🍦Latitude 38° sues over City Dock

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Good morning, Annapolis. Sunday is Flag Day, so here's a flag story for you. When Ohio teenager Robert Heft turned in a 50-star flag design for a class project in 1958, his teacher gave it a B-minus. Two years later, President Eisenhower picked it as the official American flag — and the grade got bumped to an A.

In today’s Naptown Scoop:

A-high edge rusher commits to Auburn
Runaway boat
County council passes FY27 budget

Let’s get to it.

— Ryan Sneddon

The most popular stories we covered this week

The clicks are in. These were the most popular stories we covered this week 🏆

Monday: 2026 Outdoor Concerts Guide: All 7 Series
Tuesday: Annapolis Arts Week gets weird on Friday
Wednesday: St. John's free summer lecture series
Thursday: 🛍️ Naptown Flea (Sunday, 24 Market Space)
- Inside Scoop: The kids hosting this (they’re Gen Z so they’re kids to us) look like they’re having so much fun. We’re honestly jealous.

And we don't think you'd want to miss these either:

💰 The City Council unanimously passed Mayor Littmann's first budget — $204.9 million for operations, no property tax rate hike, a new daytime paramedic team, and a pile of sidewalk money.

🗼 The county is moving ahead with the 200-foot Crownsville water tower at Site E, even though 58% of surveyed residents preferred another spot. The Stop the Tower coalition says it's preparing legal action. Completion is pegged for March 2029. And who knew there was a tower emoji??

🗳️ Early voting opened Thursday and runs through June 18 — primary day is June 23. The county executive field got smaller this week when Kyle Nembhard dropped out and threw his support behind fellow Democrat James Kitchin.

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SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED I’M YOURS

County Council passes FY27 budget

The County Council passed Anne Arundel's FY27 budget Thursday with all seven votes — a clean sweep for County Executive Steuart Pittman's eighth and final spending plan.

Pittman released his initial budget in May, calling it "A House In Good Order." The school house is definitely in good order: AACPS got a $73.4 million funding increase — the biggest in county history — covering raises for school staff, 26 new special education positions, and a $2/hour raise for Teacher Support Assistants.

Your wallet: the property tax rate drops from 97.7 to 96.8 cents per $100 of assessed value, and the 2% Homestead Property Tax Credit stays put.

Elsewhere in the budget: 26 new firefighters to staff a tanker in Jacobsville and a truck for the Annapolis Neck/South County area, 9 new police positions, and $2 million for the county food bank.

Pittman is term-limited, so this one's a hand-off. "This budget leaves the next administration a solid foundation," he said. The full breakdown is at aacounty.org/FY27budget.

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EVENTS

What We're Up to This Weekend

Photo: Bullride Mania

Friday

🎨 Annapolis Arts Week Bounce! Art Party! - Dress head-to-toe in your favorite color for the Monochrome Edition — DJ, interactive art, sips, and fundraising for Annapolis Arts Week.

👔 Annapolis Pride Fashion Show Fundraiser - Queen Jaylah Nicole emcees a runway show with local designers, followed by a reception with an open bar — all benefiting Annapolis Pride.

🎈🍽️ Food Truck Fridays - 12+ food trucks serving everything from 4–8 PM at Truman Parkway.

Saturday

⛵ Maryland Cures Cancer Regatta - Charity sailing race followed by the Rock the Dock party at Eastport Yacht Club with live music by Pretty Big Deal.

🎈🐮 Anne Arundel County Farmers Market - Fresh local produce, meats, dairy, tacos, coffee, and spirits from 7 AM–noon at Truman Parkway.

🎈👩‍🎨 Local by Design at The Gallery - 30+ local artisans featuring fine art, furniture, jewelry, vintage finds, and home decor.

🌱 Fig & Flower One Year Anniversary Party! - Celebrate with live music, light bites, open bar, and a floral giveaway in the back garden. A portion of sales benefits NAMI.

🎈🐮 Bullride Mania Rodeo - Real bulls, real riders, and the toughest thing you can do in a hockey helmet outside of winning the Stanley Cup. Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds.

Sunday

🎈🐮 Anne Arundel County Farmers Market - Fresh local produce, meats, dairy, coffee, crafts, and spirits from 9 AM–noon at Truman Parkway.

🎈 🇺🇸 Flag Day at Hogshead Trades Museum - Sew a star, design a flag, and become a vexillologist for the day celebrating America 250.

🎈 🏴‍☠️ Naptown Flea - 25+ vintage vendors slinging curated clothing, handmade goods, and finds you didn't know you needed at 24 Market Space. Also: adoptable dogs from 1–3 PM (none of which have fleas).

All weekend

🎈 🎨 America 250 - this is US - Add your own 3'x3' quilt-style painting to Gallery 57 West's collaborative America 250 display. Free, all supplies provided, all ages welcome. Runs through August 30.

🎈 🎡 Annapolis Fest - Reithoffer carnival (final weekend) at Annapolis Mall with thrill rides, kiddie attractions, games, and food. Runs through Sunday.

🎭 Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre presents Cabaret, through June 20. The Kit Kat Klub throws its doors open under the stars at the City Dock — Thursdays through Sundays at 8:30, tickets $32.

🎭 The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) - Pasadena Theatre Company barrels through all 37 of Shakespeare's plays in one wild comedy at Live Arts Studio, Annapolis Mall.

Trivia schedule 🙋‍♀️
Naptown Scoop's full events calendar 📅
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In other news. . .

⚖️ Fenced In – Latitude 38° is suing the city and its City Dock contractor in federal court, claiming construction fencing is strangling the business. The lawsuit says net sales are down 49% since the fence went up. A judge already denied Latitude’s bid to move back the barriers in March. The suit is in discovery, which could last until October. ($)

🏈 War Eagle – Annapolis High edge rusher Rion Jackson committed to Auburn on Wednesday, picking the Tigers over second choice Virginia Tech on a live Rivals stream. The four-star rising senior drew offers from 29 schools — most of them Power Four — after a junior year with 13 sacks and 16 tackles for loss. Word of advice to anyone playing the Panthers this fall: if Rion’s on the left, go right. ($)

🛥️ No kill switch – A runaway boat in the Severn River went viral yesterday after its owner, who apparently wasn’t wearing an emergency cut-off switch, fell off. The boat went in circles until first responders were able to tame it. According to the popular boating social media page Qualified Captain (where no boater wants to be featured), rescuers were aided when the boat ran over a crabbing line which wrapped one of the props.

🎓 Changing of the Guard – Change is nigh at Anne Arundel Community College. President Dawn Lindsay retires June 30, provost Tanya Millner steps in as interim president July 1, and Clayton Railey III was just named interim provost behind her. The national search for a permanent president aims for a December pick and a July 2027 start.

⛵ Bay Blessing – The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage passed through Annapolis Thursday, with morning Mass at St. Mary's — built on the estate of Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence — before pilgrims set sail for Kent Island to hand off to the Diocese of Wilmington. The cross-country pilgrimage wraps up in Philadelphia over July 4 weekend for America's 250th.

🍽️ Last Call – Naptown Scoop Dinner Club #3 is down to its final 16 seats. A $15.99 ticket gets you matched with five locals you (probably) haven't met at a restaurant you won't know until the morning of June 17 — optional secret afterparty included. Registration closes Monday, June 15. Join the fun.

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