20070627 News Clips

News Clips

June 27, 2007

STATE NEWS

GOP leader to seek 'firing list'
http://www.examiner.com/a-801182~GOP_leader_to_seek__firing_list_.html
Senate Republican leader David Brinkley said he is going to ask the Legislature's nonpartisan staff to assemble a list of state employees fired by the O'Malley administration because he's dissatisfied with the information he was sent Friday by Budget Secretary Eloise Foster.Brinkley was unhappy that Foster would not say how many of 224 resignations and 73 retirements were in lieu of termination. Foster argued that releasing that information by department could violate employee confidentiality.

Ehrlich Skeptical Of O'Malley Firing Numbers; Alleges "Hypocrisy"
http://wbal.com/shows/ehrlic%20hs/story.asp?articleid=59726
Acting on a request from Senate Minority Leader David Brinkley, and the Baltimore Sun, the O'Malley Administration reported that 78 at will employees have been fired since, the governor took office in January. "78 is a phony number. It's all phony coming out of the administration," Ehrlich said on the "Kendel and Bob Show." The Republican says he believes many more workers have been fired.

State police halt, review traffic 'step out'
Agency is the latest to halt 'step outs' after officer's death
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/howard/bal-md.ho.stops27jun27,0,2718318.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
Maryland State Police troopers will no longe r step into the road on interstate highways to stop speeders caught on radar, becoming the third law-enforcement agency in Maryland in the past week to alter traffic-stop procedures and launch a review of the practice known as "stepping out."

2 counties agree to address traffic ills
Easing congestion concerns Arundel, Queen Anne's
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.clogged27jun27,0,2314751.story?coll=bal-local-arundel
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold suggested a ballot referendum on whether communities on both sides of the Chesapeake Bay support further study of a third span of the Bay Bridge.Leopold, a Republican, broached the idea for a nonbinding vote Monday with the five Queen Anne's County commissioners but was met with immediat e opposition. Rather, Anne Arundel officials said, the two sides agreed to hash out a plan to reduce traffic congestion on the bridge and ease overflow in neighboring areas.

Schools officially appoint CEO
Alonso expected to sign contract to lead city system this week
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.ci.schools27jun27,0,2607931.story?coll=bal-local-baltimorecity
Baltimore's school board officially appointed Andres Alonso the new chief executive officer of the city schools last night, but they declined to provide any specifics of his contract, including his salary. The school system spokeswoman said a copy of Alonso's contract will be available after it is signed by both parties, likely by the end of this week.

Fatal fire draws charges
State agency says city fire officials knowingly violated safety rules
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.ci.recruit27jun27,0,4336105.story?coll=bal-local-baltimorecity
A state agency charged the Baltimore City Fire Department yesterday with "intentionally" and "knowingly" violating safety rules resulting in "a substantial probability [of] death or serious physical harm" during a Feb. 9 training exercise that killed a fire cadet. The charging document, obtained by The Sun, marked the first time that an outside agency has rendered judgment on the department's conduct in the incident and provided fresh details of what went wrong.

Promises, promises
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-ed.taxes27jun2%207,0,4965893.story?coll=bal-opinion-headlines
We'll say this much: Gov. Martin O'Malley knows how to win over a bunch of mayors and other local government leaders. This week at a meeting of the Maryland Municipal League in Ocean City he pledged not to give them what is often called the "shift and shaft." That's when the state's elected leaders, in order to balance their own budget, shift the costs of various programs to towns and counties or "shaft" those local governments with a sizable cut in state aid.

That was then - this is now
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.vozzella27jun27,0,1026880.column?coll=bal-home-columnists
The governor and his top officials travel to Salisbury for a Cabinet meeting, and do you think his political foes offer an attaboy for schlepping all that way, for reaching out to the lower Eastern Shore? No, the opposing party calls it a "fake" Cabinet meeting, one that, by wasting taxpayers' money, was actually "defrauding the working families of Maryland."

Hamm takes each slaying personally
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.kane27xjun27,0,4908303.column?coll=bal-home-columnists
Baltimore police Commissioner Leonard Hamm is dying in increments.
"When the pager goes off and I look at the location of [a homicide]," Hamm said yesterday, "I know [the victims] are black men and I know the perps are black men. A little bit of me dies each time it happens - as a black man, as a father, as an uncle and also as a police commissioner."

Energy chief
New state official promotes conservation
http://www.times-news.com/editorials/local_story_177101601.html
The new director of the Maryland Energy Administration has a message for Marylanders and - reading between the lines - the lawmakers who represent them: We need to do a better job conserving energy. One agency goal is to reduce energy costs for Maryland residents, and in that regard, the state earns a decided "F." BG&E customers were just given a 50 percent hike, and Allegheny Power customers will see bills increase by a similar amount over the next two years. That's not the fault of the Energy Administration, but rather lawmakers who deregulated the electric industry in 1999.

Two named to MontCo planning board
http://www.fredericknewspo%20st.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=61813
A former state delegate and a former county chief administrative officer were appointed Tuesday to four-year terms on the Montgomery County planning board.The county council appointed Jean Cryor, a Republican delegate for 12 years, and Eugene Lynch, a Democrat who worked for former county executive Neal Potter from 1990 to 1994, from among 26 people who applied for seats on the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission's Montgomery board.

Filching parking from the disabled merits higher fines
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/06_21-53/OPN
After realizing that Anne Arundel County has one of the state's lowest fines for illegally parking in spaces for the disabled, County Executive John R. Leopold had a bill introduced to the County Council that would have increased the cost of a violation from $100 to $200.As Council Chairman Ron Dillon, R-Pasadena, wryly noted last week, the county fines litterbugs as much as $1,000. Surely, stealing legally mandated parking for disabled persons is more egregious than throwing a candy wrapper out of a car window.

Krebs, Sheriff's Office warn residents of scams
http://www.gazette.net/stories/062207/carrnew143145_32391.shtml
The Carroll County Sheriff's Office and Del. Susan W. Krebs are encouraging people to research charities that solicit donations over the phone before agreeing to give them money.Krebs advised people to contact the Charitable Organization Division of the Office of the Secretary of State to see if charities are legitimate. The office maintains a database of charities and handles investigations of charities. Call 800-825-4510 or e-mail ksmith@sos.state.md.us.

Immigrant advocates want MVA to improve services
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MD_MVA_IMMIGRANTS_MDOL-?SITE=MDSAL&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Advocates are calling on the state Motor Vehicle Administration to improve its services to foreign nationals, saying long waiting times and unclear requirements have led to immigrant drivers being exploited.Maryland is one of eight states that gives driver's licenses and identification cards to foreign-born residents, regardless of their immigration status.

Del. Patrick L. McDonough, a Baltimore County Republican, said illegal immigrants from othe r states are flooding to Maryland to get licenses."Maryland is one of the worst states in the country and is popularly known through the grapevine for this," said McDonough, one of the House of Delegates' opponents to illegal immigration. "It has put a huge burden on the MVA."


NATIONAL NEWS

Democrats plan amendment to cut funds for vice president's office
http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/06_26-46/XXX

House Democrats, responding to Vice President Dick Cheney's assertion that his office is exempt from certain national security disclosure requirements, said Tuesday they will try to strip his office's funding.The proposal to eliminate funding for Cheney's office could come up Thursday as an amendment to an annual spending bill, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said.

Magnet school program needs serious commitment
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/06_24-67/OPN
It's great that Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Baltimore, is supporting north county magnet schools - but is this more political piffle or are he and other Maryland politicians going to find federal money to make it happen?Mr. Ruppersberger has made vague references to financial help from defense contractors, but until there is money on the table, that's just more meaningless talk.

Democrat seeks aid for BRAC counties
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070627/METRO/106270047/1004
Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger says he will attempt to secure $74 million from the fiscal 2008 federal budget to help Maryland prepare for an influx of workers as its military bases expand. Mr. Ruppersberger, Maryland Democrat, will seek $25 million for road improvements and mass transit, $21 million for water and sewer systems and $28 million for infrastructure needs at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Prez Hopefuls Come Home for Immigration Debate
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/
For only the second day in June every able bodied senator cast a vote, with all six would-be presidents coming off the campaign trail and voting with the 64-senator majority to resume the immigration debate. Those six votes, four from declared Democrats running for president and two from Rep ublicans, were critical to clearing the 60-vote hurdle required to take up the bill after its seeming demise earlier this month.

The so-called "grand bargain" still has a ways to go before passing the Senate -- Democrats hope for a late Friday vote on final passage - and even rockier road to go toward an even grander bargain being struck with the House if it passes a bill next month. But for now, President Bush secured a temporary win in his effort to pass his most important piece of domestic legislation before he leaves office January 2009.

Officials announce more rural broadband funds
http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=aa863399-5d37-4ece-8d95-05fb390b1b2a
Governor Martin O'Malley yesterday announced two (M)million dollars to help build out high-speed Internet service in rural Mar yland. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin announced another three-point-two (M) million dollars in federal funding through a Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration grant.

Senate Republicans Block Conference on Lobbying Overhaul Legislation
http://www.nytimes.com/cq/2007/06/27/cq_2971.html
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has blocked appointment of Senate conferees on the stalled lobbying bill, casting doubt on the future of the biggest overhaul of ethics and lobbying legislation in a dozen years.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tried to name conferees Tuesday afternoon, but Republicans objected at McConnell's request, saying they would allow action on the measure only if promised a vote on a separate bill (S 223) that would require electronic filing of campaign finance reports.One major obstacle in the lobbying bill appears to be "revolving door" rules aimed at preventing members of Congress and senior staff from immediately cashing in on K Street with high-paying lobbying jobs after they leave Capitol Hill.Democrat seeks aid for BRAC counties"This is an important issue, and Democrats are continuing to move forward," said Stacey Farnen Bernards, spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md. "We hope Republicans will work with us to move it."