»PG County Executive Aisha Braveboy visit«

Last month, I joined with the City team to welcome Prince Georges County Executive Aisha Braveboy town and to have lunch on Main Street at Caribe Express. Word on the street is that Caribe Express has the best Jamaican food in the area and I very much enjoyed the curry chicken, plus it was a good to connect with the municipal liason and other members of the County Executive’s team to build partnerships part of advancing our work here in Laurel

(Photo: City of Laurel)

»Maryland Municipal League 2026 Legislative Summary«

One of the memberships Councilmembers maintain is with the Maryland Municipal League (MML), an association that provides municipal education courses, opportunities for connecting with other municipal leaders, as well as advocates for municipalities at the State level. Following the end of the State legislative session in April, I attended a webinar offered by MML to provide a recap of key law changes and what passed/ didn’t pass, such as HB239/ SB36 that I had been tracking throughout the session and thankfully did not pass as it had the potential to severely limit local zoning authority (something very unique for us to have in Laurel and important to our advantage compared to other municipalities). It was good to update my briefing on the legislative landscape and also consider the issues happening at the State level and how to best integrate them into the work here in town.

Auto-generated description: A team of six people is shown along with their names, titles, and email addresses on a colorful background labeled The MML Advocacy & Public Policy Team.

»Qamaria Yemeni Coffee House ribbon-cutting«

On May 15, I was exited to help welcome the new Qamaria Yemini Coffee House to Laurel and to meet all four business owners investing in our community. You’ve got to see the absolutely beautiful decor & ambience they’ve created, plus sample some of their wonderful menu like the iced Adeni tea I’m thoroughly enjoying in the picture below. Two of the other features they highlighted to me was the group meeting room you can rent for $10/ hour and the fact that their hours go to 10 p.m. during week nights as a way to provide space for folks to gather together later in the day. Laurel is proud to host the first Yemeni coffee shop in Maryland and I encourage you to visit and enjoy the tastes and sights of Yemen at this unique and inviting new hotspot!

Auto-generated description: Two people are standing indoors, with one holding a cup of iced coffee in a cafe setting.