By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“The point is that we just need more chargers, not less opportunity. So anything that drives the process backwards is a bad thing.” - Lynn Parsons, a Kensington resident and longtime electrical vehicle owner, on the struggle to increase access to EV charging stations in the state.
Happy Saturday! A grab bag of news today, so let’s just get to it.
The number of electric vehicle charging stations in the state has grown dramatically recently, from a few hundred a decade ago to more than 1,700 today. But distribution of those stations is uneven, making access still a spotty proposition for EV owners in some parts of the state. It’s just another challenge at a time when Trump administration policies have already made the state’s goal of broad EV adoption more difficult, as Razak Diallo reports.
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is chalking up ever-larger numbers of detentions, but as those numbers have gone up, the numbers of fentanyl seizures have gone down. That’s because Homeland Security Investigation agents normally detailed to drug investigations have been pulled off to do immigration enforcement, according to a Government Accountability Office report Friday. Ariana Figueroa has that story.
We’re chalking up ever larger numbers, too, thanks to the readers who support our work. People like Willis A. of Silver Spring, Jeanne J. of Easton, Jamie K. of Havre de Grace, Linda W. of Chestertown, Cynthia L. of Beltsville and Nadine W. of Potomac. Thanks, folks. If you want to show some love, visit our donate page.
In the meantime, take a look at today’s news, which includes a win and a loss for the Trump administration, political notes and a roundup of the week’s headlines. Enjoy!
Lynn Parsons of Kensington charging her Nissan Leaf on April 15, 2026. (Photo by Sam Gauntt/Capital News Service)
By Razak Diallo
For Lynn Parsons, knocking on a stranger’s door was once the difference between getting home or having her car hooked onto a flatbed truck and towed away.
In 2014, the advertised 84-mile range of her Nissan Leaf was barely enough to get her from Washington, D.C., to Hagerstown, and it had just run out of juice in Potomac. She pulled into a house with multiple cars packed in the driveway and knocked on the door, and fortunately got a charge. Back then, there were fewer than 300 charging stations in the state and only six where Parsons lived in Bethesda.
Things have changed since then. Despite EV range increasing, there are nearly 1,700 charging stations in the state for over 150,000 registered EVs (including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles). And the state has set widespread EV adoption as one of its climate goals.
But those opportunities are not spread evenly across the state. A data analysis of federal figures shows that 45% of all Maryland ZIP codes do not have a public charging station and a quarter of ZIP codes with stations have fewer than four ports. In other words, the lack of a truly widespread charging network still poses yet another challenge to the state’s climate goals, which aim to have over 1.1 million registered EV drivers by 2030, a goal the state already concedes is likely out of reach.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in Washington, D.C., pictured in Feb. 3, 2026. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
By Ariana Figueroa
Fentanyl seizures fell by 39% during the first year of the second Trump administration, after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shifted Homeland Security’s criminal investigations arm to immigration enforcement, according to a report Friday by government investigators.
Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subagency of ICE, reported an “all hands-on deck” environment toward immigration enforcement began in January 2025, according to the DHS Office of Inspector General report. It found that the hours dedicated to fentanyl investigations for fiscal 2025 declined by more than 250,000 hours, or 31%, compared to fiscal 2024.
“At the same time, immigration enforcement saw the largest increase across all investigative categories, rising more than 1.7 million hours (over 800 percent),” the report said. Inspectors interviewed more than 100 agents from 11 HSI field offices for the report.
HSI normally plays a key role in countering fentanyl smuggling in the U.S. by targeting routes, laboratories and collaborating with law enforcement to investigate smuggling operations. In its reply, ICE largely agreed with the inspector general’s report, and with its recommendations that it review “to ensure an appropriate level of coverage commensurate with the relative priority of fentanyl investigations.”
IN OTHER NEWS
Another return-to-office order rejected: An arbitrator found that USDA violated its collective bargaining agreement and committed unfair labor practices by arbitrarily ending telework, the latest in a string of rulings against Trump's return-to-office orders.
Green light for East Wing ballroom: President Donald Trump can continue building a White House ballroom for now, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday, reversing a federal judge’s order that halted above-ground construction on the site of the former East Wing.
Political notes: AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran is moving on up to be national president, outgoing Sen. Joanne C. Benson and Del. Bonnie Cullison won't stray far from the State House, and Prince George's hosts Fashion Week, in political notes.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Mental health help, or hassle?: Health officials rolled out a new and controversial program to help those with severe mental health challenges stay on top of their treatment -- by using courts to mandate that patients comply with their medical plans.
Redistricting review times two: A Dorchester County judge refused to move a lawsuit challenging the state's proposed new redistricting regulations to Anne Arundel County, meaning two challenges to the change will move forward on two tracks on a tight timeline.
Celebrating an FBI win, for now: The city of Greenbelt is celebrating a legal victory in its fight to keep plans to move the FBI headquarters to the city on track, even as Trump administration officials are filing notice of their expected appeal.
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
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