20070828 News Clips

News Clips

Aug. 28, 2007

STATE NEWS

Mayoral hopefuls square off in debate
Homicides, ethics, schools discussed; Conaway quits race
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.debate28aug28,0,4993684.story
Facing off last night in the first and likely only live, televised debate of the election, seven Democratic candidates for mayor laid out broadly different approaches for how they would lead Baltimore - and one candidate used the platform to announce that he was dropping out.
In a freewheeling format that focused more attention on Mayor Sheila Dixon and City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. - considered the front-runners in the Sept. 11 Democratic primary - the candidates parried over government ethics, how to reduce homicides and whether the management of schools should be changed.
C. Vernon Gray, a professor of political science at Morgan State University, agreed that most of the candidates were short on specifics. But he said he thought voters would benefit from the exchange. "It was good overall to get a sense of who the candidates are and get a feel for them and how they handle questions," he said.

Balto. Co. system won't hire Kaplan
Schools to use teachers to write curriculum
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_county/bal-md.co.kaplan28aug28,0,5079975.story
Baltimore County school officials have scuttled plans to spend about $7.4 million for a national education firm's help in overhauling the system's curriculum -- a move that some educators and community leaders had questioned as unnecessa ry outsourcing.County schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston said yesterday that with the school year starting and with it becoming increasingly cumbersome to find ways to pay for the unbudgeted initiative, he decided to scrap the plan to hire the New York-based Kaplan K12 Learning Services Division.

EPA orders cleanup of Meade waste sites
Army must rid base of buried pollutants
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bay_environment/bal-te.md.meade28aug28,0,217628.story
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered the Army yesterday to clean up 14 hazardous-waste sites at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County. The sites include former ammunition dumps, landfills, shooting ranges and buildings where hundreds of drums of fuel and other pollutants were buried on the Army post, prompting fines from Mar yland's environmental agency.The contaminants - including heavy metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives and arsenic - have been in the ground for decades, and some have seeped into underground water supplies, the EPA said.

Md. attorney general, governor discuss prisoner-release policy
http://www.herald-mail.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=173469&format=html
At the request of a group of Washington County officials, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has spoken to Gov. Martin O'Malley about the state's prisoner release policy, Gansler spokeswoman Raquel Guillory said. Police and government officials in Washington County - which has three state prisons - have complained that the state's policy of dropping parolees off at a bus station, with money for a ticket home, makes it easy for convicts to stay here instead. The prisoner-release policy was one of the coalition's priorities for the 2007 Maryland General Assembly session earlier this year. The topic has come up periodically this year, but the policy has not changed.

County emergency planning reaffirmed
http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=64322
Get a kit. Make a plan. Be informed.
It's the new mantra Frederick County officials hope residents will embrace during emergency preparedness month this September. At a press conference Monday, members of the county's Emergency Management Policy Advisory Committee reaffirmed their commitment to emergency planning, inter-agency training and constant vigilance to prepare the county for disasters.

High court OKs use of voting machines
http://www.examiner.com/a-903161~High_court_OKs_use_of_voting_machines.html
Maryland's highest court has issued an opinion supporting state's use of voting machines, which critics say do not permit an independent audit of votes because they leave no paper trail. he Anne Arundel County Circuit Court "applied the correct standard in assessing the security and accuracy of Maryland's voting system," Maryland Court of Appeals Chief Judge Robert Bell wrote in the high court's opinion, which was released Friday.

Westminster orders water restrictions
http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2007/08_28-02/OUD
Mandatory water restrictions went into effect Monday in Westminster, with May or Thomas Ferguson signing the order Monday night at a council meeting.
Standards had been met to go to Code Red, according to an Aug. 20 memo from Jeff Glass, acting director of planning and public works.

Conservative Delegate to Fight Spanish-Language Channel
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2007/08/conservative_delegate_to_fight.html?nav=rss_blog
Maryland Public Television's Spanish-language digital channel, has been on the air for less than a week, but a conservative lawmaker is already working to yank it.
Del. Patrick L. McDonough (R-Baltimore County) said he will introduce legislation when the General Assembly reconvenes that would establish a commission to determine what should air on MPT's three new digital stations. "These are very powerful public assets, " said McDonough, who has been vocal about his displeasure with MPT's decision to allow one of the stations to cater to a primarily Hispanic audience. "You're serving a very small minority."

Md., Va. Diverted Bridge Money
Funds Were Used To Widen Roads, Fix Streetlights
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/27/AR2007082701778.html
Virginia and Maryland officials used more than $30 million from the federal government's main bridge repair and replacement fund on projects that weren't bridges, according to interviews and government documents tracking spending over the past four years. Millions more in federal dollars might have been diverted to projects other than bridges in the two states, but federal and state officials say their accounting s ystems are not set up to track which projects eventually got the money.
Maryland officials said they should be judged by the overall generosity of their bridge spending. They argue that the state compares favorably in paying to fix existing infrastructure, including bridges.


Letters to the Editor

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.speakouta26aug26002635,0,560060.story?page=3
Thanks, Leopold, for protecting residents
I applaud County Executive John Leopold for seeking to hold companies that employ illegal immigrants accountable and to terminate the contracts they have with the county.
If the federal and state governments do not want to control this problem of illegal immigrants entering and working in our county, state and country, why shouldn't Mr. Leopold protect the citizens of his county? Contractors have a responsibility to the communities they live and work in to support our laws as individuals do. How much of an effort is it for an employer to check the legal documents of individu als who they are hiring? If they want cheap labor, then they need to pay for the review of the documents that provide proof that the people are here legally.
There are many companies that compete for the county contracts and would gladly agree to these requirements. This will not have an impact on the services we receive. It will also allow legal citizens and immigrants an opportunity to fill these positions. We would not have these problems if we would stop people from entering the country illegally! Mr. Torres should be working toward getting these people the legal documents and not support illegal actions by any individual or group.
Ken Hasenei Millersville

EDITORIALS/OP-EDS

A Gallup poll released last week reveals how poorly we regard our elected leaders in Congress
http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2007/08/28/news/opinion/opinion/opinion912.txt
18 percent of Americans approve of the job the Democratic-controlled Congress is doing. An amazing 76 percent disapprove.
These numbers match the lowest approval ratings for Congress ever measured by the Gallup organization. This is not a partisan issue, either, as disapproval runs high among Democrats, Republicans and independents alike.You have to wonder what it is that causes the American people to hold the institution and people of Congress in such low regard, even as they regularly re-elect their own representatives. If the dissatisfaction with Congress reflected in poll numbers was translated into votes, we would end up with a whole new Congress pretty soon. That may be what it takes to make some real changes. It's worth a try.


NATIONAL NEWS

Gilchrest to push for marina repairs
Federal funding would help overhaul dock in Crisfield
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/NEWS01/708280301/1002
Maryland Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest on Monday vowed to push for federal dollars to repair Somerset County commercial marinas, calling upkeep of the work ports crucial to the economies of the watermen's region. In particular, Gilchrest wants U.S. Senate support of a $150,000 bill approved in the House of Representatives to overhaul the Broad Street dock on the Crisfield waterfront, the county's busiest and a major port for heavy machinery and vehicles including fire engines and other emergency equipment bound for offshore Smith Island in Somerset and Tangier Island. The House of Representatives already has passed a bill that slates $150,000, or a third of the total estimated dock repai r cost. Gilchrest told the group he would lobby to get the bill through the Senate, and seek support in particular from Democratic senators in Maryland, Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin.

Gilchrest takes questions on Iraq, immigration
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/NEWS01/708280304/1002
When Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest stops to talk to each person in a room, he gets an earful on the Iraq war and the country's immigration policy. The divisive issues, both of which put the nine-term Republican incumbent in Maryland's 1st District at odds with President Bush, were on the plate Monday evening at a fundraising event that wrapped up Gilchrest's tri-county visit to the Lower Shore. Gilchrest's trip Monday to the Lower Shore, which also included stops at a commercial marina in Crisfield and a meeting with Ocean City leaders at town's Chamber of Commerce, is part of his efforts to bolster support.
His foremost challenger, state Sen. Andrew Harris R-7 Baltimore, has raised more than $178,600. Two other Republicans said they will soon announce their candidacy, John Leo Walter, a Centerville attorney, and Joe Arminio, an academic and author on national defense.

Hurdles ahead for federal pay boost, tax cut
http://washingtontimes.com/article/20070828/NATION06/108280058/1008
Time and the financial bottom line are working against a package of attractive bills that would increase most federal workers' take-home pay and trim the federal tax bite on most federal retirees. The two plans, one to cut federal-postal worker premiums and the other to cut taxes for federal retirees, seem like a goo d idea - to federal workers and retirees.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, would have the government pay 80 cents of each premium dollar. Although he's one of the most powerful people on Capitol Hill, and although the bill would benefit members of the House, Senate and their staffs, it continues to languish in committee.Reason: Its higher cost to taxpayers and the fear of backlash from voters who don't have generous, lifetime health insurance coverage.