The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A1

THE POLL This poll is a joint venture of The Baltimore Sun, WYPR 88.1 FM and the University of Balti- College of Public Affairs and Schaefer Center for Public Policy. Baltimore sunmedia baltimoresun.com Price $2.50. Our 183rd year, No. 65 Thursday, March 5, 2020 High54 Low38 FORECAST, SPORTS PG 8 INSIDE Bridge SPORTS 7 Comics 4 Horoscopes NEWS 5 Lottery NEWS 3 Obituaries NEWS 10 On TV 5 Opinion NEWS 12 Business NEWS 6 Classified SPORTS 7 WEATHER State Del. Nick J.

Mosby has carved out a lead in the race to be next City Council president, though many voters remain undecided about who they want as the No. 2 electedofficial, anewpoll forThe Baltimore Sun, the University of Baltimore andWYPR shows. Mosby, a former City Council- man, is favored by of likely Democratic voters polled, while Carl on the council, had support. The two current council mem- bers running Shannon Sneed trailed respectively. But nearly four in ten voters were undecided nearly two months ahead of the April 28 primary.

With Council President Bran- don Scott running for mayor, the seat is open and Baltimore is getting the first competitive race for theposition inabout adecade. now, Nick race to lose, quite said Steve Raabe, president of Opin- ionWorks, the Annapolis firm that conducted the poll. The poll of 400 voters was conducted Feb. 20-29. It has a margin of error of 4.9 percent- age points.

The sample selected for the poll, based on historic trends in the Democratic primary electorate, was people age 50 or older, and female. Raabe said Mosby benefits from strong name recognition across the city. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2016 before being appointed in 2017 to a seat in the House of Delegates and is married to prominent Baltimore Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby. Hewon a 2018 election to keep his House seat representing parts of central, West and South Baltimore.

Veronica Bynum, 57, told poll- sters she planned to support Mosby for council president. In an interview this week, the Ed- mondson Village resident said knowmuchabout him, I knowa lot about thatherhusband be too far from her she said. Crystal Parsley, 39, of Cold- streamHomesteadMontebello in East Baltimore, said she plans to Mosby an early front-runner Delegate leads Stokes in primary race for City Council president By Talia Richman Mosby See POLL, page 9 John Bailey plays guitar in the sunshine at City Dock in Annapolis onWednesday as temperatures got into the 60s. Cooler weather is on the way for the region leading into the weekend. SEE WEATHER IN SPORTS.

PAUL W. GAZETTE WARMWINTERNOTES Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday that he plans to seek immediate access to mil- lions of dollars in the rainy day fund to fight the novel coronavirus in addition to $10 million in extra funding in the state budget. There are no confirmed cases in the state, though 21 people have been tested in Maryland for the virus that has infected more than 120 people across the country and tens of thousands of people in coun- tries across the globe. Ten people in Maryland already have tested negative, according to theMarylandDepartmentof Health.

The funding will allow the state to be ready if there are cases of COVID-19, which causes respiratory symptoms such as coughing and trouble breathing.Most cases aremild, but scientists believe the virus leads to hospitalization for cases anddeath in less than Public health officials across the country say more infections are likely, and other states also have been taking steps to bolster funding to prepare, as has the federal government. Emergency legislation was introduced in the Maryland Senate shortly afterHogansaid during the regular meeting of the Board of Public Works in Annapolis that he wanted authority to transfer $50 million from the rainy day fund, formally called the Revenue Stabilization Ac- count. In a sign of the urgency, rules were suspended to send the bill directly to committee. in Maryland there is Hogan to seek funding for virus Gov. eyes access to millions in state emergency reserves ByMeredith Cohn, Luke Broadwater and PamelaWood See FUNDS, page 11 front- runner status slipping, Bernie Sanders refocused his Demo- cratic presidential campaign on surging rival Joe Biden on Wednesday as the Vermont allies grappled with the fallout from a Super Tues- day stumble that raised internal concerns about the direction of hisWhiteHouse bid.

Sanders targeted record on trade, Social Security and fundraising just hours after billionaire Mike Bloomberg suspended his campaign and Sen. Elizabeth Warren con- firmed she was privately reas- sessing her future in the race. The dramatic shifts signaled that the once- crowded nomination fight had effectively come down to a two-man race for the right to facePresidentDonaldTrumpin November. Sanders declared himself and with Biden as he faced reporters in his home state, Vermont, one of just four states he captured on the most consequential day of voting in the 2020 primary sea- son.Bidenwon10 states, assem- bling victories that transcended geography, race and class. this campaign, I think, is increasingly about is, side are you Sanders said.

ELECTION 2020 Sanders switches focus to rival Biden allies grapple with fallout of Super Tuesday By Steve Peoples, WillWeissert and Bill Barrow Associated Press Mike Bloomberg quit the presi- dential race Wednesday and endorsed Joe Biden. JOHANNES GETTY-AFP See DEMS, page 9 More coverage California has declared a state of emergency after a man died. It is the first death from the virus outside Washington state, bringing the U.S. toll to 11. United Airlines said it will reduce flights because of the outbreak and a weak demand for travel.

NEWS PG 11 BUSINESS: Cruise lines, passengers scramble to respond to coronavirus. Media faces challenges in covering coronavirus outbreak. NEWS PG 7 The much-maligned propos- al to expand sales tax to professional services was defeated by state lawmakers Wednesday night. A House of Delegates sub- committee that reviews tax changes rejected the sales tax bill on a unanimous, bipartisan vote in a late-night voting ses- sion. The rejec- tion means the bill ad- vance further in the legislative process.

Del. Eric Luedtke, the Mont- gomery County Democrat who sponsored the bill, found hu- mor in his defeat: bipartisanship in he joked. On Monday, lawmakers heard more than five hours of testimony on the tax, mostly from people from a range of industrieswhowere opposed. The proposal would have dropped the sales tax rate from to and applied it to a range of professional services fromarchitects andattorneys to lobbyists and landscapers. Luedtke promoted his bill as a way to raise billions of dollars to fund public schools.

By 2025, the changes would have re- sulted in a net increase of $2.9 billion to the state each year. That would have been enough money to cover the share of increased fund- ing to implement education programs recommended by the Kirwan Commission, such as expanded prekinder- garten, increased teacher pay and improved college- and ca- reer readiness. Gov. Larry Hogan quickly generated a campaign against the sales tax bill, using money raised by his Change Maryland political fund. The Republican GENERAL ASSEMBLY Bill for expansion of state sales tax dies in committee Legislation would have funded education By PamelaWood See TAX, page 9.