20070814 News Clips

News Clips

Aug. 14, 2007

STATE NEWS

O'Malley returns the favor in mayoral race
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.endorse14aug14,0,2919553.story
After eight years of receiving crucial support for his mayoral administration, Gov. Martin O'Malley came to Baltimore yesterday to return the favor to Mayor Sheila Dixon. O'Malley joined former Rep. Kweisi Mfume in officially endorsing Dixon, lending her mayoral campaign the biggest names to date with less than a month before the Democratic primary.

Alderman focuses on crime, not bags
http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi -bin/read/2007/08_13-43/TOP
While the national media spotlight focuses on Annapolis' attempt to ban plastic shopping bags, Alderman David H. Cordle, R-Ward 5, is calling for a stronger focus on crime."It should always, always be public safety first," he said. "The city has to reset its priorities. I'm getting dozens of e-mails from (Alderman) Sam Shropshire about plastic bags every week. I don't have time for that right now. People are getting shot, stabbed, beaten and robbed, and I'm not going to expend my energy on plastic issues."

OC Might Consider Room Tax Hike
http://wbal.com/news/story.asp?articleid=61901
Board members from the Ocean City Hotel Motel and Restaurant Association are worried the town is not spending enough money to encourage tourists to come for a visit.
The association says the cost of advertising is risi ng at least 6 percent a year but the town's advertising budget has been virtually flat for years. And hotel operators worry that Ocean City is being outspent by Myrtle Beach, Williamsburg and other destinations.

EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

Time for Carroll to get on the bus
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/carroll/bal-md.dresser13aug13,0,2372244.column
Outside the Owings Mills Metro station are several bus bays that have been there since it opened in 1987. When they were built, the idea was that they would accommodate future bus service feeding into the Metro from places farther north - such as Carroll County. According to Metro chief Ralign Wells, the bus bays have gone unused for 20 years. It seems the good folks of that county were horrified at the idea of mass tra nsit. It might just be time for Carroll County to look at mass transit in a new light.

Maryland needs two strong political parties
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=172347&format=html
The news that Maryland's Republican Party is almost broke is not good for any state resident, regardless of his or her political affiliation. In our view, two (or more) healthy parties are essential for good government. It's not known whether the drop in donations is due to the disappointment over the defeat of Gov. Robert Ehrlich or is a comment on how the party machinery is being run. That's a question for the leaders of the party and its members to answer. As for the rest of the Republicans, they cannot allow themselves to become an endangered species. For the sake of Maryland citizens, they need to raise their voices on behalf of good legislation and in opposition to proposals that are flawed, foolish and fiscally irresponsible.

Value conferencing
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_editorial.htm?StoryID=63754
Some congressmen, senators and other high elected and appointed officials have misused and given a bad name to something that can be very productive -- attending conferences. But conferences can truly be productive if those who organize and attend them are serious about their purpose. Such appears to be the case with the National Conference of State Legislatures held in Boston last week. The nearly 70 lawmakers who attended from Maryland included two members of the local delegation, Delegates Sue Hecht (D-Frederick) and Paul Stull (R-Frederick).In the ca se of Hecht and Stull, they were able to use the conference setting to meet with legislators from neighboring West Virginia and learn about that state's experience with legalized slot machine gambling.Obviously, this week-long conference in Boston cost taxpayers something, but when you have responsible elected officials such as Hecht and Stull attending -- and boning up on issues such as the pros and cons of slots in Maryland -- it's likely the public got its money's worth.


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

http://www.therepublicannews.com/article.asp?type=letters
I want to thank our congressman, Roscoe Bartlett, for his vote against new energy taxes that were contained in legislation passed by the House of Representatives on August 4.Congressman Bartlett understands that these taxes on America's energy producers are simply a "pass through" to consumers who fill their tank with gasoline and heat their homes in the winter. We do a lot of driving in western Maryland, and the increase in gasoline prices has already pinched family budgets.
It is amazing to me that elected officials can maintain with a straight face that they voted to tax the oil companies, not American families. In corporate America, taxes are a cost of doing business and they are built into the price of the product. The company's customers pay t he company's tax bill. Thank goodness we have a congressman like Roscoe Bartlett who understands economics and the private sector. Clearly, America needs more people like Roscoe Bartlett in Congress.
Brenda Butscher
Mountain Lake Park



NATIONAL NEWS

EPA gets push on emissions controls
Congressional backers of laws in Md., 11 states try to force agency to act
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.emissions13aug13,0,3089789.story?page=1
When Gov. Martin O'Malley signed legislation last spring imposing tough new standards on automobile emissions, Maryland became the latest of a dozen states on the cutting edge of the fight against global warming. If enforced, state officials say, the controls eventually would reduce greenhouse gas production in Maryland by 7.8 million tons per year - the equivalent of shutting down a 1,200-megawatt coal-burning power plant. But the regulations, first approved by California and subsequently adopted by 11 other states, can't be enforced without a go-ahead from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA has yet to give its OK."It's very important that states be able to move forward, particularly until we can have an enforceable federal cap in place," said Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Maryland Democrat who is one of the lawmakers backing legislation that would require the agency to issue a ruling by Sept. 30. "Unfortunately, inaction is action."

Ripken to represent U.S. as State envoy
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070814/METRO/108140042/1004
Sports, not politics, will be Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s emphasis in his new role as a special envoy for the State Department. "This isn't a political statement for me, necessarily," Ripken said yesterday, after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice formally announced his appointment. "This is about the kids and planning baseball and using baseball for good reasons."

U.S. Senate farm bill action eyed
About $500M could help revive Chesapeake watershed under House bill
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070814/NEWS01/70814002
Record money could flow into the Chesapeake Bay watershed if the U.S. Senate matches the conservation dollars in a federal farm bill recently passed, environmentalists and legislators say.About $500 million, according to Chesapeake Bay Foundation estimate s, could go toward reviving the bay watershed under the U.S. House of Representatives version of the 2007 farm bill, passed July 27. The CBF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bay stewardship initiatives. "The backbone of the farm bill is ensuring that America is able to feed itself," said Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Md.-1st, who campaigned for the Eastern Shore receiving specific funding in the House bill. "It makes sure there are the programs and dollars for all the various aspects of agriculture."But nowhere is conservation more important than in Maryland, where the state's economy and heritage is intertwined with the bay's health, he said. "Maryland is the quintessential rural community, especially on the Delmarva Peninsula," Gilchrest said.