News Clips
June 6th, 2007
State News
Nearly $500,000 in fines for lead paint violations latest example of strong enforcement
In recent weeks, the Maryland Department of the Environment also hit Constellation Energy with $100,000 in fines for air pollution violations at three coal-fired power plants. The agency sued an
Cabinet leaders confirm more layoffs
http://www.examiner.com/a-765865~Cabinet_leaders_confirm_more_layoffs.html
Layoffs have begun in some
And those waiting on replacements will be waiting a long time. The positions might never be filled, officials said.
On Friday, 12 state employees were let go in the Department of Business and Economic Development, Secretary David Edgerley confirmed Tuesday. They were “part of the savings plan,” he said.
Defining moment for Maryland GOP
http://washingtontimes.com/metro/20070605-103732-2076r.htm
The success tonight of the Maryland Republican Party's largest annual fundraiser will play a key role in the future of the organization, including its leadership.
Party leaders hope to raise $300,000 at the Red, White and Blue Dinner to cover annual operating costs. But ticket sales and corporate sponsorships are expected to fall below the goal, sources told The Washington Times.
The new head of the Maryland Energy Administration said he will develop the state's first comprehensive energy plan in at least a decade and push for new conservation measures to ensure a sustainable, affordable and environmentally friendly power supply for consumers.
Malcolm D. Woolf, whose appointment was announced by Gov. Martin O'Malley outside the State House yesterday, said a strong state energy policy will be necessary to avoid a repeat of the electrical rate spikes
If Fox Home Entertainment hands you a lemon ... by Laura Vozzella
Your call is important to us
A group ticked off with soaring electricity rates is urging every Marylander to call Martin O'Malley's office 72 times to protest the 72 percent rate increase.
(The actual increase since last summer works out to just under 70 percent, but so what if the guy who promised to "stop the rate hikes" gets some extra calls?)
"O'Malley staffers starting to get curt with caller siege," the group's news release says. "But not enough people are calling - the lines are still not being jammed."
FMH cheers 'grand opening'
State officials celebrate completion of hospital's $103M expansion project
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=61002
It was called a grand reopening, though
In fact, according to FMH president Tom Kleinhanzl, the hospital hasn't shut its doors since opening in 1902, when an eight-bed center became
Project 2000 brought to FMH the George L. Shields Emergency Department, three times larger than before, and a new pediatric unit, endovascular lab, the Billy Miller Special Care Nursery and a parking deck, for which Republican U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett is thankful.
Lt. governor tours downtown
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=167319&format=html
Downtown
A pack of municipal leaders and community figures escorted Brown along
They stopped to gaze at Deming's restored Schindel-Rohrer building, which houses a restaurant and a nightclub, and the adjacent building that Bowman is restoring.
Lt. Gov. Visits
Growth comes with challenges
http://www.times-news.com/local/local_story_156094012.html
An educated work force and a rapidly growing knowledge-based economy has
But it won't be without its challenges.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown offered his thoughts on economic development and opportunities during the Maryland Economic Development Association's banquet held Monday at Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort. With 240 people attending, the group's 46th annual conference, which continues today, is based on the theme "Balancing Growth in
Lt. Governor Brown In Town Yesterday
http://www.wcbcradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7629&Itemid=35
The Terrapin Run housing project proposed for eastern
Leopold reports for possible jury duty
http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/06_05-26/GOV
Among the 85 other potential jurors reporting to the courthouse this morning, only one looked familiar from November's ballot.
"I voted for you," Bailiff Nolan Burgess told County Executive John R. Leopold as he checked in.
"Nobody's above jury duty," Mr. Burgess said a few minutes later.
Wicomico passes $131.9M budget
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070606/NEWS01/706060360/1002
Ten days before its deadline, the Wicomico County Council passed next year's $131.9 million budget Tuesday in a meeting ending in handshakes rather than sparring.
"We passed our first test of the new system with flying colors," said County Executive Rick Pollitt, in reference to the new executive form of government that began last December.
Councilman calls for drug legalization
http://www.examiner.com/a-765861~Councilman_calls_for_drug_legalization.html
One Baltimore City Council member wants to change the battle plan for the war on drugs.
Decriminalizing all types of narcotics may be the only option left for quelling the violence of the drug trade, said Council Member Bernard “Jack” Young, who wants the council to hold hearings on the idea.
“We’re losing the war on drugs,” said Young, D-District 12. When teenagers are getting gunned down on the street because of the drug business, then we have to rethink our approach.
National News
Gilchrest Says He's Running Again
http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=6613196&nav=QEMt
First District Congressman Wayne Gilchrest is undaunted by challenges from within and outside his party and says he will run for a 10th term next year.
He has not formally announced his candidacy but confirmed Monday that he is running. Gilchrest was in North East to address a meeting of the Cecil County Republican Club.
Haughty and nice
http://thehill.com/cover-stories/haughty-and-nice-2007-06-06.html
Though most interns are young, work for free and have grand ambitions to learn the ins and outs of Congress, they tend to be the most bothersome to service-sector employees on and around Capitol Hill.
They don’t tip well, ask annoying questions and tend to be the rudest people in the nation’s capital, many employees say.
He said he regularly deals with staff members, many of whom are very friendly. Clyburn and
Clinton fundraisers planned in Maryland
O’Malley backing paying off for former first lady, professor says
http://www.gazette.net/stories/060607/montnew21747_32335.shtml
Seeking to transform Gov. Martin O’Malley’s early endorsement into big bucks, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will make three fundraising stops across
O’Malley will raise money for the Democratic presidential candidate and former first lady at a $1,000-a-plate reception at Martins West in
One week later, financier John K. Delaney will host a fundraiser for
House Approves
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-06-06-voa4.cfm
The House of Representatives has approved resolutions on
“Their detention is a gross perversion of the rule of law, and the claim that the Iranian government has made that they seek dialogue and improved relations with the west, is belied by the actions they have taken with respect to these individuals," said Chris Van Hollen.
Democrats Fear a Wider Black Caucus-Pelosi Rift
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401664.html
Democratic leaders fear that Rep. William J. Jefferson's indictment yesterday on racketeering and bribery charges, coming exactly one year after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi engineered his ouster from the powerful Ways and Means Committee, could rekindle a smoldering dispute between the speaker and black lawmakers who were once pillars of her power.
For months, the Louisiana Democrat's mounting legal peril has bedeviled Democrats as they sought first to point to corruption as a tool to oust Republicans from control of Congress, then pressed for ethics and lobbying changes that they said would usher in a new era of clean politics on Capitol Hill. For every thrust Democrats made against the GOP, Republicans parried with
"For the good of the people of
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