In a switcheroo that's been 145 years in the making, Maryland is trying to secede from the South and join the North, despite its geographical location below the Mason-Dixon line, the traditional boundary between the northern and sourthern regions of the U.S.
Here's an excerpt:
"Maryland's official song may include a line about "Northern scum" left over from the Civil War era, but the state isn't feeling so Southern anymore.
Though Marylanders live just south of the Mason-Dixon Line, their attitudes and even their accents straddle that border. These days, leaders feel they've got more in common with states to the north.
In one sign of the shift, lawmakers successfully petitioned to move from the Southern Region of the Council of State Governments to the Eastern Region, where they'll be able to trade ideas with fellow officials from Pennsylvania, New York, and other states they consider more like-minded.
"I just don't think we're as Southern as people used to think," said state Sen. Catherine Pugh, a Baltimore Democrat.
It's unusual for states to switch regions in the 77-year-old council, which provides a forum for state officials to share ideas. The last time was when Missouri switched from the Midwestern Region to the Southern Region in 1994."
Read the entire article here.