20070927 News Clips

News Clips

Sept. 27, 2007

STATE NEWS

MARC aims to triple service
28-year plan calls for more trains, track, 2008 weekend runs
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.marc24sep24,0,5095732.story
The Maryland Transit Administration is planning a sweeping expansion of its popular but crowded MARC commuter train service, including weekend runs and additional weekday trains by next year and a tripling of the system's capacity by 2035.
The detailed blueprint, outlined in a briefing by MTA Administrator Paul J. Wiedefeld, envisions a system that eventually would stretch from Virginia to Delaware and have the capacity to carry more than 100,000 riders a day. The plan, the cost of which would amount to billions of dollars over the next 28 years, would add tracks in areas that are bott lenecks and would increase the frequency of train arrivals. It would bring new interconnections with existing and future transit lines and create a new transportation hub at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Over the next nine months, Wiedefeld said, MARC plans a series of improvements in customer service -- including an overhaul of an electronic passenger alert system that now often delivers news of problems hours after the information would be useful. Between now and next summer, he said, he hopes to add 1,500 seats per day. An additional 4,000 would be added by 2010.

State troopers try out electronic ticketing
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/traffic/bal-md.ca.ticket26sep26,0,5640862.story
An electronic ticketing system that will allow state troopers to issue and track traffic citations is being tested in Baltim ore, Carroll and Harford counties and is scheduled to expand within a month to barracks throughout Maryland, state police officials said yesterday. "If all goes well, Carroll County will probably be the first county to be fully outfitted with the system," Cpl. Doug Baralo of the state police information and technology bureau told the county commissioners yesterday. The system, which then prints out traffic citations from a computer, can collect multiple charges under one document and eliminates the need for a violator's signature, Baralo said.
The General Assembly approved a bill last session granting police officers permission to issue electronic tickets by scanning bar codes on drivers' licenses and, eventually, on registration cards.

Mass transit good for your health, panel told
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-md.ha.transit26sep26,0,4146361.story
Pushing for mass transit improvements instead of new roads to accommodate the looming expansion at Aberdeen Proving Ground would mitigate air pollution from increased traffic, Harford County's health officer said yesterday during a meeting with a county transportation group. More vehicles - as many as 60,000 when the full effect of BRAC is felt in about four years - will mean more air pollution.

O'Malley betting on slots
Governor backs gambling to fix Md. budget shortfall
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-te.md.slots26sep26,0,6914970.story
Reviving one of the most hotly debated issues in Annapolis, Gov. Martin O'Malley said yesterday that he will push for legalized slot machine gambling as a way to close Maryland's $1.7 billion budget gap, help the state's struggling horse industry and preserve open space.
Slots will almost certainly be the toughest sell among the dozen measures O'Malley is proposing to eliminate the state's projected $1.7 billion budget shortfall and to add hundreds of millions in new spending for health care, transportation, higher education and the environment. O'Malley's predecessor, Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., tried and failed four times to bring slots to Maryland, thwarted largely by the Democratic-controlled House of Delegates. Although a fellow Democrat is now governor, House Speaker Michael E. Busch has not budged. Ehrlich was able to secure near-unanimous support from Republicans for slots, but some GOP legislators have already said they would be less likely to support expanded gambling knowing that O'Malley, not Ehrlich, would be the one deciding how to spend the proceeds.
Many Republican s disliked the 2005 House bill but voted for it anyway to keep the issue alive, hoping that it would result in a compromise with the Senate, said Del. Anthony J. O'Donnell, the minority leader from Southern Maryland. "That doesn't mean we'll vote for it on final passage," O'Donnell said. "Anybody assuming broad support for that better talk to us."

Governor releases first details of slots revenue plan
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070926/METRO/109260055/1004
Gov. Martin O'Malley yesterday released the first details of his plan to legalize slot machines, expected to be the most contentious part of his proposal to raise $2 billion while closing the state's $1.7 billion budget shortfall. An O'Malley spokesman said the governor's fiscal 2009 budget w ould include at least 9,500 slot machines and would be similar to a bill the House passed in 2005. He would not say where the machines would be placed.
Proposals to legalize slots gambling in Maryland have divided state lawmakers for nearly five years. Slot-machine revenue has been touted as the salvation of Maryland's ailing horse-racing industry.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., Mr. O'Malley's Republican predecessor, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., Southern Maryland Democrat, proposed several plans to legalize slots, but the bills were killed in the House.

Retailers asking: Why stop at slots?
Group would replace proposed sales tax increase with casinos
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.games27sep27,0,1994891.story
As Gov. Martin O'Malley makes a pitch for slot machine gambling as part of his attempt to address a $1.7 billion budget shortfall, a powerful retail lobby is asking that he go one step further by pushing for table games. The Maryland Retailers Association, miffed by O'Malley's inclusion of a state sales tax increase in his budget package, is suggesting instead that the state approve full casinos. Without them, Maryland will lose customers to West Virginia, which has approved slots and table games in some jurisdictions, said Tom Saquella, president of the organization.
House Speaker Michael E. Busch, a longtime slots opponent, likened the jockeying for slots and casinos among Mid-Atlantic states to an "arms race." I don't think it'll be a surprise to anyone to see that these facilities will turn into full-blown casinos," said Busch, an Anne Arundel County Democrat. "The myth of limited slots has been broken up and down the Eastern Seaboard. It's going to take place, th ere's no doubt about it."
O'Malley's predecessor, Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., pushed unsuccessfully each year of his term to legalize slots.
Yesterday, Ehrlich told WBAL radio that "it's about time we get a slots bill passed."Ehrlich said he was offered a deal in 2003 to gain passage of a slots bill if he agreed to an increase in the state sales tax, but he rejected the proposal. "And so here we are four years later. We have lost a lot of farmland. We have lost a lot of jobs. We have lost a lot of breeding. ... We potentially could lose the Preakness," he said.
But Rep. Albert R. Wynn, a Democrat whose district includes the sprawling National Harbor project, cautioned against the governor's plan. Said Wynn: "There seems to be very little support for slots and even less support for casinos in Prince George's County."

Republican debate brings d ollars, but not top candidates, to city
http://www.examiner.com/a-957889~Republican_debate_brings_dollars__but_not_top_candidates__to_city.html
Tonight's Republican presidential debate won't bring the GOP frontrunners to town, but it will bring some economic benefits and national attention to Morgan State University. The debate, moderated by talk-show host Tavis Smiley and broadcast nationally on PBS, will feature just five of the Republican candidates: Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and recently announced candidate Fred Thompson all declined to participate, citing "scheduling difficulties." Smiley's production company chose Morgan State as the site for the debate, according to PBS spokeswoman Carrie Johnson, due to its presence as a historically African-American university and its proximity to Washington for candidates w ho are also members of Congress. Coleman said it's difficult to place an exact dollar figure on what the debate will bring to the area, but said he didn't think the lack of GOP frontrunners would cut into that figure, or the prestige reaped by Morgan State.

Democrat calls for controls on transportation trust funds
http://www.examiner.com/a-957906~Democrat_calls_for_controls_on_transportation_trust_funds.html
Transportation taxes and fees should reflect the growing costs of construction, and those funds should be protected from unnecessary raiding, said one leading Democrat. "We need to keep as much in the transportation trust fund, not let it go into the general fund, and build up the funds to pay for these road projects," said Del. Tawanna Gaines, D-Prince George's, who leads the transp ortation subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee. "The governor needs to show restrain and responsibility in handling the fund, and find other creative ways to bring in revenue," she said.
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold, a Republican, said the fund must be protected. Anne Arundel has several road and transit projects because of a perceived population growth from the Base Realignment and Closure at Fort Meade.

O'Malley pushes cigarette tax
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/METRO/109270060/1004
Gov. Martin O'Malley's plan to increase the cigarette tax by $1 to expand the state's health care services should help him win over key lawmakers, including House Speaker Michael E. Busch, in his plan to legalize slot machines in Maryland.
Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, announced plans yesterday to increase the cigarette tax and tie it to a health care expansion.
That should buy him points with the state's most powerful slots opponent - Mr. Busch - though he will face more hurdles from Republicans and traditional slots foes in his drive to legalize at least 9,500 slot machines in Maryland. Mr. O'Malley said this week he is banking on support from the state's Republicans, but Republican leaders said Mr. O'Malley's expectations are mistaken. "I don't think anyone should assume broad support from the Republicans," said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell, Southern Maryland Republican.

Carrier leaving airport Monday
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=175639&format=html
Local residents likely will no longer be able to book flights through Hagerstown Regional Airport starting Monday.
Air Midwest, which has flown US Airways commuter flights between Hagerstown and Pittsburgh for the last three years, has said it will leave the airport when its contract expires Sunday. U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin, D-Md., introduced a bill Aug. 2 that would extend the federal program for five years. As of Wednesday, the bill had not moved from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, where it was assigned after it was introduced.

EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

Analysts split on impact of debate snub
For 4 leading candidates, it may make strategic sense to forgo minority issues forum
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nati on/politics/bal-te.debate27sep27,0,2802283.story?coll=bal_tab01_layout
Ken Mehlman, the former Republican National Committee chairman, calls tonight's GOP presidential debate at Morgan State University "an important opportunity."
Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele calls it "crucial" that all of his party's candidates show up.
Political analysts are divided over whether the decision by the four leading Republican candidates to skip the debate - set at a historically black college in Baltimore and focusing on issues of importance to minority voters - is likely to inflict enduring wounds.
In bypassing Baltimore, Giuliani, McCain, Romney and Thompson all have cited scheduling conflicts as a quarterly fundraising deadline draws near. "The fact that a group scheduled a debate at a difficult time on the political calendar, when all campaigns are focused on raising money, is unfortuna te," said Scott Reed, a Republican consultant who managed Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. "But as one of these major candidates, you can't be everywhere all the time."
State GOP Chairman James Pelura called the situation "really unfortunate" and said that middle-class blacks - a large number of whom reside in Maryland - increasingly "realize that the Democratic policies that are in place really hamper advancement."

Candidates should be like Ike and do the right thing
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.smiley27sep27,0,325664.story
This week, civil rights leaders and other dignitaries descended on Little Rock, Ark., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the integration of Central High School. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by sending troops to protect the students as they entered the school. History recorded the fact that President Eisenhower supported Brown v. Board and also told District of Columbia officials to make Washington a model for the rest of the country in efforts to integrate black and white schoolchildren.
Coincidentally, this same week, the potential history-making views of the current generation of Republican leaders will also be on display, at the All-American Presidential Forum on PBS, which I will moderate as three journalists of color pose questions to the candidates. This forum, held tonight at Morgan State University in Baltimore, will provide a unique opportunity for the Republican presidential hopefuls to address civil rights and other issues of concern to communities of color, such as health care, housing, education and criminal justice. But unfortunately, as of this writing, the four top candidates, Rudolph W. Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and F red Thompson, had declined the invitation. Six other Republican candidates have agreed to participate. By contrast, all the Democratic candidates showed up in June for a similar forum at Howard University.It will be a missed opportunity for America if all the candidates don't choose to address all Americans in what is now the most multicultural, multiracial, multiethnic America ever. It's not just about race, it's about respect. It's about candidates taking the time to get to know Americans even beyond their base. It's just the right thing to do.
Starting now and throughout the campaign, I hope that all the candidates, Democrats and Republicans, will be reminded of the example of President Eisenhower and step up to the plate.

All goobers to the gubernator
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal- md.vozzella26sep26,0,1569805.column
Invoking great tax protests in American and Maryland history, Del. Pat McDonough is urging citizens to stuff peanuts into envelopes and mail them off to Martin O'Malley. "Please include in your envelope a few well placed peanuts to make the point that you are a N.U.T. and will not be duped, lied to, or scared into believing that we need any tax increases in an already over-taxed state," he wrote constituents. "Let the Statehouse and Governor's Mansion receive an abundance of nuts as a protest against their shoddy shell game."

More than spinning wheels
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bal-ed.transpo26sep26,0,3303580.story
When the business community complains that it's not getting taxed enough, attention must be paid. Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed $392 million plan to improve the state's transportation system doesn't raise enough money to suit two influential business groups, the Greater Baltimore Committee and the Greater Washington Board of Trade. Both would like to see a 10-cent increase in the gas tax and at least $600 million spent annually on transportation infrastructure. Why? Because spending more money on transit and roads might be the single most important measure state government can take to help ensure Maryland's economic prosperity.
Exactly how to pay for transportation can be debated, but an adequately financed transportation system ought to be a given. Prominent business leaders understand this, and Mr. O'Malley and the General Assembly would be wise to pay heed.

Auction slots licenses
http://www.examiner.com/a-957886~Edit orial__Auction_slots_licenses.html
Finally. After a month of tax talk, the governor is pushing a way to raise money for the state that doesn't include forced raids on residents' bank accounts: Slots. On Tuesday, he said he favors adding about 9,500 slot machines in four locations across the state. But the key is in the details. O'Malley did not release the minutiae of the plan but said he favors state ownership and would use the plan that passed the House of Delegates in 2005 as a model.
O'Malley should rethink state ownership of slots. The state has no expertise in running businesses. If legislators jump the philosophical hurdle and pass slots, they must do so in a way that will best fill the state treasury. Auctioning licenses to those who would return the most money to the state is the clearest path to that goal.

Facing the music
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/opinion/display_editorial.htm?StoryID=65602
The honeymoon between Gov. Martin O'Malley and many GOP members of the General Assembly has been cooling for some time now.
Locally, Delegate Rick Weldon was annoyed that O'Malley had not invited any Republicans to the private briefing, where the governor initially unveiled his new plan to attack the monetary shortfall. Weldon's reaction: "Oh, what a surprise. I wonder why that is? Is it because we've already proposed a solution to the ... deficit that doesn't involve a tax hike?
Weldon, Sens. Alex Mooney and David Brinkley and other Republicans have been suspicious for months now that O'Malley's fix would be heavy on new taxes and light on spending cuts. Likely they now feel those suspicions were justified, though O'Malley and others will argue that his proposal is balanced and fair. The governor's plan was receive d like cold soup by many state Republicans. Delegate Anthony O'Donnell referred to it as a "shell game," asking, "Where is the spending restraint?" GOP Sen. Allen Kittleman characterized it as sleight of hand, with O'Malley dazzling taxpayers with one hand while pulling their wallets out of their pockets with the other. Republicans feel the emphasis should be on reducing scheduled spending increases, as opposed to the pain of new and/or higher taxes. Their reduced-spending approach, of course, also involves some pain.

NATIONAL NEWS

Md., Va. officials call for federal response to climate change
Virginia's Warner proposes 'cap and trade' emissions bill
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bay_environment/bal-bay0925,0,5283404.story
Citing the c atastrophic effects that they said rising sea levels would have on the wildlife, shoreline and economy of the Chesapeake Bay, officials from Virginia and Maryland today called for a coordinated federal response to global warming.
"The time has come to develop national programs that effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-burning power plans, from our automobiles and a multitude of other sources," Gov. Martin O'Malley told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this morning. "We must transition from a carbon-based economy to a green, sustainable economy."
O'Malley joined Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Democratic Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland and Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest of the Eastern Shore at a hearing devoted to the impact of climate change on the Chesapeake Bay.

Carrier estimates raise red flags
Navy insists its budget for the Gerald R. Ford is re alistic but few independent analysts agree.
http://www.dailypress.com/business/dp-biz_fordcosts_0925sep26,0,6541131.story
Federal investigators raised more red flags Monday on the Navy's newest aircraft carrier, warning that the cost of the Gerald Ford warship will likely exceed budget forecasts. The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said the budget for the first in a new line of carriers is "optimistic" and that "substantial risk remains" in the development of new technologies needed for the ship. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Md., chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on sea power who requested the GAO study, said a cost increase of just 10 percent on the Ford carrier would require an additional $1 billion. "In this budget environment, that's going to be a difficult sell," Bartlett said in a statement.

Ben Cardin: Too many barriers exist in the American voting process
http://www.gazette.net/stories/092707/carrcol215347_32359.shtml
Fifty years ago, Congress passed the first major civil rights bill since Reconstruction. It set an important precedent by establishing the U.S. Department of Justice as a ''guarantor" of the right to vote. Specifically, the law established the Commission on Civil Rights, a six-member bipartisan commission with the power to investigate allegations that certain citizens ''are being deprived of their right to vote." It also empowered the attorney general to prevent such interference through federal injunctions, and created the Civil Rights Division within the department to oversee civil rights enforcement.
The federal government has a responsibility and duty to make sure that those responsible for preventing others from exercising their right to vote are held accountable. I have co-sponsored the Prevention of Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation in Federal Elections Act, S. 453, which would criminalize voter intimidation.
Benjamin L. Cardin is a Democrat for the State of Maryland in the U.S. Senate

Senate looks to bay states for global warming strategies
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070927/NEWS01/709270386
Maryland and Virginia's initiatives to save the Chesapeake Bay should serve as models for federal policy on global warming, Senate environment committee members said Wednesday. The strategies include stricter clean car standards, a commission to set greenhouse gas reduction goals, electricity use reduction goals and devel oping new renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
"I think we can learn from the states," said Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., a member of the Committee on Environment and Public Works. "That's what federalism is about. You're giving us workable models that we can now use to develop policy."
The discussion came during a three-hour committee hearing called by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to address the impact of global warming on the Chesapeake Bay. It included participation from top officials in both states, including all four senators, governors Martin O'Malley of Maryland and Tim Kaine of Virginia and U.S. Rep Wayne Gilchrest, R-Kennedyville.

An interest in principals
Md. congressman seeks to promote research into the qualities that make an excellent school leader
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.infocus27sep27,0,5343055.story
One lesson Rep. John Sarbanes learned in his seven years working with the Maryland State Department of Education, he says, is the value of a good principal. Now he wants to write that lesson into federal law. With Congress poised to debate the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, Sarbanes is trying to use the education law to provoke a national discussion about the role an experienced administrator can play in turning around a troubled school. "I came away convinced that if there is no silver bullet in education, the closest you come is the principal," said Sarbanes. "The schools that were making progress, the ones that could demonstrate that the kids were moving toward these proficiency goals [in the existing law], were ones where you had a principal who could walk into any classroom at any time of the day and know immediately where the teacher was in that lesson plan, whether they were delivering instruction at a high level, whether the kids were learning."