Maryland
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3:01 a.m.
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The Washington Post is reporting tonight that a Maryland pledged delegate, Jack Johnson, has switched from being a pledged delegate for Sen Clinton to one supporting Sen Obama. I'm sure this will be intersting news for the morning news cycle. ...
DailyKos (Maryland) - 12:30 a.m. - 4 clicks 
In a moment that defined their political careers, Montgomery County Council Members Duchy Trachtenberg, Phil Andrews and Valerie Ervin put the fate of the public employees’ cost of living adjustments on the table last Friday. Present to greet them were over 300 chanting, stomping, clapping and occasionally yelling union members. Council Members Trachtenberg, Andrews and Ervin are members of...
Maryland Politics Watch - Mon 5:01 a.m. - 12 clicks
WHAT'S UP THE PIKE: Gazette and Maryland Politics Watch speculate on Fennel's ability to win special election; Burtonsville demands funds, attention for revitalization ; Planning gives 814 Thayer condo project the go-ahead . Ever since the 2006 elections, Montgomery County's politicos have been all over the burgeoning community of bloggers that's developed over the past couple of year...
Just Up The Pike - Fri 8:15 a.m. - 23 clicks
MD Union Leader for Obama! I'm a Virginian, but I'm 2 miles from Maryland, so I'll take credit for this by proxy. Hoo-Ray us! ...
DailyKos (Maryland) - Fri 8:15 a.m. - 21 clicks
As Montgomery County's budget battle draws to a clamorous climax, a new bomb has been dropped. Yesterday, Council Member Trachtenberg sent the following letter calling for a 2 percent cost of living reduction to each of the county's public sector unions: The unions countered in two ways. 1. In a letter to Ms. Trachtenberg sent today, MCEA, SEIU Local 500 and the school supervisors l...
Maryland Politics Watch - Fri 5:35 a.m. - 20 clicks
Folks, this is why we need a strong Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. In addition to mailing out a sample ballot for Don Praisner in the County Council District 4 special election, MCDCC is putting out this call for volunteers on poll coverage. May 8, 2008 MCDCC Members: We are approaching the Special General Election on Tuesday, May 13, 2008. It is vital that we have coverag...
Maryland Politics Watch - Thu 4:33 p.m. - 21 clicks
In a comment on my previous post calling for Maryland’s uncommitted super delegates to jointly announce their support for Senator Barack Obama, District 39 Delegate Saqib Ali said the following: Adam, Why do you only put the responsibility on the 9 unpledged Super-Delegates? I agree that all the uncommitted Super Delegates should immediately endorse Senator Obama. However the 11 Super Dele...
Maryland Politics Watch - Thu 1:20 p.m. - 22 clicks
From Marc Korman: A few weeks ago, I heard District 18 Senator Rich Madaleno refer to the difference between Maryland’s and Virginia’s reliance on federal government spending as the difference between life sciences and death sciences. Maryland benefits when the government is investing in healthcare and scientific research, while Virginia benefits when the government invests in war and defense. ...
Maryland Politics Watch - Thu 7:31 a.m. - 16 clicks
Washington Post writer Ann Marimow, who has written a series of articles on Montgomery County budget issues such as the $300 million deficit, will be on the 'Political Pulse' TV Show on Thursday, May 8th at 9 p.m. and Tuesday, May 13th at 9:30 p.m. Among other things, Ann will discuss the important votes that the County Council will take on the budget in the next 2 weeks. Political Pulse is on ...
Maryland Politics Watch - Thu 7:31 a.m. - 18 clicks
Dear Readers, By amazing coincidence (snort!), just prior to hammering out next year’s budget, the Takoma Park City Council was hit up for hand outs by a series of committees and groups. Not all of them, we admit. The Washington Adventist Hospital Land Use Committee is just forming up and more interested in getting members than money at this point. Safe Takoma, a cross-jurisdictional grou...
Free State Politics - Thu 7:31 a.m. - 19 clicks
The below release is an interesting development from a group originally created to address serious crime issues in Eastport. It seems that they are beginning to understand that crime-fighting was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the mismanagement of our municipal affairs. This below news release is really interesting, but I am not sure I completely agree with it or understand it, although I...
Capital Punishment - Wed 4:44 p.m. - 30 clicks
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is tough, smart and a hell of a campaigner. But after her crushing loss in North Carolina and narrow win in Indiana yesterday , it is clear that she will not be the Democratic nominee for President. To maximize the chances of beating Senator John McCain, it is time for the Democratic race to end. And the following nine Maryland residents can make that happen. N...
Maryland Politics Watch - Wed 1:19 p.m. - 25 clicks
Yet again, schools in the Washington DC area are planning to, again, increase class size in the face of a tighter budget. Fairfax County,Virginia is planning to save $11 million. Loudoun County,Virginia is planning to save $7.3 dollars. The Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s: their planned savings has not been disclosed, are either seeking to combine smaller classe...
The Modern Day Prophet - Wed 10:59 a.m. - 25 clicks
Alderman Dave Cordle, a chief investigator with the States Attorney for AA County and reserve Army officer, as well as a putative candidate for mayor, is a voice for public safety in Annapolis. He is also a voice for strongly criticizing political opponents, which of course is no big deal, except when it turns vicious and mean spirited. CP previously reported on how Cordle attacked local Democrati...
Capital Punishment - Wed 7:39 a.m. - 21 clicks
This sounds potentially serious: A state police commander who oversaw Maryland's automotive inspections program alleged that "strong political pressure" from Gov. Martin O'Malley 's office was behind a recent decision to allow a Prince George's County station to resume inspections four years after its license was revoked for fraudulent practices. In memos and e-mails revie...
Free State Politics - Tue 11:58 p.m. - 27 clicks
Congratulations to ourselves. We are now an official town on Craigslist, the popular internet site does, well it does just about anything...check it out: annapolis.craigslist.org/ Send any interesting Annapolis stories about your experiences on Craig's List to foerp@msn.com....
Capital Punishment - Tue 11:58 p.m. - 26 clicks
Marylanders United to Stop Slots recently released a list of 102 state leaders serving on its steering committee. Of the 15 State Senators and 52 Delegates who voted against last year’s slots referendum, only 12 have signed on for the anti-slots campaign. The elected leaders on the steering committee are: Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (R MD-1) Comptroller Peter Franchot Senator C. Anthony Mus...
Maryland Politics Watch - Tue 4:23 a.m. - 26 clicks
More baaad, baaad news from our Market House. It seems that a bunch of tenants quietly moved out in the wee hours of today. It was rather intelligent of them to first enjoy the brisk sales of a lovely spring weekend with the various Annapolis Alive and Maritime Festival activities. Oh well. They're gone. Another sad chapter in a seemingly endless, sad story is closed and we move on to the next cha...
Capital Punishment - May 5 - 23 clicks
Montgomery County Council Member Nancy Floreen challenged all county agencies to present a plan to cut their budgets by 2% below the County Executive's proposal on her blog today. Floreen contends that a 2% across-the-board cut would enable the council to chop the County Executive's property tax increase in half. However, because she would still break the charter limit, her proposal would req...
Maryland Politics Watch - May 5 - 24 clicks
The Sun reported yesterday on growing dissatisfaction among gays against Governor O’Malley. But in fact, resentment towards the Governor has been building inside the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community for at least eight months. Last September, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that state law forbids same-sex marriage. While the Governor did not have a hand in the ruling its...
Maryland Politics Watch - May 5 - 17 clicks
The below is an unedited letter CP received from Annapolis. Although I continue to deplore anonymous letters, they are sometimes worth publishing. Read it. Believe it or don't believe it. Take it for what it's worth. However, the fundamental issue continues to be that violence-prone, drug dealing in our public housing "communities" remain at the center of our local skyrocketing crime. If our elect...
Capital Punishment - May 5 - 15 clicks
We have another reason to host The Town Crier competition, but as I've said before, we need to all get together and cry for our city. According to the online Baltimore Sun, a man was found shot dead on Pleasant Street this evening. Pleasant Street is just off Clay Street on the edge of the historic district.......guns, drugs, violence, poverty despair....the other side of our lovely, historic and ...
Capital Punishment - May 3 - 16 clicks
MCDCC Vice Chairman Alan Banov sent us this announcement. Time is of the essence on this one! Vacancy on the County Board of Elections The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee requests applications to fill a vacancy in the Montgomery County Board of Elections, which was created by the resignation of Mary Carter-Williams as a member of that Board on April 24. The County Board of El...
Maryland Politics Watch - May 3 - 17 clicks
From the minds and keyboards of our vast readership out there in Annapolis cyberspace. My only complaint is that these letters come anonymously. What is this--Stalinist Russia?: I know this may be difficult to believe, but there are also mean spirited people spouting off, ranting, raving, name calling and spewing vicious vitriol that have what other fair-minded people would call ultra-liberal li...
Capital Punishment - May 3 - 18 clicks
In a development that surprised no one, both the Maryland/District of Columbia AFL-CIO and the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO announced their backing of slots today. The Sun carried this classic quote: "The main reason we're doing this is because of jobs, and that's what the hell we're supposed to do," said Ernie Grecco, president of the Metropolitan Baltimore Council AFL-CIO. He noted that ...
Maryland Politics Watch - May 2 - 14 clicks
A certain Frederick Augustus has taken issue with my recent post about the unusually pronounced schism between our local have-way-too-muches and our local have-not-enoughs: Commenting on your entry "The Rich are Getting Richer ..." (note: I have not edited any of this and have left typos as they were sent to me). Why do you adopt the premise that anyone is entitled to monetary wealth? Like t...
Capital Punishment - May 2 - 15 clicks
WHAT'S UP THE PIKE: East County cops struggle to keep Third Police District safe; Biodiesel advocates visit Sandy Spring middle-schoolers ; National Labor College breaks ground on fallen workers' memorial . State Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-Dist. 20) announced the passage of her Family Coverage Expansion Act yesterday at the University of Maryland. The new law extends health insurance t...
Just Up The Pike - May 1 - 11 clicks
In air pollution : The Washington-Baltimore region still has one of the worst air pollution problems in the country, ranking among the top 10 metropolitan areas for smog and soot, according to a report from the American Lung Association . The association's "State of the Air" report, to be released today, says air in this region remains contaminated by pollution that burns lung tissue ...
Free State Politics - May 1 - 13 clicks
Last week, Montgomery County passed a sweeping set of green building standards for new homes, part of the County's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Nevertheless, the County, like Maryland and the rest of the US, has a long way to go before we have a sensible climate change policy. County Councilman George Leventhal (disclosure: he's also a member of my energy policy class) has a g...
Free State Politics - May 1 - 16 clicks
CP has long contended that our region suffers from an unusually disproportionate distribution of wealth. In other words, there are folks with fancy waterfront homes, luxury cars and yacht and there are folks who can barely afford bus fare--right here in Annapolis and AA County.There are plenty of folks who have way more than they need and a lot of people who have nowhere near enough. This is the ...
Free State Politics - May 1 - 19 clicks
CP has long contended that our region suffers from an unusually disproportionate distribution of wealth. In other words, there are folks with fancy waterfront homes, luxury cars and yacht and there are folks who can barely afford bus fare--right here in Annapolis and AA County.There are plenty of folks who have way more than they need and a lot of people who have nowhere near enough. This is the m...
Capital Punishment - May 1 - 13 clicks
Hank Prensky, Julius West, Michelle Bailey, Joy Austin-Lane. 2d photo here. Originally uploaded by Thomas Nephew. As advertised, I joined my friends Michelle Bailey, Hank Prensky, and Joy Austin-Lane in a short visit to Congressman Chris Van Hollen's (D-MD-8) local Hyattsville office (just outside Takoma Park), to bring the Congressman a copy of "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq." ...
newsrack (v2.0) - May 1
In a story first reported by the Washington Post’s Ann Marimow, Montgomery County Council Member and Management and Fiscal Policy Committee Chairwoman Duchy Trachtenberg has written to UFCW Local 1994 ( MCGEO ), one of the county’s public employee unions, offering a choice between layoffs or smaller pay increases. We reproduce the letter and discuss its importance below. April 29, 2008 Gino...
Maryland Politics Watch - May 1 - 13 clicks
We've heard the expression "I cry me a river" but how about "We cry by the river"? Our city will be hosting the North American Town Crier Competition on Saturday, May 3 at 1 pm at City Dock. Perhaps we as concerned residents should have our own "cry-in" to express our sadness, frustration and fear about the open air drug markets, gun violence and homicide in Annapolis. Anybody interested? Shoul...
Capital Punishment - May 1 - 15 clicks
Khalid Afzal and Sandy Tallant from the Montgomery County Planning Department take questions during the Wheaton CBD Sector Plan forum last night. As dinner guests slowly trickled into the bars and restaurants of Elkin Street, about seventy people packed into the Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity in Downtown Wheaton for a forum last night on the business district's future. Despite pes...
Just Up The Pike - Apr 30 - 17 clicks
A tornado smacked into a Takoma Park resident's house last weekend, reported mayor Bruce Williams. According to the resident, who buttonholed the mayor at the Sunday farmer's market, it caused “substantial damage" to the home on Erskine Avenue. Coincidentally, only a week earlier the city’s Emergency Preparedness Committee presented a report to the city. It is a good thing...
Free State Politics - Apr 30 - 15 clicks
Marc Fisher : Put Peter Franchot up against Martin O'Malley in a statewide vote and there can be little doubt that the pesky comptroller from Takoma Park would face a rough time against Maryland's charming governor, even if O'Malley's popularity numbers have drooped to Bush levels. That's why the governor is only too happy to let this fall's showdown over slot ma...
Free State Politics - Apr 28 - 15 clicks
Ben Cardin and Steny Hoyer are both Democratic superdelegates that have yet to declare their preferences for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. Here's Cardin in PolitickerMD: U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Baltimore) will not endorse a Democratic candidate for president “until all the voting is completed in June,” said Sue Walitsky, the communications director for the senator. ...
Free State Politics - Apr 24 - 18 clicks
Kensington, MD-- Donna Edwards won the backing of the Montgomery County Democratic Party Central Committee tonight by a vote of 22 to 1. This was a key step leading up to the special election to serve the remaining portion of Rep. Albert Wynn 's term in Maryland's 4th Congressional District. The Prince Georges County Democratic Party Central Committee will hold a similar vote on Thurs...
Free State Politics - Apr 22 - 13 clicks
This was an email I got from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network: LAST CALL on Global Warming Solutions Act This is it! This is the last week of session for the Maryland legislature. The Global Warming Solutions Act will be voted on in the House Economic Matters committee on Tues (April 1) and in the Environmental matters committee on Wends. Call now because the clock is ticking! All y...
Maryland College Democrats - Apr 1 - 15 clicks
Late last week, the Capital reported that the South River Federation had reached a settlement with the developers of Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole over their discharge of sediment-laden water into the River during construction. The lawsuit claimed that the development project had violated the Clean Water Act by allowing the pollution of Church Creek as a result of stormwater runoff. ...
Blog Arundel - Mar 31 - 13 clicks
Donna Edwards and other congressional candidates explain why they've endorsed "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq" in the video below: Yes, I know he's not Donna Edwards; I mainly want the leftyblogs Maryland link. Ms. Edwards has made the plan a prominent feature of her campaign web site. From the press release:The United States has been in Iraq for 5 years now; 3,988 honorable ...
newsrack (v2.0) - Mar 19
Eschaton: "When I'm fresh out of things to post about I usually ask myself, 'Self? Did Joe Klein do anything stupid today?' ... Yep." Of course, there's always the option of just not posting anything, but maybe that's why Duncan Black is a big time blogger and I'm not. ... ... ... well, maybe that's one reason why, anyway. Gavin ("Sadly, No") --- "There ought to be a word for people who are ...
newsrack (v2.0) - Mar 16
As readers of this site (and Freestatepolitics) may have noticed, I have been almost completely absent from the internet lately. The reason for my extended absence is that I have recently gotten a new job with Progressive Maryland as a field canvasser. The schedule is what has kept me from blogging, as the work is in the evenings, and my mornings are filled with two things, catching up on sleep ...
Kujanblog - Mar 6 - 13 clicks
This evening, the County Council appointed an impact fee advisory committee to help them sort out the issue. Thankfully, there are no representatives from the homebuilders association on the committee. The committee is being headed up by former County Executive, Robert Neall , and will include, among others: Bob Burdon, Head of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce Al...
Blog Arundel - Mar 3 - 13 clicks
If you are a student of the University of Maryland chances are you may have seen stickers promising that if you vote Democrat they'll freeze tuition. But sadly there's something called the Universal Laws of Politics. The first rule of the universal rules of politics is that most politicians don't keep campaign promises when actually elected. Such is the case if O'Malley approves those cuts. A ...
The Modern Day Prophet - Mar 3 - 13 clicks
Both Maryland and Virginia are seriously contemplating major restrictions on crab harvesting in the Bay, and it's not a moment too soon. Let's just hope it's not too late....
Blog Arundel - Feb 29 - 11 clicks
Police Chief Joseph Johnson is leaving the Annapolis City Police Department after almost 14 years of service. While embattled at times, he has generally been well-respected. This probably won't make hiring the 20 or so officers the Department needs to get to full force any easier....
Blog Arundel - Feb 29 - 14 clicks
