Lee had recently broken up with Syed, and prosecutors alleged that Syed strangled Lee to death because he couldn’t accept their breakup.
The case against Syed rested primarily on the word of his friend, Jay Wilds, who told police he helped Syed bury Lee’s body. Another witness, Jennifer Pusateri, claimed at trial that Wilds told her about Syed’s alleged confession and that he was shown Lee’s body. The prosecution also presented evidence from cell towers, which backed up at least some of what Wilds said about when things occurred.
Syed always said he was innocent, but in February 2000, he was convicted of Lee’s murder and sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 30 years. He tried to appeal in 2003 but failed. In 2010, he appealed again, on the basis of “ineffective assistance of counsel,” Biography <a href="https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/adnan-syed">reported</a>. The appeal referred to his original attorney, Cristina Gutierrez, who Syed said did not look into his alibi witness, Asia McClain, who insisted she was with Syed at their high school library when Lee was supposed to have been killed.
Gutierrez in 2001 agreed to be disbarred after other complaints were made against her. She died in 2004.
During his 2010 appeal, Syed’s attorneys also pointed out that the cell tower records from the original trial were unreliable.
What seemed like a big break for Syed came in 2014, when journalist Sarah Koenig began her podcast, “Serial,” and featured Syed’s story. Koenig’s podcast did not blindly advocate for Syed, instead laying out everything the journalist found in the case, whether it pointed to Syed’s innocence in guilt. Koenig noted the unreliability of Wilds’ statement – which changed repeatedly over the years. His police interviews also appear to show he was coached by Baltimore police during the investigation. Koenig also explained on her podcast that the timeline of the crime didn’t add up.
“We knew people would come to different conclusions, of course. Barring some smoking-gun evidence, which we didn’t find (and it seems like no one else has either), there was no way for us to say definitively what happened. But what we were pointing out in our story was that the timeline of the case and the evidence in the case had serious problems. Which meant the people who convicted Adnan of murder, they didn’t know what happened either,” Koenig recently <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/20/briefing/adnan-syed-freed-serial-sarah-koenig.html">told</a> The New York Times. “And so this kid goes to prison for life at 18, based on a story that wasn’t accurate. That’s what we wanted people to think about: Even setting aside the question of Adnan’s guilt or innocence, are we OK with a system that operates like that?”
Serial may have elevated Syed’s story, but it wasn’t without its issues, as Slate <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2022/09/serial-legacy-adnan-syed-sarah-koenig.html">reported</a>. Rabia Chaudhry, who is one of the hosts of the “Undisclosed” podcast, compared Serial to a burning house.
“Imagine you ask someone to help renovate your house. Instead they set fire to it. The story about the fire brings thousands to your aid that rebuild your house,” Chaudhry <a href="https://twitter.com/rabiasquared/status/1570742013250908160">tweeted</a>.
This is because, as Slate noted, “Serial” cast doubt on Syed’s “innocence using disproven evidence, and for years never posted a correction or update.”
Following the success of “Serial,” Syed’s story was also the subject of Chaudhry’s own podcast, and a book she published in 2016 called “Adnan’s Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial.” McClain, Syed’s alibi witness, also published her own book called “Confessions of a Serial Alibi” in 2016. Investigations Discovery and HBO also produced their own documentaries on the case.
It wasn’t until June 2016 that the legal system started to work in Syed’s favor. That year, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Martin Welch granted Syed a retrial. That ruling was upheld in March 2018 by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. A year later, however, Syed’s hopes of a retrial were dashed when Maryland’s highest court rejected the appeals court’s decision, claiming the evidence brought up in appeal wouldn’t have changed the jury’s decision had it been included during the original trial.
Syed had to wait three more years to score <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/adnan-syed-subject-of-hit-serial-podcast-released-from-prison-conviction-overturned">a real court victory</a>. On September 19, 2022, Baltimore City Circuit Court judge Melissa Phinn made the decision to overturn Syed’s murder conviction, following a yearlong investigation involving prosecutors and Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter. That investigation discovered that authorities knew two alternate suspects prior to Syed’s trial but withheld the information from his defense. This, the prosecutors and Suter argued, was known as a Brady violation.
One of those alternate suspects had threatened Lee in front of another person, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/19/us/adnan-syed-murder-conviction-overturned.html">reported</a>, saying he would make her “disappear” and threatening to “kill her.” The other suspect also gave police information at the time of the investigation into Lee’s death that “can be viewed as a motive for that same suspect to harm the victim,” prosecutors said in their motion to vacate Syed’s conviction.
Suter argued that Syed may not have spent 23 years in prison if prosecutors hadn’t withheld evidence.
“If that evidence had been disclosed, perhaps Adnan would not have missed his high school graduation, or his pre-med plans, or 23 years of birthdays, holidays, family gatherings, community events and everyday moments of joy,” Suter said after Syed’s conviction was vacated.
Syed walked out of prison on September 19, with Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby saying that “justice is always worth the price paid for its pursuit,” though she wouldn’t say she was definitively dismissing the charges against Syed. Her office has 30 days to decide whether they will drop the charges or try him again. In the meantime, Syed is on home detention and ordered to wear a GPS monitor.
Not everyone is convinced that Syed is innocent or that he received an unfair trial. Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, whose office represented the state during Syed’s appeals, argued that Syed’s release was wrong and that his office wasn’t consulted about the alleged violations.
“Neither State’s Attorney Mosby nor anyone from her office bothered to consult with either the Assistant State’s Attorney who prosecuted the case or with anyone in my office regarding these alleged violations,” Frosh said in a statement. “The file in this case was made available on several occasions to the defense.”

US-NEWS-SERIAL-SYED-4-BZ

‘Serial’ Podcast’s Adnan Syed Set Free Thanks To ‘Brady Violation,’ Awaits Final Ruling

Podcast

A U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/marines">Marine</a> veteran is reportedly facing up to a year of jail time after thwarting an armed male attacker during an incident on July 4, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Though Lloyd Muldrow was thanked by police for his efforts in stopping the attacker, the 57-year-old has been charged with violating a city ordinance that <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/sep/2/good-samaritan-faces-charges-after-stopping-armed-/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bans</a> handguns within 100 feet of a public building as well as with carrying and transporting a concealed weapon.
Muldrow, who has a concealed weapons permit issued in Virginia, did not draw his gun during the incident.
“I’m not going to settle with probation or anything like that,&#8221; the veteran <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/sep/2/good-samaritan-faces-charges-after-stopping-armed-/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Washington Times. &#8220;I don’t think it’s fair.&#8221;
&#8220;I’ve carried overseas in different countries, and you’re telling me I can’t carry my weapon from one state to another?&#8221; Muldrow posed. &#8220;I’ve trained more than the average police officer, and I can’t carry from Virginia to Maryland? I have a real big problem with that.”
Muldrow’s attorney, Michael Stark, expressed outrage over the treatment of his client in a statement sent to The Daily Wire.
“Lloyd Muldrow is an accomplished Marine, a self-defense instructor and a church-going mentor to young people,” Stark asserted. “Now, because of Maryland’s outdated and possibly unconstitutional gun laws, he faces jail as if he were every bit as criminally-minded as Mr. Henderson, rather than the selfless hero for his country and his friends that he proved himself to be.&#8221;
Wesley Henderson Jr., 65, was armed and struck another male in the head with a handgun during the incident on July 4, according to an incident report from the Baltimore Police Department obtained by The Daily Wire.
Henderson was arrested for assault in the first degree and at the time of the incident, his handgun was not recovered.
The incident report says Muldrow stepped in and &#8220;attempted to prevent Mr. Henderson from doing any more harm to the victim&#8221; after his friend, <a href="https://www.givesendgo.com/G6FRD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identified</a> as Marshal Collins on a crowdfunding page, was essentially pistol-whipped.
“I have taught Marines hand-to-hand combat for many years,” Muldrow said. &#8220;I have disarmed several enemies, as well as IEDs. My natural reaction was to do as I was trained for my country.”
The &#8220;victim&#8221; and Muldrow were able to detain Henderson until authorities arrived, stopping him from &#8220;doing further harm with the firearm.&#8221;
A <a href="https://www.givesendgo.com/G6FRD" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GiveSendGo</a> crowdfunding page set up by Stark for his client, &#8220;a good guy with a gun,&#8221; notes that Collins credits Muldrow with saving his life.
&#8220;Mr. Collins can be seen on police body worn cameras telling the police that Mr. Muldrow probably saved his life,&#8221; the page says. &#8220;Many other witnesses on the scene spoke up for Mr. Muldrow&#8217;s heroic actions. None of that mattered. The good guy with the gun was placed under arrest for having a gun.&#8221;
Muldrow is set to appear for a hearing in Baltimore Circuit Court on October 31. The veteran has <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/sep/2/good-samaritan-faces-charges-after-stopping-armed-/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no plans</a> to accept a plea deal.

U.S. Marine Vet Disarmed Pistol-Wielding Attacker. Now He’s Facing Jail Time

 U.S. Marine Vet Disarmed Pistol-Wielding Attacker. Now He's Facing Jail Time

Adnan Syed spent 23 years in prison for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee, a murder he may not have committed.
Prosecutors in Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office now have 30 days to decide whether they will drop the charges against Syed or retry him for Lee’s murder, The Baltimore Sun <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-adnan-syed-hearing-to-vacate-conviction-20220919-ynxvlcuqpbch5h6h2xl5xleh7q-story.html">reported</a>. In the meantime, Syed is out of prison on home detention and required to wear a GPS monitor.
Baltimore Circuit Judge Melissa Phinn made the decision to overturn Syed’s murder conviction after doubts were raised about his guilt following the popular “Serial” podcast. Prosecutors had revealed there were other suspects, as well as concerns about the evidence used against him. A yearlong investigation involving prosecutors and Syed’s attorney, Erica Suter, discovered that authorities knew of at least one alternate suspect prior to Syed’s trial but withheld the information from his defense. This, the prosecutors and Suter argued, was known as a Brady violation.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, whose office represented the state during Syed’s appeals, argued that Syed’s release was wrong and that his office wasn’t consulted about the alleged violations.
“Neither State’s Attorney Mosby nor anyone from her office bothered to consult with either the Assistant State’s Attorney who prosecuted the case or with anyone in my office regarding these alleged violations,” Frosh said in a statement. “The file in this case was made available on several occasions to the defense.”
Lee was 18 years old when she was found strangled to death and buried in Leakin Park near Baltimore, Maryland, the Sun reported. Syed, Lee’s ex-boyfriend, who was 17 at the time of her killing, was alleged to have argued with her in a car before strangling her to death. Prosecutors alleged Syed committed the murder because he couldn’t handle Lee breaking up with him.
Syed, however, says he is innocent, and his attorney argued that he may not have spent 23 years in prison if prosecutors hadn’t withheld evidence.
“If that evidence had been disclosed, perhaps Adnan would not have missed his high school graduation, or his pre-med plans, or 23 years of birthdays, holidays, family gatherings, community events and everyday moments of joy,” said Suter, Syed’s attorney.
In 2014, the podcast “Serial” debuted, spending 12 episodes going over every detail of Syed’s case, leading many to wonder if he was, in fact, guilty. But as The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/19/us/adnan-syed-murder-conviction-overturned.html">reported</a>, it wasn’t until this month that prosecutors actually recommended vacating his conviction and granting him a new trial, arguing that “the state no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction.”

After ‘Serial’ podcast, prosecutors tested DNA evidence in Adnan Syed case. Here’s what they found

Adnan Syed, Subject Of Hit ‘Serial’ Podcast, Released From Prison, Conviction Overturned

Adnan Syed, Subject Of Hit 'Serial' Podcast, Released From Prison, Conviction Overturned

On October 23, 1971, Montgomery County Special Deputy Sheriff James Tappen Hall was working as a part-time security guard at Manor Country Club near Rockville, Maryland.
On this particular night, Hall interrupted a burglary in progress at a nearby home and tried to stop the suspect from getting into a car and driving away. The suspect, however, shot Hall and disappeared into the night. Three days later, Hall died from his injuries.
“Daddy was a great man,” Hall’s daughter, 79-year-old Carolyn Philo, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/09/07/cold-case-killing-solved-montgomery-county/">told</a> The Washington Post. “When he put on his sheriff’s uniform, he shined.”
For 51 years, police wondered who had killed one of their own, yet were never able to solve the crime. Last year, two detectives decided to look into the probe once again with fresh eyes and discovered long-forgotten evidence that would finally solve the case.
The detectives found an old reel-to-reel tape inside a box of evidence, and after listening to the recording, police were able to follow the clues directly to Hall’s killer.
The original case files showed that police had spoken to a man named Larry David Smith early in the investigation, believing he may have known what happened to Hall but not thinking he was a suspect. But the detectives who started looking into the case last year found numerous references to Smith in the case files. The recording they found was of Smith’s interview with investigators in 1973.
In the recording, Smith discussed details of Hall’s shooting that were never shared with the public, including the number of times Hall was shot. Smith also grew up near the country club and allegedly had a history of burglary, assault, and shoplifting, the Post reported. Smith’s real name was Larry David Becker, but he changed his last name to Smith at some point after Hall was shot.
“Investigators believe that this was done purposefully to avoid any further investigation into his involvement in this offense,” detectives wrote in court papers reviewed by the Post.
Investigators were able to track Smith to a high-rise apartment building in Little Falls, New York. Detectives Katie Leggett and Lisa Killen traveled to interview Smith, during which he “admitted to accidentally shooting Sheriff [Deputy] Hall after Hall confronted him as he was taking property from the burglary on Beverly Road back to an awaiting getaway vehicle,” the detectives wrote in court documents.
Detectives didn’t buy Smith’s claims of accidentally shooting Hall, so they charged him with first-degree murder, which comes with a possible life sentence. Smith was 19 years old at the time of Hall’s shooting but is now 70.
“He appears to have been living a quiet life,” Sgt. Chris Homrock, who leads the Montgomery County Police Department’s cold-case unit, told the Post.
At a press conference following Smith’s arrest, Hall’s daughter Carolyn said she “just knew somebody was out there,” <a href="https://wtop.com/montgomery-county/2022/09/51-years-later-montgomery-co-police-announce-arrest-in-deputy-sheriffs-killing/">according to WTOP</a>.
“I don’t want anybody to forget if you are missing a loved one … please don’t give up; please keep after the police department, they’re here to help you. They really do — we found that out,” she said.

Red and blue Lights of police car in night time, crime scene. Night patrolling the city. Abstract blurry image.

Suspect Charged 51 Years After Murder Of Maryland Cop

Police

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/maryland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland</a> county is bringing back the school <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mask-mandate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mask mandate</a> as the 2022 school year starts, citing an uptick in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID</a> cases.
Prince George&#8217;s County Public Schools announced Friday that face masks will be mandatory again at all schools and facilities in the district.
The policy took effect on Monday, and it will stay in effect until further notice, the district said.
School officials said in a statement that the mask mandate is back in effect “in light of the highly contagious COVID-19 BA.5 variant,” and said the district is following county health department recommendations.
&#8220;When responding to public health threats like COVID-19, Maryland school districts have flexibility to determine mask-wearing policies,&#8221; the district said in its statement, which was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pgcps">posted</a> to Facebook.
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&#8220;The mask policy is subject to change according to local and/or state health departments guidelines, and the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),&#8221; the district said.
As of Friday, the CDC ranked the county&#8217;s COVID community level as high. Prince George&#8217;s County, less than 20 miles outside Washington, D.C., <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/as-school-mask-mandates-become-nearly-extinct-two-majority-black-districts-double-down-174549656.html">has about</a> one million residents, the majority of whom are black, and another 20% of whom are Latino. The county&#8217;s school district is the second largest in the state and serves about 130,000 students with a $2.3 billion annual budget.
In July, the district made face masks optional in Prince George&#8217;s County schools for the first time since the pandemic began, but Friday&#8217;s announcement reverses that decision.
Students return to classrooms on August 29.
In February, Maryland&#8217;s education department <a href="https://www.stardem.com/state-board-votes-12-2-to-rescind-mask-mandates/article_05d6236b-9889-5586-87c5-c647d9ddbc2a.html">voted</a> to return decisions about masking to local authorities.
The department heard from parents and community leaders passionately urging it to lift mask mandates in schools.
“You are teaching our students to fear their teachers, fear their friends, and fear the air they breathe,” one mom said.
&#8220;Our kids suffer harm,” said Jamie Brenna, parent and spokesperson for Moms for Liberty. Brenna added that face masks exacerbate ADHD and have negative effects like &#8220;causing fear that if someone they love gets COVID it will somehow be their fault.&#8221;
&#8220;Our students have benefitted both academically and in their social-emotional health by returning to in-person learning this school year. As a Board, and together with our staff and local health department, we need to be able to make this decision regarding the next step in our children’s return to normalcy,&#8221; wrote James A. Newcomb, Jr., president of the education board in Caroline County, in a letter to the state board at the time.
Many public school districts have been slow to part with mask mandates compared with local governments and businesses.
Last school year, parents and students across the country <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/students-walk-out-schools-over-mask-mandates-1677954">protested</a> mask mandates at public schools, demanding they be lifted, with students walking out of school en masse.
However, Prince George&#8217;s County is not the only county doubling down on school mask mandates even this late into the pandemic.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest school district, reinstated its school mask mandate the same day last week.
Classes for students in the Philadelphia area begin on August 29.
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