Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Governor calls budget package "good for all Marylanders." Republicans say burden to local governments may force county governments to increase taxes.
The Maryland House of Delegates gave final approval Wednesday to a package of three bills that increases taxes on some state residents, shifts part of teacher pensions to local governments and undoes the so-called "doomsday budget." The votes Wednesday afternoon capped the three-day special session called by Gov. Martin O'Malley in order to override more than $500 million in cuts made in a budget passed in early April. The Senate approved the same three bills Tuesday. As part of the package, legislators approved by a vote of 86-51 what amounts to a 50-50 split of teacher pension costs with local governments. The split will be phased in over the next four years beginning July 1 with the new budget year. That bill also includes a doubling of…
The Baltimore Sun released a ranking of Baltimore County high schools with the highest average class sizes.
Eastern Technical High School has some of the most-crowded classrooms in the county, according to a recent report. According to a Baltimore Sun report, Eastern Technical High School ranks 10th in the county with 19.1 percent of classes with 30 or more students. Kenwood ranks ninthin the same category at 19.2 percent. Dulaney High School ranks first with 36.3 percent. Eastern Tech entered this school year with 1,256, about 9 percent less than the school's capacity of 1,380, according to its school's profile. Kenwood has 1,732 students this year with a capacity of 1,918, according to its school profile. The school faced budget cuts last year and will have to reduce its faculty by four teachers next year. This comes after the school system …
Protestors argued that pit bulls are being unfairly targeted by the Maryland Court of Appeals.
Annapolis resident Stehle Harris is afraid she won't have a home. As the owner of a bull terrier, Harris said the recent Maryland Court of Appeals opinion that pit bulls and pit bull crossbreeds are dangerous could lead to a slippery slope. The opinion also states that landlords can prohibit the dogs from their properties. "I think pit bulls capacity to do damage is no greater than a chihuahua," she said. "I'm more apprehensive about smaller dogs." Harris was one of a group of Marylanders protesting the court's opinion at Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis on Tuesday afternoon. Erin Harty, of Baltimore, said Harris' fears aren't unfounded. As a volunteer at Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, she said the center is already being …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Republican Todd Huff went to the 2011 game in Dallas with a shopping center and apartment complex owner.
Todd Huff says he's not a big football fan, but in 2011 he attended at least four games, including taking a trip to Dallas to see the Super Bowl with a local shopping center and apartment complex owner. The games highlight a hole that the State Ethics Commission says exists in legislation passed by the County Council earlier this year. The legislation was meant to bring county law substantially into sync with the state ethics law. Huff, a Timonium Republican, attended at least four games in 2011, including the Super Bowl. He wrote about the games, which include three Baltimore Ravens games, on his official council Facebook page. Tickets to one of the games were provided by Merritt Properties, as first reported by the Baltimore Sun. None of…
Friday, May 11, 2012
In a ceremony in Towson Friday morning, police and county officials honored eight officers who died while serving residents.
In a ceremony at Patriot Plaza in Towson on Friday, friends, family, police and Baltimore County officials honored eight police officers who died while serving residents. Eight officers have died either in the line of duty or while doing security work since 1969, according to a county police press release. The release also described the acts of the fallen officers:
The county executive spoke about a number of Essex-Middle River issues with the Chesapeake Gateway Chamber of Commerce.
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is optimistic that the long-dormant Middle River Depot will one-day be part of a vibrant economic engine for the Middle River-White Marsh corridor. Kamenetz provided insight into the future of the property while speaking to members of the Chesapeake Gateway Chamber of Commerce Tuesday at Crab Quarters in Middle River. Kamenetz said he recently met with the owners of the property, who paid $37.5 million in an online government auction in 2006, about their plans for the 55-acre site. He believes they will be able to develop new retail opportunities while maintaining its historical integrity and respecting the facilities aviation legacy. The owners have applied to get the property rezoned for mixed-…
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
New interview process aims to make the Baltimore County police more responsible, accountable for selecting its leaders.
Baltimore County Police Chief Jim Johnson threw out a more than three-decades old promotions policy just days before a class of sergeants was to take standardized oral interviews to become lieutenants. The change comes amid a looming U.S. Department of Justice inquiry into the county's hiring and promotions practices within the police and fire departments. The change involves who interviews prospective candidates for promotion. Until now, interviews had been conducted by outside law enforcement personnel. Now, those interviews will be conducted by officials who work for Baltimore County. "I have not determined the motivation of the administration as to why this change was instituted," said Cole Weston, president of the Fraternal Order of …
In an interview on ABC News, the president says he supports same-sex marriage. The issue is likely to go to referendum in Maryland this fall.
President Barack Obama picked the day after a decisive vote in North Carolina to announce that his "evolution" on the issue of same-sex marriage was complete—he now supports it. In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Obama said: I have to tell you that over the course of several years, as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors, when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don't Ask Don't Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage—at a …
Plan to fix "Doomsday Budget" includes $247 million in tax increases and elimination of exemptions for single filers earning $100,000 or more and joint filers earning $150,000 or more.
UPDATE (5:59 p.m.)—Some Maryland residents will pay more taxes in the coming year under a plan worked out between Gov. Martin O'Malley and legislative leaders. O'Malley, accompanied by House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, announced the nearly $35.8 billion plan during a Wednesday morning news conference in Annapolis to discuss the upcoming special session. "To leave this budget incomplete, to leave this budget as it stands right now, would damage the very forward motion that all of us, together, have worked so hard to achieve for our state," O'Malley said. "Progress is a choice," O'Malley said. "Job creation is a choice. Building America's number one schools, making a college education affordable, …
The senator protested the project at a public hearing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at Oregon Ridge Lodge.
When Senator Bobby Zirkin moved to his new residence in Reisterstown nearly a year ago he did so because he loved the natural environment. "It's a beautiful, pristine property," Zirkin said, an 11th District Democrat. "It's a beautiful treasure that's now under attack." The senator was one of more than a dozen people to testify against a gas pipeline extension proposed by Columbia Gas Transmission at a public hearing before a panel of representatives from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission at Oregon Ridge Lodge on Tuesday evening. The 21.4 mile-extension to an existing pipeline would impact about 300 property owners. Zirkin wouldn't be directly impacted by the construction, but the pipeline is proposed to cut through his neighbors…
macadoodle
9:05 pm on Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Re: flying out of the state/data from WSJ: The number of millionaire tax returns fell sharply to 5,529 from 7,898 in 2007, a 30% tumble. The taxes paid by rich filers fell by 22%, and instead of their payments increasing by $106 million as projected, they fell by some $257 million. The losses of Maryland and other high-tax states are the gains of the low-tax states: A Bank of America Merrill … more ›