We are featuring amazing examples of investigative journalism by our news media members that demonstrate the ideals of Sunshine Week in action!Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government.

This year’s efforts are coordinated by Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications. And supported by John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and thrive with a growing list of partners.

Sunshine Week is about the public’s right to know what its government is doing, and why.

Recent investigative and transparency reporting from MDDC members

During Sunshine Week, MDDC will feature important investigative pieces that show the power of local reporting and transparency in our communities. Please tag your own work with #SunshineWeek2025 to be part of the conversation.

• A place for ‘men of means’ – Jack Hogan – The Daily Record
  Nestled in the Western Maryland woodlands and accessible only by a winding, mile-long gravel driveway is a hunting lodge that has served as a rural escape for generations of “men of means.”
  
• More than half a billion opioid pills in 14 years: How prescriptions contributed to a crisis in Baltimore – Madeleine O’Neill 
  More than half a billion opioid pills permeated the Baltimore area between 2006 and 2019 as pharmaceutical companies targeted doctors with aggressive marketing campaigns, underplayed their products’ addictiveness and failed to block suspiciously large orders of painkillers, according to a trove of court records made public as part of the city’s lawsuit against some of America’s top drug companies.
  
• Baltimore police sent expired misconduct cases to city civilian oversight body, meaning officer discipline was impossible – Darcy Costello – The Baltimore Sun
  The Baltimore Police Department has sent at least eight and perhaps as many as 20 expired misconduct cases to the civilian oversight body that renders disciplinary decisions, records obtained by The Baltimore Sun show.
  
• Baltimore’s Overdose Crisis – Alissa Zhu, Jessica Gallagher and Nick Thieme- The Baltimore Banner
  • Almost 6,000 dead in 6 years: How Baltimore became the U.S. overdose capital
    People in Baltimore have been dying of overdoses at a rate never before seen in a major American city.
  • They entered treatment. Drugs, overdoses and deaths followed.
    Amanda Vlakos had been living for years in rat-infested abandoned buildings in Baltimore, fighting an addiction to opioids, when she learned of a possible escape: a drug-treatment program that offered patients free housing.
• Black women speak on motherhood during Black Maternal Health Week – Alexis Taylor – AFROCristina Easton was 34 when she found out she miscarried her very first child. 
  The first issue? She never even knew she was pregnant. 
  
• Carroll County’s transgender policies clash with Maryland Department of Education guidelines – Daranee Balachandar, Shaela Foster and Dylan Jaffe – Capital News Service
  In Carroll County, schools are required to notify parents if a student wishes to change their pronouns or otherwise identify as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth, according to guidelines published by Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS).
  
• City worker details her allegations against Markham: ‘You don’t get on your knees for me,’ former mayor told her – Josh Shannon – The Newark Post
  The last straw came in mid-August when a city employee was in a colleague’s office, kneeling at a table to fill out a receipt form.
  
• Disarray in firefighting ranks leaked – Matt Wynn – Southern Maryland News
  A scathing internal report on the mishandling of a recent fire in Waldorf was leaked to the media, saying that it is a “miracle” that firefighters have not been seriously injured or killed in Charles County.
  
• Downtown office vacancy rate to soar after major employer’s exit – Melody Simmons – Baltimore Business Journal
  The already ailing central business district has an office vacancy rate of 22.4%. Read more about what JLL predicts will happen in the coming months.
  
• Emails: Rehoboth board raised Tedder pay after losing prospects – Jacob Owens – Spotlight Delaware
  When Rehoboth Beach’s then-city manager resigned from his post last year, Commissioner Patrick Gossett said the news left him “devastated.”
  
• Emails: Wilmington PD pressed city to cancel police accountability rally – Brianna Hill – Spotlight Delaware
  Four days before activists were set to hold an event in Wilmington highlighting police violence, a local detective from the city’s Real Time Crime Center sent an email to other city officials alerting them to the gathering.
  
• Fatal crashes prompt scrutiny of police pursuits, alarm Maryland AG – Cassidy Jensen – The Baltimore Sun
  On a Sunday in early April, Dimeka Thornton told relatives that if death came for her that day or the next, she was spiritually ready. She knew her heart was with God.
  

• Gore-Tex maker polluted some Marylanders’ drinking water with ‘forever chemicals,’ officials say. The question is how many. – Christine Condon – The Baltimore Sun
  The maker of the renowned Gore-Tex waterproofing for outdoor gear polluted groundwater near two of its plants in Northeastern Maryland with a hazardous “forever chemical,” according to the Maryland Department of the Environment.
  • As Maryland investigates PFAS pollution, W.L. Gore transitions outdoor clothing to new material
    In 2014, W.L. Gore & Associates stopped using a harmful chemical called PFOA in the technology it makes for waterproofing raincoats, hiking boots and other gear.
    
• Home improvement scams plague region – Melissa Steele – Cape Gazette
  After paying nearly $100,000 for a new deck and landscaping and never hearing from the contractor again, Angola resident Betty Barney said she soon learned dozens of other homeowners in the area had similar experiences.
  
• How a ‘climate of chaos’ went unchecked at Maryland’s max-security psych hospital – Katie Mettler – The Washington Post
  Tension had been building inside Maryland’s maximum-security psychiatric hospital when the news began to circulate among employees: Scott Moran, their CEO, had been banished from the facility.
  
• How crumbling buildings, improper practices caused a Dover nonprofit to lose federal money – Amanda Fries – The News Journal
  A Delaware nonprofit that provides emergency shelter and services to the homeless is in jeopardy of losing public funding amid a myriad of problems including deteriorating buildings, understaffing and asking clients to perform jobs without pay.
  
• Indicted Anne Arundel register of wills’ financial history shows more than $30K in contract claims, eviction, records show – Luke Parker – The Capital 
  Since 2003, Erica Griswold, Anne Arundel’s register of wills indicted Friday for theft, has accrued $30K worth of contract violations, court records show.
  
• Law firm hired by city after DPW worker’s death represents companies seeking to weaken national workplace heat standard – Fern Shen – Baltimore Brew
  The D.C. law firm that Mayor Brandon Scott hired to investigate safety practices after a sanitation worker died of heat stroke specializes in representing companies involved in mining, oil and gas, chemical manufacturing and other areas as they try to avoid running afoul of workplace safety laws.
  
• Living shorelines gain ground around the Chesapeake Bay but face hurdles – Timothy B. Wheeler – Bay Journal 
  When a 2-foot chunk of shoreline washed away from their waterfront property in Portsmouth, VA, the Berners decided it was time to prevent further erosion at their home of 15 years.
  
• More than 15 foreign priests could be forced to leave archdiocese after recent visa law changes – Lisa Harlow – The Catholic Review
  Unless a recent change in U.S. visa law is reversed, more than 15 priests from other countries who now serve in the Archdiocese of Baltimore may be forced to go home – uprooting their ministries and leaving parishes, schools and Catholic institutions scrambling.
  
• On the inside: Rehabilitation programs key in successful reentry and anti-recidivism efforts – D. Kevin McNeir – AFRO 
  On a warm August night, several dozen citizens from the Greater Washington Area, mostly African-American men, gather at the Busboys and Poets in the Southeast D.C. community of Anacostia. The topic of discussion: the ongoing challenges facing the formerly incarcerated and the need for more programs that support their successful reentry into society.
  
• Opioid grants mostly funded prevention, but also raised questions – Nick Stonesifer
  Last year, 527 people died from an overdose in Delaware.
  And while that total marked a small year-over-year decrease for the first time in a decade, it’s still one of the highest number of deaths on record in Delaware. That sparked a sense of urgency to get millions of dollars from a new fund to support organizations on the front line.
  
• Prior to arrest of school therapist, local children’s hospital staff had raised concerns – Isabel Hughes – The News Journal
  Months before a Brandywine School District therapist was arrested on charges of raping a child, a parent and employees at Nemours Children’s Hospital raised concerns to district officials about the man, according to interviews and documents obtained by Delaware Online/The News Journal.
  
• SAFE AT HOME?: Cambridge’s Bradford House management keeps changing but problems persist – Maggie Trovato – The Star Democrat
  When Linda Johnson moved to the Bradford House Apartments in May 2000, things were different.
  
• ‘Stop traffic on the Bay Bridge right now’: Inside a ship’s steering issue and a rare bridge closure – Hayes Gardner – The Baltimore Sun
  As a ship approaching the Chesapeake Bay Bridge experienced a steering problem last month, audio recently obtained by The Baltimore Sun shows that its pilot urgently requested that the Maryland Transportation Authority halt vehicle traffic on the span to avoid the remote possibility of a tragedy similar to the one that killed six people on the Francis Scott Key Bridge this spring.
  
• Suicides at Harford County Detention Center – Ben Conarck – The Baltimore Banner
  • Why is the suicide rate so high at this Maryland jail?
    Behind security gates and heavy metal doors atthe Harford County Detention Center, messages of despair are scrawled on the cell walls.
  • System failure: How a man killed himself on suicide watch in the Harford County jail
    The nurse who was supposed to be watching Tommy Wayne Pardew on a video monitor was on her third day of employment, still in orientation.
• Survey: Delaware schools face 1K+ repair needs – Julia Merola 
  As Delaware begins to grapple with how to change funding of public education to improve student support, another major funding hurdle is emerging: deferred maintenance that is piling up at schools statewide.
  
• The former firefighter and the soon-to-be Congressman – Mark Reutter and David Plymyer – Baltimore Brew
  The Baltimore County Council is set tonight to authorize $200,000 more in legal fees – on top of $350,000 already allocated – to handle a Public Information Act lawsuit seeking information about a secret payment made by the Johnny Olszewski administration to a retired firefighter.
  
• The new Big Ten is resulting in sharply higher carbon emissions – Shaun Chornobroff – Capital News Service Wire
  Carbon dioxide emissions from Big Ten football team travel for regular-season conference games more than tripled in 2024 compared to 2023 after after the addition of a quartet of West Coast schools, a Capital News Service analysis found.
  
• They left Maryland for Mecca. They didn’t all make it home. – Staff – The Washington Post
  Even before Nemata Kamara set foot on a plane bound for Saudi Arabia, she started to see a pattern of broken promises from the tour operators she trusted to get her from Maryland to Mecca.
  
• This Delaware child care center failed to report abuse concerns. What happened next? – Kelly Powers and Amanda Fries – The News Journal
  Samantha Dello Buono watched a happy toddler splashing in front of her, not quite 2 years old, when her eyes returned to the soft skin of his inner arms. Already a mom of two, she hesitated. Toddlers will be toddlers, she cautioned, as her son looked up at her from the water, unable to elaborate.
  
• Uncovering abuse at Greater Grace church – Julie Scharper and Justin Fenton – The Baltimore Banner
  The guys drove up to the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains that brisk November day, set up their tents, lugged coolers from the car and started a fire. That was one thing they had learned in the church — how to work together, heads down, focusing on the shared task.