20070605 News Clips

News Clips

June 5^th, 2007

State News

Officials worried about O'Malley's security ideas

http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20070604-113200-8505r.htm

Homeland security officials across the state say they have become concerned about emergency preparedness in Maryland since Gov. Martin O'Malley has taken office.

Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, has been slow to fill vacancies in the Governor's Office of Homeland Security, and local homeland security coordinators say the O'Malley administration has not contacted them since taking office.

"What's a little bit disturbing is we have put together strategic homeland security goals for Charles County, and I don't know whether they have seen them," said Donald McGuire, Charles County director of emergency preparedness.

Politicians mostly mum on candidates

Although Rick Weldon supports Giuliani, other legislators taking wait-and-see attitude

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=60964

Unlike other local Republican legislators, Delegate Rick Weldon didn't want to wait when it came to making his pick for the party's 2008 presidential candidate nomination.

He knew whom he wanted to endorse -- former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

State Sen. Alex Mooney said he plans to endorse a candidate, but he is waiting a little longer to do so.

He is looking for the Ronald Reagan in the group, and believes some of the candidates with less established campaigns, like Mike Huckabee, might end up being the best fit if they grow and succeed. Right now, though, he said Romney looks to be the closest fit to Reagan.

Weldon said others are "keeping their powder dry" and waiting to see who is a strong candidate in Maryland. They are waiting until they hear the outcome of polls, like the one that will be taken Wednesday night at the Maryland Republican Party's annual Red White and Blue Dinner, Weldon said.

The straw poll will be the first time the state Republicans are asked for a preference as a group, he said.

State Sen. David Brinkley said he has not announced support, but might do so in the fall or sometime around then. Likewise, U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, a Republican, has not yet made an announcement supporting a candidate, a spokeswoman said Monday. Other members of Frederick's delegation could not be reached Monday.

CASA of Maryland boasts a haven in the center of an immigration storm

http://www.examiner.com/a-763804~CASA_of_Maryland_boasts_a_haven_in_the_center_of_an_immigration_storm.html

Who said the eye of the storm is supposed to be peaceful?

With controversial comprehensive immigration reform lashing the Senate and tracking toward the House, CASA of Maryland Inc., an immigrant support and advocacy group at the local center of the undocumented-dweller dust-up, has, in a sense, learned how to row and bail water at the same time.

“It’s a document to educate our community about their rights the rights of any U.S. citizen,” Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland, said of the nonprofits recently criticized immigrant-rights handbook.

O’Malley: Administration firings not political

http://www.examiner.com/a-763833~O_Malley__Administration_firings_not_political.html

Gov. Martin O’Malley said recent firings in his administration were not for political reasons, as some Republicans maintain, but to put “competent, professional” people in charge to help “make government work again.”

Former members of then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s administration are circulating lists of people who they say were fired because of their Republican ties. The Examiner reported Monday that some of those let go called it “hypocrisy” and “a double standard” for Democrats to do the same thing that Ehrlich was accused of doing.

Republican club officers innocent

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2007/06/05/news/local_news/newstory1.txt

Circuit Court judge finds leaders of group did not violate campaign finance rules

Leaders of the Carroll County Republican Club Inc. were found innocent in Carroll County Circuit Court Monday of charges they violated the state’s campaign finance laws.

Visiting Judge Vincent Femia ruled that Club President Scott Hollenbeck of Westminster and Treasurer Suzanne Primoff of Woodbine were not guilty of illegally gathering and spending funds for a political campaign, a charge punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $25,000.

Carroll GOP club officers are cleared of violations

Campaign finance law called 'ambiguous'

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/carroll/bal-md.ca.club05jun05,0,5297159.story?coll=bal-local-carroll

Two officers of the Carroll County Republican Club Inc. were acquitted of campaign finance violations yesterday in Carroll County Circuit Court.

Club President Scott Hollenbeck, 43, of Westminster and treasurer Suzanne Primoff, 56, of Woodbine and Loxahatchee, Fla., had been charged with illegally spending campaign funds on ads endorsing county commissioner candidates in September's Republican primary, according to the November lawsuit filed by the state prosecutor's office.

GOP club’s officers acquitted in finance case

http://www.examiner.com/a-763823~GOP_club_s_officers_acquitted_in_finance_case.html

A judge acquitted two Carroll County Republican Club officers of election law violations Monday, calling Maryland’s campaign finance law too vague.

Club President Scott Hollenbeck, of Westminster, and treasurer Suzanne Primoff, of Woodbine and Loxahatchee, Fla., avoided up to two years in prison and $26,000 in fines after retired Prince Georges Circuit Judge Vincent Femia ruled in their favor following a half-day bench trial in Carroll County Circuit Court.

Same-Sex Marriage Takes the Spotlight in Forum

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060402103.html

Capital Pride, the annual gay and lesbian celebration that mixes high-minded dialogue with dance parties, began a week's worth of events last night with a "town hall" meeting that focused on such topics as same-sex marriage and faith.

Six panelists fielded questions from moderator Jason Bellini and members of an 80-person audience at the Studio Theatre in Northwest Washington.

The sensitivity and complexity of the issue were also highlighted by the answers of Virginia Del. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and Maryland Del. Heather R. Mizeur (D-Montgomery).

City Council debates tapping surplus fund

Needs of police and schools are called reason enough to use emergency dollars

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.bills05jun05,0,7665738.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Baltimore City Council members debated yesterday using money from the city's surplus fund to pay for police recruitment and promised school construction, with several council members splitting with the majority and tossing out alternative sources of funding.

The debate centered on two resolutions. City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake introduced a nonbinding resolution to divert $2 million from the city's rainy day fund to step up police recruitment.

Death on the streets

Homicides make city 2nd-most perilous in nation

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.police05jun05,0,3275974.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Baltimore's homicide rate last year surpassed all of the nation's largest cities with the exception of Detroit, according to FBI crime statistics released yesterday.

Violent crime as a whole in Baltimore was down almost 13 percent in 2006 compared with 2005 and is continuing to drop this year, bucking an increase of 1.3 percent nationally, statistics show.

City needs to reverse a culture of death by Dan Rodricks

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.rodricks03jun03,0,6877954.column?coll=bal-local-columnists

I entertain a strange and ridiculous thought while sitting for a moment in the District Court of Maryland, Baltimore Division, listening to a handsome and well-tailored police detective describe a young man's botched attempt at murder by handgun last month in the city: Couldn't we get Dr. Benjamin Carson, the esteemed neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins, to rewire some brains? Wouldn't that help reduce the homicide rate?

As I said, strange and ridiculous. ... Excuse me.

National News

Gilchrest to go for 10th term

http://www.cecilwhig.com/articles/2007/06/05/news/01.txt

Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest, facing challengers from both the Republican and Democratic parties, said Monday he will seek re-election in 2008.

“I’m running for Congress,” the nine-term incumbent from Maryland’s 1st District told a reporter after addressing the monthly meeting of the Republican Club of Cecil County. The meeting was held in North East.

Democrat Kratovil seeks to unseat Rep. Gilchrest

http://www.examiner.com/a-763828~Democrat_Kratovil_seeks_to_unseat_Rep__Gilchrest.html

With a rousing endorsement from Gov. Martin O’Malley to kick off the campaign, Democratic Queen Annes States Attorney Frank Kratovil Jr. officially announced he was running for Congress to unseat nine-term Republican Wayne Gilchrest.

“We need aggressive, effective and unwavering leadership,” Kratovil, 39, said with the Chesapeake Bay as a backdrop. “The issue isn’t party. The issue is effectiveness.” He said that in talking to his Eastern Shore neighbors, regardless of party, he found “on the vast majority of issues we agree.”

Cardin chairs hearing on deceptive voter practices

Gansler to testify on 2006 incidents in Maryland

http://www.gazette.net/stories/060407/polinew163112_32347.shtml

U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) is slated to chair a hearing Thursday of the Senate Judiciary Committee to discuss deceptive voter practices as part of the 2006 elections.

In Maryland, the balloting last November was marred by allegedly misleading practices. Critics say voters in Prince Georges County were targeted by deceptive campaign literature that contained inaccurate endorsements of political candidates.

Longest-serving Md. congressman

Hoyer a veteran of 26 years, 1 day

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.hoyer05jun05,0,811984.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, already the highest-ranking congressman in Maryland history, became the longest-serving yesterday.

"I guess if one lives long enough and stays put ... , " the Southern Maryland Democrat said with a chuckle over the telephone from New York, where he was helping a pair of freshmen raise money for re-election in 2008. "It's surprising because it doesn't seem that long to me."

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